The Sun Will Shine Again Tomorrow

Friends Only, Going Forward

2008-06-10T15:08:29Z

I told you once, leave a message if you want to be added.

I've Had Worse

2008-06-10T03:08:07Z

As Mondays go, this was a good one. I didn't sleep much last night, due to an empty bed- Doug was on travel and the cats are too hot in their fur coats to sleep upstairs, so I tossed and I turned, and was up at 5:30 even though I didn't go to bed until after 2.

Despite the 100 degree heat, I rode a respectable 28 miles (did 35 on Saturday, when it was even hotter), came home, did some work, then went to Dogfish Head for a meal, not having eaten since sometime yesterday afternoon.

Oh yes, I totally bonked on the last few miles of my ride, thanks for asking.

But it's too fucking hot to eat.

I needed to get out of the house, though, so went to DFH, the closest thing to a 'local' I have, and sure enough, found a friend at the bar. She and I had a nice chat, a couple of pints, and I ate some pizza while she downed a burger. I would just like to say, for the record, that I ate half my pizza. She ate all of her burger, along with the fries. Oh yes, I'm so smug and superior.

Truth is, I've been so wrapped up in trying to write this 'thing' that I'm writing, I can't focus on food. Even the fact that I'm writing about food doesn't make me hungry. It does make me drinky and smoky, though, neither of which are good. Especially on a Monday, for fucksake.

I just wanted to say fucksake, is all.

Oh, and the weather. 100 degrees, four days in a row? Where are we, Sri Lanka?

The best part about riding a bike is that you create your own breeze and your sweaty skin is happy about it. The benefit of plowing miserably up a hill is the knowledge that eventually, you get to descend, which creates an even more intense, 30 mile-an-hour breeze. Wearing a heart monitor is essential when it's this hot- your body expends an enormous amount of energy trying to keep your organs (especially your brain) cool, so it's important to ratchet it back a notch or two.

Lastly, I'm going to make this LJ friends-only. I know I've been a loser LJ friend for the past 6 years or so, but that may have to do with the fact that my RL friends and my husband were also active here. Now, most people don't post, and the people I'm suddenly writing for are, shall we say, behind a different firewall.

I've got something to say. I just need the proper audience.

That is all.

xo

Storm Damage

2008-06-08T17:54:12Z

High winds toppled an oak tree onto an 1890s Arlington house.

This photo was in the Washington Post on Thursday. It was taken about 2 blocks from my house, in my neighborhood. I'm not sure you can really appreciate how large the tree is from this perspective, but it's a really big (some might say "an enormous fuck-off") oak tree. I have one just like it in my back yard, looming menacingly over the house. Well, I hope it's not all rotted out in the middle, but it's hard to tell without cutting it down, and that would just be a sin. It would also be really fucking expensive (like ~$15,000) because they'd have to bring a crane in and dismantle the thing from top to bottom. I know this because one already fell back there, but didn't hit the house.

The tree above is now in pieces on the street and the biggest part of the trunk is more than 6 feet in diameter, or about 18' in circumference (I think... math not being my strong point.)

You might understand why I fret when we have storms like that. The oaks come down hard.

36 Hours in the Dark

2008-06-06T15:41:18Z

The power company finally got us back on the grid at around 4 AM, approximately 36 hours after being knocked out by any number of enormous fuck-off oak trees that were sent flying by Wednesday's storm. The Internetz is still down, but I'm making do with a Sprint mobile wi-fi card today. Yesterday, I had to go into the office for electricity and net connectivity. What a pain in the ass trying to get ready in the dark is. Plus, no way to dry my hair, etc. But I took care of that in the locker room at work, eventually.

It was really hot in the house, but the food in the fridge and freezer seems like it survived.

No music, no 'net (except for my iPhone), no electric guitar, and I had to read the paper with a flashlight--- all of that is a pain in the ass. But hey, my carbon footprint was reduced for a little while, right?

Now I'm going to attempt to change my guitar strings for the very first time. That should be comical.

