July 31, 2006
[wild weekend] I totally need a weekend to recover from this past weekend - my first three-nights-of-partying weekend in a month. It was the drunken trifecta ;-)
The work-stress-induced alcoholic binge started on Friday immediately after work. In fact, I was still in work clothes at 3am Saturday morning! I felt nasty, but so passed out drunk I didn't care. As you've read by now, things went from tragic (Lucky Bar) to orgasmic (oysters, baby) to fetch (Halo) to tawdry (Cobalt) in a 7-hour alcoholic blitz which ran the gamut - beer, white wine, ginger cucumber martinis, and vodka-crans. Kwazy dwunk! That's what happens when one works past 7pm on a Friday.
I was literally so passed out drunk, I needed directions to get home. Thank God that Tony left a trail of breadcrumbs for me to find my way home (or as Adam calls it - crumbled rice cakes).
Saturday was painful. Saturday night started off at JR's with Brett, Adam/Patrick/Michelle, Chris and Jason. And once again, we ended up at Cobalt, dancing till 2+am. Shenanigans quickly ensued at Cobalt, where Chris got the night going with Jaeger shots. Still fresh from my dumpster-heaving St(ank) Tragic's Day event, I gave my shot away! *giggle* And the night just went downhill from there. Jason's "dance partner" had a straight friend in tow so without missing a beat, Jason walks up to said str8 boy and pronounces, "my friend's straight, go get her" while pointing at Brett. LOL!!! I love it.
Brett took him home. She didn't wake up happy though. Apparently - and this is all hearsay, lol! - he was, how shall I put it, phallically-challenged.
Saturday night ended much better than Friday night - Patrick drove me home! *giggle*
Fast forward to Sunday, and the "Continuations of Libations" fetch-tivities started at 1pm at Drunk-Brunch Beacon with Adam/Patrick/Michelle, Jenn/Mischa, Pablo (who?), and some Chicago transplants new to DC (double who?). And the drinking didn't stop till 9pm.
:-o
Eight whole hours of liver-punishing fun, fetch!
Anywho, Brett's little story (pun intended) made for a fantastic 2 hours of hillarious conversation at brunch. It was teeny-weenie fun indeed. I, the mathematically-inclined, needed hard (or lack thereof) numbers. I asked Brett: "So how many inches?". She gave me a blank stare. "Centimeters?". *pause*. "Millimeters??". She laughs. I was like, "Was it a noseplug??". Then Adam - aka gAyDD queen - looks at Brett and says, "Brettina Size-Queena!". LOL! Love it.
When Patrick and I - aka the "I'll see your Bitchy, and raise you Cunty" Queens - get drunk, we get vicious. We labeled Michelle the LCD / Latino Cump Dumpster and Brett the DDW / Dirty Diseased Whore *giggle*. In the name of endearing fun, of course ;-) Michelle told some Staples Easy Button story ("That's Easy!") and Brett had a Tickle Me Elmo (aka Fuck Me Elmo) story to match. Patrick told a gut-bustingly funny "I'm such a lucky girl" story involving str8 porn *shudder*. I regurgitated my "I broke Jake" story. Jenn told her "Eaten out in the bathroom at Avalon" story. BTW, Jenn was Miss "I used to wake up to Biscuits and Blowjobs, and then I broke up with my bf and now it's Pancakes and Porn".
It was dirty stories and filthy nicknames all the way. Fierce. Yup, this is what happens when you give a bunch of queers (and hags) unlimited mimosas.
The whole gang retired back to our place for more mimosas and vodka libations. It was an incredibly warm day so we sat inside. By the time we left the house at 5, my hangover had started to kick in. I had an intense headache, but it was Sunday and JR's was calling our names. So, Brett, M2, Tony and I marched through the swamp-like conditions to our Sunday Mass - $2 Sundays at JR's.
I paced myself but still, after 4+ hours of drinking, even 1 drink an hour (i.e. 4 more drinks) was putting me over the edge. Ran into lots of peeps - Greg/Andy, Chris/Dave, etc. The usual suspects. And luckily for me (again!), Leo drove me home at 9. I ate an enormous dinner and passed out cold before Desperate Housewives was over.
And the workweek is here again! Ugh. Yes, a wild weekend indeed ;-) @ 21:05
[got lucky] I had to drive to the boonies again today (28 miles each way!) for work but I ain't complaining. It was a hot morning (92° heat index at 9am!), which only got sweatingly worse as the day progressed; hitting a high of 96° (102° heat index). So, not having to walk to and from work was heaven sent. Plus, I got to do lunch with my fav hag Nik! I can't believe I had not seen her in almost 3 months.
I have to drive out there again tomorrow (groan) and I ain't complaining either coz tomorrow has been forecasted to be the hottest day in 4 years. No walking for me, thanks.
We are on track to hit 100+ the next few days. The heat index is gonna be above 90° at its coolest, and 110° at its peak.
Sizzling, baby! @ 20:12
[six years] The only shocking thing about United Airlines posting a $119mn profit this past quarter (on revenues of $5.11bn) was that it was their first quarterly profit in SIX years.
What company can lose money for 6 years in a row and still stay in business?
Airline companies, that's what.
Ain't bankruptcy protection great? I *heart* UA! @ 19:07
July 30, 2006
[tragedy] I use the term tragic lightly. Often times referring to benign events in my daily routine as tragic - like the ridiculously humid weather in DC, or manual labor *giggle*. What? I'm a drama queen :-p
When you look at the far bigger picture, tragedy describes events that shake your core and rattle your belief in humanity. Events like war.
We have also been so conditioned to violence in our daily lives that nothing shakes our cores and beliefs anymore.
But once in awhile, something comes along that lays everything to waste.
A "mistake" today (day 19 of the Israel-Hizbollah war) committed by the Israeli war machine destroyed a four-story residential building in Qana, Lebanon which was being used to house refugees. 54 people were murdered at the press of one button - including 37 children. Many of the children were handicapped, which is why they were in the war zone of Southern Lebanon to begin with. They had no way out. And now, they're dead.
Dead because of a US-backed Israeli war against Hizbollah that has completely wrecked an entire nation. Dead because Israel decided to carpet-bomb a neighboring country with US-made fighter planes, bombs and military technology, all because of two kidnapped soldiers. Dead because the world has allowed Israel to kill civilians on the charge that Hizbollah fighters are hiding amongst the civilians. That's like shooting at a crowd of innocent people just to kill the criminal.
Dead because of the absence of a single call for ceasefire or, at the very least, restraint from the United States.
"For one thing, the world -- or at least its only superpower -- seems to care more about Jewish than Arab suffering. How else do you explain that the United States has aided and abetted its client state as it creates half a million refugees on the pretext of two kidnapped soldiers?"
At last count, 800,000 refugees. That's 1/5th of the country. 542 dead, maybe even up to 750. Perspective? Imagine 60mn displaced and 42,000 dead Americans.
And the war, no the murders continue.
When you start the war, laying waste to nations with sophisticated killing machines, you immediately lose the moral high ground. It really doesn't matter how noble your goal is. The attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are blatant breaches of international humanitarian law, or otherwise known as war crimes. Nothing justifies that. Absolutely nothing. If any other nation had committed such an atrocity, the world would've acted immediately sans a US veto.
What is it with the United States and Israel that their leaders immediately resort to "shock and awe" - overwhelming force - when threatened? Consequently snowballing a minor incident into full-scale hostilities which inevitably result in massacres of innocent civilians?
"Hezbollah has no air force or air defences. So the Israeli air force - one of the best in the world - has been able to drop a constant barrage of bombs for the past two weeks on Lebanon, where civilians are essentially defenceless."
"More than 600 Lebanese have been killed, according to the Lebanese Health Minister more than 10 times the Israeli death toll."
