Friday nite

Home and resting. In case anyone is curious, the song list at right is from an iTunes playlist I called 'most beautiful' because of course it is, to me, some of the most beautiful music in the world. It ranges from Haydn to Enya to John Williams to Pet Shop Boys, but hey.

iPhone released

No I'm not getting one, not being a phone person. But looky, they are reporting from the Clarendon store, near my house!

I am a coward

So, I was in the locker room this afternoon, just out of the shower
and drying off, feeling a little (mostly) naked and awkward because
there was a cute young Asian guy at the locker right next to me,
seeming to take a longer than necessary time to finish dressing and
get his stuff together. Finally he gets his bag, closes the locker
and heads out. I'm relieved to have even a tiny bit of privacy and
not have this guy literally less than 2 feet away from me.

But.

I had noticed in his locker were a pair of sunglasses. And I didn't
say anything. I agonized for a long moment in cowardly Libra
indecision. Maybe they weren't his, maybe they were left by someone
else? Then told myself I would take them to the front desk so no one
else could steal them. I felt rotten.

THEN. He came back, dropped his backpack on the bench and proceeded
to rifle through it. He rustled around for a few seconds before I
finally managed to suck up some guts and say "Uh, are you looking for
your sunglasses? I thought I saw a pair in that locker."

He seemed totally unphased and said (in totally unaccented English)
"Oh thanks man, appreciate it. No wonder I've lost two par already
this year."

So I felt a little less like a jerk. But he must have known that I'd
seen them earlier and not said anything.

As I was walking back to work, I thought, that was strange that he
would come all the way back here just to look through his backpack;
he would have been at least to the lobby ...

Spin transitions

Attendance at my Thursday spin class continues to grow (mostly full today!) with most people also attending the followup abs class. On the other hand, attendance was down Sunday, and I had to sub out last Saturday because of work.

Still I am surprised at how Thursday has grown (don't want to jinx it!) considering it is early morning in the summertime.

Always feel better afterwards, that's for sure.

Itchy update

Well, today I have hardly had the urge to scratch at all. This could
be due to any one or more of the the precautions I took today, though
the moisturizer on the upper arms is an unlikely reason, because I
don't itch anywhere.

So its either the fact that I've made sure to drink even more water,
or (and I think this may be more likely) the fact that I took a
Zyrtec last night before going to bed. Which would mean that I have
some kind of allergic reaction to something....

Oops, even as I type this I am having a little urge to scratch along
my ribs. Must me psychosomatic...

Itchy & Scratchy

The last few days my skin has been so itchy, but almost entirely just at work. Is work giving me a rash? Yesterday afternoon it was almost intolerable. I don't seem to have any kind of redness, nor is my skin particularly dry-seeming. It just itches, and just on parts of my upper body, like my upper arms. I had stopped taking my allergy meds a couple days agao, but I take that for the coughing I get from tree pollen, and that has tapered off. The other main factors are that it has been real hot and humid again the last couple days, and they finally got the AC completely fixed on our side of the room, so the temp is 72° instead of 78° F, so I wonder if that has something to do with it.

I need to make an appt with the Dr. anyway for a new prescription, but it seems like I may have another reason. Anyway, I guess I'll make an extra effort to drink a lot of water too, since I'm sweating more than usual (between afternoon gym workout and just the long walk to and from work in the heat).

Off to the Library.

Random Weekend Thoughts

Had to work on Saturday; wasn't too bad really. Sunday morning had
spin class, met a cute little (yes, Asian) guy in my class and we
went out for coffee after. He has a bf, but it's one of 'those'
relationships. Sounds like trouble for me, though maybe we can be
friends. R. has completely dropped off my radar; he doesn't even show
up on iChat anymore, and emailed just to see how he was and got no
answer yet. Hope he's ok. Oh and I saw Tommy from the Mischievious
Boys online and we had a nice chat.

