smacky and bucky

My wife took the dogs and left for the river house this afternoon for the rest of the week. I'm working a few more days, then joining her down there. And in the meantime, I'm brushing my teeth and bathing in the kitchen. The glamorous life of a bachelor in a house in a state of flux.

Looking left:
Rooms are empty and ready to be painted.
Stuff is everywhere.

Having a relaxing weekend. It's still hot as blazes outside, so we're limiting time out there. Yesterday we relaxed until about 5, then Laura had an urge to go to the Apple store, which is next to the Barnes & Noble, where I went. Deal of the day:

The two-CD 50th Anniversary Legacy edition of Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. This B&N exclusive came with a T-shirt with Miles Davis on it. Two things that made this an amazing deal:

1. Based on the reviews I have read, this is the best version of this recording that exists, the clearest, most faithful to Davis's vision.

2. It was in the clearance bin and marked 75% off. I got it for $7.50!

Second-best deal of the day:

The Motown T-shirt shown above (pic taken while I was wearing it... the new iPhone has a dual- lens, allowing the user to take pics of oneself with the push of a button). This shirt was also in the clearance bin for 75% off, and since it was only the shirt, it was even cheaper than the set at the top!

Today we sneaked out before the sun got too high and went to Costco, then ran back home ASAP. The thermometer says 100 degrees today. I watched a few episodes of the first season of Fringe (a show you really need to watch. I'm sorry I didn't bother with it when it came out, but I'm having a lot of fun catching up). and took a nap.

This week will be interesting. On Wednesday someone is coming to paint the two bedrooms and the bathroom. That means that by Wednesday morning, those rooms have to be empty. When your home only has two bedrooms, there aren't a lot of places to put things when you move them out! Thank goodness the previous owner of the house had the front porch tiled and glassed enclosed with walls and windows. It's currently stuffed with dressers, mattresses, clothes, etc.

Also, with the wife in her third trimester, she's completely useless at helping me move furniture! ;-)

Four days of work this week, then we're taking Friday, July 2 off and the entire week following the July 4th weekend, which means taking five vacation days and getting 10 days off. Yay!

De's phone called me this afternoon (by accident evidently). Sounds like he's having fun in Boston, based on the laughter I heard before I hung up!

Trending one higher than Hitler on Yahoo! Not even Kim Kardashian (famous for her sex tape, big ass, and nothing else) can make that claim!

With the bunnies chilling in the yard like it's a spa, the animals have been rather fascinated. They take turns slinking down and stealing glances at them.




Forgive the "artiness" of the last pic. I got the free Photoshop app for the iPhone and was putzing with it. Now it's a black & white photo with an oval frame.

We went to Eastern Market in downtown DC this morning, browsed around, bought some fresh corn, tipped a guy playing "Girl from Ipanema" on the trumpet a buck, went to lunch at a nice Lebanese place, finally made it to the International Spy Museum (Meh. Crowded, too many videos and not enough exhibits.) Considered buying a Communist flag postcard and mailing it to my father-in-law and sign it "Can't stop me! Yours, Barak Obama." ;-) Came home to rest a bit (it was 93 degrees today), took a nap, and went out to grab a good quick dinner (chicken salad sandwich).

We noticed the bunny in the yard again as we were leaving, and when we came back about an hour later, he was still there! He likes to lay in a tire rut in our driveway. When our car is there, he's invisible to the people passing by on the sidewalk, and there's plenty around to nibble on. He's not scared by the sound of the car starting, and stays in place when we walk by.

Not a bad life...

In my wife's family there are four daughters. Their political views range from liberal to considering Obama a republican and being one step away from just living off the grid completely (really, really far left).

As is often the case, their parents skew the other way. And ever since they retired to the country, it's like something in the water is pushing them further and further to the right.

How far? Well, we knew Laura's stepfather had been attending the local tea party meetings (which was troubling but ultimately seemed harmless), but last night one I was chatting with one of the sisters and she let it slip that my father-in-law had been elected president of the tea party chapter about a month ago. I did a quick internet search and, yep, it's true.

This is the group that thinks republicans aren't conservative enough. This is the group that demands Obama take action on the BP spill, but don't spend money on ANY project that could be considered "socialist" (except Medicare and Social Security. Don't you dare touch those!).

