And that little cutie Wes had a blog, AND he says that there will be a BMB DVD!!!

That Wes (from Boy Meets Boy) what a cutie. Wes Culwell | Trrrouble

Wow. Check out the new Apple Store in San Francisco. Sigh.

Some days you just gotta love Wil Wheaton. Who knew Wesley would grow up to be our straight-but-not-narrow-friend?

And there he goes quoting Andrew Sullivan. Didn't I just do that?

Well, I still like Howard Dean, even if he is a hothead (or maybe hecause he is a bit of a hothead). I think he is right on here.The Data Lounge

Kerry Just leaves me cold.

Well I feel like I should moderate my criticism of Ralph Nader from my little tirade earlier. I actually agree with a lot of his positions, though I think in some things he goes too far. And if by some fluke he was elected president, the entire congress would stonewall him just because.

His website seems to need some work too.

Sigh. Wish I was where I was exactly a year ago: sitting on board the Zuiderdam, having breakfast with Andreas in the Port of New Orleans before heading out into our Fat Tuesday day of decadence.

GODS TEETH! I can't BELIEVE that self-serving idiot Ralph Nader is going to run for president AGAIN! Doesn't he know that he cost Al Gore (him OR the Electoral College or corrupt Jeb Bush in FL--any one taken out of the picture and we wouldn't have that lying weasel in office) the election? Hello!

A little clarification re my post about Mardi Gras: actually Andreas and I aren't a couple. We had one of those ship-board romances when we first met on a (gay) cruise, then realized that a super-long distance romance was ridiculous (he lives in Switzerland) and neither one of us was real good at the 'relationship' thing either. But we enjoy each other's company, so now we get together once a year and go on vacations. This year we're talking about going to Italy in June.

Oh and an aside about Mardi Gras: Hobbits Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan (known on the Datalounge as 'Domelijah') are parade marshals.

My latest personality disorder rating:

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	High
Schizoid:	Very High
Schizotypal:	High
Antisocial:	Low
Borderline:	Moderate
Histrionic:	Low
Narcissistic:	High
Avoidant:	Moderate
Dependent:	Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Moderate
-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! --

I tend to agree with the Schizoid, though I think I'm more avoidant than narcissistic. Answering a couple questions one way or the other swings it.

But now I understand the difference my last shrink made between social anxiety (avoidant) and 'not wanting to be around people' (schizoid).

So this is what I was doing a year ago on Fat Tuesday (warning: not for the frumpy or faint of heart).

Sigh. It seems so long ago that I first met Andreas--I guess almost 5 years now--on my first cruise. We're the perfect dysfunctional couple, but we have fun together.

And now, this week's Friday Five:

When was the last time you...

1. ...went to the doctor?

Just a few weeks ago, for a checkup

2. ...went to the dentist?

4 months ago. I go every 6 months.

3. ...filled your gas tank?

Um, a couple weeks? I don't drive much.

4. ...got enough sleep?

I've been sick, so been sleeping a lot.

5. ...backed up your computer?

I don't back up the whole thing but I regularly make backups of important files either on CD or using Apple Backup.

Oh I meant to link to this but my sis beat me to it: CNN.com - Scientists: Bush administration distorts research - Feb. 19, 2004

"I guess I changed my mind... again."

--Lt. Uhura to the lecherous parallel universe Sulu, Star Trek TOS, Mirror Mirror
(right after she backhands him for responding to her flirtations.)

Since I was digging up this page to send to Sedzed I thought it would be worth posting here again. This is my Myers-Briggs personality type:Portrait of an INFJ. Every time I read it, it amazes me how close it seems to my personality and traits. Though when I took the test once before I was INFJ with secondary INTJ,traits and I see some of me in that profile as well.

Ugh. I'm sick. I guess it's a cold, or maybe some sort of horrible allergy thing, but my nose won't stop running (spare me the jokes) no matter what kind of antihistamine/decongetant I take.

