Just a couple more hours of work today and then it's on the train to see Jeff and of course to go to BLOWOFF NYC! Those of you that are going to be in New York this weekend are required to attend. :)

It will also be the end of NYC Pride week, which ends with a big ass parade with every float imaginable. And after that, I'll probably check out SuperSnaxx and give sexy Rich King and Gustavo a big smootch. :)

But now, lunchtime!

Yum!

One of my secrets for keeping my svelte figure (*laugh track roars*) is that I try to eat a LOT of fiber. It keeps everything "going" and it makes you feel fuller too. So you eat less, too.

One of the problems with doing this is that fiber generally tastes bad or gives you stomach pains and bad gas. The Fiber One Cereal that I eat every morning looks just like rabbit food, except that I don't think rabbits would even touch it. But I tolerate it well, and it's a whole 16 grams of fiber at once. It gives me a great head start to my fiber requirement for the day.

I had a Fiber One snack bar the other day at work and I had several unscheduled trips to the bathroom afterwards. And beans of all types are very tasty, but they too, generally have unwanted effects... :)

I've discovered Gnu Food's "flavor & fiber" bars (pictured above), and I must say it is the best tasting snack bar I've had that has 12g fiber... It is amazing that they can taste this good and provide that much. I've seen them at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. And there's no HFCS or artificial sweeteners!

I think I need to pull a Seinfeld, and take this to the lab and have it analyzed... :)

Tags: food
Current Location: Foggy Bottom

High court strikes down gun ban

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this ruling.

In my mind (and I may well be proven wrong), none of the (many) shootings that have occurred this year in the District would have been prevented by a gun ban. Criminals who want a gun can simply get one by illegal means. I don't necessarily feel any more or less safe without the gun ban in place.

There are lots of comments along the lines of "That does it, I'm not going to DC after 6PM!", etc, but seriously, if you feel that way now, you should've never entered DC in the first place. And BTW, quite a bit of random violent crime happens in broad daylight. There was a guy robbed at gun point just near my house in Logan Circle at 2 in the afternoon.

I think the key really is to be aware of your surroundings, and if you are uncomfortable, try to walk in areas where there are other people. In DC, this sometimes can be difficult as there are a lot of streets that are pretty much deserted and have plenty of nooks and crannies for thugs to hide in.

Tags: dc
Current Location: Foggy Bottom

Double Rainbow

It was even MORE gay at Nationals Park last night with the double rainbow that appeared right before the Gay Mens Chorus of Washington sang the national anthem. Even though the rain dampened things a bit, most of us stuck it out, at least until the 7th inning. :)

The seats were not so good--I could barely see the action from behind the foul pole--but the company was nice and all and all, a pleasant evening.


GMCW Singing the anthem


Monument in the background

Happy B'more Pride!

So last weekend I went to the Baltimore Pride Block Party, which has got to be the best street fair, if only due to the fact that we were allowed to roam freely with our drinks! :-) And the food is actually quite edible.

Tons of friendly people, gay and straight and what-evah.

It was trashy, tragic, and HOT, all at once. I loved it! I think the 2 for 1 drinks at Leon's help set me up for the tragic events that ensured. :) Actually, I wasn't that bad. I was conscious enough to take over 250 photos and movies of the evening.

I posted a (R rated, but not NC-17) selection of them here. Take a look! There are 5 pages of photos.

Next: Gay night at Nationals Park.
Next Weekend: NYC Pride and BLOWOFF NYC!

I will be completely gay-ed out by the end of next weekend. :)

I really like the new Southwest Airlines ads about the legacy airlines' fees. My favorite is the one with the flight attendant that just rattles off all of the various fees for every little thing in the plane, including a 2 dollar *minimum* charge to push the call button. :) It cracks me up every time. The actress is really good at being a "I don't give a shit" flight attendant! On United, they just don't bother with acknowledging the call buttons.

There are going to be a lot less choices in air travel in the next few years. But kudos to Southwest for having a good business model--they are really going in for the kill in some of their markets.

***

In addition to the airlines, I think that other companies are starting to get desperate and are nickle and dime-ing us to death.

