Hawaii has definitely changed since I lived here many years ago, but the magic is still there. Even though I've been working some long hours, I've still managed to make it to the beach for sunset. To watch the surfers, the tourists, the locals, etc. It really is amazing here.
I've got to say that my random choice of hotels was amazing. I picked a hotel that was close to where the other people on my trip were staying, and let me tell you, I lucked out. Hotel Renew is a small boutique, modern hotel just a half a block from the beach. It's very W-ish. So cool. And relatively affordable. If I have to come back here again, I'm definitely going to stay here. So very cool!
So I've got one day to lay on the beach. I did grab some beach time yesterday and it was nice to just veg and chill. I really needed that. Not looking forward to the flight from hell back to DC.
But, thanks to Joe.My.God, I've got tickets to the after pier party dance in NYC. Yes, after I arrive Saturday afternoon, I'm catching a train to NYC to attend the Pride Pier Dance. After the pier dance, then it's on the Champions Party.
Which ends at 6AM, which conveniently enough is when my train back to DC leaves. So I just won't sleep.
Fifty yards off the beach, a low water wall broke the incoming waves creating a more gentle swimming area for the tourists who splashed in the water. With the sun starting to dip towards the horizon, I walked through the palm trees lining the shore feeling like I was entering a scene from a postcard. With each wave, a flow of water would gently pass over the water wall, creating a liquid path just inches above the surface of the ocean. And I saw a man walking on water.
I watched him as he walked along this liquid path, just above the surface of the ocean. No firm strides, but not quite a stroll either. As he walked, I saw the golden reflection of the setting sun became a shimmering, fiery, storm of light on the water.
I saw the man, walking on water, approach that storm, that fiery brilliant storm. As he walked, the light was so bright that I had to squint to see him. My eyes teared up a bit and I lost him for just a second in that fiery reflection on the water. And then I saw him on the other side. Walking on the water.
I bailed out of one meeting at noon so I could get some work done, grab lunch, and then be ready for my meeting at 1PM. As I was walking briskly up Wilson to go to Chop't for lunch, I look around at the people. People who are in my way. Look, I'm sorry but I don't have time to stroll down the street, or sit and talk over lunch. Kind of busy here, get out of the way. BTW, I *love* Chop't. The salad portions are kind of huge, that's the only complaint. Anyways, I ate lunch during my 1PM meeting of course.
So I'm going to Hawaii on Sunday. Yea me. But not really. The last trip to San Diego really wasn't that fun. I work all day, eat dinner and maybe go to the gym, and then I'm back in front of the laptop trying to keep up with everything that's going on back here in DC. And I got stuck in a middle seat on one of the long legs so it really was just not a good time and I wasn't thinking about getting on a plane again until July for Ptown (and really, the Boston shuttle is like an hour, so no big deal). And the thought of getting on a plane for 12 plus hours just really sucks my will to live. Plus I can only imagine how messed up I'm going to be from a time perspective.
Anyways . . . . so I'm watching VH1 on Sunday during that 2 hour block they play videos and they play the new song by 3 Doors Down "It's Not My Time". Which is some sort of rebellious song about how they aren't ready to die. Which is all well and good, but of course in my twisted mind I'm thinking, "When is it *my* time?" My time to be happy, to be living life, to be in love, and feel like I'm not just treading water?
So yes, I'm in one of THOSE moods these days. Gee, could it be work grinding me down, consuming all of my waking hours, stressed out and unable to find a way out of my downward spiral? BINGO!
At this point, I think I get one day in Hawaii to myself. Maybe I can chill a bit then.
Oh, so I started looking at all of these Brokeback Mountain mash ups on Youtube tonight. I think I like this one the best:
Clouds drift away when they see you Rain wouldn't dare to fall near you here Miracles happen when you're around Somehow the grass is much greener Rivers flow faster and cleaner Being with you no matter where sunlight breaks through and suddenly there's
A bluer sky whenever you're around You always bring a bluer sky a brighter day
Yep, it's been a fun week or so. I really need to get better at updating the blog more frequently.
