Reflections: Sifting Realities

Coretta Scott King dies at 78.

Man tripped over his shoelace and accidently destroyed 3 vases from the Qing Dynasty.

Jill Carroll, a journalist for the Christian Science Monitor who was kidnapped by the Revenge Brigades, reappears in video. This time she's seen wearing a white Islamic veil, covering her hair, neck and shoulders and pleading for the release of Iraqi women.

The director of GLBT Affairs will now join D.C. Mayor's cabinet.

D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams doesn't veto the smoking ban. The act now goes to Congress for review.

Brokeback Mountain earns more nominations. Meanwhile, it still hasn't been captioned.

**********


Michael C. Hall, who played the gay funeral director in Six Feet Under will return to Showtime. In Dexter, he'll be a police forensics specialist who is also a serial killer. He kills people who deserves to be killed.

I've read one of the Dexter books and it is quite interesting. I should check out the other books soon.

Well, ta ta for now...
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Whoo, the new work/school schedule has me worn out by the end of the week. So, all I wanted to do was just relax and watch movies.

Finally saw Sound of Music. Yep, I know. About 99% of the world has already seen it. It was pretty good but I dunno if I'll watch it again like I would for My Fair Lady.

Next classic movie to watch: Gone With the Wind. (I know! I know! At least, I'm catching up with the classics.)

*****

Friday night, KT and I went over to Roy and Stephen's house for Roy's art show. This was our first time ever to go as we were finally free from other plans. I saw a painting I wanted but it was already sold. Saw another one I liked but just found out that it was purchased as well. Dammit!

Anyways, at first, there was a good turn-out. Then, later in the evening it was packed! It's good to see Deafies coming out to support Deaf artists and their works.

I still want Susan Dupor's "Family Dog"!!!

*****

Elizabeth was an interesting movie. This film is about Queen Elizabeth I of England. Thanks to a prior reading of Philippa Gregory's The Queen's Fool, that I was able to understand what was going on in the film as well as getting the background of this particular royal history.

Queen Mary is dying and doesn't have a heir to pass on the throne. Next in line is her half-sister, Elizabeth. The problem was that Mary was Catholic and Elizabeth was Protestant. In those days, you were burned at the stake for being a Protestant. However, Elizabeth was a sly character even though she comes across as naive. Mary wanted Elizabeth to promise that she'll keep the Catholic Church as the true church. Elizabeth wouldn't. Mary's people tried to push for the execution of Elizabeth but Mary just couldn't. Mary dies and Elizabeth becomes queen.

Now, Elizabeth's people pushes her to get married. Elizabeth is like, what for? Suitors for the kings of Spain and France come to offer their proposals to Elizabeth. Meanwhile, England is facing wars and shortages. She's portrayed as naive but in the end, you'll realized that she wasn't stupid but was just being sly the whole time.

It's a good movie. Just be forewarned that it's a slow-paced movie.

*****

Saturday, we watched Underworld: Evolution. I thought it was awesome as it was action-packed from the beginning to the end. The saga continues with the war between the vampires and the werewolves. Oh yeah, and hybrids too.

*****

There were some previews in the movies that looked good and made me wanna check them out.

Stay Alive is about a group of gamers discovering a game. However, they realized that once their character die, they die as well.

I hope it'll be a gooood movie.

KT and I were most excited about this preview, Silent Hill. It's finally coming to the big screen. KT and I have played all of their games and they're quite scary.

The characters in the movie are exactly like the game. I absolutely cannot wait to check this out!

It seems to be the latest trend to convert video games to movies. Not too long ago, I had a chat with Philip about this. Some movies turn out ok and others flop.

Examples:
Tron - was considered ahead of its time (it was rumored Tron 2 will come out but I can't find any info)
Super Mario Bros.- sucked!
Resident Evil - I thought the 2 movies were pretty good.
Doom - haven't seen it though
Bloodrayne - I'm not sure if this has been released yet or not

The previews for V for Vendetta kinda reminds me of The Shadow. I'm not quite sure if this appeals me or not. I guess I'll wait and see what the reviewers will say about this movie.

Tom Cruise will reprise his role as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible III. Looks good!

*****

After the movie, Manny, Merritt, KT and I walked by Lucky Strike, the newest bowling alley in Chinatown. I had previously heard some complaints about their "rules" by some bloggers. Bloggers questioned the agenda behind these rules. Seems that these rules were established to eliminate the unwanted, particularly the "ghetto" blacks.

So, we stopped by and saw a listing of their posted rules, outside the building:

NO sweats or atheletic wear
NO skull caps of any kind
Baseball hats must face forward
NO excessively baggy clothing
NO torn or soiled clothing
NO shirtless vests or jackets
NO sleeveless shirts for men
NO exposed intimate apparel
NO sports jerseys
NO baggy white t-shirts
NO chains

While we were reading the rules, one of the 2 black "bouncers" approached Merritt. He told Merritt that his zippered hooded shirt was not appropriate for the bowling alley. Ok, we were just simply looking at the rules. The short pudgy bouncer was already harassing Merritt. Merritt was like, we're just reading the rules. The bouncer kept telling him about his clothing. It was like...we get it, we weren't planning to come in, just reading your damn rules, so fuck off!