DC taxicabs charge a $1 fuel surcharge. They have had this for years now. Can't we just make it part of the fare and review cab meter rates quarterly? It's ridiculous. It should also be based on the actual trip taken. Surely for a 1 mile trip I'm not using an extra 1 dollar of gas. If I take the same taxi out to Dulles airport, then maybe I should be paying more than a 1 dollar surcharge. Just a liiiittle bit of crack cocaine common sense here. Oh wait, we're dealing with DC. :)

***

Both of my favorite takeout places near my work, Meiwah (Chinese) and Moby Dick (Kabobs), are starting to shrink their food and jack up their prices. At Meiwah, the prices on the "Lunch Special" menu are now either the *same* as the dinner menu or just a few cents cheaper. I pointed it out to the cashier and she just said, "No, it still special!" At Moby Dick, my kabobs are suffering from major shrinkage. :-P And the hummus is in a container that is half the size, for twice the price!

Seriously, in a few months they are just going to serve me an empty box and expect 10 bucks for it.

***

Comcast keeps on charging me for a Cable Box I have not had since October. Every time I call, they treat me like a criminal and demand either 800 bucks or proof that the box was returned. They can't understand that a CableCARD is not a cable box. I of course fax them over the receipt, the charge disappears for a while, but it comes back after a month or two. They are now sending a tech over to my home (and thus further taking up my time) to "verify" my equipment. This is definitely consumerist.com material.

***

CVS today insisted on charging me sales tax on food items. I told them that groceries are exempt from sales tax but the cashier drone didn't understand what I was talking about and just apologized for the higher prices lately. I've got letters in to DC Office of Tax & Revenue as well as CVS corporate on that. I can't imagine how much tax I've illegally paid while shopping there (and who can avoid buying things at CVS? They are friggn' everywhere!).

***

Oy!

Current Mood: frustrated

D.C. to NYC: Twice the Bus

Gotta love it. Double deckers from DC to NYC.

I'm wondering how much longer cheap bus rides will last, given the state of gas prices these days. Jeff took the Boltbus from DC - NYC and although it was slow, it got him to New York for a walkup fare of 20 bucks, vs Amtrak which is now running $98+ for even the cheapest Regionals. The Acelas are now $215 (each way!) during peak times.

I must say, I'm enjoying not owning a car. The Exxon that I pass every day seems to be getting more and more expensive. That's not to say that I'm not feeling the pain. Food prices here are shooting up. My energy bill and condo fees have gone up substantially. I've only taken one airline trip so far this year. I miss my peeps on the West Coast... :'-(

DC Pride was lots of fun, as usual. There were lots of buds out and about. And the BLOWOFF was a blast!

The festival on Sunday was nice, too. There seemed to be less of a crowd, but maybe it was the time I went, plus it was pretty warm with blazing sunshine.

I did take some pics... Look for those soon. Yeah, I have a camera again! :-)

Congrats to my friends jeffla and likethecandybar for getting hitched in California this past weekend!!

I was very choked up with happiness tears when I found out about this. And of course, it was through LiveJournal. :-) I believe that these two are the first people I actually know that have gotten married.

As you know, this is a very important issue to me and I'm glad that Jeff and Heath decided to take the plunge--and contribute to the STRENGTHENING of marriage. Watching the video footage of people protesting loving couples at courthouses was disheartening... these people are truly mean spirited to do a thing like that. You've got to wonder what is going on in their heads.

But, I did find some solace watching these people since they definitely come off as religious fanatics. If these people represent the true will of the people (and I believe that they don't), then I don't want to live in this country anymore.

Only time will tell.

Gotta love it when Friday the 13th starts off with 2 fires in the Metro Subway and a power outage downtown. WTF??

Anyway, this weekend is GAY pride weekend here in DC, so get out your pink shoes and let's dance.

Blowoff is Saturday. Information on that is here and you can get your tix here as well. :-)

There is also the pride parade Saturday night as well as the street festival on Sunday. I will attempt to make an appearance at both of those events. :-)

Hope everyone has a good weekend!