Snow! and Promotions!
It is snowing just enough to allow me to go home and work the rest of the afternoon from there! That is the greatest news I have had since I heard that my friend Lucy got this awesome new job offer, which I also heard about today. Rock on!

Bizarre LA Occurrences
So, I am sure anyone reading might be thinking that this event has something to do with alcohol or bars, but it actually does not.

Ok, so we were staying in a hotel in El Segundo (and no, none of us left our wallets there) which served a free 'hot' breakfast. Now, I am always one who can appreciate a free meal and apparently I was not alone. Molly and I went down around 9am to see what was available and very quickly noticed a woman who seemed to be asking a number of questions to the workers who were stocking and cooking the food. I immediately thought that 'this woman is going to be high maintenance.' Boy, I didn't even know what I was getting myself into.

To describe her on this day is to say that she was wearing an all black ill-fitting suit and even more scary was the fact that her shoes appeared to be at least 2 sizes too small. While Molly and I were enjoying our fine breakfast, we noticed that this woman seemed to be spending an awful lot of time collecting food. Our eyes travel to the table where she was putting all of her food and were greeted with what can only be described as the largest amount of food one could gather from a free buffet. I kid you not, there were at least 4 rows of plastic containers, piled 2 high...that is 8 containers, filled with food people! And, she was just getting started!!! Not only did she get four of everything that was readily available...eggs, bacon, cereal, muffins, bagels, toast, fruit and french toast, she also took the 2 minutes and 30 seconds a piece that it took to make 4 Belgian waffles. She then proceeded to get 4 of each type of drink. We are talking about mass amounts of food here.

So, throughout all of this, Molly and I are watching in amazement b/c first and foremost, we can't imagine there are enough people to even eat all of this food and this was only one lady. We finally determined that she must be getting stuff for either the entire week or she had some other people with her. If the latter was the case, how was she, one person going to be able to transport it? A luggage cart, that is how. She piled that thing up with 5 rows of containers, all at least 3 containers high! We seriously could not believe it. We wanted to see her accomplish this task, but we had already spent 30 minutes watching her amass this feast, so we finally had to leave. When we got back to our room, we told Lucy and Molly's brother about it and I don't think they really believed us, but luckily...or unluckily...for Lucy, when we went to breakfast the next day, this lady was back to gather the same amounts of food for her as yet unseen companions. Only this time, she was wearing all white--with the exception of her colored underwear which pretty much made all of us lose our appetites.

This time we considered possible actions we could take that might hinder her from taking all the food from the entire buffet. Perhaps we could take the luggage cart so she couldn't transport it, I believe I suggested. It was then observed that she had completely bogarted all of the waffle mix. This was too much for Molly who boldly went up to the buffet and just took a mix. The lady got very upset and stated that she was making 4 waffles. Molly said ok and came back to our table with her lone dixie cup of waffle batter. (can I also point out at this time there were at least 3 people in the dining area not wearing shoes...that is so gross. Hygene people!)So, we politely waited the 10 minutes it took for her 4 waffles to be made before we could make ours. Now, of course, Molly didn't really want a waffle, it was the principle of the thing so I ended up eating it and it was good. So, we gathered up ourselves and headed back to our room.

As we arrived back at our building, we noticed that the lady was taking her luggage cart upstairs, but we didn't know which floor. I bounded up the stairs as all three of us go into Nancy Drew mode to catch a glimpse of what we expect to be the fattest most sloth-like people in the world b/c seriously, who makes one lady go down to the buffet and gather all of that food while they just rest on their laurels? Or, is there actually no one with her and she just goes back there and eats herself into a stupor until the next day? All these unanswered questions.

I reach the third floor just as the elevator is closing and nonchalantly read my paper as I peer around the corner. I see her enter her room, but unfortunately don't get to investigate much further around the door as housekeeping is in the area and I don't want to appear suspicious and stalker like...I know, too late. A few seconds later, the lady emerges and it appears to me is going to return the cart. So, that was the most bizarre thing that happened while I was in LA...no celebrity sightings, no major drunken shenanigans. Just the story of this woman who felt it was necessary to gorge herself and her companions (if they exist) on all the free food the hotel had to offer.

The Fourth Estate--Free Press or Not?
I just came across this in the New York Times. As a person who was trained in broadcast journalism, things like this really disturb me. I don't care which side you lean to, when you can no longer trust what you see in the news to be fair and balanced, or even true, that is disturbing.

It hasn't been that long since I graduated and I am fully aware that even when attempting to be your best unbiased self, it is somewhat impossible, as all humans are inherently biased by our own experiences. That being said, each person in charge of reporting the day's events should make every effort to present the truth and the facts to every issue. Things like this and the other issues of 2004, Jayson Blair and the Dan Rather thing among others, really cast a pall on a profession that I had once held in such a high regard.