Then, I was appointed to go in and ask about the prices for bowling. That same bouncer was like, we're booked for the night. I was like, I just wanna ask for the price. He was like, we're booked! I said, I just wanna know how much for the future. Gawd, what a dumbfuck! Then, I was allowed to go in and get a brochure. When I came out, the same bouncer told me, "hey, your friend has an attitude problem!" I just gave him my fake smile and walked away.

Lucky Strike, tell your people not to harass people when they're just simply inquiring or reading your damn rules. Because of your harassing employee, I don't think I'll bowl there...ever.

*****

By the way, if you should ever go see a movie in Chinatown, get free parking. You can park in the garage on 6th and H Streets. Get your parking ticket validated at the theatre for 3 hour free parking.

*****

News of the Day:

Christian university compares expelling gays to stamping out smoking. A gay student was expelled from the university.

Now, this gets interesting. Apparently, the university knew Michael Guinn was gay and let him continue as a student. However, the university made him sign a pledge that he was not to tell anyone of his "lifestyle" unless he knew them well. Apparently, he didn't adhere to the pledge and thereby, has been expelled.

***

Abstinence/Religous groups get 25% of HIV/AIDS funding.

***

The Army in Fort Bragg, NC will investigate its 7 soldiers who apparently appeared in gay porn website.

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Kweisi Mfume, a Maryland candidate for the Senate, supports marriage rights for gay couples.

***
ta ta for now...
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Last night, Kevin and I watched The Polar Express. I have to tell you that I loved the animation. The storyplot was pretty good as well.

I agree that the spirit of Christmas is always in your heart. So, don't ever lose that magical feeling!

*****

I was reading Amanita's blog when I came across an article about solar-powered hearing aids.

These solar-powered hearing aids are made by an African (Botswana) company, Godisa Technologies. It's the only hearing aid manufacturer in Africa. Their goal is to make low-cost hearing aids for the developing worlds. This solar-powered hearing aid was specifically developed for the sub-Saharan environment.

Oh, by the way, this company also previously made a solar-powered battery recharger as well as rechargeable hearing aid batteries, No. 13 and 675.

Anyways, Godisa wants to make the hearing aids free to everyone. That is, if the goverment lets them. Until then, they are accepting donations so that African Deaf children can get them.

I found it interesting that they were able to tell us that a quarter of a billion people, around the world, are "hearing impaired" (the other link says 200 million). The article said that 2/3 of deaf people that cannot afford hearing aids are in the industrialized countries. The reason being is that they cannot afford hearing aid batteries. I thought this was interesting because you can go to CVS and buy a pack of 8 batteries for about 6 bucks. Thanks to digital hearing aids, battery life is longer. I usually don't replace a battery until 2 or 3 weeks later. So, 2 x 8 will last me 16 weeks for one pack, at least.

Anyways, one positive thing about Godisa is that they're for the empowerment of the deaf. Of the 14 employees there, 10 of them are deaf or physically disabled. What's even more interesting is that they're the only hearing aid company in the world where deaf people are involved in the manufacturing process. And this is in a developing country...wow!
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Ok, ever since the coinage of metrosexual, there's been additional terms created and added to our vocabularies, such as ubersexual, jetrosexual...etc.

I was reading Jimbo's blog and came across his entry about pogs (beards) since some men considered "bears" to be sooo 2005 or older. Hilarious entry ("I am Pog") and check out the comments as well.
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Last night was pretty much a quiet night. KT and I were just tired from getting up so early in the morning, going to work, going to class and then back to work. We just came home and ate dinner, while watching a couple shows. We were both trying not to fall asleep towards the end of the second show. We told each other, after this show, we're going to bed. It was like 9 o'clock.

Usually, when we get home, our cats go flying outside. Then, they come in for their dinner. Then, they go back outside. We'll let them stay out until we go to bed and then they come in. We don't let them out overnight while it's cold.

Well, last night, Tigger was already in the house. I guess he wasn't in the mood to be outside after dinner. So, after the second show, I got up to let Mercy back in the house for the night. However, he wasn't there. So, I called out his name over and over. He was a no-show.

I thought I'd wait a few more minutes before calling him again. Well, just before I closed the door, I thought I saw something. I saw a cat, under a table in the porch. I thought, how strange that Mercy is just sitting there and not coming to the door to get in the house. But then I realized it was another cat because Mercy doesn't meow his head off like this one was doing. It came out and saw that it was a black kitten.

