Yeah, We Were Shocked Too Rotten Eggs This writer discovers that she is pregnant. A wonderful post.

And yes, I got a copy of What to Expect. The King bought it for me. We saw it in the store, and I told him I had wanted to buy a copy for the last two years, but it was just too painful when we weren’t actually expecting, so he got it for me. And I cried in line at the checkout.

Saw so many cute boys last night in Dupont — unfortunately given the area they were probably all gay. With some exception, most boys who dress well in this country are gay. American men on the whole dress SO badly — its very hard for me to be attracted to someone who wears pleated pants. Bring on the cute British men with sexy accents.

Smoking is faboo. And just remember, if you make me go outside to smoke, I’m going to be a real bitch when I get back inside and THAT could be really hazardous to your health.

Could someone please tell the people of the greater Washington DC area the importance of wearing deodorant?

My company had gotten strict (READ: extremely cheap) on their travel policy and I was forced to share a room with my co-worker. Luckily, it was one of the guys I could stand, but damn if I didn’t know so much more than I needed to about the guy. I didn’t need to know that we prefered briefs to boxers nor the way he snores.

Thousands of people are still living in trailers waiting for their new homes to be built, and here we are at the beginning of a new hurricane season…

The Waiting Kathryn on What is it with guys? (Read the comments, too.)

I am hoping some of you can offer an explanation for why men go to major efforts to get a woman’s phone number, then never use it.

It’s the little things in life A Silent Cacophony Our writer, a retired Army officer, finally experiences the longing of his movie dreams.

Now, everyone who knows me well knows that my all time favorite movie is The Exorcist, bar none. And yet I had never visited what is probably the most famous and important outdoor set of stairs in the world (well, okay, maybe, just maybe the Spanish Steps [Scalinata di Spagna] in Rome are just as famous).

A Great Hailstorm of Healing Grace’s Poppies Relationships and the need for healing.

This is a moment in my life unlike any I can remember and I’ve had a few dramatic periods of transformation in my 52 years, I really have. It’s not just the love radiating from every pore (“just?”) There’s also a tremendous amount of healing available everywhere I look, in the form of liberations from a host of burdens I’ve been hoisting for decades…..

My Dilemma Rock Creek Rambler Our writer received an offer letter today and weighs its merits. He’s looking for opinion on what is “a bigger than life decision.” My poem for DC Deep Thoughts by Jen Bivona This writer marks her 5th year of living in DC with a poem in nine stanzas. An excerpt:

There is no other city like DC where your GPA, where you went to school and what you do is the only conversation topics that people hold

You can go to the street vendor and get a cheesy FBI t-shirt in red, blue, pink or gold

Heat Wave Capital Weather DC is hotter than Guam this time of the year. Thanks to a stint in the U.S. Navy for that insight. This aside, Capital Weather is one of the most unique blogs out there. In this post, it offers a long list of links to stories about the Senate’s debate on the energy bill and rising emissions. It’s like I was never gone Don’t stop me now DC is a city of new arrivals who travel today with their blogs. From Cincinnati and “rural-ish” hometown, this writer arrives.

Everything in the house is going well, except for the fact that I don’t yet have a key, nor do I have my room (yet).

Carriage House, Shaw. New blog: DCDL – The DC Chapter of Drinking Liberally. Politics and pub-crawls. The national site. How tourists experience DC: We stayed in Dupont Circle and I loved the energy of the neighborhood. I was envious of the people who lived there, being able to take advantage of a fabulous Farmers Market, then taking their Sunday paper and a grande mocha-whatever out on the circle to enjoy the park and the people watching. And if I’d been 15 years younger without kids, I think I’d have to seriously consider living in Georgetown. From 39 and Holding

Panda shots by NYC visitors, WhatISee. Food shots, too.

Photo: Eastern Market

Class conflict, DC-style Her Ladyship Our writer is on a bus and looking down at someone in a BMW convertible and doesn’t like the way he is dressed. It’s a feeling shared by other bus passengers.

Just when I was thinking, “Man, those are dorky shorts,” the guy two rows behind me opens up his window and shouts out, “Hey! NICE SHORTS!” Everyone in the front half of the bus started snickering …

Andrew was in heaven. He was at the Nationals game, snuggled in between two young women in the hard wooden seats, with a shockingly over-priced Bud Light in hand. Despite the late-afternoon heat bearing down on them and the fog of humidity sticking to every inch of skin, he was grinning like a kid in the cookie jar.

Sunday is my night to be in the ambulance, so it should come as no surprise that I was sitting on the bench seat en route to Georgetown Hospital last night. I was at the scene of a motorcycle accident ….

I’m at a point where I feel like I must make the next move. To put it simply: I loath it here: my job, this region I live in, my lack of any seemingly real career path. So change it.