Dozed off early Sunday evening but then of course woke up around
midnight. Fortunately, they were replaying Matt Lauer's interview
with Princes William and Harry on MSNBC (thought of you, Larry!).
Those two can be so polite and poised and charming; though probably
half of it is that fabulous Brit aristocratic accent. And I swear
Harry is the soccer player's son (or whoever the redhead was that
Diana was seeing for awhile). Spent the morning cleaning up the
kitchen and bedroom.

And now the week begins again.

Living alone

Yesterday a (married, female) co-worker (who I have known on and off for years; I used to work with her several years ago), was half-jokingly telling me and another male co-worker thet we needed to go to a psychiatrist because we preferred to live alone. He actually has a girlfriend, but is often talking about how he likes to have his 'alone' time. We tried to explain to her that some people need that more than others, but she said (and I have to agree to some extent) that after you live alone too long, you get too spoiled and used to having everything your own way; you never have to compromise, even with a roomate. You get 'set in your ways.'

In a somewhat unrelated development, the same female co-worker has remained friends with a guy who we both used to work with, J., a half-Japanese guy (why is it that mixed Asian/White guys are always so darn hot?) who I always had kind of a crush on. He was straight, though I always had a feeling... She says every time she talks to him, he says "be sure to say hi to (TK)!" I told her that he should come visit us since she and I both have to work tomorrow, and it's usually slow. She thought that was a great idea. We'll see. It would be nice to see him again after all these years, in any case.

It's all downhill from here

Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

Mystery Twin update

Okay, this is getting weirder. Just the other day I mentioned about being mistaken for someone else. Yesterday my boss came back from picking up dinner and said "I don't want to upset you, but you're standing across the street at the bus stop right now." Of course I and a couple of co-workers rushed to the window. There was a guy about my build with buzzed hair. I didn't think he looked like me all that much but the co-workers did.

Do we have an unrealistic opinion of our appearance, (just like it's always a shock to hear your own voice on tape for the first time)?

Out of Sorts

My stomach is a little upset this morning (btw, that's a euphemism for rumblings a little lower down) and I don't know why. I didn't eat or drink anything unusual the last day or so. Work is slowing down a bit, which is good, though it was so freakin' hot out yesterday, I think I got a heat rash or something: I suddenly started to feel all itchy. In fact, I feel kind of itchy right now... argh. And a little congested. Hopefully a nice hot shower will help with both.

Oh and there was more about Seung Hui Cho in the Washington Post today; no I haven't forgotten about him, but don't spend much time thinking about it any more... and I think I was disturbing people by talking about him so much. Anyway, there were some interesting new details... like the whole 'transformation' thing, and that he pulled the hard drive out of his computer, and they still haven't found it. Why, one wonders.

Anyway, to more fun stuff. As some readers know, I like to watch Mythbusters on Discovery Channel, mainly because I think Grant is just the cutest little geek. There have been a couple episodes dealing with 'suggestability,' one where they explored alternative methods to prevent seasickness, and another about hypnosis. In the hypnosis one, Grant was the only one of the whole team who was suggestable enough to go completely under hypnosis (though even he didn't fall for the post-hypnotic suggestions that were planted). And in seasickness, he and Adam were the most vulnerable, and he was the only one who was completely 'cured' by taking a placebo, which didn't work at all for Adam. Some people are just more easily influenced than others; interestingly, they generally portray Grant as the 'smart one' on the show.

Budgets

Cost of the Iraq war so far: almost $400 billion (and nearly 4000 US soldiers)

Cost of a manned mission to Mars, along with all the preparatory missions: $120 Billion. Hm.

Stormy Weather

Last night we had few pretty exciting storms. It was kind of drizzling as I walked home. I didn't have an umbrella, but the precipitation was so slight that it really wasn't too annoying. And the sky was putting on a rather fun light show.

I was mostly worried that the power would be out at home, and I might not have my alarm to wake me up at 5:00 for class. One of my co-workers cleverly suggested that I set the alarm on my iPod (what a useful device).

The power was indeed off when I got home, but I was barely settled in bed when it came back on... good old Dominion Power. And I woke up at 4:30 anyway, so crisis averted. I did feel kind of draggy going to class today, but what do you know, I had several new people and one young woman came up to me after class and told me what a great time she had, and what a wonderful class it was.

