As much as I don't want to, I am compelled to watch Bush give tonight's State of the Union address. I figure to make anything make sense, I need to do some drinking... so I found a couple of drinking games. Working for Change has one, but I think the ones at www.drinkinggame.us or at the Daily Cardinal are better. I'm not sure I can find three other people to watch and play with me, I sure as hell know the wife's ears will start bleeding the second he starts to talk. Oh well, I guess it'll be just me and my beer tonight...

I've always loved a good story. That's why when the old man sitting at the table next to me at Ukrop's leaned over today and said:

"Young man, do you enjoy history?" I instantly knew that some good stories were about to follow. We spent the next hour talking Richmond lore, from the little known fact that there are Yankee soldiers buried in Confederate uniforms underneath the 3 crosses at the corner of Glenside and Horspen, to the fact that these two houses on Elwood are completely identical, due to the fact that the father of twin sisters had to marry them off and they each wanted houses just like the other. He spoke sweetly of his late wife, until he got to the part of catching her in bed with his lawyer. "That's when it all went downhill." She proceeded to smoke herself to death, and last he heard, his disbarred lawyer had also gone on to "meet his maker."
He continued his storytelling as I enjoyed my sushi, all the while not caring if he was in any way embellishing any part of these stories. I immediately drove over to glenside, and sure enough, the three crosses stand there without any markers. I drove to Carytown, and there are the two houses, a perfect mirror image of each other. I'm not sure who got more out of our short time together, an old man finding a willing ear, or me.

I told the wife about my experience, and I could sense a small amount of jealousy in her voice.
How do these things keep happening to you?

I'm not sure. I've been going through this whole I'm getting older stage lately. Feeling nostalgic, sentimental, wanting to soak up all the things that are going on around me. Even one of my coworkers warned me that I'm acting like a little girl. I'm carrying my camera everywhere I go, snapping pictures everywhere. Maybe God is just being nice to me. I'm not sure, but I loved having this little experience today.

I swear this is the best cd I have made in a long time. Actually, it's the first one I've made since I got my mp3 player about 2 years ago. I needed something for a ride around town, and came up with this playlist:






















And BTW, I downloaded the podcast from J's Notes from his Under the Covers show- GREAT STUFF. Download it now!

Was anyone as excited as I was seeing James Frey squirm yesterday? It makes me hate him slightly less for actually coming out and admitting his untruthfulness. I'm not sure why people are still giving him support. He LIED. To millions of people. AND took their money. If he really feels all that bad about it, he should give the money back. I guess I'll have to settle for his public humiliation. Honestly, the book was ok at best, the only reason that it was so compelling was because of what this guy was going through. In such dishonesty, he made himself bigger than all the real people that are going through addiction. I'm not sure what punishment fits the crime, but I guess a public tongue lashing from Oprah is going to have to do.

Ok... I've said my two cents. I'll get off my soapbox and let it go.

Lake Anna Winery and most of the other 100+ wineries in the state face a crisis. We need you to call the General Assembly and register your support for Self-Distribution HB 1288. The phone number is: 800-889-0229.A Federal Judge has ruled that the ability of Virginia Farm Wineries to sell directly to retail outlets (stores and restaurants) is unconstitutional and has ordered that stop. This represents at least 20% of our current sales and is what makes our wines available to stores near you. We can only continue to self-distribute if the General Assembly passes a law opening the state to small, out of state wineries. The Wholesale Lobby is trying to keep us from retaining this right by insisting that we use Virginia wholesalers (distributors) or set up a "phantom" distributorship of our own with its licensing, taxes, insurance, administrative overhead, etc. HB 1288, introduced by the Virginia Wineries Association, will enable us to retain our right to self-distribute by also allowing small out of state wineries to direct-distribute into the Virginia market should they wish. In addition, they can also apply to be sold in Virginia ABC stores, which will enable ABC stores to continue be an outlet for Virginia wine. This will increase the availabity of boutique wines to our consumers as well as ensure our wines remain available in all areas of the state. Please support us by making this call. We need to get a grass roots response to overcome the financial lobbying contributions provided by the wholesalers to influence our legislators.Thank you for your action on our behalf.


Read the bill here.

Zilla has this on his site... very funny. If you have'nt seen the the SNL one, watch that one first and then watch the bonus rap battle one. Awesome stuff.

