The Autobiography of John Doe

Friday - Stayed in for the night.  I played Uncharted 2 for awhile, while Dave watched on, and eventually finished the game.  Great game, honestly.  There are so many positives I wouldn't even know where to begin.  Looking forward to Modern Warfare 2.  I just say an ad for a dragon something-or-other game that looks pretty interesting.  I think this is one someone at work was describing to me as his latest purchase.  I remember him describing this as an RPG.  Maybe.  Still looks worth investigating.

Saturday - Woke up fairly early.  We decided to venture out for breakfast at a place we had been wanting to try, Founding Farmers.  Neat place and concept.  This place is all about sustainability and organic food.  The food was alright.  We both had the farmers breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 bacon, toast, and hash browns.  We also ordered a stack of pancakes with maples and cinnamon syrup with two cups of coffee.  The food was good, not great.  We only had one cup of coffee as our waiter decided not to come around for refills - we didn't ask as it took 15 minutes to get a bottle of Tabasco sauce.  Overall:  the place has a feel like they don't really know how to seat people, the wait staff don't actually bring out the food and we couldn't figure out where our waiter was the whole time, and the food is alright.

Hit the gym for a great session working out our tri-ceps and bi-ceps.  The gym is usually not so bad in the afternoon so we were fortunate not to have the prison guys occupying all the good machines. 

Stopped by the dry-cleaners to take a pair of Hugo pants in - they are the best fit in the world and I highly recommend the Craven style - for some cleaning.  I spilled something on them and it was time to take them in.

Dave went over to a friends house so I took a trip to Tyson's Corner mall to look for a mirror I had seen at Pottery Barn.  Traffic was heavy and it took me longer than usual.  I made the quick trip to PB (no mirror) and then stopped into Banana Republic to purchase a tie and some dress socks I had needed (brown is the new brown).  I then drove back home, ordered a pizza (white pizza with chicken, mushrooms, and hot peppers) and watched Requiem For a Dream.  Awesome evening.

Sunday - Woke up really early.  Went to gym for my chest routine.  Don't do a chest exercise the day after working out your "ceps" as doing so makes the chest workout a bit harder (using the "ceps" as a secondary muscle).  Workout was good but not great.  Promised myself not to do that again.  Also did some abs.  Overall feeling:  good.

Drove out to Whole Foods for the weekly grocery shopping.  Nothing much to report there.

Drove home and Dave put away groceries.  Jennie from work had informed us of a luncheon today so met her and some friends from work for  a nice luncheon out at Clyde's (gallery place).  After lunch, met up with Pete and we saw The Men Who Stare at Goats.  Funny movie; good, but not great.

Now, just listening to some music.

Dave and I are staying in DC for the holidays.  Not sure if we are going to do an orphan dinner or not - we had planned on it...but not sure.  

I don't want to be a hater.

I waited all day to watch the first episode of the new V series.  So, we are watching this as we speak and well....I really hate it.  

I think the filming is awful.  I think the show is starting off as one big cliche.  Haven't we seen all this before?  I mean, aren't audiences a bit smarter about these types of shows?  

Granted, the original mini-series is cheesy and dated (well, hello Beastmaster).  But this show is just coming across as ridiculous.  I won't give away any plot points cause I don't think i am going to finish watching this show. 

And Scott Wolf?  Why is he still relevant?  Why is he on the show?

Okay, this writing is awful.  How is it that a professional newscaster approaches an "alien" and says, basically, why are all you visitors so damn hot!?  Really??

Okay, I am done.  Even the visitors shop at IKEA.

V.  I am done with you.

Sorry.

I really do love syfy. 

It's been almost seven months since moving to D.C. This has been the first time ever that I really miss my family. I think being near the holidays is really forcing this issue because I have always been near enough to drive and see them. Until now. I am sure this is normal for someone who has never lived far enough away from home.

This will be the second Thanksgiving that I have ever missed with my family. I'm going to be 39 soon so that says quite a bit. I think it will be okay. Last year I missed Christmas with my family and that felt really weird. Dave and I were in Ohio for Christmas and I got really sick the night before we were to fly home. When I finally made it to my house I was just to sick to drive down to see them. That was also the first Christmas I have ever missed with my family.