Let's see . . . . last Monday I had a super big meeting at the puzzle palace. Of course that's the day that Metro chokes big time. And did I mention it's swealtering. So I hop a cab to make my meeting. Afterwards, trying to get back to Rosslyn is a haze. The Metro guys is saying take a train to L'Enfant Plaza, change trains to Foggy Bottom, and then take a bus to Rosslyn. Um, no! Luckily I found a DoD bus that runs to Rosslyn, but still my commute home SUCKED beyond belief.
So for the past week, I've been off both of my diets. In San Diego I pretty much had to drive. But it was a rental, not my car, so I think I get some points. But i definitely don't get points for my food diet. Conferences just kill diets. Especially atkins because it's so carb heavy. Ugh. I dread getting on the scale tomorrow.
San Diego was fine. I guess there's a little golf game going on call the Open? Yikes, the hotel was just overrun with those people. No one famous, or alteast that I would know. But still. And while I do enjoy traveling for work, it's not really all that much fun anymore. I sit in a conference all day, and then I go back to the hotel, maybe hit the gym (and that's a maybe), eat dinner, and then do work till I go to sleep to try to catch up with everything going on back in DC.
The flight back from San Diego was great too. So it’s getting bumpy as we descend into DC. Coming in from the north, we pass over Rosslyn and I look down to see my building and our sign. I see the building, but I can’t read the sign. Uh oh. We’re too high. So either we’re going to drop like a stone to make the flight path, or we’re going to bail out. Sure enough, like a second later, the engines rev up and we’re banking hard out of the flight plan. Ugh. Not a good ride home.
I did get home in time to see the Pride Parade. As I was walking to a friend for dinner, I cut up 17th St to see how the festivities were coming. For big events like Pride, JR's will close off their dead end portion of Church St and make it a beer garden. It was already going strong, but as I approach, I see some gentlement at the corner yelling to anyone who will listen about the great evil that has befallen this city. Sigh. People like that make being a gay Christian hard. Can you please stop using the bible as a weapon? I don't think Jesus meant for you to use that way. But later during the rainy parade I saw something much better. Standing next to my group on New Hampshire was a family of Muslims who had come to watch the parade. The little boys (I'm guessing 10 and 6) were just too cute, the men were in jeans, while the women were wrapped head to toe in very colorful wraps. But they were all having a great time watching the parade and enjoying themselves despite the rain. So that was kind of nice to see.
I worked the church booth at the Pride Festival today which was fun. Then walked around with GreekBoi and MuseumMan. It's always good people watching at Pride. No judgement, but if you haven't been out of the house since last summer, or at the gym since 1999, you might want to re-think the harness and butless chaps. It was brutally hot and sunny and you're only going to get burned. And with SO much skin exposed, you're going to hate yourself later. On the other hand, the boi's from Nuwear were walking around almost naked and it was a very good thing. I swear, I start my diet tomorrow!
So how's the car diet going? Not too bad. Yes I drove to WV for work on Monday, and then to the office on Thursday since I had a BD meeting in Fair Lakes, but I did walk/metro on Tuesday, Wednesday, and today. So not too bad. A couple of lessons learned.
One: I really need to pay attention to the weather. I worked late on Tuesday and then had dinner with my customer. During dinner, it started to rain. So we sort of lingered over dinner until it slowed to a sprinkle. So we headed out and I walked up to the Metro only getting a little bit wet. When I got off the metro in DC and rode the escalators up, it was like I was entering monsoon season. Just torrential downpours. I huddled under the station entranceway protected from the rain with a couple of scared tourists, a businessman, and then three or four homeless people. When it looked like it was slowing down, I made a break for it. Now, it's like 7 blocks, so it's not really a "break". It's more like I started to hike. And not even a half a block later, down comes the rain again. So I quickly sprint down the block and scuttle into a CVS. I breakdown and buy an umbrella (ella, ella, ella) and the woman looks at me. "Is it really that bad out there?" Translation: wow, you're drenched. Thanks.