Always makes it worthwhile.

Mystery Twin

I apparently have a twin. Several times over the last few years here
in DC, co-workers and friends have said that they saw someone who
they were sure was me walking around downtown. Sometimes they were so
sure it was me that they called out, only to discover that it wasn't
me after all.

Today the twin thing went up a level. I was sitting in my favorite
little coffee place in Arlington and a young woman (who it turns out
is also friends with the Filipino guy who--I think--used to be co-
owner of the place) walked right up to me and said "John?"

I was wearing a cap, but it's not like I had dark glasses on or
anything. She was literally 3 feet away; so she had a good look at
me. I said "Um, no...?"

She apologized then and said "You look exactly like a friend of mine!"

I said no problem, and she went to talk to he Filipino friend, but it
certainly made me wonder. I don't think I have a very 'common' look,
and for someone to look that much like me... it's intriguing.

I should have asked her who this 'John' was. I'd like to see my
Mystery Twin one of these days.

Bruce Lee's Kato screen test

Wow he was only 24, and he just oozed charisma. What a cutie he was... though probably 'cutie' was not an adjective he would have preferred...

Destruction

I was saddened to see that they are apparently going to tear down the Mercury Building at 20th and K St NW; in fact interior demolition has already started. I liked this building because it was different. With its stainless steel coffered window panels and the strange concrete balcony jutting out of the side, it had a kind of sci-fi look to it. Certainly it was more fun than the endless parade of hideous exposed-aggregate monoliths and poorly-done International Style knockoffs (dark glass, I-beams or other vertical strips tacked on the outside: copies of the designs of Mies van der Rohe. Think Seagram Building or SOM's Lever House across the street in NY.) Apparently they are going to replace it with some crazy-angled blue glass thing. Strangely, this would have been a decent location for one of the buildings in the style that is trendy now that I like to call 'schizophrenic-style' where one side of the building looks nothing like the other (often glass and steel on one side, post-modern concrete with smaller windows on the other, and the two colliding and intersecting). Since we have a lot of architecture clients, I get to see what's coming down the pike, and these designs seem to be everywhere. I'm not sure what I think about this trend; like most things, they can be done well, or just haphazardly. Of course one thing that makes DC so strange is the height restriction, so all the buildings downtown are almost the same height. I read somewhere recently that the rule is not the often-stated 'nothing can be taller than the Capitol' but something more prosaic...

In Daily Grind news, I've been staying up too late watching TV, so struggling to get up as early as I'd like (and sometimes spending too much time goofing off when I do wake up). Work has been going ok, but just constantly busy for the last few months. I was a little relieved to hear though that July-August should only be about 60% of the workload as we have had recently.

I've been pretty much keeping to myself lately, aside from work and spin classes; I just don't have the energy to make the effort to 'get out and about.' And in case anyone was wondering, I haven't seen R. in several weeks, and maybe that's just as well. We had a brief and seemingly terse IM conversation a week or so, but that was insubstantial.

Well, I'm off to straighten up the place a bit then head to the coffee place for writing and maybe a bit of reading. Yay.

Kato vs. Robin

I remember this well. And I thought the same thing: Kato would have kicked Robin's ass.

Not Proud?

Oh yeah I guess last weekend was gay pride. Oh, well. It was much like my other weekends: classes in the morning, hanging around the house the rest of the day. Crazily, I almost overslept for my Saturday class, probably cause I was up till 2 am Friday night. Fortunately I no longer have to do the 2-11pm work shift.

I watched I, Robot yesterday; it was okay. Wil Smith is still hot though. Oh and like three eps of Mythbusters. Grant is such a little cutie (especially after, I have to say, the near-miraculous orthodontia transformation).

Irony

As one of my favorite (gay) fictional characters (played by Rupert Everett back in his youth) once said "I was never very handy with the iron." I hate ironing. I don't have an ironing board. I haven't used the iron in probably a year; my cotton shirts just look rumpled. I could send them to teh cleaners like I had to do when at the other job, but I'm too cheap, and they always seem to mangle the buttons.

