APR 30 :: [30 years] Since the fall of Saigon.

APR 29 :: [most watched] Another sign of China's emergence as a global economic superpower - the yuan is one of the most watched currencies in the world. A "jump" from 8.276 yuan/US$ to 8.270 for 20 minutes (and then it reverted back to the 8.276-8.280 fixed rate established 7yrs ago after the Asian financial crisis) triggered a global monetary event that caused speculators to push the dollar down and the euro/yen up.

Yes, the mighty dollar sways to the tune of the yuan. My, my, how far we have come now that the world's largest capitalist and communist economies are this tightly intertwined. Will the yuan be revalued? Will it float against a basket of currencies? Will China stop buying T-bills and financing America's ridiculous and voracious binge-induced deficit? Who knows. All it takes is 6/1000ths of a point to cause a frenzy in the global currency markets these days. Startling.

[caved in] Yup, I did. I caved in to the temptation of all-you-can-drink-for-$9 with Chris and met up with the whole world at JR's last night. One too many vodka-crans later, the 6 of us (me and Tony plus Chris, Alex, Rob, and Soochon) had a phenomenal meal at Komi (it better be at $100/pp!). Y'know, the prices at Komi have gone up significantly since we loved it when it first opened. You can't get out for under $40 anymore (appetizer, entree, dessert). I remember when it used to be under $20 for an entree. I guess the restaurant has gotten a wee bit too justifiably popular. Sigh, the price you pay for good food, right?

Completely smashed, in bed by midnight, hurting this morning as I show up to work late. I drove in, even. Metro was unappealing in my hungover state. Not to mention the rain! Ugh. So the $7-cheapest-in-DC parking? It's under the Freeway! Literally. Like in between the columns that hold up the SE-SW F'way. Totally weird but totally worth it!

APR 28 :: [wynn-credible] Wynn Las Vegas, a $2.7bn resort built by Steve Wynn (of Bellagio fame), opened today to stunning reviews, and kicking the luxury factor of gambling, hotel and shopping on the LV Strip up a notch.

No theme, no need to stumble through the casino to get to your room, star-studded chefts, ultra-luxe shopping, art collections, and 2,700 fabulous rooms set the bar way up there for Vegas casinos and hotels. I can't wait to try it! Vegas, baby!

[loetschberg] Burrowing 5,900ft beneath the 12,170ft Balmhorn mountain, Swiss engineers today completed drilling for the world's longest overland tunnel, the $3.5bn Loetschberg. At 21-miles long, it overtakes the 16.4-mile Hakkoda Tunnel in Japan, and comes in third overall behind the underwater Seikan Tunnel (Honshu to Hokkaido) in Japan and the Channel Tunnel (England to France). Trains will zoom through the tunnel from Germany to Italy at 150mph when completed in 2007. Another triumphal feat of European engineering!

APR 27 :: [musing] I'm just sitting here musing about how exceedingly lovely the weather has been and is going to be this end-April, early-May period. My first rainy day commute will be Friday, ugh. I can't believe I have to carry an umbrella to work! Maybe I should drive that day - parking is only $7 in SW (can you believe it?? I guess nobody wants to be there).

John/Thyra (Rob's bro & sis-in-law) are in town for 10 days. They come here so often and stay so long it's like they live here. Fetch. I can't wait to see them. LA Mike just got a new job, fabulous! Not to mention he and Gary both take possession of their Bimmer today from Michael F. Giggle. Welcome to the club! Gen is still in London *pout* (I wonder what Tom's doing?). Chris is entertaining his houseguest while Dave is away in St Lucia. And ohmibeyonce, I finally heard from Boston Ryan. Back from the dead, it seems! Gosh, I almost can't keep up. But I do :)

Hmm, musing about last weekend too and how I never mentioned anything about it. Weird. It was a totally fetch weekend that seemed to continue from the one before. Anyways, last Thursday was JR's, of course, and I remember being very, very drunk by 10pm. Rick and I stumbled home, picking up takeout cheap chinese on the way, and downed a whole bowl of fried rice in seconds. Not my finest moment :)

Friday night was a melange of bars: JR's.. Halo.. (for the first time in awhile too) then Cobalt. I don't remember much of it but I do remember seeing the fabulous Phillip before he disappeared to the west coast for the weekend. He always leaves you wanting more :) Such an elusive bitch. I also remember Brad at Halo telling me he's moving to SoFlo :( Not fetch. Cobalt was just a dance-a-thon which ended with me walking AndyP to the Metro. Giggle! What a mess we were. Oh and I remember Rick and Evan getting REALLY drunk. And some nasty whore tried to pick Phillip up (yes, dah-ling, that's the whore's number in your pocket). What's new.

This weekend promises to be equally busy. I know I'll be out tomorrow night. No idea about Friday night but something's gonna happen for sure. Two parties on Saturday night - dinner party in Maryland coinciding with Rob/Mikko's May Day (Vappu) party! So not fetch that I have to go to the dinner party first but what can you do, right? The drive home alone will kill my buzz. Oh well, that just means I'll have to get it back at the Vappu, woo!

Musing over. Can you keep up, baby boy? :)

[all-in-one] Check this out - an all-in-one multimedia smartphone (iPod + camera + phone) from Nokia! The "N" series (specifically the N91) will have a 2MP camera, 4GB for music/photos, a media player, plus a 3G AND a Wi-Fi (!!!) enabled phone. Whoa!

I haven't coveted a Nokia phone since the new millennium. This one sounds promising!

[she flies!] The superjumbo (Airbus A380) - the largest passenger jet ever and a triumph of European engineering - completes her maiden flight. 555 passengers, 262ft wide and 80ft high; this thing is a monster!

APR 25 :: [just another Monday] It's just another Monday, right? Not if it's your first official day at a new job (I know, how many more of these am I gonna have?). After a scandalously drunken weekend that began, oh, on Tuesday *grin*, back-to-work-Monday was a shock to the system (and the brain).

It didn't help that it was sub-50 this morning when I had to walk to the Metro (woe is me). Commute was uneventful, actually even pleasant. No crowds. Hmm, wonder what's going on - irrational fear over what happened in Japan today? It's so sad what happened in Amagasaki. I remember how the Kobe earthquake shattered the invincibility of Japanese engineering. And now this. Japanese rail safety is, like, unquestionable, y'know? Anyway, I digress.

Not in the mood for much today. Settling in all morning - got my PC, login, e-mail, etc. Meetings in the afternoon, catching up and all that. Nothing exciting in the least bit.

It's just another Monday.

[no washer?] So Rick is such a silly goose. He stayed over some time last week (yea, to keep me company coz Tony ditched me for a week, nyah) and he needed to wash his clothes (um, yea.. not a good idea to show up at work two days in a row in the same clothes, giggle!). And I was on the phone with my mom so he goes to the basement with his clothes, comes back upstairs and looks at me like I have two heads.