I hate being sick. It doesn't happen often and I don't deal with it well. I guess I don't tolerate my body failing me.

Okay, I admit it, I have a bit of a thing for Anderson Cooper. I'm not even sure why. The elfin features, the prematurely grey hair, the smirky, barely-concealed-loathing way he talks to certain 'family' oriented anti-gay people in San Francisco, all are endearing. And something about him pinged on the gaydar. So I naively made a Datalounge inquiry... (I deliberately said 'discuss' because my Boston email friend and I both HATE it when people do that on Datalounge). Anyway, my suspicions seem to be confirmed, though I hadn't heard he was the son of Gloria Vanderbilt (!?) Whatever. There's some other thread about him and Carson Kressley giggling. Search for it yourselves and... discuss.

Doonesbury has got it so right. Thre was something about Cribs that always made me squirm... all that money and not knowing what to do with it. The best line is "Here's another cavernous, soul-less room I like to flaunt. I hope you admire it, and envy me."

Nerd alert! Interesting article about the software and hardware used on the Mars rovers. So that's why they only have 128 megs of RAM.

I've been watching those shows on the Style Channel: New York Nick and The Brini Maxwell Show. Nick Scotti's sister and aunt get tiresome but he's so funny to watch cook and sew and do crafts it's worth it. He should wear less though.

Brini Maxwell is just FREAKIN' BIZARRO! It's a guy in drag with these funky 50's wigs and outfits who gives silly tips and goes to spas and restaurants and talks to people. The drag and makeup isn't over-the-top drag (except that it's from the 50's), but the voice and affectations make it pretty obvious.

The whole time you just sit there and go... 'the chef HAS to know that he is talking to a guy in drag' as the chef feeds him a spoon of chocolate mousse.

That's the whole fascination. It's somehow even more surreal than the RuPaul show was.

Mars update: Both rovers are doing well and finding fascinating stuff. I can no longer link to specific pages, because now they just keep updating the main page, but for Feb 13th is a cool picture of the flaky rock called Mimi.

I want to live in San Francisco. Go Mayor! Gay Marriage Opponents File Suit in S.F.

This week's lucky Friday Five:

1. Are you superstitious?

Nope.

2. What extremes have you heard of someone going to in the name of superstition?

Terry Holland (former head basketball coach at U.Va.) apparently had some ridiculous rituals he wold go through before games, including a certan kind of bath, way of dressing, etc.

3. Believer or not, what's your favorite superstition?

The full moon makes people crazy!

4. Do you believe in luck? If yes, do you have a lucky number/article of clothing/ritual?

Nope.

5. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?

No, though it is fun. I do fit the classic Libra personality in many ways, but the idea that your personality is determined by the alignment of the planets is silly. About as silly as believing that were created by some all-powerful god who watches over us, and if we are bad we will go to some place called hell, but if we are good we will go to heaven... it's all just refinements of earlier religions, which were designed to give humans a sense of importance and purpose, and to keep them in line. Luck and superstition are just crutches to give us an excuse for not taking responsibility for our actions ot to explain things that are just random and meaningless.

A sign that your addiction has gone too far: Woman retrieving cell phone killed by oncoming train

It's official: It's splitsville for Barbie and Ken

But really, didn't we all know that Ken was gay? (I have 'Magic Earring' Ken, but that's not what he's called in the gay community. You figure it out).

Here's a link to the Human Rights Campaign website where you can easily contact your legislators and Take Action: Speak out against the Federal Marriage Amendment

The water debate continues:Follow Your Thirst, Report Says (washingtonpost.com). In this article tha National Academy of Sciences (and who are they anyway? Who appointed them?) says you don't even necessarily need those 8 glasses of water a day, and that caffeinated (sp?) beverages and alcohol count!

Where the report departs from conventional wisdom is in noting that all beverages -- including coffee, tea and even alcohol -- contribute toward meeting the daily fluid intake...