Sorry, just had to get that out.

This is Awesome!
I normally steer clear of political stuff and this is old, but I just thought this was too funny. And, I love penguins!

Thanks to Dan for posting this on Pamie.com and bringing it to my attention.

15th Century Pub Saved
Mood:  party time!
Now, here are some folks who would understand the ode I penned below. Check out this Pub Story

Ode To Alcohol
Some people enjoy drinking just soda
To them I say, that isn't my coda.
For me, I enjoy something much stronger
Drinks, non-alcoholic couldn't be wronger.
Bud Light, Miller Lite, and the Captain, too,
All taste much better than sodas do.
Some laugh and sneer and call me a drunk,
But fuck you, I say, you bad Baptist* punk.

*please note I do not dislike Baptists, it simply fit with the artistic vision of the poem and refers to one of my friends who thinks she is a bad Baptist sometimes.

Happy Birthday to Me
Mood:  celebratory
Well, my 28th birthday was this weekend and it was a blast. As stated in the previous entry, there was much skankstravaganza excitement taking place all of last week.

So, on the day of my actual birth, I was awoken by my friend Big B calling me at 7:55am, which we determined was unacceptable for many reasons. Basically, it was way to early to phone anyone on any day, much less on a Saturday and certainly not on someone's birthday. However, it was a great start to a fantastic day which was spent with my very favorite friends who currently reside in the area.

Much of the day was spent at a lovely restaurant in Northern Virginia called The Front Page with my friend Patsy. Molly came to join us and then a number of us went to dinner and out to sing karaoke. Now, I think I have mentioned this karaoke place before and it is a real dive bar, but still a fantastic place to sing things such as Poison's 'Talk Dirty to Me' and as my friend Molly likes to sing Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' which is always a crowd pleaser.

I guess it was late in the evening when I looked back on the day and around the bar at the friends who had gathered to celebrate and I was really happy. I have been very lucky to find a new family here in DC, so far away from my own, a set of friends who are so loyal and fun that they love you like blood. (blood relatives, not like vampires or anything) So, basically, I just wanted to tell them all that here. Not that most of them check this out, but you know, in case they do. There were some who couldn't make it out on that day and they were certainly missed, but at 28, even though I am not where I thought I would be in life, I can at least say that I am surrounded by some awesome people.

And, b/c I can't leave this out...when we were leaving an after-hours party at a friend's apt. Molly felt it was appropriate to knock on other apt. doors. I attempted to stop her from doing this, only resulting in her tripping over her own feet and taking both of us down in the process. I am surprised I didn't have a concussion, but I am sure the massive amounts of beer probably helped us to not get hurt.

In any case, thanks to everyone who helped celebrate this entire birthday weekend skankstravaganza. It really meant a lot to me. Next weekend...a sketchy trip to Los Angeles with Molly, Lucy and Molly's brother! AND MAYBE 50 CENT!!!

Wacky Wednesday
Well, my 28th birthday is around the corner so last evening, some of the gals and myself decided to start the weekend early by going to a local sports bar for 'Wacky Wednesday.' We thought it would be the perfect beginning to what we like to call Birthday Weekend Skanstravaganzas. It all sounded like a good plan, we would go there for $2 beers and food and perhaps view the upcoming Duke/Wake Forest basketball game. It seems innocent enough, right? When we arrive, we are made aware that the special goes until 8pm. It was 6. Well, bring us a bunch of those $2 beers then...now, all the gals have been out of college for quite a while, but we all still know the value of a good drink special and we wanted to take full advantage. I think the part we all forgot about was why we don't usually drink draft beer in the first place. That would be the ever popular draft beer hangover. It has long been discussed in my circle of friends that if you drink the same kind and amount of beer in bottles compared to drinking the same thing from a tap, you will inevitably feel much worse in the morning. We have determined that this is b/c over time, the quality of the 'beer lines' at any establishment get clogged with really gross things like yeast and 'line slugs' which sound disgusting so I can't even imagine that I was drinking beer that had passed through these things. Yuck. In any case, even though $2 beers is a great deal, especially while living in a big city, sometimes it is worth the extra $2 to get your beer in a bottle. Or, perhaps not drink at all...wait what?

Festival of Fools meet Snow. Snow, meet Festival of Fools
Mood:  party time!
So, I know a lot of people have written about the snow that hit the northeast last week, so I thought it would only be fitting if I, too, at least for my 5 (ok, who am I kidding 3) readers to check out.