I think this year we will see who is around and maybe have an orphan Thanksgiving. Most people I am just meeting and I think they already have plans so I am not expecting much. Which is fine. It will be a nice day to cook in our crummy kitchen. I suspect we will do something similar around Christmas day.

Work has been good. It's D.C. so my work is always political and probably more so than the average office. Anytime we have a change in the President that always means new appointee's and they never disappoint because each one comes in with their own agenda of fixing the world. That always brings new challenges.

What else...Oh yeah, spent time in LA with the wonderful  Dave (e_ticket ) and Jason (fidgetcub ). What an awesome pair!  Koji, amoeba, Disney, and plenty of fun!  Also met up with weebull  who is such a wonderful guy!  I am glad I got to meet up with him.  I met so many people for gay days at Disneyland - what a wonderful experience!  I look forward to the next one so I can meet up with everyone.  I finally got to meet durabear and he is such a cool guy.  I am really glad I got to meet him.  Wish I had more time as their are plenty of people I would have liked to have met while there.

Spent time in Florida with my family at Disney world Resort.  What a nice time spent with so much food to eat, rides to ride, and sun to be had. 

Dave and I marched in the equality parade a month or so ago.  Met up with our friend Pete and Dave's (yummydave ) friend Zach.  That was a really great experience (and my first march!)  Afterwords, we headed over to Art and Soul for some chicken and waffles.  OH YUM!

Last week we hung out with Matt (maverick1303 ) and Zach (rugbybearpa ) for some pre-Halloween drinking.  That was a great night.  Nice to finally meet Matt.  Zach is a really cool guy and hope we can cross paths again.  I think I even met Seth (slothel ).

Movies seen recently:  Pandorum, Where The Wild Things Are, and Zombieland.

Music Purchased Recently:  Owl City, Dear Hunter, Other Lives, and White Rabbits.

I haven't posted much.  I will need to write more about D.C. life.  Some of my favorite places to eat.  My favorite cupcakes (njbearcub1 ).  That sorta thing.

For now, it's time for bed and this Prelude A Lapres-midi Dun Faune is putting me to sleep. 

Oh, did I mention I miss my doggies?  :(

So, yeah. Don't really know what Schmap is. However, I do know they publish online for several cities. They just have or are in the process of publishing their ninth edition. I also know they dig around Flickr for interesting shots to include in their maps. Dave has previously been published a couple of times for Portland. Well, I was approached a couple of weeks ago about a photo I took of the Korean memorial here in D.C. They liked it and let me know they were considering it. Well, I learned today they included the photo. Yay! Anyway, cool thing. I am certainly no professional photographer. It's just cool to be inlcuded.

www.schmap.com/washingtondc/introduction_history/p=51908/i=51908_83.jpg

Enjoying a late night at epcot.

Took the day off.  I needed a day of nothingness, where I can choose my own adventure rather than sitting in another meeting, which leads to another meeting, which leads to another meeting, and well, you see the pattern.  My plan for today was to wake up, take care of some housekeeping, see the movie "Thirst", float around downtown while waiting for Dave to arrive from work, get tot he gym, come home.  How did that go?

- Woke up fairly early.  Turned on some news to find out what was going on today.  Seemed to be the same.  I unfortunately have learned that Kathie Lee Gifford (barf) and her husband Frank (the football star) share the same birthday (August 16th).  

- Played some MafiaWars because I cannot get enough of that stupid game. 

- Listened to The Fray while I did some Housekeeping. 

- Showered, dressed, took the greenline to Chinatown.  Ate lunch at Potbelly's.  Headed to the Landmark theatre on E St. to watch the 1:15 showing of "Thirst".  What a great movie.  When I see movies like the "Thirst" I am always astounded how well they are done (okay, that's debatable).  This movie, weaves a dramatic storyline dealing with immortality, faith, lust, and accountability - I'm sure I am missing other points.  The special effects are thrown in without becoming the eye candy - the effects are very subtle and not meant to pull you away from what is happening.  There was also no glittery skin.  I thought that in the time frame, you could really see the characters develop over time and deal with issues in their own way - in a way that makes sense and honors the character.  I would highly recommend this movie.

- Went to Macy's.  On my walk over to meet Dave (I was gonna head to Borders or Barnes and Noble to look at some cooking books) I stopped in at Macy's.  Lame.  Loads of kids buying clothes for school that is coming up. 