Two: Your iPod is your safety device. It allows your escape into your own make believe world where you don't have to talk to the large drunk man at the corner of 15th and K who is there every morning begging. It means you can ignore some of the more bizarre conversation on the metro. When you have your iPod in, you walk smartly, focused on some random distance ahead while the headphones block out any attempt to intrude on your life. It really is essential.
Three: Just like Paris, except it's not. Yes, now that I'm enjoying a much more personal urban lifestyle, I'm opening myself up to the wonders of the city. To include some of the not so wonderful smells of the city. Seriously, coming out of the McPherson Square metro on a hot, sunny day is a rank, rank, experience. The smell of rancid urine is almost nauseating. And when you are in Paris you'll get a whiff of something like this, but Washington DC just isn't Paris. And now that I'm thinking about it, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I guess it could be worse, we could have dog poop all over the place.
On Thursday when I did drive, I had to fill up my tank. $51. Ouch. It will be interesting to see if I can keep the number of days that I drive down to less than 5. That's my goal.
Oh, and I've started the Atkins Diet. Again. But I have lost over 5 pounds. So there's some progress.
Hillary gives her concession speech. I hope she does it right and really works to help unite the Democratic Party!
Does anyone else think Hillary is starting to sound like Bush?
Bush: We've made advances in the war, we're at a turning point, we're defeating the insurgents, the Al-Qaeda, the Shiites, the Sunnis. We just need to give the surge a chance. He's a master at moving the goal posts so he can continue to fight the war which is his legacy. But his legacy will the trillions of dollars we've spent and the countless lives ended or harmed by this unnecessary war.
Clinton: It's all about Iowa. We're going to fight in New Hampshire. We're going to win Super Tuesday. It's all about Pennslyvania. Indiana. West Virginia. We've won more votes. More primaries. We just need more time to fight for this election. She continues to move the goal posts because this is supposed to be her legacy. And in the end, her legacy will be the damage that she will do to the Democratic Party. How sad.
Please Hillary, Take a Bow:
But you put on quite a show You really had me goin' But now it's time to go Curtains finally closin' That was quite a show Very entertainin' But it's over now Go on and take a bow
Saturday night I joined SuperLawyer, his BF, and his kids to go see Prince Caspian down in Gtown. As part of my new car diet, I decided to walk. It's a bit of a hike. Like almost 2 miles, but I figure the exercise would be good. Plus there is no good Metro for Gtown, so I would end up walking a lot anyways. One of the things I like about walking to Gtown is cutting down off of M St to walk along the canal. It really is cool. And just makes the walk a little bit more interesting.
So after leaving the canal path, I cut down one of the streets and I fall behind two women who are dressed to the nines. Love the dress, love the shoes, love it all. And I'm thinking it must be hard to walk down this steep cobblestone sidewalk in those high heels. There must be some sort of wedding reception or some party at the Washington Harbor that they are heading to. But no, they turn the corner and head to the theatres. And that's when it dawned on me. They are going to see "Sex and the City".
Yep, they were going to see a movie and they had dressed up in their best dresses and their favorite Manola Blahniks. And they weren't alone. There were TONS of women. All dressed up. Though I will say that I did see a number of unfortunate fashion choices. Now if they only served cosmos at the theatre, it would be a real party.
As I waited (and waited, and waited, and waited, etc) for Superlawyer and crowd to arrive, I had a great spot to people watch. And while I'm going to say that the crowd was about 80% women (it was showing on 3 screens and all but one 1145PM showing was sold out), the gay were out in force also. But we're much more subtle in our fashion choices, more utilitarian. So the pre-requisite skinny jeans and t-shirts that are just a little bit too tight. Usually an A&F shirt or some shirt with some bit of print on it, but off centered, of course. So yes we'll dress up to go see Carrie and the gals, but we'll be able to head over to Ultra-hip lounge or Juniors without looking out of place. Oh, and I can't begin to tell you how many air kisses I saw while I was standing there. Gays and gals alike.
Oh, Prince Caspian was good. Saw some good previews. Thumbs up.
Here's some vintage Belinda to close out. We had a tornado watch Saturday PM and we had quite a little storm: winds, lighting, thunder. I do love summer storms.