While I bend to that task, you should watch this vid. I may be awhile.

Phantom Planet's video for 'Do The Panic' from their album, Raise The Dead

New Gear

2008-06-02T14:24:32Z

Last summer, my husband got a case of motorcycle envy, after listening to his buddies talking about their adventures riding around in the Shenandoah countryside. So, he bought a motorcycle. It's a BMW, like the other guys' - Let's be clear: we're not talking about the Harley crowd. There are no leather halter tops and cut-off shorts, no ponytails and wallet-chains. And most importantly, no 900 decibel noise pollution motors.

Doug took the motorcycle safety course last fall and got his license but I haven't been out riding with him yet because 1) I figure he needs to get some practice riding by himself first, 2) His being out with friends gives me some alone-time, and 3) I didn't have a helmet or any gear.

Now, number three has been eliminated. I got a jacket and gloves last week and a helmet this past Saturday, along with a pair of pants. The jacket and pants are ballistic nylon, I guess, and have armor inserts at key places. No, no tank tops for me. I'd prefer to stay alive, preferably with my skin intact.

And yes, the jacket is pink. And black and white, but I had to have the pink, just because. As soon as I actually go for a ride, I'll get a photo of the biker-chick version of me and let you all see how ridiculous I look.

A few West London photos for adaveen:
</div>

CSC Bike Race Sunday in Clarendon

2008-05-30T17:50:17Z

If anyone's a pro-cycling fan, don't miss the CSC Invitational on Sunday. It's a fun day if the weather's nice.

The pro women's race starts at 10:15, men start at 12:15. Bring a chair.

http://www.cscinvitational.com/

Drama Queen

2008-05-29T17:10:27Z

This is dedicated to my good friend, *****. Personally, I think we can all use a little drama now and then.

Hmm, well, for some reason, (fucking lawyers and such), this vid was pulled. But you can click here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKG1fKA6ayQ

It's a groovy song called "Drama Queen" by Switches.

Bad Morning, Good Evening

2008-05-28T15:10:30Z

I was up half the night because

Pain-in-the-Astro

<---

decided to contract a urinary tract infection. He was in and out of our bed all night, as he kept having to go down to the basement to the litter box. You'd think he might just sleep on the sofa in the next room rather than go up and down two flights of stairs, but either he's really dumb or he wanted to make sure we knew he had a problem.

Poor kitty. I know he's in distress. There's blood in his urine and he's straining to go. So, we were up at 4 AM, Doug having to be at the airport at 6 AM anyway. I packed up the cat and the husband and set off for the emergency vet, via DCA, which happens to be on the way. I'd managed to get a urine sample out of Astro before we went to the vet so didn't have to wait very long. They confirmed my diagnosis and said he had crystals as well as bacteria, so that means prescription diet, plus antibiotics to get rid of the infection. Problem is, he's intolerant of antibiotics. I can give him pills- it's not that. It's that he pukes 10 minutes later. So I talked to the vet about it and she said there really wasn't any choice, that he was going to have to take them whether he tossed them back or not. This is just great. Because I love cleaning up cat puke. Fucksakes.

Tonight should be better. Dan, Cyndi, Kyle and I are going to see the Raconteurs at the 9:30 Club. The thought of Jack White makes me happy, but I think I'm going to need a nap before going out.

Here's one from Radio 1's Big Weekend earlier this month:

Tuscany Pics

2008-05-18T02:54:32Z

We had a fabulous week in Tuscany recently, but it's taken me a couple of weeks to sort through 300 photos, which I still haven't done all that well but I've gotten it down to 80 or so. The first 10 should be enough to make you want to go there immediately.

Tuscany 2008

cPickle -- A faster pickle

2008-04-24T14:33:01Z

You know, when shit like this starts making sense, it's time for a change of scenery. WTF?

"Pickling'' is the process whereby a Python object hierarchy is converted into a byte stream, and ``unpickling'' is the inverse operation.

The pickle data stream produced by pickle and cPickle are identical, so it is possible to use pickle and cPickle interchangeably with existing pickles.