-  Sometime after Macy's I stopped in at West Elm.  I ended up with a couple of pillows I thought would look nice on the couch.

-  Along the way to NW, I was walking along when I happened to catch two people I thought I recognized, maverick1303  and profkampf who where walking towards me as I was preparing to cross a street.  I decided to turn and say hello and introduce myself.  They didn't really know me, but it's always cool to see/meet someone from the Internetz (LJ, Flickr, Facebook, etc.).  They were both very nice and very cute in person.  Hopefully will see them again.

-  Met Dave at Bally's.  Did a great arm workout tonight.  Now we have the weekend off from the gym!  yay!

- :(  Ate at Burger King for dinner.  Damn them!  And now we are suffering.  We should have waited to eat at home.  boo!

Tomorrow:

-  District 9 in the late morning time-frame (haven't checked movie times yet).

- Maybe comic store.

- Nice dinner at home.

- Relax a bit.  You never know, sometimes it's just good to relax.  We have been pretty busy running around town doing stupid stuff that takes a while to do.  Maybe we can just slow it down some this weekend.

Anyway, we are just relaxing in bed listening to music we have, music we might want to have, and music other people think we should have (mister Duane moody).

ray

1.  I miss Mamma Mia's on 2nd.  Of all the Italian joints I have eaten in this place really is the best.  From the slightly gothic interior, to the best Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo the place is just the best.  They also have the best garlic bread - ever.  If you ever get a chance to visit Portland please eat here.  They are a local restaraunt and Olive Garden is like fast-food comparatively.  You will not regret.

2.  Being able to download my music the night before.  The left coast clock was weird for itunes.  Around 10pm (and sometimes 9pm) I could download new albums from the iTunes store.  It's silly and shallow I am sure, but I really liked being able to do that.  Lately though, Amazon has been offering some better deals and I have been straying from iTunes.   Regardless, I miss that ability.

3.  My house.  I miss my house.  Tons.  I gave up 2500 sqft for 1200 sqft and it feels small.  I am not complaining, honestly.  It's just hard to go backwards - not necessarily living in an apartment versus a detached home, but just going from loads of living space, storage, a real kitchen, to, an apartment.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the not having to do any maintenance or lawn work (although, I do miss that from time to time), but I miss the space and the kitchen.  

I do well here and I really enjoy living in D.C., but you know, it's also nice to know I miss home too.

Eating lunch in pentagon city. Running some errands and now stopping for a pho bowl. Yum!

Waking up in Pennsylvania. Dave and I came here for the weekend to visit Hershey, the city that smells like chocolate.

Hanging out near U street. Eating at the famous bens chili bowl.

This is nearing the end of my first week at my new job. Things are going well. I haven't had much to do because I don't have network access and I think they are easing me into my role. Bastards! They know what's coming. Haha!

Not much else this week. Got sick and thankful it's not the H1N1 virus. Feeling better, although, I have been clearing out my chest.

I think David and I will attempt to see a smithsonian this weekend. Beyond that, not much else Is planned.

Eating lunch is good. Eating johnny rockets is better.

Headed to pentagon city mall in search of some kitchen items. Didn't get a chance to see a local person for a haircut, so decided on rebis. She did alright. For thirty bucks, I think I can find better. I am confident that once we get more familiar with the city we can find someone way cool.


We did find a more reasonably priced grocery store (Harris-teeter) that is outside the mall.


Yay for Sundays. Start new job tomorrow.

It was just easier to buy a cart to carry our groceries.

More unpacking today. We are getting very close to being unpacked. Last night we gave up and ordered pizza and watched "the return of oz".

We are taking another break. We took the green line up to Columbia heights and found "five guys". They look yummy. We are going for a target run. Food was a hard choice because potbelly was next door.

I am eating this. Tummy!

David isbeing a dork. I took david here to eat some curry laksa soup. This is a malaysian spicey soup. We are also eating sushi. We don't have Internet access yet, so we cannot post about our cool apartment. We love it and we can paint the walls!! Haha.

Good times in Ohio.

So, Indiana is alright. Decided to stop and have some lunch. DC is around the corner. Apartment won't be ready till Monday so we will stay with dave's family for the weekend.