Well, I just could not shut the door on this meowing kitten in the cold. So, I got KT to come and take a look. He was like, well, let'em in! So, in comes the kitten and checking out the house. The tail was mangy. We were like, he must've been hurt. It looked hungry. So, we got cat food and water and brought them to the kitten. It ate the food like it hadn't eaten for days.

Afterwards, we checked out the kitten. It's black with a small patch of white hair on the chest and another patch on the the lower stomach. It's about 5 to 6 months old. And it's a boy.

We knew this cat had been with humans because he was just begging to be touched. Awww, needed some TLC. So, we just petted him over and over while he just meowed repeatedly.

By now, KT and I were wide awake and playing with the kitten. We asked each other what to do with the kitten. Tigger was a stray which KT couldn't turn away. KT was telling me that that was the same size Tigger was when he first walked into KT's home. This was like deja vu for him.

Well, Tigger avoided him and hid like he was the plague.

I was like awww, he's so cute but not sure if we should keep him or not. We're gonna be busy during this last semester of school. I was iffy about keeping the kitten or not. Then, I was like thinking up different names for the kitten. KT was like...OMG, don't do that, naming the kitten if you're not gonna keep it because it'll be harder to give it away. I was like...I know, I know but still.

Then, I let Mercy in. He comes in all happy, ready to settle for the night. That was until he walked into the living room and stopped dead in his path when he saw the kitten.

Mercy then ran and hid.

KT and I were like...do do?!?! It was 10 o'clock by then and I was like, I need to go to bed because we had to get up early as well.

So, off to bed we went. The kitten followed us as well.

Through the night, the kitten alternately slept with me and then with KT. He'll rub his body on your face or against your hands. Then, he'll settle in on a spot, usually near my face and sleep for a time. Then, he'll get up and go to KT or move to another spot. I found myself waking up every half hour or so with him rubbing against me and settling down to sleep.

He was just so hungry for attention!

This morning we get up and he's just following us around and meowing incessantly. Before we left, we were like, what are we gonna do with the kitten? I told KT that I know that we'd love to have a 3rd cat again. However, with him being such a young cat starving for attention, he's bound to steal our focus away from our graduate studies.

We'd love to get another cat but now it's not the right time. Oh, he's adorable!

Plus, it didn't help when I tried to approach Tigger to give him some attention and he hissed at me. I was like, bitch! Finally, he stopped hissing at me. I came to him and petted him. Well, he still wasn't happy because he was growling when I was petting him and the kitten was nowhere in sight. Yeah, I get it, you're not happy with a new cat in the house.

So, we've decided that tonight we'll drop off the kitten at the animal shelter. It's only been 1 night and I know that it'll be hard to let him go, at least for me. He's a cute kitten, who just need a lot of TLC. It's just that right now it's not the right time for us to get a new cat.

Bummer!

He's still a cute kitten!

Sigh...
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The coffee social last Friday night had a good turnout with 37 people. It was a nice mixture of Deaf GLBT professionals and Gallaudet students. It's a small world and therefore, likely to have this kind of mixture. As always, it was good to see some old friends and acquaintances as well as meeting new people.

*****

I finally saw Terms of Endearment, starring Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson.

Boy, that movie made me cry! Made me wanna watch Beaches once again. Overall, I enjoyed it and cannot believe that I hadn't seen this movie until now.

I think any movie that involves cancer is just gonna make cry easily, due to my mother's death.

*****

I absolutely liked Saved! This movie had me laughing at various scenes and lines. It's sorta like the Christian version of Mean Girls.

Mary and Dean are boyfriend and girlfriend. One summer, Dean shares that he might be gay. Mary thinks that she's received word from Jesus to save him. So, she loses her virginity for him. His folks discover a gay magazine in his room and send him to Mercy House, which is like a Christian rehabilitation site to deal with just about anything.

Then, Mary finds out she's pregnant. Worse, it's her senior year at a Christian school.

She's friends with these 2 girls, which they're all in a all-girls Christian band. However, these 2 friends turn out to be more holier-than-thou than Mary can take in, especially when they keep rubbing the gay boyfriend in her face.

Then, there's Cassandra, who is like a devil's spawn and the whole school is praying for her salvation. Mary eventually befriends Cassandra and Roland (Macaulay Culkin).

Life happens and it doesn't always bring the best results, or rather the Christian results. We deal with it and we just don't need further judgment from other people.

If you're in the mood for a good laugh, then check this movie out!

*****

Watched Imaginary Heroes, starring Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels.

This movie is about a family dealing with the suicide of the eldest son. This is a slow paced movie and you won't discover the most interesting part of the family until the end of the movie.

*****

Into the Blue was alright. We were told that this was a great movie.

So, we popped in the DVD and watched it. Eh. I wouldn't call it a great movie...just so-so.