So why did I go out and buy a 'washable' linen shirt? I took it out of the dryer this morning, and it will have to be ironed.

Hot Hot Hot

I hate the heat. I love my walk to work when the weather is temperate, or even cold, but I hate arriving at work all sweaty after a walk in the DC summer heat and humidity.

Interestingly, it's not that much worse walking to the Metro at midday, because back when I used to do it in the morning, it was so humid that I was sweating anyway. And for some reason in the winter, the wind whips through the Rosslyn high-rises, but in the summer you can barely get a breath of air. Why?

Ah, well.

R.I.P. Blade the Series

Well, crap. I just learned that there is not going to be another season of Blade. No more of that cute Shen and Blade trading not-so-subtle-gay barbs back and forth. Sadness.

I'd thought that the series got pretty good ratings, but I was beginning to wonder that it was taking so long to come back.

Wasting Time On Sunday Afternoon

1. I finally figured out why the aspect ratio on my big Sony 50" fllatscreen TV was always forced to 'full' when I was watching cable, and no matter how many times I pushed the button on the Sony remote that should toggle the aspect ration, it was stuck: I needed to change it on the COMCAST cable remote. Naturally, I figured this out on my own while on hold with Comcast, after the original customer service person said 'I have heard of this before, but dont know the answer, let me get a supervisor." And when the supervisor came on, he did not know the answer and actually asked me to step him through how to do it, because they got that question many times. He said "We are out in Colorado, and we don't get Comcast, so we don't know exactly what's happening." Oh, the irony. So now at least all the people on regular TV no longer look 30 lbs overweight. To Comcasts's credit, I did get a CS person with no hold time and no annoying voice recognition system (though I still get a little pissed when I get "To continue in English, press 1;" maybe it's intolerant of me, but I think English should be the official language of the US and everyone should learn it. I am all for pretty liberal immigration, but if you come here, you must speak English, even if we have to spend tax dollar s to teach you. I hate seeing bilingual signs.)

2. Today's spin class was fun, I got big applause. For some reaosn I am having more fun goofing around with the Sunday group, making jokes and such. I guess they like that.

3. That guy in the Donna Summer video: definitely Asian. Good for the director for putting an asian guy in a vide back then... though the whole thing is so... gay. I remember seeing that video in gay bars in the 90's. Didn't she go all anti-gay and Christian for awhile, then come back? Thanks Billy, I thought that one step was some country dance move where they step then twist one foot in front of the other. The skipping/moonwalk jump thing that the reporters do is just pure gay fun though.

Wasting Time On Saturday Afternoon

Class today: okay. It was a bunch of women, and the big cute 20-something guy who always takes the bike front and center, which makes it just a little bit awkward. He comes in every time wearing baggy shorts over his bike shorts, takes them off at the beginning of class, then pulls them right back on over his bike shorts when class is over. That's right up there with the guys in the locker room who pull on their underwear while still wearing the towel around their waist. Even I'm not that shy anymore.

Anyway, one of the songs was Donna Summer's This Time I KNow it's For Real an 80's uber-gay classic. Check out the video. Campy dancing galore, including some sort of country dance moves (Billy, help me out). And isn't that an Asian guy with big hair front and center of the dancing reporters? (I know, the video is awful quality).


Then I happened to stumble onto the WineKone. This guy is strangely hilarious (and, okay, pretty cute; though apparently despite all the gay jokes, straight). I love the clone video.




Oh and one more geeky comment. On Stargate Atlantis last week, the team discovers a hollowed-out moon some civilization was using as an ark to hold their people in suspended animation. Rodney tinkers with their computer system and says it's locked up and he has to reboot it. After he gets it going again and awakens one of them he tells him how their computer had failed them, and says "Maybe you should have used a Mac." Of course the joke falls flat on everyone present.

Update: Watching another WineKone, in this video he out-of-the-blue references Goo Goo Dolls' Iris, which I quoted several posts back (in reference to, ahem, Cho). That's a little weird.