Kiat: "What?"
Rick: "Ma-wee, your washer is broken."
Kiat: "Huh? Which one?"
Rick: "Well, you only have the one in the basement, right?"
Kiat: "Uh no, walking two stories down just to do laundry is like crimes against humanity. There's one next to the bedroom upstairs."
Rick: "Oh, hehe.."
Kiat: "Of course we have another one. How on earth would we have done laundry otherwise?"
Rick: "I dunno, I thought 'well, they dry-clean all their clothes anyway so screw the washer'."

LOL! Do I have like "LAZY" tattoo-ed on my forehead or something? My friends know me too well...

APR 22 :: [earth day] Happy 35th Earth Day!

APR 21 :: [best days] From the Washington Post Editorial:

"TOURISTS COME for the cherry blossoms, but Washingtonians know that the real spring show starts after the last pink petals have fluttered away. Other fruit trees, less pampered but no less exuberant, burst into bloom; sprays of dogwood and redbud interlace. The first green is light and feathery. In the early morning, even the squirrels seem a touch less purposeful and the woodpecker's tattoo a beat or two less urgent. It's a short but glorious interval, between the rains of March and the air conditioning of May, when life here isn't just about traffic and terrorism -- when we remember that (in our opinion, and who's going to prove us wrong?) Washington is the world's most beautiful city."

"And that's before the azaleas."

Pride in our city. The WP loves DC!

[paris v nicole] It's official, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie are having a good old-fashioned, hollywood catfight. Paris is now buddying up to Kimberly Stewart (Rod's daughter). Whatever. Paris-Nicole was so 2003. Paris-Kimberly is the new face of trashy, super-rich, nasty celebrity bitches, woo! It's all so juicy and gossipy! ;)

Speaking of gossip, Pope Benedict XVI has an evil past, *GASP*! And this just in: Bennifer Part Deux. LOL!!! Poor Bennie-pooh-pooh.

[it's like that] Yea, Mariah's back! "It's Like That" has such a great beat, I love it... like that!

I've got a tan (or at least a base-coat) today. Rick (freshly evicted from his burning office, giggle) and I sunbathed at the P St beach for 3 hours yesterday, roasting in the 85-degree mid-afternoon heat. Fetch. Of course, my eyes and nose suffered later for it due to the monstrous pollen count (3197!!). But nothing my drugs can't alleviate! I love good drugs :)

Shocking! Sen. Jeffords (I-VT) is retiring. So far, both the open Democratic-incumbent Senate seats are in blue states (MD and MN) and thankfully, VT is a blue state too. It doesn't feel as horrifying as the 5 open southern Senate seats in the last cycle that all went red. That was a train wreck!

And what's this with Acela? I'm telling ya, the US has the most third world rail system of any first-world country. Not only does it take 2h 44m (most of the time, longer) to travel the 250mi distance between DC and NYC, it costs approx. $150 each way! Here's a comparison: the Shinkansen (bullet train) in Japan travels the 350mi distance between Tokyo and Osaka in about the same amount of time for less money! So lemme get this straight, the "fastest" train in the US is slower and costs more than the original bullet train? And Japan had it in 1964!! It's shocking. 40 years later and we have a rail system that doesn't even measure up to Italy, Spain or South Korea, not to mention Japan or France. The Tokaido Shinkansen moves 360,000 passengers a DAY between Tokyo and Osaka. You wanna know what Acela's is between NYC and DC? 10,000. Shameful.

And the first accident ever at a Nats home game? :) Inflation fears were stoked after the March CPI reading was released, sending the Dow and S&P500 to 2005 lows. Ugh. Inflation is nasty. Avoid at all costs! Hello, Greenspan? Are you asleep at the wheel?! Warning on the deficit issue over and over again is not enough. Gotta be more forceful, dude. But really, why isn't Congress or the White House listening?! Hmm... merger-mania again? US Air-America West, Comcast-Adelphia, oh my!

The canopy above Dupont Metro south is coming along nicely. Let's hope that makes rainy days less of a bitch on commuters and the exposed escalators (who came up with THAT idea?). Weather is decidedly cooler today (dropped from mid-80s to mid-60s). Rain is coming along with drastically lower temps (50s by early next week! Ugh). That should alleviate the pollen issue for a little bit. Still bored at home. Besides sunbathing, I did absolutely nothing yesterday - except watch TV (and TiVo) all night. American Idol was dumb as usual. There was just nothing on TV. I hate unplanned vacation time, twiddling my thumbs and sitting on them (oh my, that takes talent). Oh well, "it's like that"...

[retro tuesdays] Yes, I am quite a fan of 80s music at Cobalt on Tuesday nights. I'm just amazed though at how many people show up AFTER midnight to dance the night away. Doesn't anybody work anymore?! The night started with dinner at Little Fountain with Mike/Gary who are in town en route from Italy to LA. Dinner was fetch, as usual, tinged with sadness since it'll probably be a long time before we are all at our favorite Little Fountain again. If you haven't been, go and order the desserts. You won't regret it!

That morphed into a Duplex outing with Rick before we met up with the Phillip and his posse at Cobalt for booty-shaking-licious. There was also a stalker story at the end of the evening (3am?) but we won't go there ;) Drama, drama, drama...

APR 20 :: [ct civil unions] It's a done deal, Connecticut becomes the second state in the Union to offer civil unions to same-sex couples, after Vermont. The bill was signed into law by Republican (!) Governor Jodi Rell. Yay!

For the record, the initial Senate vote (without the marriage amendment) was 27-9. The House voted 85-63 but only after the marriage amendment passed with 80-67. The bill returned to the Senate which approved it today by 28-8.

This is the first time a state legislature has voluntarily sanctioned civil unions. Vermont did so under pressure from the courts, and the courts forced Massachusetts to legalize homosexual marriage.

APR 19 :: [benedict xvi] The bells of the Vatican tolled today at around 6pm CDT (noon EDT) in Vatican City, signalling the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the 265th pontiff. He became Pope Benedict XVI, 17 days after Pope John Paul II passed away at the age of 84.

As if being roused by the bells for something momentous, hundreds of thousands of Romans streamed into St. Peter's square chanting "Viva il Papa!". The crowds coupled with the pomp and circumstance of the occasion made it seem like a coronation. It was all very historic yet funny in a campy sorta way. I guess if you ain't Catholic (which I'm not), this whole thing is just one big hoopla.

Yes, I hate to admit it but I saw the whole thing live. I came home from the security interview today just in time to watch the live coverage of the entire thing; from white smoke to the Pope's first blessing.

Don't really know what to think. Many journalists and publications have said that the new pope is an extreme conservative on a wide variety of social issues, which IMHO takes the Roman Catholic Church in the wrong direction. Some call PBXVI "John Paul II without the imagination". Some say this choice will "move the church backward" and return to a "narrow dogma and doctrine."

Matt Foreman, a gay Catholic who is also head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called the new pope's record "one of unrelenting, venomous hatred for gay people." Andrew Sullivan says "It's a full-scale attack on the reformist wing of the church. The swiftness of the decision and the polarizing nature of this selection foretell a coming civil war within Catholicism. The space for dissidence, previously tiny, is now extinct."

Scary.