It's about 4 divers, in Bahamas, and they've discovered some buried treasures as well as a sunken plane with a shitload of cocaine that'll make any drug dealer die happy. Well, maybe not. Anyways, 2 of the divers wanna retrieve the coke and sell it and live off well. The other two are like...no way, let's just stick with the buried treasures and live well.

Well, greed comes into the picture and endangers everyone's lives.

I considered this a slow paced movie as well. It didn't start to get really good until the end.

*****

Sigh... The Broncos lost to the Steelers.

So, now the SuperBowl game is with the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Seattle Seahawks. Well, Seattle has never won the SuperBowl, so I'm gonna root for them.

SuperBowl XL - Sunday, February 5th in Detroit.

*****

Watched American Idol (TiVo) last night, 2 weeks worth.

Lawdy! Simon's comments are getting more brash.

I'm still amazed how people show up to audition, as well as being televised, and making a fool out of themselves. If you can't sing, then you can't sing.

*****

I am curious to check out Nanny McPhee, which is said to be a mixture of Mary Poppins and Willy Wonka.

Speaking of movies, I'm still waiiiiiiiting for Brokeback Mountain to be captioned. I'm sure that this isn't just pissing me off but other Deafies as well. Hmmmmph!

By the way, BBM continues to be a box office hit.

*****

News of the Day:

On Friday, a judge in Maryland has ruled that the marriage law is unconstitutional and that the state must marry gays. This case will now go to the Court of Appeals before being finalized.

Of course, Governor Robert Ehrlich is gonna fight this ruling.

Meanwhile, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine says he disagrees with the language of the of the constitutional amendment, banning gay marriage but says he will sign it anyway.

It's his first week in office and he's already lost his balls to stand his ground. Goodness!

*****

Well, ta ta for now...
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Tonight is the monthly Deaf GLBT coffee social. Hope to see you there!

Starbucks
Dupont Circle
P & 21st Streets, NW
Washington, DC
(upstairs)

7pm to 10pm

ta ta...
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Got this from cidamon.

FOURS

A. FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
(I'll do my first 4 jobs.)
1. Toy Demonstrator (my first job at 15!)
2. Dishwasher/Fryer (Bill Miller's BBQ...ugh, the smell after work!)
3. Grocery bagger (H.E.B.)
4. Customer Service Representative (Foley's)

B. FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1. Powder
2. Beaches
3. Spirited Away
4. Halloween (I & II)

C. FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN:
1. San Antonio, TX
2. Mainz, Germany
3. Washington, DC
4. Capitol Heights, MD

D. FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:
1. Any Law & Order shows
2. Any CSI shows
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Battlestar Galactica

E. FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION:
1. Key West, FL
2. Austin, TX
3. Los Angeles, CA
4. Ft. Lauderdale, FL
(Saving international travel til after graduate school!)

F. FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY:
1. Blogspot.com (Blogger)
2. Xanga.com
3. Gmail.com
4. 365gay.com

G. FOUR OF YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE RESTAURANTS:
1. Popeye's
2. Bennigan's
3. Chili's
4. Blanco Cafe (Mexican restaurant in San Antonio)

H. FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Gummy bears
2. Chips & salsa
3. Gala apples
4. Spicy Doritos & French onion dip

I. FOUR SCHOOLS YOU'VE ATTENDED:
1. Pfieffer Elementary School (Deaf Day School)
2. King's Academy
3. San Antonio College
4. Gallaudet University

J. FOUR PLACES I'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. Home
2. Austin
3. Ft. Lauderdale
4. I'll say it again, home!

K. FOUR THINGS YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING [in e-mail]
1. Vee
2. Whateva
3. Whaaa?
4. O............k
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Wow! I just realized the ramifications of tax stuff in domestic partnerships between state and federal levels.

Gays in domestic partnerships and working for the state in Rhode Island have been slapped with a massive tax debt.

The IRS considered health and insurance benefits as taxable income.

The state director of administration said that when the legislation for domestic partner benefits was enacted, there was no provision for the state to deduct tax on these benefits.

Of course, the federal government doesn't recognize domestic partnerships and assumes that two strangers are living together.

Right now, gay state employees and activists are saying that the state should pay for this mistake, not them. Of course, the state isn't gonna pay for the debt. Instead, the state director has offered no penalties or interests on the monies owed and offered no-interest loans.

Oh yeah...no-interest loans are taxable by the IRS.

So, you might reap benefits by the state but the federal government is gonna come after you and tax your asses.

***

Yesterday, I blogged about Haleigh Poutre, an 11-year-old girl, who was beaten nearly to death by her stepfather and has been on life support.

Massachusetts high court ordered her off life support after doctors said that she was in a persistent vegetative state.

However, after she was taken off life support, she began to respond to stimuli. Further testing will be done to determine her overall health.

***

Well, ta ta for now...
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I've watched some movies that have been released some time ago and I've just never had the chance to watch them until now.

