Lately, I’ve been all about going out and doing things. With that in mind — and paying tribute to various anniversaries of sorts — on December 6th we drove down to Shenandoah National Park to climb a mountain. Old Rag, to be specific. Though my associates had been [...]
One of my friends has a TomTom. As of this past weekend, I have renamed it. I will now refer to his GPS as the TomTom Adventure Machine. Twice now his GPS has taken us on all sorts of crazy back roads to get us to our destination. This thing [...]
I have this idea that to be a true White Christmas, it needs to be clear the night before and then on December 25th you wake up to snow on the ground. In a perfect world, it would be the first snowfall of the season. Whether the snow is still [...]
Based on limited research on my part, there are more than a few people working for the Senate and the House of Representatives who frequent FamousDC.
Word up, legislature!
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Instead of risking life and limb by venturing outside on Black Friday, I opted to re-watch the first season of House. A fantastic invention, television series on DVD.
There are multiple aerial shots of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital — which is actually Princeton’s student center — throughout the season, normally used [...]
After a night of zombie movies up in Wilmington, I crashed in the guest bedroom. There’s something about sleeping in your own bed that’s comforting. But there’s something to be said for leaving all your cares, troubles and responsibilities at home, too. I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had [...]
A group of my friends were in town for Thanksgiving, so we all went out to dinner at Pad Thai last night. The restaurant is located on West Street in Annapolis, just across the street from Stan & Joe’s Saloon and a brief walk from Rams Head Tavern. Warm and [...]
Listening to my RJD2 station on Pandora, I’m feeling upbeat and slightly introspective.
Learning by example — by doing, really — is my favorite way to learn, and that is how I learned most of what I know about the technical side of theater. I’ve sat in on a few [...]
I’m a big fan of educational programming. I think it’d be really difficult to write educational materials that are enlightening to both kids and parents, which actually promoting learning. I especially like the ones that have pop culture references.
Just like Mathnet was a parody of Dragnet whose characters taught mathematical [...]
I’ve been blogging since 2001.
After a brief stint using my own PHP-based blogging platform, I started using an external blog host in 2002. Then in 2004 I started using MovableType, hoping to provide a more polished and professional-looking site. Back then, my writing was mostly technical in nature [...]
In the now-that’s-awkward department, there’s a picture from the White House’s photostream depicting a woman — described as an aide — wearing a Motorola XTS 5000 clipped to the back of her dress. In my experience these radios are neither slim, lightweight, nor subtle. The handset alone [...]
If your Perl system() calls are returning -1, be sure to check whether $SIG{CHLD} is set to IGNORE. While useful in some situations, it makes troubleshooting a bit tedious. Especially when the calls execute flawlessly on the console.
I ran into this while working on inherited code. I thought I was [...]
You’ll find fresh appetizers, good food and decent service at Los Portales, across Aviation Boulevard from the BWI airfield. I would eat there again, but only if I were in the area. If I were catching a movie at Hoyt’s or taking someone to/from the airport. The margaritas — [...]
When I signed up for the Boh Knows Movember pub crawl, I knew that there would be a pub crawl involved. I knew that I’d grow a mustache, or at least attempt to. I wasn’t quite sure whether we’d raise awareness about men’s health issues or not. I also [...]
I just received a call on my cell from 269-768-2213. An automated call, wherein the recorded voice — belonging to someone named Rachel, supposedly — informed me that there are no problems with my credit card but that I’m eligible for a lower rate of 6 point something percent. My [...]
Last night I saw The Diary of Anne Frank as performed by The Pikesville Players. It’s a two act play based on “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” recently re-adapted by Wendy Kesselman. Set in the hidden rooms of an Amsterdam office building between July 1942 and February [...]
After playing host to a truck driving school for a few months, the former Utopia club is now home to Bank Shot Bar & Grill. Make no mistake, it’s a pool hall that happens to contain a bar and a grill. Weekends and tournament nights the place is packed [...]
When eating out, I prefer not to mention payment terms until the bill comes due. If you were comped a meal or have some sort of discount coming your way, it shouldn’t have any affect on the quality of food or service. Yet in my gut, I feel that it [...]
From the courts of Ohio, a settlement has been reached in a recent class action lawsuit against Motorola. If you bought a cell phone and have had battery troubles, it might be due to “an allegedly defective charging port.” I had a Motorola V325 that had all sorts of battery [...]
I had a thought about cleaning technologies. It stemmed from a tangential Jabber rant which itself stemmed from a spectacular lack of motivation on my part to get moving and actually do something on a rainy Wednesday morning.
Me: I think — after due consideration — that my laundry could have [...]
I received an invitation to start using Google Wave this morning. Ironically, this is mere hours after reading about JJT not wanting an invite. I don’t remember asking for an invite, but I am a frequent user of their other services. I had to dust off my Google [...]
I was cleaning out the starred items in Google Reader and found one of Snay’s posts wherein he calculated the cost of his daily commute. He commutes via the Washington Metro system — a combination of bus and rail — at a cost of $5.40 per day.
A year [...]
On a chilly Sunday morning, a small carload of folks drove out to Bridgeville, Delaware, for the 24th Annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin. Soon after we arrived, the morning gave way to an uncharacteristically warm November afternoon. We [...]
I am one of nine participants in my office’s chili cook-off this coming Tuesday, contending for nothing more than bragging rights. I decided to go off-reservation a bit by utilizing a recipe I’ve never tried before. I wanted to allow the flavors to meld for a few days, so I [...]