Two of the sisters (his blood daughters) don't know. And as they're the most liberal of the sisters, I don't know how they'd react.

It's ironic that this group is popping up now, supposedly as a response to "unchecked government spending." Where were they when we invaded Iraq under false pretenses, removed their government and left a void to be filled by terrorists? How much have we borrowed from China to pay for that war?

(And yes, although I don't suspect him of this, I definitely think the tea party is a response by old white people to a black man becoming president.) We saw an older woman on the train recently going to a tea party protest carrying a sign that said "The only difference between Obama and Osama is BS." Seriously? The only difference between the man who financed the September 11th terrorist attacks and the president of our country is the spelling of their names? It's so insulting, and yes, racist. The black boogieman is going to take your social security away, and he's secretly a Muslim. And an illegal alien from Kenya.)

I know the vast majority of the country is moderate. A little liberal on some issues, a little conservative on others. And only the far-out fringe groups get press, and they get it by saying and doing outrageous things. Things even they might not believe completely. And that makes it really disappointing to see my father-in-law leading this parade of anger.

One of my wife's coworkers is under the mistaken impression that because I like hockey I give a crap about soccer (futbol). I do not, but since he asked, I took 30 seconds to fill out the prediction form on ESPN. I haven't watched any of the games (nor will I), but check it out:

I am in first place in his group, with nine correct choices! (He is in 6th place, with six correct.)

Hahaha!

A Facebook friend asked why her two young sons have rock collections and keep bringing in "interesting" rocks to leave in a pile in their room. I responded and said "I'm probably not helping matters by posting this picture on your wall..."

It's my collection of rocks I've picked up at the shore of the river. Different colors, sizes, textures... and I store them all in a lead crystal bowl we received as a wedding gift.

Seriously, what is the point of lead crystal? You certainly can't put anything edible in it, unless you're not concerned with lead poison in your brain. Why do they still make it? You only ever seem to see it in very old persons' homes and given as wedding gifts (by very old people).

Every now and then I get tired of consuming art (books and music) and feel the urge to try to create something. I haven't really discovered my talent yet ("talent" being defined as "something that comes easily to me"). Can't play guitar, can't really draw, etc.

A routine trip to Target, and a walk by the frame aisle where I discovered they were all on sale led me to select two items and make them Caps memorabilia displays.
The first one is a shadow box our two tickets to the last home game we attended, an early Alex Ovechkin card (before the new uniforms), a Mike Green rookie card, and a Caps puck.

The second one required even less "artistic talent," as the frame included a plastic insert where you could place 16 cards, which I did. The four corners are old-school players, and the other 12 cards are current players. Looking at it now, it appears I can't even manage to center the cards vertically (too much white space at the top). Oh well. Back to reading!

Getting happy! It's the weekend, I stopped following Rainn "Douche" Wilson and blocked the guy who said I didn't have a sense of humor, and some friends are coming up for the day from four hours away! We haven't seen each other in years. I'm going to grill steaks and spicy sausages, and peppers, and corn on the cob... It's supposed to be 92 and sunny. We'll get some tunes playing, ice for the cooler, a few brews... Good times!

I was told by a random person on twitter I didn't have a sense of humor because I didn't find Rainn (Dwight on The Office) Wilson's tweet "I wanna party with that Van Der Sloot dude!" funny.

I'm not offended by the post (people say dumb stuff for shock value DAILY, to the point that it's lost its power to shock unless it's just so outrageous that you know the person is lying).

I guess I'm just confused. He created the Soul Pancake website "with his son" (as he says) to discuss spirituality and such. How does he then also make a joke about a dude who beat a girl to death and robbed her less than a week ago (plus whatever he did to the American girl years earlier)?

Would it also be funny if I said "I want to party with the guy who molested Rainn Wilson's son!"? How is it different?

I just don't get people's inclination to be douches.

Not really, but how awesome would that mash-up be?!?

No, this is for De, who HASN'T heard of Daft Punk!

First, a fan-made video that is AMAZING:



Next, here is 10 minutes of them being awesome:

I do love the idea of Daft Punk hiring Han Solo. And of course Greedo dies like a bitch again.

I took these pics of a baby bunny in our front yard in the city about an hour ago (4pm) today.