The Vanishing - Interesting movie starring Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Kiefer Sutherland and Nancy Travis. Sutherland plays the boyfriend in search of his abducted girlfriend (Bullock) for 3 years. After three years, the abductor (Bridges) contacts the boyfriend to explain what he did to the girlfriend. Travis plays the new girlfriend who starts to have issues with her boyfriend's obsession with locating the abducted girlfriend and tries to convince him to move on.

Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind - If you liked Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, then you'll like Nausicaä. I was surprised to learned that this animated film was released by Disney in 1984. Spirited Away was also released by Disney but there wasn't much publication about it and it is a good enjoyable film.

Anyways, a terrible catastrophe, the Seven Days of Fire, has literally destroyed the world, where everything is contaminated even the air they breathe. The insects are bigger than life and rule the world. Nausicaä, princess of a very small country, the Valley of Wind and an expert glider, tries to bring peace between battling nations and nature or else the world would just be inevitably destroyed.

Shaolin Soccer - uh, no! This was just plain stupid and just had to stop watching it.

Here you see a domineering female landlord with a cigarette in her mouth, which was borrowed for Kung Fu Hustle. However, KFH did a better job with this particular character than SS.

The next movie that I have TiVo'd is Terms of Endearment. So, can't wait to check that out.

**********

News of the Day

Supreme Court backed Oregon's assisted-suicide law by 6-3.

"The 6-3 decision found that the Bush administration improperly tried to use a federal drug law to pursue Oregon doctors who help people die under the law."

***

Center for Constitutional Rights and ACLU are suing the Bush administration, NSA and other security agencies for the illegal use of domestic spying as well as Bush overstepping his constitutional powers.

***

Massachusetts high court has allowed an 11-year-old girl, Haleigh Poutre, to be taken off life support.

This is interesting. Her stepfather literally beat her to death. Since her admission, she's been on life support. However, doctors have said she's in a persistent vegetative state and will never recover. (Remember Terri Schiavo?)

The stepfather has fought to keep her on life support. You see, once Haleigh is taken off life support and dies, he'll be charged with murder. Of course, the stepfather wants to keep her on life support to avoid the murder charge.

However, the state has ruled that she should and will be taken off life support.

***

Who the heck would wanna shell out $25,000 for a kidney stone? And who cares if it belonged to a celebrity!

***

An interesting historical infomation found on 365gay.com:

January 18, 1726 - The man who might have been the first gay king of America was born in Berlin. Prince Heinrich of Prussia was the brother of Frederick the Great who tried have him made King of America. The fledgling US even considered it during the period ruing the Article of Confederation, but, by the time the fickle prince agreed, the equally fickle American public had opted for the Constitution and a republic.

ta ta for now...
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Before my work shift ended on Thursday, I was randomly checking blogs and came across Bobby's. I was reading his post about graduation and making reservations for his celebration/reception with family and friends. I thought...ugh, already?!?!

So, KT and I got our heads together and discussed some options and planned our graduation celebration. We contacted family members and some friends to confirm if they'll be driving up/flying up/attending our graduation as well as the celebration.

Luckily, the place where we want to have our celebration was not booked and was open for us. So, we got that taken care of. Now, we're just finalizing details with families and friends coming over.

We've got some responses already and the picture has become a bit clearer of what we'll have to do or what will be done. Overall, it wasn't a big burden and seems that we can get this all done by the end of the month and just wait til May rolls around.

14 more weeks til graduation!!!!!!!

***

Last month, 8 of us Deafies, plus kids, get together to hang out and play games at a friend's house. Since it was December, we were required to wear a holiday hat. KT and I went out and got one of those red spiral hat with a white pom-pom at the end. We just had a great time chatting, laughing, drinking and eating. We were all up til 5am.

For KT and me, this is like fabulous. It's hard to find others who just love to play games.

Well, last Friday, was our turn to host a themed get-together. So, we had a Hobo Gathering, where everyone had to bring their own soup. I brought baked potato soup. KT brought chili. Others, either made their own or bought from the store.

I was flattered that I was nominated for the best soup. I came home with an empty pot. KT also came home with an empty pot.

Ours was so good that they've asked us to make it again for next month's gathering for a SuperBowl party.

Again, the gathering was fun as usual. There was a surprise birthday celebration for those who had a birthday in December and January. Soup and cake, what an interesting mixture.

Games were fun as usual. We were up til 2:30am. We were all like, at least we weren't up til 5am. Yeah, well, you know how it is with Deafies. We stopped playing at 2:30 but we were still chatting til about 3 or so. By the time we got home, it was nearly 4.

Great time!

At least, next month, we won't be up that late because we'll all be glued to the SuperBowl game and the commercials. Plus, school for some of us, so we can't be up that late.

***

KT was in a GOOD mood Saturday night because the Denver Broncos won against the New England Patriots.

KT went over to a friend's house to watch it on the big HDTV screen TV. I was in the mood to stay home and chill. But, I was watching the game as well.