What I need is some Italian food and wine. A whole lot of wine. And hold the pickles.

A couple of weeks ago, I got stopped in the mall by a news crew doing a cupcake taste-test. Who am I to pass up free cake? I presented my cake-eating credentials (I come from a long line of cake-eaters), ranked the cupcakes, made some witty observations about frosting, and went on my way. The segment aired the other day, and that bitch Liz Crenshaw didn't even give me a speaking part! Instead, they put some lady on who said one was "cup-cakier".

But if you want, you can watch me stuff cake into my mouth. I'm at around minute 2:55. Oh, and the Georgetown Cupcakes were really fucking good. Totally worth the calories. Cake Love's were the worst. Just awful. The icing was like foam rubber and the cake was dry and tasteless. My rankings were:

1. G-town Cupcakes - fantastic frosting - Fluffy and light but rich with cream cheese and butter.
2. Betty Crocker
3. Safeway
4. Cake Love

http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=242993

kattrags @ 2008-04-21T07:13:00

2008-04-21T11:45:30Z

Happy birthday to pherber9. I hope it's sunny where you are - it's rather dismal here.

No matter, that. By the end of the week, I'll be transporting the cats up to Kamp Kitty Kat (aka my parents' house in Pennsylvania) where they'll have access to the screened porch and can interact with the local wildlife more fully. On Sunday, we leave for London, arriving just in time to miss the Carl and Didz DJ set. Doug has to work on Monday and Tuesday, so I'll be wandering around London, hopefully spending at least one of those days with 200Turtles.

In a moment of wine-induced idiocy, I emailed Adrian/babybear about visitation at the Scrubs.... He wrote back telling me that was not going to happen-

"Sorry Katt but there is no chance you would get into the scrubs." Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

On Wednesday, we fly to Pisa (just in time to miss DPT at Proud, mind you) but I shouldn't complain too bitterly, since we'll be at a lovely villa in Chianti for a full week with my friend Jane and some of her other friends from London.

But first, I need to get through this week. My job continues to suck the very life right out of me, but the benefit of working at home 90% of the time outweighs just about everything else. I simply will not be able to go back to a job where I have to bust my ass getting into the office every day. I love having a cat on my lap while I work, love not having to stand in my closet hemming and hawing over what to wear every morning, not having to buy very many suits... add the cost of gas and the $2.50 in tolls and yeah, I'm much better off staying at home.

I have tickets to see Foals on Wednesday at the Rock n Roll Hotel in DC. I haven't really heard much of their stuff but the tix were only $10, so how bad can it be? It's a decent little venue, and I do mean little.

Oh Look, Another Silly Fixation

2008-04-12T16:18:32Z

Americans come up with puerile shows like "Jackass" and Brits come up with the inane yet clever "Never Mind the Buzzcocks" - Okay, so it's apparently been on for a really long time, but as usual, I'm late to the party. In this episode, we have Noel Fielding from the Mighty Boosh, who is his usual engaging self, along with Donny Tourette, who does an excellent parody of himself. And the host, Simon Amstell, who is a comic genius.

There are a three parts to this, and the last one has the funniest bit with Noel singing a song about soup.

Old Gregg

2008-04-09T23:38:43Z

I'm working my way through Season 1 of the Mighty Boosh and thought it was time to come forward as a new Boosh devotee. I'd watched clips on youTube but finally downloaded all three seasons via bittorrent, spent countless hours on exporting them to a format that could be played on the Apple TV (and if you're a Mac user and have Leopard, the Front Row application). Depending on the format it starts in, it can take no time at all or quite a lot. Thank the various gods for free software.

I've been getting music via bitttorrent for awhile, but HD video is new for me, and the file sizes are painful. People tend to upload entire collections of stuff- all three seasons, for instance, as one enormous, 15 GB file. Yes, fifteen. Thankfully, Doug bought a half-terabyte NAS drive for our home network, so I can manage it for now. A half terabyte. That is just ridiculous, isn't it? But yeah, for video, you need a lot of disk. So, I download, uncompress if it's RAR'd, and then try to figure out what I need to do to get it into usable format, which for me is Apple TV HD. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes, not so much.