"By now, the Israeli civilian population has been largely evacuated from northern Israel, where Hezbollah rockets can strike, to the safe central and southern parts of the country. For millions in Lebanon... no such safe haven exists."
"So the refusal of the U.S... to call for a ceasefire amounts to an endorsement of a slaughter of completely unprotected people."
"Once again, a slaughter is taking place in Lebanon, only this time those allowing the slaughter to take place are running the governments of the United States..."
It makes me sick and viscerally disgusted when I encounter a person who is pro-war. It doesn't even make me angry anymore. I just get sad.
Sad at humanity.
Don't mistake my lack of anger as acceptance of the status quo. Do I still wish that Olmert and Bush were tried for war crimes? Heck yea. @ 09:50
July 29, 2006
[work shit] I've been a busy, busy bee at work. I was actually at work till 7:15pm yesterday. On a Friday! Ugh, I know. I'm really not a workaholic, but work's just been busy. Not that I'm complaining or anything, coz it beats being bored! Not to mention I get overtime, wheeeee! What is that, like time-and-a-half? *shrug* Yup, I'm going hourly for the first time ever. It feels quite weird.
My boss is out all of next week - she's going to Vegas... for a "conference", lol! - so when the cat's away, the mouse comes out to play! *giggle* I doubt that's gonna happen though.
It hasn't been all work and stress. We do have quite a bit of fun while working. We took a field trip out to the boonies (I'm only bitching coz I have to go again next week) to go replace a piece of hardware. We took the company minivan - a Honda Odyssey. Fancy, huh? Let's just say the organization is rich ;-)
So we get there, and we were sposed to extract some components - hard drive, network modules, etc. - from the old box and put them in the new box. The old box was already racked, so we had to unrack it to get to the chassis. Lemme tell ya, this m-f-er weighed a ton! And to make things worse, it was racked at the very bottom with a whole bunch of stuff above it - the worst of all possible scenarios. It took three of us to unrack this sucker - one to perform acrobatics to reach the screws and unscrew, and two people to keep the thing lifted off the ground in the front and back. It was quite an ordeal.
We got it out eventually, and removed the bazillion teeny tiny screws from the top to crack open the box. We moved the components to the new box and re-screwed everything. We then had to rerack it and that was another 3-person, 10-minute job. Turned it on... and the damn thing wouldn't boot up. We were like, "fuck! we forgot one component!". And then, "double fuck! we have to unrack this thing and rerack it again?!!". Oh, you have no idea how annoyed we were.
Just as we were unracking it again, I accidentally pulled the front panel and the damn thing came loose. I pulled it all out, and guess what? The whole effing chassis pulls out of the shell. &#$?@!!! Yup, we could've done the whole component-swap without unracking this thing. Argh. Well, at least we didn't have to unrack it the second time around. It took less than 5 minutes to transfer the final component over.
We felt like the dumbest smart ppl on the planet.
Anywho, frustration called for a HUGE all-you-can-eat 2-hour lunch at this Korean BBQ/Chinese buffet/Sushi buffet place. It was riotous. We ate an entire village's worth of beef, chicken and pork. OMB. It was like a meat-lovers' paradise. We were in hog heaven. I, of course, loaded up on a ridiculous amount of raw fish. All for $12!
Speaking of lunch and lunch prices... Lunches cost a LOT more in NW than they did in SW. In fact, SW was like the cheapest place to eat (compared to Tysons or Rockville - both places I worked at before). I haven't paid less than $12 for lunch since I started working in NW, except at the cafeteria. And even the cafeteria costs an arm and a leg! It's almost impossible to get food and drink downstairs for less than ten bucks.
Malaysia Kopitiam, Mai Thai, Kaz Sushi Bistro, Sushi Express, etc. It's like a roll call of DC's ethnic restaurants. The post-lunch trip to Juice Zone ($4 OJs, anyone?) and/or Starbucks ($4 lattes, anyone?) is almost obligatory. My co-workers and I are fantastic at spending money for our tummies. And y'know what? I ain't complaining coz the food is good, good for me (sushi, yay!), and we always end up with 2-hour lunches. Hot! And my co-workers are a riot.
Well, most of them ;-)
Yea, I love my new job. @ 18:03
[heatwave] A heatwave is bubbling in DC. Highs have hit 94° for the past two days. Highs will stay above 90° all weekend, and threatens to hit 100° on Tuesday, the first day of August, for the first time since August 13th, 2002. Wow, can you believe it's been 4 years since?
The humidity that DC is notoriously known for will, of course, make it feel like 110+.
This is a fun little factoid: The world's 15 hottest years have all been recorded in the past 20.
Anywho, this heatwave may be longer than the one 2 weeks ago when highs stayed above 90° for five consecutive days. That's nothing compared to what California went has been going through the past two weeks. Temps in Sacramento soared into the triple digits for 11 consecutive days, hitting 111° (44°C!!) last Sunday. Or Vegas - 24 100+ days this month, 7 of them above 110° :-o
I know it's a dry heat and all (humidity is evil), but still...
It's not even a laughing matter, like "haha it cooler in DC than in CA", coz the nearly two-week heave wave killed as many as 141 people.
And that heat is coming to the East Coast.
August has a reputation for being the hottest month of the year, but the stretch between July 16th and 27th has the highest average high temperature in DC in recorded history - a sweltering 89°F (32°C). In fact, the highest temperature ever recorded in DC fell on July 20th (76 years ago) when temps hit 106°. The average temperatures for all of July and August are 79.2° and 77.4°.
No wonder DC empties out in the summer. It's too friggin' hot!
And I love it. @ 09:10
[off my ass] This pretty much describes last night:
Stella on tap @ Lucky "Ba" with Brett: Free
24 Kumamoto's @ Hank's with Chris/Dave: $60
2 Ginger Cucumber Martinis @ Halo: $24
Licking a str8 guy's body on the dancefloor @ Cobalt at 2am: Priceless
Waking up this morning so drunk off my ass I tripped on the way to the bathroom: Worth paying for
Some things money just can't buy... Like a sultry summer weekend night out and about in Dupont! @ 08:09
July 28, 2006
[at long last] After NINE years of flying back and forth to Asia, United has finally announced today that it is gonna launch the IAD-NRT nonstop route beginning Oct 28th.
Yay!!! No more connecting in O'Hare! This is awesome, AWEsome news. This means one hop to Singapore (IAD-NRT-SIN) on UA, and no more worries about snow delays in Chicago.
There are some downsides still. Dulles is a shithole, and cabbing there and back is astronomically expensive. The equipment is a 777 which means less upgrade space compared to a 747, and no upper-deck *pout*. And finally, the flight into Singapore still lands late enough that I have to overnight there b4 going up to KL. Similarly, the flight leaves Singapore early enough that I have to overnight there again on the way back to the States.
But this is still a huge improvement - in terms of time and convenience - over the previous DCA-ORD-NRT/HKG-SIN arrangement.
So awesome! @ 11:40
July 27, 2006
[fetch speak] It's been almost a year since I added anything to the "Fetch Speak" gaytionary. Oh, there have been plenty of candidates, but I guess I've just been lazy.
Anyways, here's today's (this year's?) entry, culled from conversations last night at Halo 2-4-1 (or BOGOF - buy one get one free - as Rick affectionately calls it) with Gary/Adrian, Jason and some dude (can't remember his name) who labeled me with this word:
Entry: Ma.gay.sian
Function: adjective or noun
Meaning: 1. a gay native or inhabitant of Malaysia
Usage: In this context:-
(After a lengthy conversation about how I'm *NOT* from California, and I've only been in this country for 9 years, but I speak English better than people who have been here since the slave-trading days... Yes, "I speaking Engrish soh guud".)
Dude:: So where are you from originally?
Me:: I grew up in Malaysia.
Dude:: Oh, so you're Magaysian?