***

We were watching the game Sunday with the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts. We were rooting for the Steelers because the Colts and the Broncos are in the same division and hate each other.

It was a very close game. At first, the Steelers were leading. But then, at the end of the 3rd quarter and in the 4th quarter, the Colts were catching up. It was such a scary sight to watch Jerome Bettis fumble the ball just before he landed a touchdown. The ball was picked up by the Colts and made a run for it but was stopped. That would've allowed the Colts to win the game. Luckily for Jerome, the Colts missed the field goal kick to tie the game into overtime.

Nice to know that the NFL referee admitted his mistake on the interception call by Troy Polamalu. It was obvious that Polamalu intercepted the ball!

Anyways, this Sunday, the Steelers will play against the Broncos in Denver. This is gonna be a big challenging and emotional game!

***



Yesterday was KT's 30th birthday! Pah! Now he can no longer make fun of my being in the 30's club. Welcome, KT!! :P

We had a low-key celebration and that's pretty much how Kevin likes it. Among the stuff he got and wanted was a DVD set of Thundercats. So, now, we've been alternately watching shows of Thundercats, Six Feet Under and Wonder Woman.

Anyways, for lunch, we ate at Cafe Luna with Cliff, Manny and Merritt. Good time by catching up on news with each other.

Cliff got us some gifts for Christmas and KT's birthday. We got a couple of gay movies. However, they didn't bear the closed caption symbol. So, we went to Lambda Rising to exchange. They were nice to allow us to exchange because their policy was that DVD's were non-returnable, including exchanges.

However, we learned something new that Lambda now affixes a small rainbow sticker on DVD's that have captions, in their display. With a large Deaf community in DC, I'm sure there were some complaints about how some movies, especially American-made, aren't captioned. Don't get me started on that one.

***

Now, school has started. We've yet to register for classes, which we'll have to do today.

Now, we've gotta register, sign some forms, pay fees and get books. Gotta prepare for internship. Gotta prepare portfolios. Gotta, gotta, gotta...

Just 14 more weeks! Then, it'll all be over! Just 14 more weeks...
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So true, eh, Deafies?







Click to Enlarge

(Damn! I'll have to use the scanner at home to get a bigger picture.)

ta ta...
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I stopped doing new year resolutions some years back because they're usually broken by the end of January or February.

I'm sure for most of us, one of the major resolutions is to lose weight. However, in the past few years, I've never seen such a wide range of diets made available to us, especially in the wake of a nationwide epidemic of obesity.

Which one is right? South Beach Diet? Atkins Diet? Sonoma Diet? Weight Watchers? Jenny Craig? The Biggest Loser regimen? Low-carb? Low-fat? Low-sodium? Portion-control? No white (potato, bread, rice) diet? Organic food only? Vegetarianism? Nutri-System? Fasting? Liquid diet? blood-type diet? Mayo Clinic Plan? Mediterranian diet? glycemic impact diet? green tea diet? popcorn diet? soup diet? The Zone diet? Richard Simmons regimen? personality diet? Medifast diet? Abs diet?

Arrrgggghhhhhhh! So many offering promised results!

Then, the other day, I was reading Amanita's blog and she blogged an article about the American vs. the French/European way of eating. It is an interesting article, especially the last page. It is a debateable topic could lead to various subjects. Our way of living impacts our way of eating.

Yeah, our way of living impacts our way of eating. Look back 10, 20, 30 years ago and compare them to today's time. Way different! Technology, of many aspects, does have an impact on our eating styles. (Read the link above to get what I'm saying.) I think that we need to pause and make it a habit to actually pay attention to what we're eating.

Of course, having an exercise routine enhances weight loss. MSNBC has posted articles today in regards to losing weight and exercising. I'm providing a link here, which you'll find other links in the article.

Overall, diet or not, we've got to have an active habit of eating healthy, along with an alert consciousness of what you're putting in your mouths. Quit worrying about trying to lose 10, 20, 30+ pounds in one month with these fad diets. (Although, that would just be heavenly for some of us.) A loss of a pound should be seen as an accomplishment as well as a motivation to lose more.

Healthy eating brings healthy results.

ta ta for now...
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Despite our weekend of illnesses, KT and I were able to watch the Wicked musical at the Kennedy Center yesterday.

We were able to score the tickets through the folks of a friend, who were not able to make it due to a situation. So, we were thrilled that we were finally able to go.

This is the very first time that KT and I had been to the Kennedy Center, despite the fact that we both lived in DC for 8 years. Disappointing, eh?

Anyways, we get in and am suprised how spacious this place is. Half an hour before the show started, they let us all in. We get to our seats. We're located on the left side of the stage, where the caption display is at. We looked around and noticed that we were like the only "D"eaf people there, signing our little conversations. The others were using those audio loops and SimCom'ing every now and then.