And they dispute the contention that "if you are thirsty you are already dehydrated."

Well, I'm gonna keep drinking as much as I can comfortably manage, since I'm not in any danger of being salt-depleted, and I suspect that their recommendation is for basically sedentary people.

I may send this article to my cycling trainer though...

I really appreciated Andrew Sullivan's last-page essay in TIME this week, and I saw a little bit of me in there. It reminded me of the last conversation my mother and I had (over a year ago now) when she was talking about my sister's wedding, and she said it was 'the one light in her life.' Nothing against my sister of course, but I found this to be rather thoughtless, since my mother does have 2 children. I guess that sort of thing shouldn't shock me any more; my sis and I pretty much agree that Mommie Dearest does tend to play the martyr (when she isn't being a bully). But that was pretty much the last straw. It was right up there with "I was surprised you got accepted to college (U.Va., early admission, out of state, Architecture School!), I thought your application essay was juvenile."

Maybe she thought it was just a throw-away comment that meant nothing, but when your mother says things like that often enough, you begin to wonder if maybe she knows something about you, some horrible personal flaw, that other people are missing. For some reason the whole marriage thing has brought this back, since I couldn't get married if I wanted to. Not that our mother was the model for a happy marriage anyway.

ANYway...

This seems to be the week of media people outing themselves. Maybe Andrew Sullivan wasn't in the closet (he's certainly the target of a lot of barbs on the Datalounge gossip threads) but as a conservative political columnist I don't think he was flaunting his gayness (I still don't get how you can be politically conservative and gay... but that's for another blog entry). But in today's Washington Post they have started some cutesy little mini-bio called The Usual Suspects (scroll down) and this time they interviewed "University of Virginia Political Analyst Larry Sabato" (say it all together now) who is a usual talking head for VA and national politics. Though Larry's dalliances with younger men (some rumors said his students) at U.Va. were always an open secret, I didn't think he was 'out' either, but in this he does say, when asked if he is married: "no options." Well, there it is. Good for you, I suppose, Larry.

After seeing one quick ad (I don't even remember why I was watching the Style Network), I've set my TiVo to record New York Nick. New York Nick is Nick Scotti. Annoying that they don't mention Kiss me Guido in his credits. On the TV ad they DO cleverly show him getting out of bed nude. Damn they are manipulative, I thought, as my thumb hit the Season Pass record button faster than you could say Brini Maxwell. And what is her deal?

I say that I like rain and snow, but today it was nice to feel the sun on my face.

After 2 hours of cycling followed by an hour of Pilates Ring (also known to my cycling friend Mitch and me as "torture hour"), I was feeling kinda pooped. But I managed to do grocery shopping, and then run out to the Java Shack with the laptop for a little bit of writing. For some reason I just can't get much writing done at home. Like Wil Wheaton, I just get too easily distracted by things, including the internet. And now Java Shack has free wireless broadband, but I resist the temptation to activate my Airport card and 'just check my email,' because we know it's a slippery slope to checking a few sites... for instance here I am writing in the blog instead of doing 'real' writing. Sigh.

Anyway, sunny and mid-40's seemed pretty nice as I was walking the half-mile or so to the Shack. But now I have the overwhelming urge to put on jammies and crawl into bed with a book...

Finally above freezing today. Off to the gym!

Yes I accept that my job is high-pressure but today for some reason was stress-o-rama. First was the guy who spoke little English from the Embassy of Peru with this hideous Excel file he wanted printed out on multiple giant pages (he was really cute, but I didn't really want to tell my translator, sweet but very catholic, married Juan from my Xerox dept, to tell him that for me) and was freaking out about his deadline.

Then there was this huge convention display job that needed approval from the picky designers (those of the font abuse). And it was going out FedEx and I was afraid the rain would seep into the packaging and destroy them...