Me:: *spits out ginger cucumber martini*
I know, alcohol abuse.
See what fun things I learn when I go out? I should do it more often... As if, LOL! @ 08:02
July 26, 2006
[der!] File this under "D" for "DER!": "I'm gay".
The coupling of Lance Bass and Reichen Lehmkuhl has *got* to be the worst kept secret in Hollywood. @ 15:54
July 23, 2006
[vetoing henry] The tale of a mother's grief on WaPo.
"It was meant to be uplifting: President Bush, surrounded by children who had been "adopted" as embryos, vetoing a bill to permit federally funded human embryonic stem cell research. The children were meant to be props, reminders of the lives his veto would supposedly save. But all I could think about were the children who will be lost because of the politics being played by the White House and on Capitol Hill."
"Hospitals are filled with children whose lives depend on medical advances that hold the promise of stalling or even reversing fatal disease. During last week's ceremony in the White House East Room, Bush justified his veto by saying that the bill 'would support the taking of innocent human life.' But the East Room isn't big enough for all the additional innocent lives that will be lost as a result of his decision."
Articles like these leave you speechless. And galvanized for Nov '06. @ 10:19
July 22, 2006
[naran ji] I have a fetish (well, more than one... but let's focus on just one for now). It's for expensive hand wash / liquid soap. I just can't stand using the cheap stuff (fyi, that applies to most things). They're never strong enough to wash away the nasty stuff and smells on your fingers (yes, I'm a clean freak).
I used to use L'Occitane's lavender thingmajiggie. At $14, even I was a little stunned at my ability to spend that much for what boils down to branded liquid soap. It wasn't that great so when it ran out, I decided I needed something else.
So I waltzed into Blue Mercury one day on Conn Ave. I immediately zeroed in on the Molton Brown stuff. I looooove Molton Brown. The Brits do it better. Anywho, it was a toss up between Thai Vert (green) and Naran ji (yellow)... so I picked yellow. It smelt good.
I wasn't really paying attention, so when the cash register person - who was oh so sweet, btw - rung it up and said, "That would be $24.32, please.. how would you like to pay?", I was like, "What??!". I picked up the bottle, looked at the bottom and sure enough - $23.00.
:-o
OMB, that is like the most expensive liquid soap. Ever. Even high-maintenance ol' me thought that that was too too much to pay for hand wash.
I half contemplated putting it back. But the cash register person was oh so sweet and lemme tell ya, at those prices? They'd have to be... AND offer to wipe my ass.
It took me 5 seconds before I whipped it out and gave her my credit card. I felt bad for, oh, 3 minutes after that.
Now I just love my new second mortgage-worthy hand wash. Yay, me! Or rather: Yay, fingers! @ 17:22
[31,528] That's how many people the US Census Bureau suddenly decided that they undercounted in Washington DC, and bumped July 1st, 2005 population estimates for DC to 582,049 which is slightly above the last actual count of 572,059 in 2000. The original estimate was 550,521 people - a loss of about 12 residents a day, everyday for the past 5 years.
Anywho, this amounts to the largest increase in DC's population - reversing a 56-year decline in population - since 1950 when the decennial census recorded 802,178 people living in DC.
That may not last long after WaPo's article today about how Washingtonians are streaming northwards to Baltimore at a rate of 7,000/year (from DC to Baltimore alone) for cheap housing. In the first half of this year, the average price of a home sold in Baltimore was $170,000 compared with $532,033 in DC. A four-bedroom house in Baltimore averaged $273,000 vs. $1,098,500 in DC. And rowhouses with two or fewer bedrooms cost an average of $183,505 in Baltimore and $417,540 in DC.
Shocking, isn't it? I wonder how many rowhouses we can own in Baltimore if we sold our house in Dupont?
Nahhh, never going to happen. Banish that thought! @ 12:17
[not so bad] Bureaucracy is such a dirty word. It inspires so much dread even before one experiences it.
But... Bureaucracy is also the source of inspiration for countless of blogposts across cyberspace. Coz let's face it, what brings the people together - especially random strangers over the internet - more than the all-too-familiar stories of having to endure dealing with the government? Misery loves to be shared and retold.
So it comes as a genuine surprise - no, shock even - that my trip to Wheaton yesterday afternoon to get fingerprinted for my application for US citizenship was over with in less than 5 minutes. Total. From entering the door to leaving.
:-o
I know, right? I even got to fill out a feedback form - which I put in the suggestion box - where I got to grade my dealings with the government. Who knew? The government actually cares about what its citizens think about their level of service. I thought I was on candid camera, and I kept checking for black devices mounted on the ceilings. I mean, wouldn't you?
I was literally one of only 5 people at the center when I got there 10 minutes before my appointment time. I brought my green card, and they made me fill out a form. Although there were 5 other people filling out the same form when I got there - they all looked like they needed a Spanish form - I finished first and jumped straight to number one for the fingerprinting. I barely sat down when they called my number.
The worst part about the whole experience was the drive there. It took me 45 minutes, coz the friggin' beltway was jam-packed from the 270 spur all the way to Georgia Ave. I cannot imagine going through "the squiggly" (those of you who live in MoCo know what I'm bemoaning about) on a daily basis. I'd rather slit my wrist. The drive back to the office, on the other hand, was a breeze.
The best part? They don't use ink for capturing your fingerprints anymore, which is a good thing coz they take all TEN fingerprints. They now place your fingers on a computer scanner thingie, which they meticulously clean with windex and alcohol before EACH finger. I thought I was at the CDC instead of the USCIS.
I've always dreaded the ink. But more annoying than the ink, I dreaded the rough fingerprint-taking person who would try to twist your finger in a way your finger joints aren't supposed to rotate in order to capture a "positive" match of your fingerprints.
OK, none of you have any idea what I'm talking about, do you? You've probably never been fingerprinted in your entire life. Me? I've given my set of fingerprints to the US government so many times I swear they're gonna ask for my toeprints (yes, all 11 of them) the next time.
Anywho, I had a female fingerprint-taking person this time around. She was gloved, gentle... and an immigrant, who barely spoke English and/or understood my banter with her (what? I talk to everybody). How fitting.
When she offered me Purell after the ink-less and germ-less fingerprinting process, I squealed. She laughed.
All told, I spent a little under 90 minutes for this little piece of bureaucratic hassle. Not bad. Not bad at all.
I feel more American already ;-) @ 11:58
July 20, 2006
[uncle tony] I can finally say I had a girl sit on my face *giggle*.
And she was 3 years old :-o
No, not that way. Eww, perv!
Tony has 9 nieces and nephews. Rachel, Allison, Lauren, Abby, Addison... Jason, Matthew, William, and Branden. They are the cutest things in the world, ranging from ages 3 to 10. Totally adorable. Mostly well-behaved. And riotous when put together.
Both Abby and Addison (the youngest of the lot) looked at me like they had never seen yellow before, and decided to make me their newest play toy. Tony and I gave them piggyback rides, and we played tag until they were ready to pass out from exhaustion. Fun. At one point, I was pretty exhausted and laying on the couch. And Addison decided to make my stomach her trampoline and starts jumping up and down on my belly. Then Abby sat on my face and suffocated me. Double fun.
Then they both started bouncing on me like I was a big yellow ball. So cute.
Other than that, the reunion was a big snoozefest. A whole bunch of ppl I never see and don't really care about, yet forced to interact with in a confined environment and with nothing to say to each other. Fun, huh?
Pictures of Tony playing "Uncle" with Abby and Addison:
Abby and Addison: Abby is to the left
Abby and Addison: Aren't they the cutest?
Escaping and going to see Dead Man's Chest was fun. The storyline needed some work, but it definitely got me in the mood for Pirates III opening next Memorial Day. The only other thing that was memorable - and not in a good way - was having pizza, BBQ and fried chicken for the reunion meals.