But, the new Pope is 78 years old. Hmm... He'll almost certainly never top John Paul II's 26-yr reign. Looks like this conclave thingie (where do they get these names?) and the gathering of cardinals in the Vatican may not be a once-in-a-lifetime event.

We can only pray for the best.

Also, today marks the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. I survived my security interview this morning and left with an official badge and 10 very red fingertips. Got my haircut today and a li'l som'n som'n on the side while I was there, y'know what I'm sayin'? ;) It's 85 degrees today!! Whew...

APR 18 :: [mindless factoid] Taking a break from the SF-85P (even the name of the form conjures up images of red tape) security paperwork thingamajig. I have no idea why but 7 years seems to be the magic number for this paperwork. Everything is basically "name all the =insert irrelevant fact of your life here= in the past 7 years of your life." Luckily I've only had 2 residential addresses and 3 companies in the past 7 years. I can't imagine all the digging up I would have to do if I was constantly on the move. This form is so mind-numbing they might as well ask you what kinds of toilet paper you've used in the past 7 years of your life (and who knew you while you were using each kind.. and don't forget to supply their address and phone numbers!). Gees...

So, mindless factoid. Disneyland will open its third international location in Hong Kong, China (yes, it's been China since 1997!) at a cost of $3.5bn. One of the most enduring symbols of capitalist consumerism will take root in communist China on September 12th, 2005 (can you say "Mickey Mao-se?"). Mao is rolling in his grave.

It's located between the airport and Central on Lantau Island just before you get to the Tsing Ma bridge (which, when it opened in 1997, was the longest suspension bridge carrying both road/rail traffic in the world); about a 30 minute train ride from Hong Kong.

Can you hear 1+ billion ppl saying "I'm going to Disneyland!" in Chinese? Wanna know what Disney hears? "Ka-ching!" :)

[first day bust] I was all excited like a little school girl yesterday. And nervous with anticipation. Not to the point of an anxiety attack but definitely enough to cause me to toss and turn a few times last night (I slept like a baby though, thanks to good drugs! giggle).

So I woke up this morning at 8; something which I haven't done in a long time. Do my 3 S's (shit, shower and shave). Walked out the front door with a new sense of purpose. Took a deep breath in and thought to myself as I choked on the pollen, "Oh! What a beautiful spring day." Hopped on the Metro and 12 minutes later, I was at my new office building in SW. I spent 15 minutes or so chasing down my POC only to find out that due to security paperwork blah blah blah, I won't be starting till next Monday. Bleagh. The inevitable has been postponed.

Good news is the security interview is tomorrow so if all goes well, I'll hit the ground running next Monday. Bad news is another week at home. I guess it's not so bad but I was all ready and excited to start my new job. Can't believe I just said that but oh well, cabin fever sinks in after 4 months, y'know?

Wanna know what else was a bust? The Metro! Oh my Beyonce. The red line going downtown was more packed than the Pope's funeral! Gee-sus. I had not expected the crazy crowds. Of course, I watched in envy as everyone who was remotely cool and well-dressed getting off at Farragut North or Metro Center. Me? I schlepped it 4 more stops to Federal Center SW where the unwashed masses were headed. Not fetch. It was a beautiful day, though, so the walk to and from the Metro stations were very pleasant to say the least.

The pollen count is extremely high today. I am so medicated today you can draw anti-histamine out of my bloodstream with an IV. But still, I'm congested, sneezy and coughy. My eyes are doing OK though. I guess I just need a stronger nasal spray. Isn't Mother Nature evil? She teases and coaxes us outside with some of the most amazing weather of the year... And pelts us in the face (nose and throat) with pollen. How sadistic. Meanwhile, the temperature has hit 77 and is marching towards 80. Sigh.

OK... back to filling out the security paperwork. I giggled at Section 19 "Foreign Countries You Have Visited" and how they only provided 8 slots. You know how many more I needed? 32.

Can't believe I'm saying this but... I'm bored!!! Will somebody entertain me over the next 7 days?

APR 17 :: [companions] Just a little impartation of wisdom before hitting the sack early for my first day at the new job tomorrow... From our favorite, scandalous, gossipy show on television - Desperate Housewives:

Life is a journey.

One that is much better travelled with a companion by our side.

Of course, that companion can be just about anyone... a neighbor... or a man... a mother... or a child...

But despite our best intentions, some of us will lose our companions along the way.

And then the journey becomes unbearable.

Human beings are designed for many things. But loneliness isn't one of them.

How very true. Good night y'all. And wish me luck!

APR 16 :: [oh. my.] Bree van der Kamp! This is great. "My daughter's a slut, my husband's a pervert and my son's gay -- perfect!" LOL!! Too funny. Poor Bree. Poor ol' religious, Republican, "I-would-love-you-even-if-you-were-a-murderer" Bree. She has a gay son. Natch.

Marcia Cross, who plays Bree, is totally fetch though. Money quote when asked how she would react if she had a gay son: "I wouldn't care at all. I'll be lucky to have a child. May they be whatever they want to be."

Tomorrow can't come soon enough!

[stadium mania] Whoa, NYC is building not one, or two, but THREE brand new stadiums for their sports teams. First, the NY Jets won approval last month from MTA/NYC to build a 2010 Super Bowl/2012 Olympics football stadium in West Side. Then, the NY Giants sealed a deal to build a new football stadium in the NJ Meadowlands (why are football stadiums commonly found in the suburbs??), and finally the NY Yankees today announce that they are close to building a new baseball stadium in the Bronx, next to the existing one. That's like $1.9bn (Jets) + $750mn (Giants) + $800mn (Yankees). And we're having problems with ONE measly half-a-billion dollar stadium? DC is like so minor league.

Now that we're on sports again, this was overheard on the radio yesterday as I was driving around with the top down in gloriously sunny, mid-60s weather:

DJ: "Hey , what did you think of the Nats yesterday? Weren't they great?"
Caller: (in a hopelessly ditzy 14yr-old Valley voice) "Um, yea?"
DJ: "Nats? The Nationals? Do you know who they are?"
Caller: "Um, no?"
DJ: "They're the newest sports team in DC."
Caller: "Oh, I'm really not, like, into sports or anything. Is that, like, ice hockey?"
DJ: "That's OK, as long as you like music."

LOL! I almost crashed my car on 16th St laughing so hard. Where do they find these people? How can you live in DC and not know that the Nationals is the new baseball team in town? D'oh!

[groggy] Had a fetch dinner last night at Nicole's. Sake overload! Don't feel like writing today... feeling kinda groggy from the pollen and all the medication. But today is Emancipation Day (143 years ago, Lincoln signed the bllah blah blah, sorry... feeling unmotivated today), McDonald's turned 50 yesterday ("we're in 119 countries, woo-hoo!"), and the IMF/World Bank protesters are in DC today (yawn, that was so 2000) although it's nothing compared to the anti-Japan protests in China. Tony leaves for Orlando for a week today (big pout), Gen left this morning for London for a month (!!), and both Mike/Gary and Rick are getting back to DC tomorrow.