Not to mention fighting with the New York head office about equipment... and their miserly raise because they--being a repro company rather than a digital imaging company--don't understand really what kind of work we do down here and why we actually need skilled people and powerful computers...

AND the fact that there is construction going on and the plaster dust was making me sneeze and my nose run... ugh.

Granted, Justin and Janet's little Stupor-bowl stunt was juvenile and irresponsible (and Justin's subsequent cowardly behavior is disappointing, to say the least) but this is ridiculous. I'm sick of hearing about everyone's righteous outrage. I think seeing a bunch of incredibly overpaid men trying to clobber each other in an exercise that could very well lead to some quarterback getting a compound fracture is far worse than seeing Miss Nasty's silly mammary.

'Family entertainment' indeed.

This week's dangerous Friday Five:

1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done?

I guess skydiving. It was a thrill. Though sometimes I think driving on I-66 is more dangerous.

2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?

The summer that I went skydiving I also bought a motorcycle. I remember both parents having essentially the same reaction... To skydiving: "How exciting!" To the motorcycle; "That's dangerous!" The motorcycle was a rush though.

I'd like to go into space.

3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle)

In general I'd say 6-7, social things 3-4 if that. I'm an introvert.

4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?

Being brave enough to go on a vacation myself, I met Andreas on my first cruise and we are still friends years later and have gone on more trips together. On my Greece cruise I met Jim and Scott from San Francisco, who I have since been to visit.

5. ... and what's the worst?

I have to say I can't think of anything really bad that has come from being bold, but then I do it so rarely, and I think bold can be different than risky. Wish I could do it more often.

Water, water, water, part deux.

Sedzed has suggested that my trainer's water estimate is way off, and that drinking that much could lead to something called hyponatremia. (Though with all the salty snacks I consume, I don't think I'm in much danger unless I put the garden hose to my mouth and... insert cartoon image here.

So I did some more web research and didn't find much. One guy says half your body's poundage in ounces of water a day. Hm, maybe I heard my trainer wrong. But she DID say if you drank caffeine and alcohol to double it. And she mentioned having a gallon jug at home that she made herself finish by noon.

Just about everyone else sticks to the age-old eight 8-oz glasses a day. That would be 64 oz or half a gallon.

But that's overly general, and aimed at your average sedentary person. I work out for at least an hour almost every day: about 20-30 minutes of weights and 30-40 mins cardio where I work up a good sweat. On weekends I do almost 2 full hours of hard cycling. I drink at least four 'cups' (2 mugs) of coffee a day and have at least a glass of wine or two every day.

So who knows where I'm supposed to be, but I'm sure that 64 oz is not enough. I try to drink 1-2 of my 16oz cups of water in the morning, 2-3 during work, a full 20oz water bottle at the gym, and 1-2 when I get home. That's 84-132 a day. Is that enough? One way to supposedly tell is if your pee is clear or nearly so. Mine usually is, except for thhe first couple hours after I take my multivitamin, when it is this interesting lurid bright yellow-green color--my body dumping the vitamins it can't absorb that fast I asssume.

Sometimes I read Wil Wheaton's blog. Yes that Wil Wheaton: Wesley Crusher the boy wonder of Star Trek: the Next Generation. (I have never seen Stand By Me though I keep meaning to; maybe seeing River Phoenix young and alive would make me too sad.)

Anyway, sometimes Wil's blog can be pretty saccharine, but sometimes it's entertaining and even funny. This entry was still a bit cloying at times, but it was interesting reading about his discomfort when the guy was checking him out. He really has taken all the gay gossip pretty well over the years.

Well! My sis has just pointed out to me that men get 'that time of the month' too: Male PMS - Irritable Male Syndrome

Water, water, water.

Both my cycling trainer and my masseur said I need to drink more water. And I thought I drank a lot already.