And you wonder why Americans are obese. I very emphatically made up for all that icky food with sushi twice this week. Yum. @ 22:39
[disgusting] This is what happens when you force religion into science. And politics.
It is especially disgusting when the President and his religious right-wing fundamentalist whacks cram it down the nation's throat. Yet another sad day for America in a string of tragic mistakes coming from this Administration.
I have no issues with religion - whether it be Jesus, God, Buddha, Vishnu, Allah... or Beyoncé - as long as you don't force it on me.
Surely, only the weak and insecure need to foist their beliefs on others. @ 09:26
July 19, 2006
[made it] It took a little longer this year (one extra week), but I (well, we) crossed the 50,000-mile threshold into Premier Exec status this past weekend with the KC trip (see? It was good for something after all). Not that it means anything since I already have 1K status for the rest of the year. But come Feb 2007 when my 1K status expires, I will at least be Premier Exec until Feb 2008. And that's all important for the 100% bonus miles!
I'm on track to hit 80k by the end of the year, even without including Bali and Japan which are both paid for with miles. Not sure if I want to shoot for actual 1K. We'll see. We only have 1 SWU left that must be used by Jan 2007. I'm thinking New Year's trip? :-)
We do have 7 Confirmed Regionals (free upgrade anywhere in North America) in the bank. Those are good for DC-LA/SF upgrades.
We have upgrades and miles coming out of our asses. Such a slave to UA. But that's only coz we get to use our miles on Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa! Wheeeee... @ 18:48
[hazy dc] Flying into DCA this past Sunday, it was super hot and super muggy. I love the approach into DCA on a cloudless day. The panoramas of the city are amazing.
[left] Kennedy Ctr, TR Bridge, Memorial Bridge, Lincoln and Washington Monument
[right] The National Mall - Lincoln, Washington, Capitol, White House, and Jefferson
[left] Pentagon in the foreground, and the 14th St Bridge
[right] National Airport
Speaking of hazy, it got up to 97° today! The heat index was an unbearable 99° as I was walking home. I was starting to sweat about halfway home (yes I had to walk... Tony is in Nashville), and by the time I got home I had a ring of sweat around my collar. Yuck.
Humidity, not fetch. @ 00:39
[good news, bad news] Good news: The constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage failed in the House as well, after falling short in the Senate last month. And the Senate passed a bill to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
Bad news: The same-sex marriage amendment in the House actually got 236 votes, 10 more than two years ago. And Bush is gonna veto the stem cell research bill which passed by 63-37, four votes short of the veto-override (two-thirds majority) threshold.
Codifying hatred and discrimination in the Constitution, and denying funding for science is not "American values". It's just plain mean.
Social conservatism is disgusting, back-asswards, and must be defeated. @ 00:22
July 17, 2006
[hd-tastic] Ten months has passed since we put up the 42" plasma in the Queen Suite (aka our bedroom). The Princess Suite also has a 32" LCD screen, which we bought when Jason moved in. The living room was the only non-flat screen TV/monitor in the house. And it was feeling quite left out.
Well, not anymore. Today, Circuit City delivered a Panasonic plasma so big, the one in the bedroom looks like a PC monitor. 50" of stunning Hi-Def television reinforces the old adage that size (hi-)definitely does matter. And $800 off the list price (plus 18 months interest-free financing) sealed the deal for me ;-)
OMB, this thing is HUGE. And I can't stop watching it. I think I'm gonna be watching it all night and into the morning, lol! The picture is not only huge, but phenomenally life-like. I almost feel like I'm *in* the picture. When they showed a chef cleaning a fish and prepping it for cooking, my mouth watered just looking at the startlingly realistic (and delicious-looking) fish on the TV.
I'm gonna channel a lil' Bush and exclaim that this thing is the SHIT!
Once you go HD, you'll never go back. And 50" is the BOMB!
The wall mount is in the mail. I can't wait to hang up this big boy.
I love my new TV!!! @ 22:06
[a nation boils] Heat warnings and broiling temperatures from coast to coast seared the nation today, sending the mercury soaring past 100° (37.8°C) in 21 states. Highs of 90° (32.2°C) and above were registered in all 48 contiguous United States except for Maine.
This, coming after the hottest 6 months on record in the United States since record keeping began in 1895. The average temperature for the 48 contiguous states from January through June was 51.8°, or 3.4° above the average for the 20th century.
I was texting my hos here in DC about how I had just landed in hell when I arrived in Kansas City on Friday night. I meant it literally. It was 93° on Sat and 95° on Sun. The humidity made it feel like it was 105+°. It was nasty.
Temperatures in the Northeast (NYC, Philly, Baltimore, DC) exceeded those in the Southeast today (Miami, Atlanta). Even Toronto recorded a high of 93° today. In DC, the high today was 96°, with the heat index reaching 108° (42.2°C!). We are bracing for similar blisteringly hot conditions tomorrow. Temps will fall to a still hot 90° on Wed.
Nope, I won't be walking to work tomorrow either :-p @ 21:48
July 14, 2006
[celebrate] Before I forget... Joyeux Quatorze (14) Juillet! Happy Bastille Day ;-) @ 15:01
[transparent] I always thought I was pretty opaque. Y'know, like a complex sorta guy. Personality and behaviorally. Like, you couldn't just read me like an open book. Although, I think I'm pretty open in general. No, not down there, I meant open about my life in general :-p
Sheesh. Nasty bitches.
Anywho, so one of my co-workers comes up to me yesterday and was like:
"Let's see, you like channels 81, 82 and 83 on XM, don't you?"
FYI: 81 = Dance Hits (aka Club), 82 = Electronica/Techno, and 83 = Disco.
And then he proceeds to label me a "Dupont Queen".
:-o
First of all, I don't have XM. And second of all, doesn't everybody like to dance?
Yup, my hips don't lie ;-)
"Dupont Queen"?? The nerve. I can't believe I got typecasted and stereotyped on my 7th day at work. And not even for being Asian! I still remember one of my first few lunches at my old job in Tysons and one of my co-workers labels me a "rice-eating, noodle-slurping, rickshaw-pulling sixth toe sloth" (yes, I have six toes). How rude :-)
I mean, com'on, do I really come across as... or can you really tell from meeting me that I'm a vodka-swilling, club-hopping, Beyoncé-lovin', get-up-on-the-dancefloor-with-Madge, party girl who happens to live in uber-gay Dupont?
Wait... I think I just saw through myself. Call me Casper. The cunty ghost. @ 09:32
[fun, no fun] My trinity bitches are evil. They dragged me out last night to gAy-pex for College Night.
I've never felt older in my entire life. I felt like the poster boy for AARP amongst the sea of twinks. And WTF was up with the "throwback to 2004" music in the video room? If I wanted to listen to oldies I can listen to radio, thanks.
And bitch, don't you be staring at me if you don't have any pubic hairs. Since I don't have much, someone's gotta have some, or it ain't gonna work.
Mmm-kay?
It was stank-tastic. And today is Friday, yay!
If only I didn't have to leave for Kansas City for the weekend. Grr. Especially since I'm gonna miss the opening night of Tramps and Vamps tonight, and the closing night of Nation (!!!) tomorrow. Can you f-ing believe that I won't be at Nation for their last hurrah? With Lehman??!!
They are going to revoke my gay card. I can feel it comin'.
Why do family obligations always clash with fun? @ 09:16
[hell no] I woke up this morning, looked at the wireless thermometer weather station thingie (I know, I *love* that thing), and was like:
"Helllll no"
So I made Tony take me to work, LOL!
I mean, com'on... what kind of sick joke is it when, at 8am, it says 80° and 84% humidity? Bitch, I ain't walkin' in that heat. I don't want to look like crack-sweatin' Whitney when I saunter into the office, spankyouverymuch.