Nice day today (low 60s) and fantastic days ahead (70-80). It figures that my first day at the new job and the weather is gonna be SUPER nice. Bah. That reminds me, gotta put an umbrella in my bag. Sheesh, the things you never had to worry about before. I have no idea why I'm bitchin' so much. This is like my dream commute. It's the pollen. Yea, blame it on the pollen.

APR 15 :: [6 years...] ...8 1/2 months ago, I held my second job ever in my life. It was a brilliant opportunity to do systems security administration at SAIC. I was 21. I had big hopes and big dreams. I only had 7 months work experience then, an H1-B visa that was so new the ink hadn't even dried, and I was being offered a 60% raise by SAIC. I took it. Armed with even bigger hopes and dreams, I started my journey with SAIC.

It hasn't been a smooth ride. My lack of citizenship status was a major hindrance in working for a company which relied so heavily on government contracts, most of which required clearances that I cannot obtain. I jumped from one contract to another, and after 9/11, it was mostly mind-numbing in-house work and the occasional exciting proposal. I felt useless. I had to quit and I would've a long time ago had it not been for the downturn in the early 2000s and also for the lack of drive on my part.

It hasn't been all bad. In fact, SAIC has been a GREAT company to me. By far the most important thing that they did for me was sponsor my green card/permanent residence thingie. And just in time too! I got it the month before 9/11. It was a dream come true. It allowed me to stay in the US where I am happiest, with Tony and with all my friends. That was truly momentous and I'll be eternally grateful. I've also had some amazing and wonderful managers - Don and Bernie come to mind. Don't get me wrong, I've had my fair share of totally crap and hideously inept managers but I won't let them tarnish my impressions of SAIC. And I won't even mention Nicole because I am SO not leaving her behind. She'll still be my hag and you'll be hearing/reading more about her in the coming months/years/decades.

It's sad to leave a place you've called "work" the past seven years of your life. I cleaned out my office yesterday, put all my belongings into three small boxes and took a picture. I captioned the picture - "7 years and this is all I have to show for it". Sniff. That was after I spent the entire afternoon sitting outside under the lovely warm spring sun with Nicole drinking margarita swirls at Rio Grande. Fetch! We had a lovely lunch in honor of her... 29th birthday :D

And then I left work at 5:30 only to be rewarded by the entire state of Virginia (and their uncles) driving to the baseball game. Took me an hour to get home. That is one thing I won't miss about SAIC at all. One final miserably long commute. Amen.

[fork it up] It's... TAX DAY! Groan. Yes, I have done my taxes. Yes, I owed money. To both Federal AND State! Ugh. This always happens to me. I have no deductions. Zero. So I always end up owing. Oddly enough and in the interest of full disclosure, I owed $54 in Federal taxes but more than double that in State taxes. Weird, huh? You don't even want to know how much Tony owes in taxes.

It's more fun to talk about Tax Freedom Day on Tax Day :) On average, Americans have to work until April 17th to pay off all their taxes; anything earned after that is theirs to keep. Wellllll, if you live in DC, tax freedom day doesn't come until April 30th. Only one other state comes later - Connecticut with its notoriously high property tax rates. Alaska? Their tax freedom day was TWO weeks ago. Those damn Alaskans and their oil :) But really, a later tax freedom day is a good thing (hear me out).

"In general, where the cost of living is high, and salaries are commensurately higher, taxpayers are hard hit by the federal income taxs progressive structure. As a result, they must work longer to pay their disproportionate share of the tax burden, and they wait longer to celebrate Tax Freedom Day."

Comprende?

[metro crowds] Wow, with all the warnings regarding traffic and parking restrictions, 60% of the ppl that went to RFK last night took the Metro which resulted in the 4th highest weekday ridership ever for Metro - 766,184 trips. That, of course, is miniscule compared to NYC's 4.5mn/day but DC's Metro is still the second busiest mass rail transit in the nation. Interestingly enough, the top 3 busiest days in Metro's history are also the only ones exceeding the 800,000-level (Reagan's funeral, Clinton's inauguration and the Million Man March).

Coincidentally, the WP has an article today about Metro's only tunnel under the Potomac, connecting Virginia and DC. This tunnel is shared by the Orange and Blue lines and because the Orange line - serving Northern Virginia's busiest and wealthiest corridor (now why would rich people ride the rails?) - is getting more and more crowded each year, the tunnel is fast hitting saturation point. The "Orange Crush" as it is called. If you add the Dulles extension to the Orange line which they are proposing to do by 2012, the tunnel will no longer be able to handle the traffic that comes through.

The ONLY solution is to build another tunnel under the Potomac. It's that simple. But at $1.65bn just for the tunnel alone (in today's dollars), Metro is balking. The most logical route, in my mind, is to tunnel under the Key Bridge and connect Georgetown (finally) to the Metro system. My wish is for the line to then connect with Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, U St but that's all residential and Metro won't build a line that far north for that purpose alone. I just know that as far as business corridors are concerned, Georgetown and the area around the State Dept is seriously underserved. Everywhere else seems fine. I wish they would extend the Yellow Line pass the Convention Center into Logan Circle, connecting with Dupont and then branch off to Adams Morgan and up the 16th St corridor. That would be fetch, wouldn't it?

Yes, I am getting ready to join the throngs of commuters using the Metro starting on Monday. My commute takes me from Dupont Circle to Federal Center SW, changing trains at Metro Center. Ugh, it's all so common. I am so not a changing trains kinda person. What has become of me? A Metro commuter?! This is totally unbecoming of my status.

Giggle! Ride the rails!

APR 14 :: [12,250] Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Stadium rocked tonight with a capacity crowd of 48,000 - after a 12,250 day absence (no I didn't calculate that, I stole it from somewhere), major league baseball comes home to the nation's capital. It's been 34 long years since the Senators last played in DC back in 1971.

For the record, it was Washington Nationals 5, Arizona Diamondbacks 3. Baseball is back!

As for other sports news, the Wizards are in the NBA playoffs. Yes, this will be the butchest post you'll ever see from me. Ever :)

[bittersweet] Yes it is, but it's a victory nonetheless! Connecticut will soon be only the second state in the United States to establish civil unions for same-sex couples, and the first to do so without being ordered by a court. The state Senate overwhelmingly approved a civil-unions bill last week, and the House of Representatives passed their own version of the bill yesterday. Governor M. Jodi Rell (R) will sign it soon thereafter.

So why is it bittersweet? Well, there's a not-so-tiny difference between the Senate and House versions of the bill. The House passed an amendment that defines marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The Senate said they would go along with the House version. Quite disappointing but baby steps, right?

It's definitely a major step forward. Together with Massachusetts (which legalized same-sex marriage in 2004) and Vermont (which was the first to offer civil unions as an alternative in 2000), New England has a lock on states that offer almost-full benefits to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples. There are indications that NY might follow. And hopefully, California.