I have a bunch of stuff that I haven't figured out yet. Not that I watch a lot of TV, but there are some good shows on now and again. I downloaded all the episodes of a pilot called "Pushing Daisies" but I have no idea what needs to happen for me to watch it. Anyone out there who's smart about this stuff, please feel free to weigh in. I, in turn, am willing to help other people out with stuff I know.

If this isn't funny, well, there must be something wrong with you. ;-)

Any Art Historians out There?

2008-03-28T15:47:18Z

I need help identifying the who/what/why/where of this bowl. If you know anyone who might be able to shed some light on it, please forward the photo link. I know that it's sterling silver, but little else. It doesn't have any marking/signature sort of thing that I can detect. It's definitely old, though how old I've no idea. More than 100 years old...

More pics here

More on Shopping for Lola

2008-03-27T14:24:32Z

I quickly realized that my reason for being (in Lola's eyes) was to fetch her wine. She'd give me her shopping list over the phone and the first item was always "4 wine." Her brand was Fairbanks Dry Sherry, a fortified concoction made in Modesto, CA., $7.99 a magnum. That's pretty good bang for the buck, really, at 17% alcohol.

She always wanted me to call her from the supermarket, ostensibly to make her choices on the Stouffer's frozen dinners. So, I would call and she would immediately ask, "Did you get the wine?" Well, I can understand that, being as I have a bit of a wine issue myself. So, I always made sure to get the wine, even if I had to go to more than one store. At some point, the store where I normally went stopped carrying it. After trying to get the distributor to put it back on the shelf to no avail, and getting tired of Lola's panicking about the possibility of not having any, I started buying 2 cases at a time (6 bottles/each of magnums) at the place where I buy wine for myself. I hauled that up to her apartment and said, "Okay, Lola, let's not talk about the wine for awhile." She agreed. But then asked for two more cases just a couple weeks later, which I got for her. Now she was really stocked up.

A few weeks ago, she was hospitalized while I was out of town for work. When I went to see her, I think I knew she wasn't going to get better. There was such a profound decline in a very short time, and she was a little tiny thing in the first place. After two weeks in Virginia Hospital Center, they sent her to this hell-hole called Sleepy Hollow Manor for "rehabilitation." WTF? It was pretty clear that she wasn't going anywhere, and certainly not back to her apartment. I asked her if she wanted me to smuggle some wine in. She told me that she didn't even want it. That's when I really knew that the end was near. I laughed, though, and told her- "Now I really am worried!" She smiled and agreed.

I guess I should mention that she has no family- no children, no spouse, no siblings. There's one cousin in Florida, and she's 85. So, I was hanging out with her and she was telling me who she wanted her stuff to go to, and that she wanted to be cremated, no service, etc. I told her I'd do what I could but without any legal standing, I doubted that I could fulfill her wishes. She agreed to sign over power of attorney to me, so I found a notary to come to Sleepy Hollow "Manor" the next day, which was Saturday.

However, the phone rang at around 6:30 Saturday morning, someone from the home calling to tell me that Lola didn't make it through the night. Sad, yes, but she was ready to go and she was terribly miserable in that shit-hole. She kept telling me that she just wanted to die. I couldn't help but agree that might not be such a bad thing.

(Note to everyone: Make sure your parents have a will and that you understand what they want. Make sure YOU have a will and that someone knows what YOU want.)</div>
So now, I'm sorting through her stuff, trying to figure out what to do with it. You can't even give stuff away any more. And if any of you know someone who likes cheap sherry, I'll give you a really good deal on it ;-)

Here's to you, Lola.

L-O-L-A

2008-03-25T22:52:40Z

About 10 years ago, I signed up with the local Red Cross chapter as a "friendly shopper" volunteer. I figured it would be a simple enough task to buy groceries for an elderly person who could no longer perform that mundane task. After all, I had to shop for myself anyway, right?

