Wednesday, May 26, 2004 ::: My new yorker came in the mail yesterday and I sat down and read the entire on barack obama, who is running for the illinois senate. It's kind of weird to have someone who I always thought of as such a local person (my old state senator) to be running for an office that would vaunt him onto the national scene should he be elected.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004 ::: So it was quite a weekend - hung out with friends, went to the farmers market for the first time in ages and saw a fabulous movie called valentin which made me want to live in Buenos Aires.
and there are now almost too many weblogs to read these days - gothamist has budded off a sister site chicagoist. kind of like a sea anemone, but with writing skills and a central nervous system. oh, and there was also an interview with actor chris eigeman, who was in the last days of disco (as a villain) and the tv show it's like, you know (as an antihero). and an interview with the slower.net guy
Thursday, May 20, 2004 ::: so this evening I thought I'd go and get myself a nice lindt candy bar from the store a few blocks away. On the way back, I thought I'd take 16th street for a chance of scenery - it was a beautiful evening and I was enjoying myself immensely. I group of about three or four girls were walking up the street in the opposite direction. As we got close, they all waved and hello very cheerfully. I was a little surprised since people don't usually do that. I smiled said hello back. Once they were past me one them called be a "gay moron" and the rest all laughed. I was too shocked to really respond. I rarely encounter outright homophobia on the street but of course I guess I'm sort of straight-acting. Of course it could have meant gay in the sense of "that is totally gay" which doesn't really make it less insulting.
I kept on walking and didn't even turn around. It stung. And then I thought, I should have turned around and confronted them and asked them why they did what they just did. what do you say to a bunch of ten year old girls? They were also all black and there being a lot of (white)gay/(straight)black tension these days in DC I sensed that some very harsh words could be exchanged if I did confront them. I'm at a loss. Like I said, these things don't happen too often to me and when they do I usually feel like a deer in headlights and only in hindsight think of the right way to have gone about the situation.
this has been a long week, workwise. feels like friday, in fact I was thinking that it was, and then realized just a few minutes ago, that no, I'm going to have to come into work again tomorrow. very sad.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004 ::: posting has been light lately, since I've been really busy - lots of work, plus I've started seeing someone - we had a great first date last week, a second date last night that went well also but of course you tend to overinterpret everything cause you hope you didn't say anything stupid. anyway, things seem to be going well and I hope I don't jinx things by saying so.
Monday, May 10, 2004 ::: I do so fondly remember reading choose your own adventure stories when I was little, especially skipping around to find the ending that I wanted. And now, there is a present-day choose your own nyc adventure. I went to williamsburg and hung out with a poorly behaved karen o of yeah yeah yeahs fame, but of course anything could have happened! except when you're given two choices, neither of which you actually had any intention of doing. or one choice that's clearly not leading anyplace good. but whatever. this all via very big blog.
oh, and I came across another chicago photoblog, chicago uncommon.
Thursday, May 06, 2004 ::: The Washington Post places the blame squarely on Rumsfeld and his delibarate flouting of the Geneva Conventions. They don't go so far as to suggest that he resign - I don't think he will though he obviously should. The more I think about all the torture and unsavory bush administration policies, the angrier I get. And I get even angrier the clearer it becomes that those who are truly accountable will not be brought to justice.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004 ::: as I sit here with my cinco de mayo sangria, I hereby resolve to write at least something every day. or at least every weekday. at least when there's something worthwhile to write about. or whatever.
the window next to my desk at work has got to have the fastest-growing vines around it known to man. they're very pretty though, and beautify what is otherwise a stunningly ugly office building.
A little internet research reveals that the vines are called virginia creeper. It's very common and I recognized it before but never knew what it was called.
Monday, May 03, 2004 ::: Had a fabulous fabulous dream last night - the sort that, when you wake up in the morning and realize that it wasn't real in any way shape or form, makes you realize what a dull, unexciting life you really lead. I had recently rented Pirates of the Caribbean and discovered that I liked it a lot more than I had expected to, what with all the swashbuckling and witty dialogue from johnny depp and geoffrey rush. The dvd has a lot commentary tracks and extra features that make it worthwhile. I think it was also a little inspired about by a documentary I saw yesterday about reenacting a trading mission from the hudson's bay company.
Anyway, the dream was of the sort where you don't really remember too much what happened plotwise, but whatever it was was very exciting. There was a lot of sailing the high seas in beautiful sunny weather, boarding ships, sailing to small but picturesque island cays which had secret pirate dwellings with such modern luxuries as indoor plumbing and refrigerators and upholstered furniture, making the sailor's life a very comfy one indeed.