So who's next? :)

[php-enabled] After many days of working on getting the XML/PHP code bug-free, I am happy to finally have the new website up and running (index.php). On the surface, it's a very minor change incorporating an XML data feed from weather.com on the right for current conditions in DC, but deep down it's a pretty significant upgrade. I'm still a noo-b when it comes to coding, much less PHP, so hopefully there'll be more features soon. How exciting! Just in time for my new job which will seriously curtail the amount of time I get to spend writing or tweaking.

APR 13 :: [wow] This is cool as shit!

[trading... jobs] Wow, did you see yesterday's report on February's trade deficit? $61bn!, another record. The high price of oil was one reason. Another was our love for Japanese/German automobiles. And finally, clothing - helped by the expiration of the global textile quote system on Jan 1st. The flood from China has begun.

I will be trading jobs by the end of the week. My last day with SAIC is this Friday and my first day with the new company is next Monday (I know, no break in between... what was I thinking?). I'm anxious and anticipatory all at once. I've only switched jobs once before and that was about 7 years ago. It feels kinda weird. I have new-hire orientation tomorrow which is bizarre since I don't start till next week. I'll be handing this laptop back to SAIC on Friday :( Woe is me.

Nothing's new. Pollen count is very high, causing my eyes to itch and burn and water. Tony is all sneezy and coughy (eww). The cool weather will help some but things start warming up again next week. That should encourage more trees to fuck and spew out more pollen, eww.

MLB baseball returns to DC tomorrow with the Nationals first home game at RFK Stadium. Fun!

The Washington Post had a few interesting articles today. One is the plan for a sky-scraping 39-story office tower in Rosslyn that would be 200ft taller than the tallest building today, and about 70ft shorter than the Washington Monument. I think it would be fun to Manhattan-ize Rosslyn, don'cha think? I can already see the clamor for "offices with monumental views", not to mention residences with the same breathtaking views.

And not just one, but two worthwhile reads in the editorial section today (shocking!). One calling for the repeal of the ban on gays in the military, and the other about how the estate tax repeal might have a not-so-happy ending.

Finally, this is very disturbing. Anybody who calls for or advocates violence against anyone else, and especially judges who make rulings that you don't agree with, should be dragged to prison. DeLay and Cornyn who both made threats against judges in the Schiavo case are no exceptions. If these people would stop at nothing to get their way, how do you reason with them? These so-called religious people are using religion as an excuse for violence. Jesus must be so proud of us now. Using violence as a means to an end is the end itself.

Today is also the Day of Silence - say yes to safer schools and no to harassment, discrimination and bullying.

APR 12 :: [mobile mania] Here's a shocking statistic: The mobile penetration rate in Malaysia (61% of 24mn ppl - 14.6mn subscribers) has matched the United States' (61% of 293mn - 180mn subscribers). Amazing, huh? None of that compares to Taiwan's (110%) and Hong Kong's (106%) mobile penetration rate.

Here's another amazing statistic: A quarter of the world's population (1.5bn) had mobile phones by June 2004. What's shocking about that? There are only 1.2bn fixed-line telephones in the world. GSM (Cingular and T-Mobile here in the US) is dominant with 78% of global mobile users, followed by 14% on TDMA (Sprint, Verizon) and 6% on TDMA. China vaulted to the top based on sheer numbers alone, reporting 334mn mobile subscribers (25% penetration). Together with the other mobile-hungry developing nations (India, Russia, Latin America, etc.), the 2-billionth mobile subscriber will be attained by the end of the year (or sooner).

Global mobile business reached $414bn in revenues in 2003, a TENfold increase in the decade since 1993, and accounting for more than a third of the global $1.1tn telecommunications market. 703mn mobile phones were sold in 2004, an almost 30% increase from the year before. More than a quarter of them were camera phones and 70% of them had color screens.

Here's another shocking statistic: Americans sent 2.5bn text messages/month last year. China? 15.6bn! The US mobile penetration rate doesn't seem so shockingly low anymore, does it? Only 1/4 of Americans use the SMS feature compared to over 3/4 of Britons. It's interesting how America is truly lagging when it comes to mobile communications. Some of my friends still do not text. Can you believe it? It's 2005! Not to mention most of them do not have camera phones, have never sent an e-mail much less an MMS, and have never used GPRS or surfed the web on their phones, ever.

Absolutely shocking :)

[mini tart] Oh my Britney Federline Spears. Big tart herself will be popping out a mini tart. This will be Federline's THIRD child *gasp*. I love gossip.

[php/xml ugh] NEW! homepage (beta) with a minor improvement to the "weather" section on the right. Instead of polling for an image file, I've managed to incorporate PHP (*WAY* harder than I thought it was gonna be) into my homepage and hopefully the weather will now "stream" via XML from Weather.com to my website. It's not ready for primetime yet (kinda buggy and weird outputs) but hopefully it works for you :) Click on the link and try it out. Y'like?

APR 11 :: [pretty in pink] So naturally, I rolled out of bed on Sunday morning and decided "Yes! I'll wear pink today... to match the cherry blossoms". I was so proud of myself for coming up with that until I saw half of the unwashed masses wearing the same color at the Tidal Basin. Hrmph.

Yes, the cherry blossoms dominated my weekend but first there was Friday night at Duplex where we ran into, oh, everybody and then danced the night away at Apex where, I swear, there were more people in the club than at the Pope's funeral. The cute-corn-fed-midwestern-farm-boy factor ratcheted up several notches the next night at Duplex (again! mais oui) where we ran into, oh, everybody else. That was after the gang-of-eight dinner at smokey-but-oh-so-yummy Yechon for Korean BBQ in Annandale. Best phrase from Saturday night: "Oh. My. Chlamydia Parker Bowels." LOL!

Oh right, Saturday. Hungover. Yoga. Or just hungover yoga, whichever. Missed my hag's (34th? gurrrrrrl...) birthday party (big pout). Booked a trip to LA for Memorial Day (more of a Mileage Run really, but yay!). Dinner. Duplex. Any questions?

And Sunday... well, you'll have to read on. It was a super-fetch weekend, ending on a high note with Gwen, Madonna, Britney, Xtina, Missy, JHo (*gasp) and Mariah (double *gasp*) in attendance at JR's and the cherry on top was another deliciously good Desperate Housewives. Read on! You must :)

[springtime in dc] Yesterday was one of those perfect spring days in DC that we all hear so much about. The sky was a gorgeous blue, the air was fresh and crisp (albeit pollen-laden), and the sun was beating down relentlessly on all the untanned masses. It was absolutely sensational.

It was a perfect 60+ when we (Tony/I + Andy, Evan/Henric and friend) set off to find brunch at around noontime. Well, silly us. EVERYone in Dupont Circle had the same idea. The line snaking out of Dupont Grille was so long we didn't even bother. We did run into Tom/G with a choice outside table and envious stares ensued. So we saunter up to Lauriol where a rooftop table magically appeared five minutes later. The day is saved! One bloody mary (only one?) and a yummy saltado (peruvian?) dish later, I am a happy camper and ready to Metro down to the Tidal Basin.