So, last Saturday, I woke up completely refreshed as I had stayed in on Friday night. I got up early, returned some movies and rented new ones to prepare for what they were calling a 'huge blizzard' As I returned home, I ran into my friend Patsy in the parking lot as she was moving her car. Earlier in the week, we had planned to go out to a local establishment on Saturday afternoon. She mentioned to me that she was ready to go and that she would just meet me at my car. I, unfortunately was not ready to go as I was wearing wind pants, a toque and a fleece that I had slept in.

So, we go back up to my apartment where I am at least allowed to change and decide to head out to a local bar. The thought, at this point, did occur to me that once we got there, we might well be stuck, but that didn't seem to deter me from going out. Besides, we had decided to park in a parking garage that would safely shield the car from the said 'blizzard' were were supposed to get. Did I mention it was about 11:30am? No...well, it was. So, we get to the bar and there are about 5 people there and it has started to snow a little. Fast forward to about 2:30 and it is pretty obvious that no one is going anywhere although the bar has gotten suspiciously more crowded with the likes of many fisherman sweater wearing gentlemen, one of whom's name is actually Brandon Walsh. And, before you ask, we did in fact check his ID. Well, poor Brandon was just looking for a little entertainment on this fine Saturday, so he started chatting up my friend and I, basically throwing his other friends under the bus whenever possible.
What do I mean by this you ask? Well, at one point it involved him blurting out something about his friend's last date who was an ass licker named Marilla. This of course made Patsy and I think of Anne of Green Gables and seriously, no one wants to think of those two things together.
In any case, it was about that time that Molly showed up to view the Wake Forest game and while she was glad they won, she was most certainly not glad that they kept interrupting the game to tell everyone it was snowing. 'Really?' she said. 'Because we can't already see it outside assholes.'
Anyway, the ridiculousness kept on until 8pm when we decided it would be a good idea to switch venues via the trusty public transportation system. Which was awesome, except for the fact that I didn't have any small bills and for some reason just wasted $20 on a metro ticket when I had one at home with $60 on it. Alas, the dumbass things we do when drunk.
So, on to the second venue where Molly orders a cider. She determines she doesn't like it and proceeds to get a light beer. She also determines she doesn't like this one either. How about a chocolate martini? Well, three of those and $35 later and boy weren't those tasty. She is also now aware that even if you don't finish a beer, you still have to pay full price for it. Also, I would like to note that our other friend Lucy joined us at this establishment and I am sure was quite entertained by our drunkeness as she was sober. In any case, the evening ended with a trip to the trusty sketchy karaoke bar as someone 'accidentally' mentioned to Molly that she could sing some Celine Dion. Luckily for the karaoke crowd and our ear drums the karaoke man was unable to make it due to the massive (read 5 inches) snow that we got in the greater metropolitan DC area. Also, Molly and Lucy were offered some herbal refreshment at that establishment as well, which was awesome. Too bad it doesn't snow every weekend!

All Good Things
Mood:  not sure
Well, as with most things, all good things must come to an end. I am currently referring to my fabulous friend Molly who will be leaving the area to spend some fabulous time with her fabulous boyfriend in another state. While we are all happy for her personally, on our end, we have decided that it pretty much sucks.

To understand this, I guess you have to have a little insight into my little group of friends here in the Nation's capital which has slowly been shifting for a couple of years now. With one friend moving away to finish school and another getting married and pregnant (although still living in the area thank goodness) and it seems as though with the departure of Molly, the era of debauchery might be coming to an end. Although, not without a final farewell 'Festival of Fools' as Lucy mentioned in an earlier comment.

When I moved to DC from Florida, I didn't know hardly anyone and I was lucky enough to have met Molly while playing coed softball. It was through Molly that I was able to meet the wonderful surrogate family that I have created living so far away from my actual family. While it seems like I have known them forever, it has really only been a little over 4 years, which I can say flew past quite quickly. Many boyfriends have come and gone and some have permanently stayed (Hi Boys!) but I think we are all going to miss Molly quite tremendously. There are many great things about her that she doesn't realize, things like being able to amuse herself and her friends simply by speaking in a wonderful Chinese/English accent or her massive love for all things trivia and beer related. But, mostly she'll be missed because of her easy going personality and her ability to be around when you need her--for fun or not so fun--like moving that one time when she about freaked out at my apartment upon learning how much was left to be done (still sorry about that one!)

So, she is set to leave at the end of March and we are planning a festival of fools to mark her departure and celebrate the next chapter in her life. We will all certainly miss you and wish you the best! As for the festival of fools, I am sure that will allow for some quite entertaining reading...so stick around...we'll be right back!