Chronicles of Narnia/Rap Battle

Seriously, click here... is this for real?? I would hide if this was my name.

And check these guys out. I've spent hours looking through all the stuff that they have done.

Improv Everywhere.

From their FAQ:

In August of 2001, I went out to a West Village bar with my college buddies Brandon Arnold and Jon Karpinos. On a whim we decided to pull a prank where I would pose as musician Ben Folds. Three hours later, "Ben Folds" was drinking on the house surrounded by women and his "two big fans" were thrown out of the bar for "stealing Ben Folds' wallet". I had always been a prankster, but this experience enlightened me as to how far a prank could be taken. As an actor new to the city, I discovered I could create my own theatre rather than waiting around for someone to give me stage time. I got tired of telling the story to friends, so I typed it up and put it on the web. Improv Everywhere was born.

Ahhhh....good stuff. Have fun!

J

Iv'e got about ten tickets to the Riverdogs Hockey game for saturday night. We wont be using them, so if anybody is interested, let me know. I've been to a couple of games, and they are pretty fun.

Also, The Byrd Theater (one of my favorite Richmond places) started up their midnight movies. Woohooo!!! This weekend is one of my favorites... Fight Club. Go check it out, it's only five bucks.

From Times-Dispatch:

Riverside on the James should be rolling with upscale restaurants and entertainment later this year.
Two companies have signed leases in the development, bringing more dining and entertainment options downtown.
The development's 15-story office building and 10-story condominium tower is located on Brown's Island between the James River and the Haxall Canal.

Read more about it here...

So, last night started pretty well, with 40 year old virgin showing up in the mail, and take out for dinner. Our night was saddened by the news that one of the wife’s dear friends, a kindred spirit, had received news that her cancer had now spread throughout her body.
Please say a little prayer for her.

The shakes and trembling at the house are gone! The nice man from comcast came by and has officially put the wife and kids out of their internet-less misery. Speaking of the wife, she's got a great blog. She's a great writer, even if she doesn't think so. (She even published a zine!) For our kid's sake, I hope some of that creative, artsy gene gets passed on to them, cause it sure won't be coming from me.

Josiah is obsessed with legos. Specifically, the Star Wars sets. It's amazing to me how he can put together stuff so fast, which means he must be a freakin genius (as he describes himself occasionally). Shouts of "I'm a genius" can be heard coming from his playroom every now and then. As the wife says- "He must have gotten your sense of self-esteem".
I spent a couple of hours the other night on the floor of his room putting stuff together, and it just reminded me what a blast it is. Josiah and I are likeminded in our creativity. We are not artsy- just good ol fashioned linear thinking. But what starts off as a small plane, becomes a ginormous intergalactic destroyer on it's way to save Luke from the bad guys.
It definitely takes me back to my younger days, when taking apart anything I could to see if I could put it back together was an every day activity for me. It drove the rents' crazy, since I was busting up most of the radios in the house, not to mention the first computer that we owned. I'm mostly thankful that I didn't fry myself or burn the house down.
My love of legos and tinker toys seems to have been passed on, and I love it. That is, until I step on one of those damm little pieces and it's all I can do to keep the "bad" words in.

Well my very cool wife dragged my butt outta the house after I got home from work yesterday and said we were going to try a new restaurant. Never mind that I was feeling like hell, since I can't kick this cold I've got going on. Also, never mind that pizza, chinese and arroz con pollo from Kuba Kuba are my basic food requirements. The wife had been wanting to try out Papa Ningo

in the bottom, and had even bought a dining certificate from restaurant.com. I am soooo glad that we went. After five minutes there I felt like I was sitting in my favorite little cuban place in Miami. The food was excellent, the atmosphere awesome, and our server was fantastic. If latin food is up your alley, I highly recommend.


Speaking of the wife, she is currently on a major internet withdrawal. See, our dsl has not been set up in our new place, and I thought I literally saw her shaking the other day. I get my fix at work, so I've been able to get by. So in her and Jackie-boy's honor (since this is his birthday month) , I lifted this from her blog.