My first assignment was a gentleman named Pierce Rice. Mr. Rice was 80-something and in poor physical condition, but his head was still clear. His little apartment was filled with paintings, and he was the artist who painted them. I started asking about his art and he told me that in addition to painting, he used to draw comics, back when comics were cool. Well, the first time they were cool, anyway. He was also an art teacher, and wrote at least one book. Definitely an interesting guy, with lots more stories than most people. I shopped for him until he was placed in assisted living, and he died in 2003.

After that, I took a few years off, then started feeling guilty again, so called the Red Cross and told them I was ready for a new assignment. They matched me up with a lady named Lola, who lived in Shirlington. I thought that was a good sign because I had just joined a new gym less than a half-mile from her apartment.

Lola was bright-eyed and somewhat cantankerous, but she had reason to be annoyed with life. Her heart had gone bad and couldn't pump enough blood to allow her lungs to work properly, so she had to be attached to oxygen 24/7. She had a machine at home with a 50 ft. tube so she could walk around, but it was a pain in the butt going anywhere. She had a great fear of running out of oxygen when using the cylinders.

She died a few days ago. It wasn't until last week when I was looking for something in her apartment that I found out a little bit about her younger days. And so, here's the very brief summary that I sent to the Post. I don't know if they'll publish it or not. I had no idea that she was Miss Vermont 1946 and competed in the Miss America pageant. I wish she had told me that story. It explained a lot about why she was how she was. Her vanity kept her in the house because she didn't want people to see her with the tubes in her nose.

I will miss her.

Lola J. Cate, a 38-year resident at the Shirlington House Apartments in
Arlington, died on March 22 of complications related to congestive heart
failure. She was 80.

Ms. Cate, née Lola Jacqueline Sundberg, was born in Burlington, Vermont
in1927 and graduated from Burlington High School in 1945.  Following
high school, she entered the Miss Vermont Beauty Pageant and won the
title of Miss Vermont, 1946, and represented her state at the Miss
America pageant that same year.

Her marriage to Air Force Colonel Albert Cate ended in divorce, but
Lola's years as a military spouse afforded her many opportunities to
work as a Red Cross volunteer in the various communities where she lived.

A cousin, Marguerite Essock, of Huntington Beach, FL, is her nearest
survivor.

Living on Borrowed Energy

2008-03-21T02:02:22Z

This week has been a huge suck- All-day meetings, all the time. Meetings that I not only had to sit through, but had to plan, order food for, make badges, agendas, arrange speakers for-- plus do my regular job in my spare time. Oh yeah, and get a lady of my acquaintance situated in a nursing home, figure out how to arrange power of attorney and hospice care for her, and take responsibility for dealing with her apartment and worldly possessions.

But I've had these tickets to the Cribs since early January or something, so I kind of had to go see them. Plus I needed a break from both work and the spectre of death.

I'd never been to the Black Cat before- what a great little venue. I can't wait to see British Sea Power there in May! The crowd was a little thin, but that meant getting a drink was easy, and they had Sierra Nevada on tap, which kept me contented. The Cribs were enthusiastic and lively, on good form- but it seems like the set was the shortest in the history of rock and roll. Just as the crowd was ready to party, the Brothers Jarman walked off the stage and didn't bother to return for an encore or even a wave goodbye.

They were supposed to show up in the red bar downstairs. Cyndi and I went down and had a nightcap, but they didn't appear by the time I needed to leave (I had an 8 AM meeting in Reston this morning and it was pushing 1 AM). Regardless, it was a good show and a much needed diversion. Plus, I feel like I absorbed some energy from all the kids in the crowd. (Although I swear to god I had more bounciness than 98% of them.) Youth is seriously wasted on the fucking young.

But go see the Cribs if they're coming to your town. Totally worth the $15 ticket :)

And you local friends, get tickets for British Sea Power. It's gonna be a corker.

WTF?

2008-03-13T02:19:07Z

Really, what else can you say about this?

WICHITA, Kan. — Deputies say a woman in western Kansas became stuck on her boyfriend's toilet after sitting on it for two years.

Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said it appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman's skin had grown around the seat. She initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.

"We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."

Thankfully, there is no photo accompanying the story.

Flights booked, Life is good, yet I still complain.

2008-03-08T14:45:29Z

In yet another astonishing feat of supremely bad timing, I'll be in London for two days at the end of April, arriving the day after Pete's solo Royal Albert Hall gig and before any of the DPT dates. Fuck. Me.

In consolation, I'll spend the following week licking my wounds here:

Brogino, Passignano, Chianti (Florence)

The Grants

2008-03-07T17:11:23Z

I love this band- unfortunately, they don't have a full-length album out yet, but they've put some downloadable demos on myspace, if you like the sound of them.

http://www.myspace.com/thegrantsrock

Always Ambiguous

2008-03-07T00:45:15Z

Oh, great, NOW I learn that I have a photographic memory. It might have been useful last week while I was staring blankly at a sheaf of empty pages during my "Service Delivery" exam.

- August 7 -
You are very independent and fearless. You have a lot of pride in yourself, and have confidence that you can do anything you put your mind to.
Positive Traits: intelligent, ethical, analytical, photographic memory, intuitive
Negative Traits: overly introverted, eccentric, uncommunicative, selfishness, cynicism
'What does your Birthdate mean?' at QuizGalaxy.com

DPT Tour Announced

2008-03-04T15:36:14Z

After two years of waiting, is it possible that Dirty Pretty Things may finally return to the US for a little visit this summer? They just announced a brief UK tour for May, so I can only live in hope. It doesn't matter if they come to DC. I'll be happy to make whatever road-trip is necessary.

The last time they were here was the summer of '06, I think for only 5 shows, none of which I knew about until it was too late. I'm still bitter about that. Carl's collarbone was broken, yet he carried on... Such a brave lad.

This is from the Reading Festival, '06. In the US, they played tiny venues. In England, well, they enjoy a larger audience.

Tickets

2008-03-01T19:36:50Z

Here's what I currently have tickets for. If you want to go with me, I have an extra ticket (except for the Cribs). If you want more tickets, I've linked the sites. They're all really cheap and nothing is sold out. I know it's a pain in the butt to go out on work nights but you know what? We're too young to curl up and die!

Who's Playing?	Who's Going?
The Cribs Black Cat, Washington, DC Wed, Mar 19, 2008 08:00 PM	Cyndi
Carbon/Silicon featuring Mick Jones of the Clash and Tony James of Generation X 9:30 Club Washington, DC Sunday , April 6, 2008, 7:30PM
Foals Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - 08:30 PM Rock And Roll Hotel Washington, DC
British Sea Power Black Cat, Washington, DC Thu, May 8, 2008 08:00 PM

kattrags @ 2008-02-27T19:26:00

2008-02-28T00:33:55Z

In honor of night #2 of Pete D. playing solo at Rhythm Factory. I'm dead jealous of everyone who was there last night, everyone who's there tonight and everyone who's going tomorrow (quite likely the same audience on all three occasions, mind you.) If I lived in London, you know where I'd be.

To Drink or not to Drink?

2008-02-28T00:09:53Z

I'm beat. I just finished the first of two ITSM Manager's Certification exams today - Three hours, 5 questions, and about 20 full pages of writing. Yes, actual writing. With a pen. Oddly enough, it wasn't the material that confounded me, but the time limit of 3 hours. I spent too much time on the first two questions and then had to rush through the other three.

Now I need to study for tomorrow's exercise in pain and humiliation but I really would rather find a glass of wine somewhere. (I know, you're shocked, right?) I'll be happy to have this behind me and FFS, I better pass the damned thing or else I'm going to have to re-sit the exam in June.

I was horrible at studying when I was in college and you know, nothing has changed. I just don't know how to do it, and there are always more interesting things to distract me. Oh, and I have the attention span of a flea.

Does anyone want to go see British Sea Power at the Black Cat on May 8? I can't say this is the most compelling clip, but there ya go.