Besides, Humidity + Asian Hair = Diana Ross do... on a bad day :-o @ 09:08
July 13, 2006
[a violent july] 13 Days, 14 Homicides.
"There have been 14 homicides this month: Three on the 1st. Two on the 2nd. One each on the 4th and 5th. Two on the 7th. And one each day from July 8 through Wednesday."
"As killings go, this is far from the District's worst stretch, nothing like the one starting in 1988 when the city averaged more than a homicide a day for eight of nine years. Yet after a decade of declining numbers, this month's killings have so alarmed city officials that D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey declared a crime emergency."
"The homicides were spread across four quadrants: five in Northeast, three in Northwest, two in Southwest and four in Southeast."
It's a sad, sad state of affairs. It's also a good thing that since the 1st, I have been in NYC (till the Fourth), and home most nights since I started my new job on the 5th. In fact, I've only gone out one night in DC since the 1st :-o What? I'm trying to be a good boy :-p @ 23:06
[never the answer] So Israel has done everything but declared an all-out war against Hamas-ruled Gaza and Hezbollah-controlled Southern Lebanon. The attacks on Gaza began 3 weeks ago when Hamas abducted an Israeli captian in southern Israel. Then Hezbollah decided it was fun for them to abduct two Israeli soldiers and kill three of them yesterday.
Big eff-ing mistake.
Israel's answer? Well, with the backing of the all-powerful US veto in the UN security council, Israel has had carte blanche to bomb the hell out of Gaza (with significant unavoidable civilian casualties) and jail a whole bunch of Palestinian politicians over the past fortnight. Israel then ups the ante by blockading Lebanon's ports and airspace, destroying all three runways at Beirut airport, several military airbases, the highway between Beirut and Damascus, and the suburbs in southern Beirut today.
Hezbollah stupidly retaliated by lobbing a few rockets into northern Israel (incl. Haifa, Israel's third largest city). And what does Israel say? The Haifa attacks are a "major escalation" in the violence. That would be funny if so many lives were not at stake. Don't you think that the people who escalated the conflict are, oh I dunno, the people who bombed the civilian infrastructure of a sovereign nation just because a few militants from that nation abducted some of your soldiers? And guess what? The US even said that the Lebanese government does not have the capacity to extend its authority into Hezbollah-held territory. And what does Israel do? Destroy civilian infrastructure and kill innocent civilians. Just for two abductions.
Sickening.
Absolutely a disproportionate use of force. In the name of self-defense or not, it is no longer retaliation at this point. Israel just wants to start a regional war.
Why war? What makes the Israelis think that they can shove peace down their neighbors' throats by holding them to gunpoint? What makes the Israelis think that bombing them into submission will actually make them acquiesce to Israeli demands, however right they are? Yup, they're gonna start listening to you and your reasoning after you bomb their roads, bridges, airports, etc. How dumb do you have to be to stoop to the terrorists' level? Killing them is only gonna bring retaliation. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.
And why in the name of Beyonce (if I don't start joking about the situation, my veins will pop) doesn't Israel and the US ram a Security Council resolution through the UN calling for the world to demand the abductees' release? Or one that calls for an international response (since Lebanon's government cannot do it) to disarm and disband Hezbollah? They would surely pass unanimously (well, almost). Why is diplomacy so hard for the US and Israel to grasp?
Doesn't it always seem like the US and Israel are above international law when it comes to war?
...
Sirens wailed across Northern Israel and Haifa today. Both innocent Israeli and Lebanese civilians slept in bomb shelters that are filled to capacity. Southern Lebanese civilians tried to flee a war that they did not start, finding all their routes out of the country bombed out. Destroyed infrastructure equates to lack of food or supplies.
Is that how they want to live?
Caught between "decisions made in Syria" and "Israeli agression", Lebanon's The Daily Star:
"Lebanese civilians, who have absolutely no control over the events that are unfolding, and who once again find themselves in the eye of the storm, are now bracing for the very worst. Their darkest fear is that as they helplessly repeat the act of watching history unfold on their land, this time the promise of Lebanon's resurrection will itself become history."
"Is the mere chance of saving two soldiers really worth spilling more Israeli blood in another deadly military adventure in Lebanon?"
In a region traumatized by the Iraq War, the neverending Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Iran's nuclear ambitions, Israel wants to start a regional war.
Yes, I care and I'm angry. And when I'm angry, I get sad. This is madness.
Violence. Is NOT the solution.
War. Is NEVER the answer. @ 22:49
[payback] After this little admission by Robert Novak in the Valerie Plame case, you can bet on him showing up as a star witness in the soon-to-be civil lawsuit filed today by Plame against Cheney, Libby and Rove.
At the very least, Rove should be fined millions for his role in the leak. Though, I have no idea why they are all not going to jail. What was it, up to ten years imprisonment for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Intelligence Identities and Protection Act of 1982? When did leaking the identify of a covert CIA agent stop becoming a federal crime?? It's an act of treason! A breach of national security! Why the fuck aren't they being prosecuted?! Grrr, I don't get it.
I need to take anger management classes. Coz I fucking hate Republicunts!!!
But for now, I say sue those motherfuckers into bankruptcy. Payback's a bitch! Hit them hard in their pocketbooks, which happens to be the only place where they feel hurt.
I'm cheering for ya, Val. @ 19:58
[hard and fun] No, I'm not describing the way I like it up my, well, you know... I'm talking about work.
Well, I wouldn't say work is hard. It's just a LOT to do. I barely have time to pee or eat, much less go to the countless meetings and meet all the new and fetch ppl (that's still a work in progress). Not that that's a bad thing, staying busy makes the day go by MUCH faster. And it's still only my first week (-ish) at work, so things will stay busy until I get the lay of the land and a hang of things. Yes, I still get lost in the corridors *embarassed*
What? It's a big building :-p
Anywho, I do have to say that work is fun though. I have great co-workers, even as I'm discovering that not everyone's fetch at work. There're always the few unproductive oxygen thieves. And then there are the unfriendly (quiet?) types who'll never talk to you even if you were standing naked in front of them.
But, in general, this move to the new job has been quite positive. It's hardly called work when we're all having so much fun doing it. I get along with my teammates like a house on fire, which is always a good thing. I gotta charm and disarm them now before they see the cunty side of me. As it is, my boss is already calling me out for making inappropriate remarks at work, LOL. Me? Inappropriate? Nooooo, say it ain't so!
Or maybe I'm just liking it all coz it's new, and the shiny veneer hasn't rubbed off yet. You know me, I'm all about new.
And bling. The shinier the better. @ 19:15
[sushi!] You have no idea how deprived I was when I was working in SW. No sushi anywhere. It sucked. No, it was crimes against humanity. I think the closest sushi place was like Chinatown or Capitol Hill. Not fetch.
It's so silly but I was so excited to be working in NW coz, well, NW is like sushi heaven. And when it comes to sushi, I can have it twice a day, everyday. So, when my workmates suggested Kaz Sushi Bistro for lunch today, I squealed with excitement coz I've never been to Kaz and it is one of the better sushi restaurants in the city. Plus, I just really needed to get out of the office (it was a looooong ass day today!). Even if Kaz was stank, I would still be happy just for the fact that there is a decent sushi restaurant a block or two from the office.
And Kaz lived up to expectations. The space is quite zen and the food was delightful. There's a while bunch of pretty inventive stuff on the menu; though nowhere near the level of Nobu or Morimoto. Then again, very few restaurants in DC can measure up to NYC.
I can already see myself spending lots and lots of lunches (and money) there. Yay, sushi! I can't wait to take Nicole, my sushi fiend and partner-in-crime, there. She would love it so much, she'd coo. Nik, I miss you long, long time! @ 19:04
[swa at iad] When Independence Air was born two summers ago, fares from Dulles to a whole bunch of East Coast destinations plunged dramatically. But we all knew it was gonna be short-lived (i.e. United would go all-out and crush them) and sure enough, 19 months later, I-Air liquidated.