It was weird to see how these people knew each other. They were all like waving each other nearby and a few rows behind. It's like these people had the season tickets, just like those who have season tickets at a football stadium.

We had a brief conversation with the interpreting coordinator there. I already forgot her name but she has been there for 20 years. She said she had pushed for interpreting services, captions and other technologies for Deaf people and has been quite successful. She said she noticed that more and more Hard of Hearing people are attending the theatre than Deaf people. So, she's been pushing for more audio loops and other state-of-the-art gadgets.

I dunno if she was surprised to see us there or not but she seemed to enjoy having a brief conversation with us. She was just there to make sure the captionist was there with the laptop and making sure the Deaf/HoH patrons were ok. It was a common complaint that many of these HoH patrons felt they were seated too close to the stage and off to the left. We were 3 or 4 rows from the stage. Yeah, THAT close. They were telling the interpreting coordinator that they should put us in the center of the orchestra level. Her response was like "just go ask hearing people to trade seats with ya".

Anyways, I looked away and vee vee the theatre. The lighting system was just gorgeous. I wished they let us take pictures there so I could show you. It's just hard to describe. I love elaborate lights and unique chandeliers. When we go shopping and I see some fancy lights or chandeliers, I often tell KT "I want that for the house" and he just raises a brow...like, "yeah right!" Well, I don't care, I'm gonna get one...one day!

I skimmed through the Playbill before the play started. It was interesting to note that the current and former First Ladies, who are still living, are the Board of Trustees for the Kennedy Center.

Then, the room darkened and the play started.

Whoa! This was an awesome play, with some of interesting costumes, props design, choreography and characters! There was definitely creativity at work here.
Costumes - I love the plethora of costumes seen at this play. I was really impressed with the monkeys/flying monkeys wings and "metallic hair".
Props Design - One of the best I've ever seen. The metallic wizard. Elphaba & Galinda's bedroom. Oz Dust Ballroom. I loved how they had the monkeys flying, including Miss Elphaba at the end of Act 1.
Choreography - My favorite was the witch dance between Elphaba and Galinda at the ballroom.
Characters - If I had to pick one, I'd pick Galinda/Glinda. She had me and KT cracking up with her lines and her quicky motions. She did a superb job. Miss Elphaba was awesome as well.

I really don't have a complaint about this play other than a wish. I wish they made Miss Elphaba's face a bit more greener. Her hands were greener than her face.

However, overall, it was a fabulous play! You would not nor could not be disappointed if you went and saw this play.

Simply, wonderfully wicked!
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KT got Season 1 of Six Feet Under for Christmas. We've seen like clips of some episodes when it was running on HBO. We've never really sat through a whole episode, despite raves from friends.

Well, now we've been watching it. So far, only on the 2nd episodes and we already love the show! Gosh, I cannot believe we didn't make this show part of our regular viewing.

Ah well. Better late than never, eh?

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News of the Day:

DC expands domestic partnership benefits. KT and I have been enjoying some of the benefits from work because they do recognize domestic partnerships. Such a blessing!

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How stupid are they? This married couple went to Las Vegas for a vacation. They got a dog sitter for their puppies. However, they left behind the children to fend for themselves at home.

So, how did the cops find out? The grandmother called them because she suspected the couple left the kids behind.

Now, they'll have a really long vacation in a jail cell.

Hat tip: KT

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Congrats to the Longhorns for winning against USC, 41-38!

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Police raid secret gay club in India. Homosexuality is illegal in India, punishable up to 10 years in prison.

Hat tip: Towleroad

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Well, ta ta for now...
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I had the same excitement of going to NYC as the last time I was there in '99. It was just a brief feeling of nostalgia when stepping out of the bus terminal and surrounding myself among the throngs of people rushing around in the streets of New York.

The first thing that Manny, KT and I did, when we got off the bus, was look for dinner. We were ravenous! We headed to the nearest fast food joint, which was McDonald's. I remember when I was there in '99 with a friend, we were like barely having any money between to last a weekend. I remember going into McDonald's and balking at the slightly higher price for the simple #1 combo. This time, I was like...ah, an extra dollar or two is nothing.

After stuffing our mouths, we hailed a cab. Goodness! I thought DC cab drivers were awful. Hunny, they're gentlemen compared to NYC cab drivers. I was seated in the middle between Manny and KT in the backseat. The cab driver was zigzagging like Tron. I was like...aaaahhhh! Manny and KT were like, don't look. I was like, I can't help it but look!

We stopped by a friend's apartment to drop off our things and changed for the night out. We headed over to Avalon, to meet a friend of Manny's. Avalon was interesting. It was formerly a church, which I'm guessing from the exterior design, a Catholic one. However, once inside, you don't feel like you're in a church. This is a place to go if you wanna vee-vee people.

One thing I've noticed for most of the places that I've been to in NYC was that some restrooms were unisex, including Avalon. I thought unisex bathrooms only existed in Ally McBeal.