Vicki my cycling trainer says at least one ounce for every pound you weigh double it if you drink caffeine or alcohol (guilty on both counts), so I should drink 170 x 2 = 340 ounces a day! Thats more than 2 and a half gallons of water! Twenty one of my 16oz Wahoo Cups! Yoiks, I'll be pissing all day.

Excellent news from Spirit and Opportunity! Spirit's memory reformat appears to have gone fine, and Opportunity woke up on sol 11 to Duran Duran's Please Please Tell Me Now. :-) Whee! Here is a link to the main status page.

Ever have one of those days?

Actually it wasn't even a day, it was a couple of hours. For some reason every once in awhile my body chemistry gets out of whack and I get in to a major pissy mood. I still haven't figured out what triggers it. Today I could feel it coming on as I was walking back from the gym to work this afternoon around 4 pm. The gym, of all places: exercise is supposed to help relax you. I had eaten before, no caffeine or other chemicals in my body; no real explanation. By the time I got in the door I was feeling irritated at the world.

I walk in and the shit hits the fan. Ken (the operator who works most directly under me; I supposedly have like five people working for me in the Digital dept but I really don't supervise them that directly most of the time) tells me all this work has come in and begins a litany of what's messed up about what. I open the order from CDW waiting on my chair that was already wrong once and it is missing the CD drive I ordered.

Blood starts to boil.

I tell Ken to blow off some client while I fire off an angry email to our CDW customer service person. I hurl some random data CD and its case against the wall. Ken asks me if I am ok. Two important clients have sent us files that are screwed up because of their own inability to understand the requirements for what they want us to do. No, I am not ok. I seem to spend a lot of my time on any given day trying to make silk purses out of sow's ears and getting people to realize that they are ignorant novices without offending them.

Don't get me started on the way some people manhandle their fonts.

But by around 7 pm I had things back under control, most of the crap smelling like Abercrombie and not crap, and I was about ready for a nice glass of wine.

It must be something chemical, the way it comes and goes. Fortunately it only hits me about once a month. Otherwise I am my normal serene--if slightly snippy--self.

More and more of late, I have been doing 'supplemental' food shopping at the Whole Foods store. I still get most of the basics at my vast, brightly lit neighborhood Safeway, but for specialty stuff (they have an olive bar!) it's fun to go there. It is also right across the street from the branch of my gym that I go to on Sunday so it's easy to pop over and pick up a few things. They also have lots of interesting cheeses, organic foods, and an eclectic variety of inexpensive wines.

One thing that annoys me about the Clarendon Whole Foods though (and it isn't even all their fault) is the tiny aisles. The problem is really the arrogant people who hog the aisle like they own it. Last week this guy wheeled around the corner pushing his DOUBLE-WIDE STROLLER ahead of him like a snow plow; you literally couldn't get past him in the aisle. I gave him the dirtiest look possible but he was oblivious. The parking lot is full of Mercedes, Volvos and--mostly-- monster SUVs...

And what other grocery store has valet parking?

Yay! Spirit is back in business and fully functional!

I am used to saying that I hate DC summers more than anything (days in the 90's nights in the 70's, really high humidity), but this bitter cold winter (nights in the teens, days in the 20's) is really getting on my nerves. I actually don't mind the parts outside so much, like my 15 minute walk to the metro. But indoors the heat is running so much that it gets really dry. The inside of my nose gets like the surface of Mars: red, dry, crunchy... you get the idea. And almost every morning I wake up really congested. I've tried one of those mist humidifiers, which seemed to help a little, but it deposits a white dust on everything, and clogs the air filter. I suppose I could fill it with filtered water from my Brita, but that just seems like too much work. I would really love to live in a climate like San Francisco: rarely below freezing, rarely above 80: perfect!

On a non-bitchy note, I had a great massage yesterday afternoon, (by a very nice guy who is also a semi-pro tennis player). It's a treat I wish I could afford more often. It's definitely more fun than my pilates class, which my cycling-class buddy Mitch and I agree is more like torture than exercise.