So this little announcement by Southwest today really shook things up for United at Dulles. Southwest is, of course, one of the world's most successful low-cost carrier. And United is gonna have a hard time competing with Southwest's fares, much less chase them out of Dulles.
But where is Southwest flying to from Dulles beginning 10/5? Chicago, Vegas, Tampa and Orlando.
Yawn.
United's low-fare service, Ted, already flies to Vegas, Tampa and Orlando so the fares have already been low to those destinations, round-trip or one-way. Chicago? Well, I never fly there except to connect to Asia or the West Coast. So the Southwest effect is gonna be minimal (for me) for now.
Not that I would choose to fly out of Dulles if I had a say in the matter. Or, God forbid, board a Southwest plane. Ever. Bitch, please, I'm much too classy for Southwest, mmm-hmm. Yes, when it comes to travel, my nose is so high, when it rains I drown.
But hey, if United matches Southwest fares on all their current and future routes, well, who can resist a low (upgradeable) fare.
It's all about the upgrades! @ 18:51
July 11, 2006
[superblue] I do actually have a shit ton of work to do, so I shouldn't be blogging. But... :-)
So one would expect that an organization crawling with worker bees from all over the world ("representing 184 member nations blah blah blah...") would be completely anti-Bush, right? Well, if there was any doubt that my workplace is an anti-"stupid ppl" (aka Republicans) zone:
Co-Worker:: So, Kiat... what's your political affiliation?
Kiat:: Bluer than the ocean. Bluer than the sky. I'm superblue.
Co-Worker:: You're a good man.
*giggle* Yup, that was my officemate asking me that question out of the blue (pun intended). I love my new job! @ 14:32
July 9, 2006
[panda party] Happy Birthday, Tai Shan! The bamboo-eating, black-and-white, celeb furball has gone from 4 ounces to 56 pounds in one year, :-o, and attracted 1.2mn visitors so far.
He's sooooo cute! Why can't I have one as a pet? @ 23:07
[fran and jason] OMB. Look what I found amongst the online treasure trove of Madonna concert pictures.
This is a kiat.net exclusive! Jason - fresh from his mugging incident last night (don't ask) - will cum in his manties if he sees this picture. Click on the picture below.
Blue = Jason, Red = Fran Drescher!
HOT!!!
Now, if only we can find pictures of Chelsea Clinton, Kelly Ripa and Donna KAran; all of whom attended the July 3rd concert at The Garden. @ 22:02
[have you confessed?] Finally, pictures from Madonna's Confessions Tour at Madison Square Garden in NYC this past Monday!
Try not to be envious, and enjoy ;-) @ 21:35
[campioni del mondo]
At the Olympiastadion tonight in Berlin, Germany, the 2006 World Cup was decided on penalty kicks, with Italy defeating France by 5-3, after being tied 1-1 in 120 minutes of play. That victory sent the entire Italian nation in piazzas from Milan to Rome and from the Alps to Sicily into an explosive and frenzied celebration as the Azzurris are crowned the new Campioni del Mondo - World Champions! The Olympiastadion, incidentally, was built for the 1936 Nazi Olympics by Hitler. It's been refurbished for the Cup final, of course.
What an AWFUL way to decide the World Cup final. This is only the second time in history that the final match has been decided by a penalty shootout; the first was when Brazil downed Italy 3-2 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA in 1994 after a scoreless draw. This is the first time Italy has managed to win a World Cup match on penalties after three failed attempts.
Yes, I watched the entire game. I know, how butch, right? It's just like American football, I watch one game every year - the Superbowl. But the World Cup happens only once every four years, so of course I *had* to watch it.
Anywho, I wanted Italy to win, but Italy played horribly except for the first half. France played amazing (aside from Zidane's awful awful 107th min foul which got him sent off, deservedly so), attacking the Italian goal over and over, and controlling the flow of the play for much of the match. But they just couldn't break through the infamous and impregnable Italian defense. Throughout the entire tournament, Italy only let in two goals - an own goal during the ITA-USA match, and a Zidane penalty kick in the 7th minute of the final match. But in the end, Italy converted all 5 of their penalty kicks, and one missed penalty kick by David Trézéguet was the only thing that separated the two teams.
Nevertheless, Les Bleus - champions 8 years ago in Paris - can be proud of what they accomplished in Germany after being humiliatingly knocked out of the opening round 4 years ago, thus becoming the only Cup champions to have won the Cup and then lost in the opening round 4 years later.
In terms of entertainment and game control, France should've won. But in the end, the Italians hoisted the World Cup for the fourth time, 24 years after the masterful victory over (then West) Germany in the last all-European final in Spain 1982. Only Brazil has won more World Cups - five. The Italians are now the most successful European country in World Cup history.
The World Cup, the most cherished trophy or event in the world beyond any other, will be at its home in Italy until the quadrennial tournament's next instalment - South Africa 2010.
Viva Italia! @ 17:37
July 7, 2006
[just ok] Kelly was, um, OK. Don't get me wrong, gurl can sing. Boy, can she sing. But let's see... the difference in the price of a Madonna ticket vs the Kelly ticket was about $290. And I would pay the difference to see Madonna. Again and again. Seven days a week. And twice on Sundays. Hands down, no questions asked.
Let's use World Cup analogies, shall we? If Madonna was like watching Brazil, then Kelly was like Trinidad and Tobago. Not bad, still one of the better ones on the big stage. But just nowhere near as entertaining, or as good.
Maybe I'm being a lil' harsh, seeing that I had seen Madonna only 3 days prior. Perhaps I'm being a little too demanding, seeing that Kelly is doing her first concert whereas Madonna is as veteran as they come.
But let's face it, Kelly sang but Madonna put on a show. A transcending, sensory-overload, all-encompassing, beyond-entertaining, spectacular show. Watching Kelly in concert was no different than listening to my iPod. Except for a few songs where she sang to an acoustic guitar (Because Of You, Breakaway), all the other songs were basically regurgitations of the actual song on the CD. Nothing wrong with that, but without any eye-fucking theatrics or killer dance moves, it's just not that entertaining. Not to mention the sound system was awful.
Plus, WTF was she wearing?? Was that sponsored by Wal-Mart? K-Mart? Old Navy?? Madonna had SEVEN costume changes, designed by YSL, JPG, etc. Kelly? One skanky outfit the entire show. And finally, Kelly didn't even have a $2mn Swarovski-embellished crystal ball that comes down from the ceiling to emerge from.
Yup, *yawn*.
Add to that a TWO-hour drive which was bumper-to-bumper pretty much from Centreville alllll the way to Nissan Pavilion (you bitches who live in Manassas... my deepest condolences for having to endure that every single day). And the crowd of screaming teens, plus a shockingly un-diverse (white as far as the eye can see) and unsophisticated audience of skanky subur... 'scuse me, EX-urbanites.
Good God.
First of all, WTF thought it was a good idea to put a concert venue like NP in the middle of eff-ing nowhere? Seriously bitches, to get there you just keep driving and driving and driving out 66 past the cow pastures and God's country, and just when you start seeing signs to West Virginia aka "No Outlet" aka "Edge of the Earth - Do Not Enter", you'll see signs to NP. And then it gets better! After you get off 66, there are TEN more miles of 2-lane roads you have to meander through before you get to the Pavilion's parking lot. Guess how many other cars are on the same fucking dirt road with you? 25,000. Can we say gridlock? Whoever the brainchild for NP is should be shot. And then run over by a tractor.
I bitched and moaned the en-*tire* way there. Note to all of you: Don't go on a car ride longer than 1 hour with Kiat. Ever. I just absolutely *hate* traffic, and I will do everything in my power to avoid commuting by car. Speaking of commuting, I actually did my walking commute for the first time today (on the way home, 80° and gorgeous). It took me 15 minutes.