Another thing I vee vee about Avalon is that there was a DJ playing in the restroom entrance. O..........k!

After that, we headed over to G Lounge. Pretty much did a quick walk-through because it was kinda dead in there. Headed over to Gym Sports Bar. Now, that's what I call a gay sports bar. DeLounge, in Wheaton, MD, declared that it has a sports bar but their area is nothing like a sports bar. Gym had a relaxing atmosphere with 9 big TV, a bar with a wide range of beverages and a pool table.

Headed over to XL. The only interesting part about this bar was their restroom. They have a communal urinal, which a huge aquarium is placed on top. You can view the fish swimming about while you're emptying your bladder.

We didn't get to bed til about 4am.

The next day, we were up around noon. We headed out and walked and shopped around in Chelsea, Greenwich Village and Soho. Oh. My. God. I think I've done enough walking to last me 2 lifetimes. All we did was walk, shop, walk, shop, walk, shop, walk, shop and forever.

We did stop by Better Burger. It's an interesting restaurant that's geared to serving those who like to eat healthy and organic foods. I told Manny that whoever sets one up in DC would do well because there is a demand for organic foods and a restaurant would just be heaven for them.

Let me tell you something, my feet were KILLING me! Yet, I just kept on walking. I wanted to keep seeing all the neat stores and watch people.

Oh yeah, it was snowing too. I have never ever seen such BIG snowflakes! They were like the size of dollar coins, if not bigger. Some were long like a bird's feather.

Then, we came home just to drop off our shopping bags, change clothes and head out to celebrate the New Year. I was like whimpering at the thought of my feet having to suffer more.

We headed over to Splash to celebrate New Year's. The dancers there were so-so, but they had some eye-catching packages. Their restrooms were interesting. Let's see if I can describe it. Splash has 2 floors. The first floor is where they have a dance floor and a performing stage, along with 2 bars.
Downstairs is dark, with the back part of the room being a lounge area. On one side of the room are shower stalls. I'm guessing dancers shower there, where the general public can see them showering. On the front side of the room, are some frosted windows. The general public can see shadows of guys entering the stalls and doing their business. Ok, let me clarify that. You go into a stall. You can see that you're gonna pee into a communal urinal. Oh yeah, there's a clear glass between pairs of stalls, where you can see the next guy emptying his bladder as well.
If you gotta do #2, there are stalls across the "hall", windowless, to do so.

I know I've been talking about the restrooms in almost all the bars and clubs that I've gone to. But hey, it seems like that was the most distinct feature of each place. Seems New Yorkers like their bathrooms to be aesthetically pleasing.

One thing I didn't like about this bar was the performing stage. It's a little stage where a performer has to remain behind a ledge across. I was like, how limiting!

After the celebration of the new year, we headed over to XL for a little while and then headed home to sleep.

Sunday, KT and I got up early and spent the morning in Times Square. We had a good time. Headed back to meet up with Manny and go shopping with his friend. Of course, my feet were still aching from the day before. And all we did was shop, walk, shop, walk, which went on forever.

We saw a little bit of Little Italy and strolled through Chinatown. Neat little place.

We finally made it back home that night. Manny was gonna change and head back out for the night. KT and I were like...we're staying in! However, Manny sprained his knee and so he stayed in with us. We were all lying on a bed, pooped out!

Afterwards, we made it back to DC on Monday night. Overall, we had a good time in NYC and look forward to going back for another shopping spree.

I thought I would have a chance to sleep in late on Tuesday. However, I was up at 6am as I had to meet a friend to accompany her in another city to complete errands. We just love to talk all day. Wanted to chat more through the rest of the day and into the night but we both had other stuff to do. Headed home and just plopped my tired ass on the sofa.

Now, I'm back at work.

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On the way up to NYC, we watched Regular Guys, a German gay movie. It was alright because I thought it was too long. Basically, a guy gets dumped from his fiance and kicked out of the apartment as well. He unknowingly ends up at a gay bar, which he passed out after drinking so much. Wakes up and realizes he's naked with a guy and assumes they've done the deed.
There is a couple of locker room scenes, where you'll catch brief glimpses of pee-pee's!

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A friend sold us tickets to Wicked. We're so excited that we'll finally be able to see the show. KT had wanted to get tickets earlier but they were sold out...fast! So, we're gonna see it on Sunday. Yayness!

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Ugh! I was told that Brokeback Mountain will now be captioned. However, I've yet to see one that will be in the DC area. Arrrggghhhh!

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I was informed about a new site that has an aggregated listing of deaf blogs. What I like about this site is similar to what Xanga does. If you go to the home page, you'll see a short listing of the most recently published entries by Deaf bloggers, around the world.

So, check it out and add your blog to the site, Deafies!

Ohhhh, more bloglinks for my blog!

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Anyways, ta ta for now... (wishing y'all a great new year!)
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