… in Washington, DC, does Pride even really matter? There’s a lot of gay people here, and we function pretty darn well in society. Is there really so much of a need for us to reaffirm our existence in a city that doesn’t seem all that terribly hostile to us?

I think Pride festivals have an even greater relevance today, even here in DC. The right is taking increasingly bold steps, cloaked in religious rhetoric, to eliminate gay folk from participating in the public agenda, trotting out such old chestnuts as the “special rights” arguments.

Walk from Washington Circle to Georgetown on M Street, and you would invariably run into Mr. Show Me the Money Man. He had a large cardboard arrow lit with X-mas lights that he would violently, aerobically point toward the empty bucket in his other hand, yelling, “Show me tha MONEY!” God forbid you were out on a date.

Madame Defarge Errant Apostrophes A report from a meeting of the DC Stitch and Bitch.

….So, when I read that their meeting would be in Logan’s Circle, I was all over that. It’s not too far from work, so it would be convenient to get there and one of the other girls at work also knits, so we decided to go together.

The only problem was that they fired her at work yesterday.

Finding housing via Craig’s list One glass, one song, one man Grad student turns to Craig’s List for housing help and discovers politics is as important as location.

Because living with another person is intimate, and because D.C. is a very opinionated and politically high-pitched city, many who advertise for a roommate are upfront about their orientation and personality…

Text/Subtext Sueandnotu What is said and what is meant at lunch. There’s the actual conversation, and our writer’s take on the conversation. This lunchtime scene is set this way:

On my lunch break, enjoying a savory empanada at an outside table where seating is tight. Eating slowly so I can linger longer and enjoy the book in which I amimmersed. A young man walks up and asks if he can use the extra chair at my table, as no others are free.

Photo: Capital Pride scene

Soviet America Articulatory Loop This link will take you to a photo of a poster seen on a MARC commuter train, our writer reports. It is national security themed and is eerily reminiscent of Stalinist-era propaganda. It’s a red flag about our nation’s direction. Or, as this blogger puts it, “this picture pretty much sums up the new “National Security…” There is a long list of comments.

As some of you know, I haven’t been feeling very well lately. Yesterday, I had a lengthy doctor’s appt. and an MRI which, was fun esp. the hypodermic injection. For those of you who haven’t known me for my entire adult life allow me to explain.

This Entire Entry Is One Long Sentence

… and then I got further hassled by some little old man who kept asking me for a jumpstart in the Metro parking lot and wouldn’t take no for an answer and said he had a heart condition which, great, I have a pregnancy condition….

The end of O Street SE

In my 8 years in Washington I think I ventured down to O Street maybe four times. Just not my scene, especially given the assorted taxi rides required. But you just needed to say “O Street” and everyone knew what you meant …. (The Washington Post report on this.)

Pinot Grigio recommendation by Off the Eaten Path. This is “the first official post for Off The Eaten Path,” and involves a wine purchased at Best Cellars at DuPont Circle.

So after much reflection I have come to a number of decisions. The first is to reconnect with the spiritual source that guides and enriches my life. By trying to keep balance for my family, I have lost my own internal balance.

I told the VP that I didn’t like them. I told him why. He said that he wanted to give the dog a chance” even though my problem was not at all with the dog, it was with the people. The VP told me to sign the paper. I just looked at him. He told me to sign it and have the secretary do a third interview. So I did.

… it is not like they can move in to another area without some costs and headaches, so they might stay put until the costs of operating on that block, outweigh the benefits…

Movement on the highway median catches my eye. I see a family. A family of ducks! Mommy and six little babies. “Oh! Baby ducks! How cute!” are my first thoughts. Then I think, “Holy shit what are those ducks doing in the middle of the road during rush hour?” I cringe. My mind races through possible outcomes. None of them are good.

“No, I don’t think I know you. I don’t think we had any classes together.” I replied.
“Fine, then get out of my way, I want to find people I know.” She said as she bumped into me slightly as she worked her way to the next group of people.
Ah yes reunions. Aren’t they a blast?

People, do not try to return dead trees to Lowe’s. All of us stuck in line behind you know you left those things in your garage for 2 weeks with no light or water. And now you want your money back…

I liked this guy, but I wasn’t getting a vibe from him. He had sad eyes and listened to my stories but he didn’t talk much. I said, “You just don’t seem interested.”
“You need to get over your self-hatred problem.”

… as I was reading Balloon Juice. I heard a cadre of black cat firecrackers go off. Kept reading. Wait. Those weren’t black cats. People don’t light black cats at this time of year. Oh, no.

…Before I could formulate my next thought, the police were yelling at us to get away from our car and get back from the immediate area. I freaked out, yelling that we had our baby in the car and needed to get her…

… he shouted, “If you don’t turn that damn thing off, I’m calling the cops. I know what you’re doing, you’re breaking into networks.” I was, of course, taken aback and stammered out something that resembled, “No I’m not. Not at all.”

Photo: Reagan Center