Anywho, we did foresee an equally abominable journey home, so we rushed out of the Pavilion as soon as Kelly sang "Since U Been Gone" and we saw confetti raining down. We made it home in an hour, yay!
It wasn't all bad. We were a fetch group of 10: Jason, Beth, Bernie, Chris, Liz&sis, Rick/Jose... Kelly was very friendly and interacted a lot with the audience. Liz's sis even managed to shake her hand while Kelly mingled with the audience during the final song. She about came in her thong. And it was a beautiful night to be in an outdoor pavilion.
But mark my words: Nissan Pavilion - Never Again.
If I even so much as suggest going there again... I will personally give you my handmade chopsticks and you can cut me up with them like samurai swords.
Hai-yah! @ 19:38
July 5, 2006
[first day] In case you're wondering, I survived my first day at work, even though I looked like death warmed over after a blitzed out four-day weekend. The humidity was ridick this morning so I made Tony take me to work *giggle*. What? Asian hair and humidity = catastrophe. Why do you think I left Malaysia :-p Plus, it was raining as I was leaving the office. So yup, you guessed it, Tony came to pick me up *double giggle*. So if you want to know how my new "walk to work" commute is, I wouldn't know ;-)
Ooh, I have half an office alllll to myself! That's a huge step up from the 5-to-a-cubicle at the OCC. Stank. In addition, my office mate is leaving soon for Singapore for the Annual Meetings, so I'll have the whole office to myself for two whole months! Hot. Half the office is gonna decamp to Singapore as well so it's gonna be pretty quiet until the end of Sept, which is when they all come back. I know, why didn't *I* get to go to Singapore huh? It would've been perfect coz I would've been the perfect tour guide (Singapore is like my backyard, bitches). But alas, I'm the new guy, and the new guy gets to hold down the fort while everyone goes and parties in Singapore. Stank.
Everyone I met today was fabulous. The environment is filled with happy faces and determined people in their jobs. It's quite a shock coming from the demoralized and demotivating environment of the federal government. My immediate supervisor is fantastic. We get along like a house on fire. It doesn't hurt that she's Asian (Belgian-Vietnamese... but hey, we can't all be perfect *mischievous grin*). There're also a bunch of Malaysians in the office! Go figure. Of course, I have already been immediately tagged a "banana" coz I'm not "yellow" enough, LOL! The office is like super diverse, as befitting the international nature of the organization (184 member nations!). White folks are, in fact, in the minority in my department. No joke. The place is crawling with Asians, go figure.
What? We're fetch.
Hot boys are in low supply though. But I have a feeling I'll "bump" into one (or ten) over the next few days. After all, it's only my first day at work! @ 22:31
[another one] Another letter from the Department of Homeland Security. Yes, another!
This one's for a fingerprinting appointment in Wheaton two weeks from Friday. Wow, that was quick! The first letter said to wait 90 days for the appointment to be scheduled. Well, it was more like 4 days (or 2 business days). I guess the government *is* getting their act together.
Then again, why on earth would they need my fingerprint... AGAIN?? I already gave a whole set to them five years ago when I applied for my green card. Can't they just use the same set of prints to run yet another FBI background check on me? Good God. The government is totally annoying.
OK so, um, problem. It's at TWO p.m., ugh. I'm already in a pile of doo-doo with my new employer for requesting a ridiculous amount of time off for Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec (hey, they were all pre-arranged). They had trepidations before I started today. And now, I'm gonna ask for a half day on my 3rd week at work there? They're sooooo gonna love hearing that.
I mean, I'm still gonna do it. I don't really have a choice. Grr, starting a new job with zero time off is crimes against humanity! @ 21:43
[nyc recap] Fourth of July weekend in Manhattan. Highlights:
1. The ONE. And Only. Madonna. Der!
2. TWO free (with vouchers) UA tickets from IAD to LGA. Even better, convincing UA to send us on US Air from DCA because our flight from IAD was delayed two hours. And then convincing them to send us back to DCA because, well, we just didn't want to fly to IAD. They love us. Being 1K rocks!
3. THREE nights at the Westin Times Sq. Huge rooms, brilliant views (of the Hudson, Hell's Kitchen and Times Sq), and triple points on Starwood! Subway directly underneath, and only two stops to Chelsea. Fetch.
4. FOURth of July sales. We hit three Zaras (Herald Sq, Soho and Fifth Ave). Bought everything. No, really. Then, together with Jason, we burnt a trail down 8th in Chelsea with our credit cards at all the gay clothing stores.
5. FIVE places where we got shit-faced - Saturday night with Rory/Derek, James/JH at Vlada (a Baryshnikov joint.. yes, the "Russian" in Sex and the City), Arriba Arriba (27oz margaritas!!!) and Therapy (all gay men need therapy). That was followed by Monday night at MSG ($7.50 champagne! I think we bought 20), then XES with Jason and Yeison (pronounced "Jason".. bitch is Colombian, go figure) for Madonnarama.
6. SIX fantastic NYC restaurants - Oriental Garden dim sum followed by Iron Chef Morimoto (Kumamoto oysters and Kobe beef *squeals and faints*) in Tribeca and Gramercy Tavern on Sunday. Nobu - which btw is officially the BEST restaurant in NYC, in my not so humble opinion - and Viceroy on Monday. And finally, my favorite Malaysian restaurant in America - Nyonya! - on Tuesday. Morimoto and Nobu were both orgasmic. Nobu's omakase menu was gastron-orgasmic. Yes, I love Asian food :-p
7. SEVEN-teen dollar cocktails at the Lobby Lounge of the Mandarin Oriental on the 37th floor of the Time Warner Center. Or if you are in a celebratory mood 3 hours before seeing Madonna, a $90 bottle of Louis. The spectacular views of Central Park are worth every single penny.
8. EIGHTth row seats at Avenue Q!!! "It Sucks To Be Me", "If You Were Gay", "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist", "The Internet Is For Porn", "You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When You're Makin' Love)", "The More You Ruv Someone", etc. So gay. So irreverent. So un-PC. Crazy uproarious. Pee down your right leg funny. You must all go see it. Fuckin' hillarious. Oh, and the hottest lead in a Broadway musical *drip*.
9. NINE-teen thousand fans at Madison Sq Garden! Wow. Wow. Wow. Definitely, the most famous arena in the world. Being in there was nothing short of electrifying. It was pure magic. Plus, we were in the "sweat-dripping" section, so close we could see Madonna's sweat. I came.
10. TEN out of ten for EnWhyCee! NuYawk NuYawk, baby. Where else can you get hangover-curing gyros from multiple street vendors at 3 in the morning? And where else can you arrive for a Madonna concert, party all night till dawn, and then catch the 6am Acela back to DC in time for work at 11am? *cough* Jason *cough*
More Madonna pics to follow. Prepare. @ 21:30
[kwazy kim] So, both Iran and North Korea now are close to or already have nuclear weapons. The third member of the axis of evil, Iraq, never did and never will. And who did we bomb? Mmm-hmm...
But WTF is up with Kim Jong-il?? Launching SEVEN ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan yesterday and today? On Fourth of July, no less? What is this, the Korean fireworks display? He's kwazy and totally asking for it. I have no idea why we (or somebody) haven't bombed their missile facilities yet. Remember 8 years ago when the crazy North Koreans lobbed a missile OVER Japan (Honshu island) and into Japanese waters in the Pacific? If the Soviet Union had launched an ICBM during the Cold War and it flew OVER the US and landed off the west coast, we would've nuked them to obliteration. No questions asked.
Iran, North Korea, Iran, North Korea, back and forth, back and forth. The result? Another record high for oil prices.
So back to North Korea. Japan has zero defenses - aside from American guarantees to protect the island nation in the event of the attack - while North Korea has a missile that could carry a nuclear payload to Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, etc.