By the time we walked allllll the way down to the Tidal Basin - I have no idea how I get roped into all these walking activities - it was a beautiful and warm 70 degrees which was nice and toasty in the sun. Lemme tell ya, ALL of humanity was at the Tidal Basin this weekend. 17th Street was backed up to K (!) and the human traffic slowed to a crawl before we even got to Independence (!!). I think it took us a full 3 hours to circle the Tidal Basin. All this madness for 3000 trees that give out white/pink blossoms. Once a year. For a moment so brief that if you miss the only nice day to see them, you'll have to wait another year. Perhaps that's the allure. Human desire increases proportionately with the difficulty to attain such.

There were some unsightly displays like the mothers who let their kids climb the cherry trees, grab the branches and shake 'em, strip the flowers, etc. And there were the uncivilized out-of-towners who plucked the blossoms and tucked them behind their ears or in their pants. Lovely.

But all in all, it was the perfect shorts/T-shirt/flip-flops day. And the blossoms were gorgeous enough to overshadow the ridiculous crowds and long lines.

Until, that is, we had to walk back to Dupont Circle. Moan, groan, sigh, woe is me. Ben & Jerry's ice-cream at the Circle made it all better. There's something about springtime in Dupont Circle that's hard to describe. Samantha (of Sex and the City) put it best:

"First come the gays..." Gays don't need a good reason to (a) party or (b) take their shirts off and lie in the sun all day. And so there were those that have been "tanning" in the sun-drenched Circle since February (gasp!). Shirtless to boot.

"...then the girls..." with their pretty beach towels and their friends, laying around, covering every square inch of the grass and making instant hags of themselves by befriending the gays who've already been there since their first bloody mary this morning.

"...then the industry." And as spring rolls into summer, commercialism finds a way to take hold of Dupont Circle, with one festival after another, vendors selling everything under the sun and outdoor restaurants/cafes packed to the brim as the weather gets seasonably better.

The crowd at the Circle yesterday was, well, everybody. Tom/G made their second appearance of the day. Josh and his bf was there as well (also a reappearance from last night at Duplex but that's another story altogether). My favorite Brit-ch showed up with his pasty white chicken legs and unpedicured feet; love you but gurrrrrrl... ;-). After that, we all dragged our somewhat-tanned booties to JR's for Sunday night ($2) extravaganza where we slowly watched the light fade with vodka-cran in hand, ending another beautiful spring day in the City.

Ah yes, Dupont Circle is the epicenter of spring as far as I'm concerned. Nowhere else I'd rather be. Caution: warm and happy days around the corner!

[desperately dark] Spousal abuse galore, one more murder by the Young household, disturbed kids, spanking (and not in a good way). Desperate Housewives was more disturbing than funny last night. Maybe it's a good thing; gotta break the monotony of campy fun, all sunny days have to come to an end, all good things... that sorta thing.

The most disturbing parts were the spousal abuse, between Susan's mom and her live-in bf, and more importantly between Gabby and Carlos. Definitely not fetch. And the body-in-a-toy-chest thing was kinda eww.

Don't get me wrong, at its darkest it was still deliciously funny. Especially when Felicia (Mrs Huber's sister) blurts out in her deceased sister's home to Zach, "This is where good taste goes to die" as she scans around the hideous decor. LOL! Totally dark humor. And the Susan-and-momma-at-the-spa sight gag was still outrageously funny even though it's been overplayed to death in the previews.

It was also very heartbreaking to see Bree at her most vulnerable. She was completely composed even after she tried to poison her husband who wanted to divorce her but the way she looked so crushed when Andrew did not return her wave at the juvee camp was so sad. It's good to finally see her crack but my heart went out to her. Providing "education, love, a good, clean safe home" are the hallmarks of a good parent, so says Bree. And how right she is. Of course, then - as have been greatly anticipated - Andrew blurts out that he's gay. Giggle! It'll be fun to watch Republican and religious ol' Bree deal with this over the next few weeks. The last scene with her burying her face in her hands after she looks at Andrew's picture was foreboding of what every mother goes through after hearing such news.

So here's what I think happened: Mary Alice (aka Angela) stole Zach (aka Dana) from the hospital she worked at in Utah (with Felicia, gosh are you keeping up?). When Zach's real mother came to take him back, Mary Alice's husband (Paul) bludgeoned her to death, stuffed her (in pieces) in a toy chest and buried it under the floor of the pool. Paul dug it up recently, dumped it in a lake and voila, it resurfaces. Mrs Huber finds all this out and sends an extortionate note to Mary Alice (the now infamous "I know what you did" letter) causing Mary Alice to kill herself and be forever consigned to the role of narrator. I'm a genius!

"Yes, when they come, children change everything. Especially when they're not invited". Ooooooh yes, Gabrielle will be pregnant soon. Ahh, the juiciness never ends. So hooked. Can't wait. Love it!

APR 9 :: [pretty people] Yes, well I saw plenty of those last night at Duplex and Apex (hey, they rhyme!). I was only out till 3 ;p. Anyway, so this is no surprise, is it? They already get more attention and more looks so it's no surprise that they get more money doing and being. Now, if only I was taller and thinner. Giggle!

[eww-yuck] Charles and Camilla. 'Nuff said. And what on earth is she wearing on her head?! She looks like a rooster!

APR 8 :: [tgif] Wow, what a week. We had a crazy time sitting outside at Fox and Hound's on Wednesday in the 80+ degree heat with Rob and Tom/G and several others. I had two bloody marys and they were fetch! The warmth felt soooooo good (even though our waiter sucked). We then had dinner under the stars at Dupont Grille and it was quite an amazing meal. Last night was crazy at JR's. All-you-can-drink is sooooo evil but soooooooo fun. I was supposed to meet Nicole today for manis/pedis but I woke up late and am such a ditz so we're meeting for lunch instead. It's kinda dreary outside but not too bad (or rainy). This whole party-weekday thing has to stop soon. My new job is not gonna facilitate late-nights on weekdays (well, I don't think but you never know) so I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts.

So there, another end to a crazy week. The weekend promises to be busy as well from dancing tonight to dinner tomorrow and maybe even cherry blossoms somewhere in between. By looking at the cherry trees around my neighborhood, I can tell that the blossoms are definitely at peak bloom right now. How pretty!

Oh and one other thing: Buh-bye.

APR 7 :: [passport required] Finally, the US is gonna require passports for EVERYone (incl. US citizens) travelling to and from Panama/Bermuda/the Caribbean (12/31/05), Mexico/Canada by air/sea (12/31/06) and Mexico/Canada by land (12/31/07); based on volume of traffic, I presume. Previously, all you needed was a birth certificate to get back into the US after going to those countries and Canadians did not need to show their passports to enter the US. Talk about major security hole. At least now, the rules will be consistent for all countries regardless of proximity.

My only concern with this rule is that Canada might "retaliate" and require passports to enter their country. Previously, I have been entering Canada with my green card which means I didn't have to apply for a pretty expensive visa (which is required if entering with a Malaysian passport). They might do away with that rule which means my trips to Canada would be that much more of a hassle. Ugh. Oh well, I guess that goes away when I naturalize next year (or whenever).