So The Men Who Stare at Goats has its moments, but not enough. Sadly, it is a case where the trailer holds most of the good stuff.
Clooney is a face actor. One of those guys who can bring intensity and disbelief at the same time. Like a lot his [...]
Theory: If it’s a beautiful day outside — perfect for working outside or taking a leisurely ride — there will be a dozen tasks to be performed, mostly inside.
Corollary: Days with no scheduled plans or tasks, it will be overcast, rainy, and/or too cold to be outside.
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It just occurred to me that I’ve seen a lot of movies lately.
I really enjoyed Zombieland. Funny, violent, and quirky, with a spectacular cameo. It was just as someone described it to me: “It’s definitely a zombie movie, but different than anything I could have expected.” I almost went [...]
I just got an “important notice” in the mail from Verizon.
We will be upgrading your FiOS Internet speed to up to 10/2 Mbps in the next few months.
Emphasis theirs, it’s strange the way that the sentence is phrased. Maybe it’s boilerplate in that they can’t say that they’ll give you [...]
While I was in Chicago, I visited the tallest building in United States. Sears Tower — though technically named Willis Tower since July 16th 2009 — is currently the fifth tallest building in the world. It’s roof-mounted antennae standing 1,730 feet above ground, it’s hard to believe that it’s dwarfed [...]
After reading an online review of Hot Doug’s, I knew I had to go there. Billed as “The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium,” I craved hot dogs for more than three weeks before my trip to [...]
Fatigue. n.
Opening the fridge in the morning and spotting the jug of milk, then grabbing the water pitcher and pouring the contents atop a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios before realizing what was happening. Being slightly embarrassed about aforementioned scenario, but eating the cereals as-is rather than attempt to dislodge water [...]The song itself dropped out of favor after repeated airplay, despite being upbeat and good. But the video still stands; a clever mix of illustrated Akira-like animation atop Photoshopesqe backdrops.
I really like this video. The means are different, but it reminds me of Take on Me.
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I take comfort in seeing a big mess when I come downstairs in the morning, following a party. As clean and tidy as your guests may be normally, in the midst of a heated discussion or story people aren’t usually concerned if their empty glass ends up in the sink [...]
There are five distinct steps to be taken after hosting a party.
Hydrate Send out thank you notes and emails Clean up kitchen Rinse and discard empties Patch serverThe first step is obvious.
The second step isn’t required, but it’s something I like to do. Especially for the folks that left early or I didn’t get [...]
This week’s duties complete, I’m kicking back and enjoying a live recording of Pete Francis and Boo Reiners. Though they played the Grand Ballroom almost two years ago, I still haven’t grown tired of the 74 minute acoustic set. It’s a semi-permanent fixture in my home CD player.
Music [...]
Pho. Pronounced “fu” as in fu__… yes, that’s correct. Vietnamese noodles and beef in broth. The ingredients can vary, but that’s the essence. It’s simple and tasty soup.
Pho 89 — based solely on its bland exterior [...]
Cleaning out the basement in preparation for a party, I found a shoe box full of mementos. Inside were baseball cards, crisply folded notes on aging notebook paper from classmates and girlfriends, birthday cards from family and friends, ticket stubs from concerts and socials, yearbook photos with notes written on [...]
It’s 39 degrees outside now. That’s cold enough for snow, yet supposedly it’ll get up to 70 today. That’s more than warm enough to go riding. Or swimming.
When I left the house for work on Friday it was in the mid-50’s. When I left work that day, it was 80. [...]
After eleven hours, I managed to replace my garage door opener. At last, the old Craftsman chain drive — which was having fundamental problems staying powered during such routine actions such as opening and closing, as well [...]
Despite my penchant for helping out the little guy, I feel like most of my shopping is done online these days. Today however, was an exception. I found myself quite the consumer all afternoon and into the evening.
Chili
Area Rug
Gasoline
Phone
Cereal
Aluminum Foil
Bread
Steam Trays
Ginger Ale
[...]
I left work early yesterday to go water skiing on the Potomac River. My father and I drove up to Middletown to meet Ed (our host). The boat already prepped, we drove to the boat ramp at Four Locks. Just upstream from a dam, the facility is operated and [...]
As a budding software developer/engineer/guy, I enjoy seeing humorous errors and warnings. Especially in shipped products. It makes interacting with software a less blah experience.
-bash-3.2$ nmap -p 3389,3390,3391,3391 -P0 desire.this.org
Starting Nmap 4.11 ( http://www.insecure.org/nmap/ ) at 2009-09-30 10:55 GMT
WARNING: Duplicate port number(s) specified. Are you alert enough to be [...]
When most people say they’re going to tape a show, they really mean DVR. Not me. It means I’m going to whip out a previously used VHS cassette, pop it into the VCR, and program the thing to record.
I was the youngest person at a business meeting today, but I [...]
License? Check.
Insurance? Check.
Rolling on two wheels? Sweet in way that is hard to describe, but I’ll try. It’s got something to do with the wind in your face. Seeing familiar roads from a vastly different (and taller) viewpoint than when in [...]
Dreaming peacefully, I heard several loud cracks. I didn’t think much of it.
Then again after a minute or two — still half asleep — there were several sharp raps at what sounded like my front door. I remember five, though there may have been more. Not knocks, like your knuckles [...]
There’s this song called All Things, by The Cinematic Orchestra. It’s driving me nuts.
A sample is available from Pandora. The full track on Last.fm, and according to a comment there, “at the beginning: samples from John Barry’s work on the soundtrack of Petulia (1968).”
I haven’t seen the [...]