I don't blame the Japanese one bit for freakin' out. @ 20:03
[not done] Out of deferrence to the dead, I won't say anything nasty but WTF?? I was looking forward to seeing him rot in jail for the rest of his life (OK, 25-40 but that's a lifetime for a 64yo), but now Ken Lay goes and craps out on us?
The bankruptcy of America's 7th largest company, 4000 employees losing their jobs and many of them their life savings, and billions of dollars of losses for investors... Ken Lay was found guilty of 10 counts of corporate fraud and conspiracy two months ago.
I know I should be feeling sympathy for his family... but now that he's deceased, his entire family and their estate are gonna pay (dearly) through civil litigation related to Mr Lay's little act of cooking the books.
Even as he's done now, the government isn't done with him yet. My guess is he won't be resting in peace. @ 19:34
[it's ita v fra!] Yay! France beat Portugal 1-0 in the World Cup semis today with Zinedine Zidane's first-half penalty, setting up a showdown with Italy in Berlin on Sunday. Allez les Bleus! France will play in their second ever World Cup Final (they won in 1998 on home soil).
I am celebrating France's victory coz, well, the French need some cheering up after quite an annus horribilis for them in the past year; from racial riots to street protests, and rejecting the EU constitution to losing the 2012 Olympics. The French really needed some cheering up.
Also, coz I am pissed at the Portuguese for beating England *giggle*.
So, France meets 3-time champions Italy in the 2006 World Cup final. It's the first all-European final since 1982, which incidentally is also when Italy last lifted the World Cup. Oddly enough, Italy has made it to the World Cup final every 12 years since 1970 when they lost to Brazil; including 1982 (champions), 1994 (lost to Brazil again) and now, 2006.
Les Bleus? Or the Azzurris? The battle of the tricolors will take place at 2pm EDT, Sunday July 9th. @ 19:13
[fireworks video] For those of you who missed last night's spectacular fireworks finale (lasting 3m 15s) on the National Mall...
Fourth of July on the Mall 2006 (640 x 480) 49.5MB, 15-min download
Fourth of July on the Mall 2006 (320 x 240) 8.4MB, 3-min download
They're both pretty huge files, so don't you all hit this link all at once, y'hear me? But trust me, if you have the time, it's definitely worth the download... @ 09:05
[new job] Today's the first day at my new job. Orientation starts at 9:30 (I know! How fabulous, right?). I thought I was ready for this. I want to give it my 100%, and I wish I felt 100%. But all that jumping during the concert is killing me. My *whole* body is aching - back, calves, thighs, feet... And I have bruises the size of melons from all the body-slamming I did. Yea, I bruise easily :-p
Ugh. Oww. Sonofa... &#@*$!
Advil is my very good friend. I hope they don't realize how medicated I will be at work today *giggle*. @ 07:55
July 4, 2006
[capital fireworks] Pictures from the National Mall just now:
Fireworks are awesome. Yeaaa, shoot 'em like we invented it. @ 22:28
[on my way] Uh-oh, look what I got in the mail the other day...
Getting mail from the Department of Homeland Security is never a good sign.
But it was really just the I-797C Notice of Action which basically said that the USCIS has received my N400 Application for Naturalization. That, and that they had cashed my $400 check pretty much the day they got it. The government is extremely efficient at cashing your checks, but grotesquely slow when it comes to processing the paperwork you are paying them for.
Next comes fingerprinting which faciliates the FBI background check, then the interview, english and civics test, and before you know it, I'll be taking the Oath of Allegiance.
I'm on my way. @ 19:20
[america turns 230] Happy 230th birthday, America! Fireworks will light up the night sky over Washington, DC in about 2 1/2 hours. A huge storm just rolled by which means the ground will be wet. Yuck. Plus, my calves are killing me from jumping 2 1/2 hours non-stop last night at the concert. And the only real way to get to fortress National Mall is to walk (in the scorching heat, no less... why is it always a thousand degrees on the Fourth??). Metro is suffocating with smelly and stupid tourists, and half the streets are closed due to security. Parking is a nightmare as well. So much hassle, ugh.
I've only missed the fireworks on the Mall twice since I got here. I've seen it from Iwo Jima twice, but my favorite is watching it from the Mall. There is something indescribable about feeling the roar of each explosion thundering through your body, and having each firework fill up the entire sky, encompassing your entire peripheral vision from that vantage point. Sitting on the mall, you are so close you could almost touch each sparkle like it's a falling star.
I love fireworks! Happy Fourth everybody! @ 18:48
[final four] It was so heartbreaking to watch England lose to Portugal in penalty kicks last Saturday. I was packing for our trip to NYC when I watched the English players miss penalty after penalty. It was awful. And when Cristiano sealed it for Portugal, converting the 5th penalty and putting Portugal up with an unassailable 3-1 lead, I wanted to strangle him... but let's face it, how could anyone want to do harm to oh-so-drippingly-hot Cristiano? *swoon*
When the dust settled, the hosts, Germany, won the right to play Italy, and France earned the right to play Portugal in the semis after shocking Brazil in the quarter-finals. Brazil has been to the World Cup final each of the past three World Cups. The 2006 World Cup will feature the first all-European final four since 1982, and only the third time in 18 World Cups since 1930.
Update: Italy downed the hosts today in the first semi-final match, earning their 6th appearance in the World Cup final. They won three times previously, the most recent being 1982. Heartbreak for hosts Germany who were in the World Cup final four years ago in Japan/South Korea, and came in second after losing to Brazil. Germany last hosted the World Cup 32 years ago. Germany has been in the World Cup finals 7 times; though only once as united Germany. Germany has not won the World Cup since unification.
Italy (1934, 1938, 1982) has a shot at surpassing Germany's three World Cup titles (1954, 1974, 1990) if they win on Sunday in Berlin. Brazil is still the most successful team in World Cup history - 5 titles (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) out of 7 appearances in the final.
Since 1962, an European and a South American team (Brazil or Argentina) has alternated winning the World Cup. This year will continue that pattern. Both continents have won 9 titles each (Europe will win their 9th this year).
France plays Portugal tomorrow. Portugal has been to the final four only once before, in 1966. France won in 1998 on home soil. Will Cristiano carry Portugal to their first World Cup final appearance ever? Or will Thierry repeat his goal-winning performance which sent Brazil packing?
The excitement builds! @ 18:19
[back online] And what better way to celebrate kiat.net's re-entry into cyberspace than these drippingly hot pictures from last night's Confessions Tour concert at Madison Square Garden.
Check it out. You can click on each image to make it bigger. And size does matter.
Madonna was 10ft away from us. That was the best high ever.
I can die now. @ 16:52
31 :: wild weekend
31 :: got lucky
31 :: six years
30 :: tragedy
29 :: work shit
29 :: heatwave
29 :: off my ass
28 :: at long last
27 :: fetch speak
26 :: der!
23 :: vetoing henry
22 :: naran ji
22 :: 31,528
22 :: not so bad
20 :: uncle tony
20 :: disgusting
19 :: made it
19 :: hazy dc
19 :: good news, bad news
17 :: hd-tastic
17 :: a nation boils
14 :: celebrate
14 :: transparent
14 :: fun, no fun
14 :: hell no
13 :: a violent july
13 :: never the answer
13 :: payback
13 :: hard and fun
13 :: sushi!
13 :: swa at iad
11 :: superblue
09 :: panda party
09 :: fran and jason
09 :: have you confessed?
09 :: campioni del mondo
07 :: just ok
05 :: first day
05 :: another one
05 :: nyc recap
05 :: kwazy kim
05 :: not done
05 :: it's ita v fra!
05 :: fireworks video
05 :: new job
04 :: capital fireworks
04 :: on my way
04 :: america turns 230
04 :: final four
04 :: back online