Speaking of passports, I gotta get my passport renewed. It expires in less than 6 months and I won't be able to go to countries that have an expiration restriction. Not that it matters aaaaanyway coz my new job has a 30-day restriction on using vacation time. And at the rate I'm accruing (a measly day every 3 weeks of work!!), it would be a looooong time before I get to go on another long foreign extravaganza. Besides, I really don't want to renew my passport in DC - the embassy here is still issuing the old chip-less passport! grrr... - but I guess I don't have a choice since I won't make it back to KL anytime soon. Sigh. See all the misery I have to put up with by getting a new job?

And can you believe that only 20% of all Americans have passports?! Presumably they all live on the East and West Coasts (blue states!) ;)

[santos v vinick] Wow. West Wing last night was amazing! Bartlett helped to make Santos the Democratic nominee and Leo was elevated to a Vice Presidential candidate. What a twist. Santos-McGarry will now face Vinick-Sullivan in the General this November. The subplots were quite juicy as well - Charlie and Zoe, CJ's leak about the military space shuttle... Yikes! It's a cliffhanger but not quite. Only thing better (or more frustrating for the viewers) would've been not revealing the Santos-McGarry combo. But they did it anyway. Oh well. And if they win with Leo on the ticket, it almost guarantees staying power for Josh and maybe the rest of the original cast. Quite clever, IMO. Not a big fan of Leo's character but whatever, right?

I hope the next season of West Wing keeps up the quality displayed in the last two episodes - more substance, less character drama! Y'hear me?!

[housewives gone bad] Oh my. Hollywood = Ego. Natch.

[more dst?] Finally! Congress actually takes up meaningful legislation. As if on cue, right? How could would it be if we had DST from the first Sunday in Mar till the last Sun in November as proposed? Thanksgiving dinner would be held in daylight! (urm, or not...)

APR 6 :: [it's here! II] Spring (or summer?) is officially here! For a day, at least. Temperatures have climbed 4 degrees an hour from a low of 54 at 8am to 78 at 2pm! We're inching towards 79 now and only one degree away from 80. Woo! If we do get to 80, this would be our first 80 degree day since September. And much overdue, if you ask me. Of course, things go downhill again quickly and we'll be back to 40s/60s again this weekend and much of next week. Groan. I'm especially irked that it's gonna rain/storm just as the cherry blossoms are reaching peak bloom. What bad timing!!\

Mike/Gary are off to Italy today, Chris/Dave are in South Africa. Rick started a new job on Monday. I just got a new job. Life is good :)

[it's here!] Offer letter arrived at around 11am today. It's signed, sealed, faxed back to my new employers, and done. I will be starting my new job on Apr 18th barring any unforeseen circumstances. More details to follow.

Yay!!!

[earsplittingly bad] Oh my Britney Federline Spears, what the fuck was up with American Idols last night? Musicals night could've been so good but it turned out to be sheer torture for my ear drums. I am still impressed with the two black chicks who can perform AND sing (d'oh). The others, especially the guys, are beyond bad. And what is up with Paula? Is she like a contestant now? Standing and dancing and singing to the contestants, rousing up the crowd like a high school cheerleader on stage, and interrupting Simon like a 5yr old? What a moron. She adds no value to the show and should be thrown out. The two rockers sang worse than they looked and chubby guy was actually quite decent first off the gate but he looks too much like a felon to me. I reaaaaally don't like dreadlocks and Usher-lookalike. And hole-in-the-throat guy sang Climb Every Mountain and then fell off it in the end. What a joke. And don't even get me started about country singer bitch. She screams "red state".

So that's the wrap on AI4 - all the contestants are utterly deplorable and detestable. There's no one I want to rally behind. Fantasia sings tonight and that should be a show-stopper compared to all the doozies we've heard so far. Am I even gonna bother?

Speaking of TV, 24 on Monday night was heart-stoppingly fetch! What an ending. I was gripping the remote so hard (I had to watch it on TiVo) I almost crushed it with my bare hands (or not). AR7 last night was super boring and the Rob & Amber team are nauseating. I can't believe the brothers got the boot coz they were fun to watch even if they were a little ditzy. L&O|SVU last night was weird - no ending. The show ended with no verdict. The jury was about to read the verdict and the screen went black after "we find the defendant...". Argh!

Not having a good TV week. Or even a good week. I promised I would have some good news by now but it's taking its own sweet time (grrrr). Still, it's hard to complain in 70s and 80s spring weather ;)

[blair v howard] Oh my, this is gonna be nasty! Blair has asked the queen to dissolve parliament and campaigning will start next week after the Pope's funeral. Campaign issues include public services like health and education, immigration, civil liberties, and then there's the big daddy - the Iraq War. The Tories look strong and getting stronger by the day *cringe*. Almost nothing is certain at this point. But two things are for sure: Labour will not keep their 161-seat majority they now enjoy in the House of Commons, and there will be a bloodbath campaign season leading up to May 5th. Woo!

APR 5 :: [nationals!... lose] Sigh. What a great start, eh? After 30+ years away from DC, the Nationals lose their franchise debut to the Phillies by 4-8. This was the first regular-season game for a Washington team in 34 years. And they lost. At least RFK was ready for the crowds. Speaking of RFK, it's gonna get a new name? Fun. The price of the new stadium on the Anacostia waterfront has gone up to $581mn. HOK Sport (design team behind 10 of the 14 newest major league ballparks) has been recommended to design the new ballpark. And everything has to be ready by Mar 2008. That's three years! Oh boy, they better start clearing the land soon (bye-bye, strippers).

Whatever it is boys and girls, baseball is back in town!

APR 4 :: [new and exciting] I think I may have new and exciting news on the job front some time tomorrow afternoon. I won't celebrate yet until I've actually signed the job offer letter but it's oh-so-close now. Stay tuned!!

[desperately funny] The funniest part about Desperate Housewives last night was the preview to next week's episode when Susan kicks her pedicurist in the face in shock after her mother announces she's gonna move it with her. LOL! You should've seen it. And Andrew's gonna reveal his big gay secret, giggle. Ohmibeyonce, did you see Bree's funeral outfit? Very fetch. Better when she redirects the funeral procession going awry: "All right, people. We're going to follow the body, this way please." LOL!!

All new episodes till the end of May sweeps. It's desperately delicious!!

[i don't care] Forgive me for not getting teary or remotely interested in the Pope's death/funeral/beatification/canonization/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. Sure, the Pope is a force of good and peace (very admirable) and spiritual guardian and leader and blah blah blah. But, hmm, let's see - the Pope made a huge deal about contraceptives, regardless of whether it prevented the spread of AIDS or was a vital component of women's reproductive health. Along those lines, the Pope also condemned modern feminism because it led to the acceptance of homosexuality. The Pope calls homosexuality a "deviant behavior", and launched a global campaign against same-sex marriage. And the most disgusting of all, Pope John Paul II railed against the acceptance of same-sex marriage in Europe as part of a "new ideology of evil".