Stream of consciousness on Jackie-boy

Jack has this very Neo-esque way about him. Like he holds this inner wisdom that he shares on very rare and special occasions. It makes a mother wonder what he is thinking constantly. His eyes are fearless and his heart explodes with the need for adventure. He is rarely bothered but has no problem expressing his discontent should the need arise. His smile can melt you like a super power, it’s so strong you instantly forget why you were mad at whatever mischief he seemed to have gotten into. His hug is genuine and kind. My arms wrap around his slender frame while his body rests on my chest. He gives all of himself over for me to hold, total surrender and peace. I envy the person he is. He is so much of what I want to be and am not. He is still a little bit of a mystery and I like it that way. May my little explorer have lots adventures today filled with wonder and delight, may his soul be filled with treasures of joy and passion for what matters most.

Ode to Jackie-boy
big feet
dog lover
friend to josiah
mystic
our monkey boy
family mess maker
kind eyes
enjoys barbies
the best snuggler

So our youngest boy, Jackson, AKA jackie-boy celebrated his third birthday this past weekend at good old chuck-e-cheese. The place was a zoo, none of the adults had a chance to talk, as we all took one kid and chased them around the place. But the kids had a blast, and I guess that is really all that mattered on that day.
I am so proud of him, even on the most maddening days. Just yesterday he was in just about every kind of trouble you could think of, yet his sweet little heart reached out to his brother when he collapsed crying last night. Happy Birthday Buddy!!

Besides the excitement of the birthday, it was a great weekend catching up with old friends. Our good friends came down from NY, sister and brother in law came down from Maryland, and we all sat around enjoying the Scrubs season one dvd.

So sorry for all you Redskins fans around... but have you seen Clinton's web site. It might give you a good laugh.

So, I heard you missed Mike's birthday party last night.

Yea, I wrote it down as being on Wednesday in my calendar, but showed up to the restaurant on Thursday. Mike said that he missed me, but when he told his friends that it looks like I wasn't coming they said "It's ok... she's messy at Italian restaurants anyways."

Hey guys, what's going on with this project?

I don't know, we're like mushrooms here.

HUH?

Mushrooms.... always kept in the dark and covered deep in crap.

So, it looks like it's shaping up to be a great weekend. Tonight is boys night out, tomorrow is Jackie-boy's 3rd year bash at chuck-e-cheese, and the wife is checking out Birth at the Firehouse theatre, AND not to mention all the playoff football on TV.

There has been a lot of talk lately on how unsafe and bad Richmond is becoming. The first twelve days of the year have been particularly bad, with ten murders in twelve days. Not being a native Richmonder, I have no idea how bad it was prior to the five years I have been here, and while here never really thought it was that bad.Coming from Miami, I thought Richmond would be a safe place to raise my kids. I can tell you that after five years, I would NEVER move back to Miami. I have never (thankfully) felt unsafe here, and I've lived in most area of Richmond. I love Richmond, and it ticks me off that so many people feel like giving up on it. It will never be a great city if we do not invest in it, in our schools, and in our communities. We need to support the good people that are trying to make it a better place to live. As for my family and I, we have made the museum district our current stomping grounds. Yea, there is a bit more awareness of our surroundings, but I would not trade it for any other place. I hope there are others that feel the same way, and we all work together to make Richmond a great place to live.

So I have spent the last two days deeply engrossed reading James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" and today I open up The Smoking Gun and see this... For a guy that touts honesty throughout his rehab process, he sure falls flat on his face.

Not that I'm a huge fan of nascar, but yesterday Richmond was taken out of the running for the Hall of Fame. Just from the point of all the economic activity it would have brought, it's a shame that it's not coming here.

use your imagination... or your rhyming powers. Did anyone see this? And how did he stay on the team after what happened last year??? Arrghhhh.... Even the governor-elect had something to say about it.

Actually, it sucks, but I managed to convince myself to step on the scale this morning and instantly ran out the door and headed to the YMCA. During the last year, I kept up a great workout schedule, and was probably in the best shape I have been since my college days. Well, the holidays hit and I haven't darkened the doors of the gym since November. I love working out, how good I feel afterwards, and the energy I get from it... its the waking up thing that I hate. So heres' to another good year at the gym.

I've been wanting to start this for awhile now. I did not really want to start this with such a sad subject, but the Harvey family is weighing on my mind. I just came back from the vigil that was held ouside their home. I did not know the family, but know friends that were connected to them, and we live a couple of blocks away from Kathryn's carytown store. There was much outpouring of grief, support and community. Such a tragedy reminds me of what I have... I haven't been able to stop hugging and loving on my kids. I pray that the Harvey family finds comfort, and that we all stop and remember the little things in our lives that mean so much.