I'm sorry, I cannot feel sorry/love for a man who calls me "evil". May he rest in peace but devoid of admiration and affection, at least in my book.

[rain, rain, go away] OK, I know the whole April showers bring May flowers thing but did it have to rain THAT much? And did it have to do it on a Saturday night? Good God. Walking home from dinner on Sat night was drenching and bone-chilling. Not fetch. And then we started walking to Barry/Jimmy's for the party but cabbed it instead. Seriously. 2+ inches of rain over the weekend?! I swear if it had rained one more day, I was gonna start building an ark.

Doesn't it seem like it's rained a lot during the weekends lately? We've now had rain the past three weekends in a row. Seriously not fetch. And the rain/cold weather is not helping the cherry blossoms either. The peak bloom date has been pushed back to Apr 8. The blossoms are starting to come out and will, hopefully, be in glorious full bloom when the parade rolls around on Saturday (9th).

It does look like we'll have a few nice days ahead (sunny and high 60s) until the next storm rolls in on, yup you guessed it, Friday. Just in time to wash out the peak blooms of the cherry blossoms. Mother Nature is very cruel. Of course it's going to rain this weekend *eyes rolling*

[screwed by dst] Ohmibritneyfederlinespears, I was quite happy with myself for getting up early this morning as I looked at the clock and realized, "Ooh 9 o'clock! That's early for me :)" Well, I came downstairs and spotted a DST-adjusted clock and of course, it said TEN. Ugh. DST is such a bitch.

Don't get me wrong, I *love* DST. I love the extra hour of sunlight and the onset of DST is a sure sign that warmer temperatures are here to stay (fingers-crossed). I just don't like the fall-back part in autumn when it reverts back to standard time. I don't get it. Who would want an extra hour of sunlight in the MORNING?!

But springing forward still means losing an hour of sleep on the night you need it most - Saturday night. I thought I had gone to bed at 3 but instead it was 4. That almost matches my hijinks in N'Awlins the Saturday before when I went to bed at 5. Well, it gets better. I was up till 3 (or 4) for both Friday AND Saturday nights. Giggle. Fri was a cornucopia of bars before we ended up at Apex to dance the night away. Sat was Mike/Gary's *sniff* farewell party followed by even more dancing at Fuego. Hehe. I'm such an unstoppable force of ass-shaking fun.

Weekend is over. I gotta get me a fine new job this week. Wish me luck!

APR 2 :: [ding dong] The Pope is dead.

APR 1 :: [$1.21mn] Ohmibeyonce! Is this for real?? That's insane! $910/sq ft?! That's easily double the prices of DC condos. That's just crazy. It's even more crazy when you realize that the article states condos are averaging $1.55mn (!!!) and co-ops are slightly under a million bucks. Mind-boggling numbers. At $910/sq ft, our house would be worth $2.3mn! Can we pick it up and move it to Manhattan? How can anyone afford a rowhouse in The Village?

[no april fool's] I can't lie or deceive for the life of me (which means according to Desperate Housewives, I've never faked an orgasm in my life *giggle*) so this day is lost on me. But when Gmail (Google's lovely web-mail service) launched last year today, everyone thought it was a hoax that they're giving away 1GB of space per account. Well, guess what? They've up the ante to 2GB on their 1st anniversary. Fetch! My work and home e-mail accounts combined don't add up to 2GB. Maybe I should just put everything on Gmail (that's the whole point of Google doing this, isn't it?). Pretty soon, Google and its many services is gonna be indispensable.

I remember coveting and begging for a Gmail account for the longest time until I finally got it a few months ago. Now, I have so many I can't give it away fast enough. I love it and I'm keeping it :)

The Washington Monument reopens today, yay! My family was here two months ago and they couldn't go up the Monument so this is good news. Between the Target-sponsored, scaffolding-sheathed refurbishment a few years back and this "security enhancement", it seems like the Monument has been closed more often than it has opened. If you've never been up the Monument, get a ticket online and go (waiting in line is so passe). The views are incredible.

Just in time, I must say, for the Cherry Blossom festival! I've been driving by the Tidal Basin regularly for the past few days and the cherry blossoms have definitely NOT peaked yet. Not even close. They're still saying that peak bloom is in 3 days but I have no idea how. Maybe they'll all just burst open on Apr 4th or something *shrug*. Well, even if the blossoms haven't peaked yet, the tourist buses and screaming school children are definitely starting to bloom. Ugh. Welcome to Washington, DC in April! Springtime in the capital is lovely.

[vodka whore] Yup, that pretty much describes last night at all-you-can-drink-for-$9 JR's, giggle. EVERYbody was there; Chris, PR-Andy (Puerto Rico Andy), WB-Andy (White Boy Andy), Gary, Mikko, etc. Ran into Rick there but that's his home so no surprises there, giggle. Of course, a prominent shout out to Phillip who showed up AFTER the skanky happy hour, the classy Brit-ch that she is ;) Ohmibeyonce. (new spelling courtesy of kicked-out-of-Bourbon-Pub Ed from Vancouver ;) )

Noticed a trend - they play great pop/hip-hop/top40 music between 5 and 8 and alluvasudden it goes downhill to classic-bore-yawn music after that. What gives? Oh well, I got my fix though. Gwen, Beyonce, Xtina, Britney, Madonna, etc. Toldcha EVERYone was there :D

[text whore] You won't believe this if I toldyou but I have sent and received *drumroll* 844 text messages in the past 23 days and I have 7 days left on my billing cycle! That's close to 40 texts a day! Insane. I'm such a text whore. Thank God for my 1000 text messages plan. Oops, I only have 156 left for a week so I'm thinking I need to budget accordingly. Giggle.

More >>

30 :: 30 years
29 :: most watched
29 :: caved in
28 :: wynn-credible
28 :: loetschberg
27 :: musing
27 :: all-in-one
27 :: she flies!
25 :: just another monday
25 :: no washer?
22 :: earth day
21 :: best days
21 :: paris v nicole
21 :: it's like that
21 :: retro tuesdays
20 :: ct civil unions
19 :: benedict xvi
18 :: mindless factoid
18 :: first day bust
17 :: companions
16 :: oh. my.
16 :: stadium mania
16 :: groggy
15 :: 6 years...
15 :: fork it up
15 :: metro crowds
14 :: 12,250
14 :: bittersweet
14 :: php-enabled
13 :: wow
13 :: trading... jobs
12 :: mobile mania
12 :: mini tart
12 :: php/xml ugh
11 :: pretty in pink
11 :: springtime in dc
11 :: desperately dark
09 :: pretty people
09 :: eww-yuck
08 :: tgif
07 :: passport required
07 :: santos v vinick
07 :: housewives gone bad
07 :: more dst?
06 :: it's here! II
06 :: it's here!
06 :: earsplittingly bad
06 :: blair v howard
05 :: nationals!... lose
04 :: new and exciting
04 :: desperately funny
04 :: i don't care
04 :: rain, rain go away
04 :: screwed by dst
02 :: ding dong
01 :: $1.21mn
01 :: no april fool's
01 :: vodka whore
01 :: text whore