Enjablog

Just got back from a mud-filled day. Went out to Catholic University to help set up tents for people participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Those people are serious about this stuff. It’s a 2-day 26-mile or 39-mile walk (You can choose to walk a marathon or half marathon the first day). Around 2200 participants and about 800 spots flagged off for (2-person) participant tents. There were about half as many crew tents set up too. After spending the morning walking in the rain, these people went on a search for their gear and then set up camp in puddles and mud so they could get up at 6am tomorrow morning and do it again.

Granted, there were a few dozen people who left today deciding to go home or stay in a hotel instead. But they’re still coming back tomorrow to walk again. I, on the other hand, got tired of the rain and mud and came home. Most of the tents were set up by then anyway, though, so I don’t feel too bad about that. I just skipped out on free dinner.

The cool part was that they had a massage tent, a yoga tent, and portable showers, which, from what I heard, were very nice. It was a fun day. :) -J.

ASK AMY:

“Dear Amy:

I don’t approve of same-sex relationships and am opposed to same-sex marriage. I don’t wish to offend or hurt people involved in same-sex relationships and wonder what is the polite way to let them know that I do not condone their lifestyle?

Kind but Disapproving”

Oh, please. When was the last time someone went up to a person shoplifting to let them know that they don’t condone stealing? Or someone dealing drugs? Or someone stopped a parent from hitting their kid [in public]? Or even someone abusing a pet…

Those all seem worse to me than people having a relationship. It seems to me, the people whose lifestyle this person does not want to condone probably aren’t his/her friends. So, in what situation would it be appropriate to announce your moral judgment on them? Even if they were all friends, it still wouldn’t be polite unless they were asked.

Go mind your own business and do something to help the world instead of imposing your beliefs on other people who are not hurting you in any way.

From an old article no longer linked on washingtonpost.com–Va. House Passes Gay Marriage Ban:

“‘Today is one of those moments for which we shall one day be ashamed,’ said Del. Adam P. Ebbin, D-Alexandria, elected in 2003 by voters who knew he was gay. ‘I cannot stand by as this body continues to use gays and lesbians as scapegoats.’

He likened them to slavery, the forced Trail of Tears migration for Indians, lynchings, anti-miscegenation laws and Massive Resistance, Virginia’s official effort to thwart court-ordered public school desegregation.”

Daily Humor and Observations from Joel Achenbach: “…once again I’m going to be winging it at the last minute, which could lead to a repeat of last year’s legendary faux pas (serving vegetables — PLANTS!!! — at the dinner. Hideously insensitive move. Why not just go cut down a 300-year-old tree with a chain saw?).”

Arbor Day: “Virginia adopted the concept and sets the last Friday in April as the day of our state Arbor Day.” — Find out when your state’s Arbor Day is.

I’ve noticed a lot of new visitors are getting here by searching for Aaron Dugo on Google or Yahoo!. Just out of curiosity, if you don’t mind sharing, why is everyone searching for him? Feel free to leave a cookie.

Thursday — stayed in. Watched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Friday — Was originally supposed to be movie day, but then Ian and I kept fixing things on my computer and ended up going grocery shopping instead. Went to get my free groceries from Wegman’s, stopped by my parents’ place to drop off some stuff, and got beer and chocolate from Whole Foods. Ended the evening at Dominion Brew Pub where Ian made friends with the bartenders and “waitress”/brewer.

Saturday — Family lunch day. Went over and hung out with the family. Then went over to Ian’s to laze around… at least that what I thought was planned.

Ian and I ended up in some apartment building with sniper rifles. We were shooting bad guys, though I’m not sure how we were certain that they were bad. After a while, the police came after us, but they let us have a 5 second head start. Well, a 5-second warning, actually. “Come out in 5 seconds with your hands up, or we’re coming in shooting.” Ian got away through some ordinary means. I, on the other hand, thought it was a good idea to jump out the window and scale down the wall, Spiderman-style. (It worked, of course.)

I ran across a field toward where they were evacuating the people from the rest of the building. They were getting housed in a hotel nearby and by the time I got there, they were rounding everyone up for dinner in a large cafeteria-style room. As I was nearing the perimeter of the apartment complex to get to the hotel, I noticed some officers eye me. They must have been watching everyone though, because they needed to capture the snipers.

I see them follow me into the hotel. This isn’t good… How will they be any good at detective work if they can’t even follow me so I won’t notice them? Oh well. I try to blend into the crowds of the cafeteria. I sit down at a table and start to eat. I see the police start from opposite ends of the tables and work their way systematically across the room. As they near me, I stealthily move down the table and avoid eye contact.

Not stealthy enough, I guess. An officer catches me as I make an attempt to move again. He grabs my wrist and I drop my tray. I use my knowledge obtained from childhood and scream bloody murder, “OWW!! That hurt! Why would you do that to me?”

He attempts to defend his action, “That’s her! She’s the one we’re looking for.”

I turn in toward him as he moves his hand and make a sound like he hit me. I fall to the ground, again crying out in pain. I start crying and yelling. “What kind of man are you? Please don’t hit me.” I cower away from him, looking around for help. I can’t tell if they’re buying it. The police officers close in…

They go for the other officer. “What kind of person does that?” “She’s an innocent little girl.” “That’s not the kind of reputation we want around here. What are you thinking? And in front of all these people…”

I sneak away while they reprimand the other officer. I wake up reassured of my abilities to exploit my powers of being a little girl.

Sunday — Watched Finding Neverland with Ian and then we hung out with Ian’s bro and his bro’s gf watching Rushmore. Went to Ian’s family dinner night and then listened to radio shows the rest of the evening.

For all you bloggers out there with too much free time: The Ultimate Blogger

I guess I should clarify for new readers (and the surprising number of google searches looking for Aaron Marcus Dugo) why I posted that last post. Just realized that not everyone knows the backstory.

Soon after I moved in with my brother, I was home alone while both my brother and our other roommate were at a Redskins game. I was in the basement watching the game and playing with stuff on my laptop. A person, resembling the person pictured, came into the backyard up to the sliding glass door and started doing inappropriate things.

Police come, K-9 unit arrives, description taken down. I found out that there had been 5 similar incidents earlier in the summer. A few months later, when a detective came by to have me do a photo line-up, I heard that there had been at least 30 similar incidents with a similarly described perpetrator. This all occurred in August 2003. The statute of limitations on this, however, is one year, so he cannot be prosecuted for my case.

So, now, a year and a half later, I can’t definitively identify him as the person who was at my back door. But he looks enough like the description that I gave and what I remember him looking like to feel comfortable that justice is being served through him being charged with a similar offense. Unfortunately, the other 30 offenses from that summer will also go unpunished.

From an email I received from the Sully District Police distribution:

A man exposed himself to a 28-year-old woman in the Centreville area. On Saturday, November 11, 2004, around 3 a.m., in the 6100 block of Hoskins Hollow Circle, a woman heard knocking at her door. The man at the door asked for someone who did not live there and then exposed himself. An investigation led detectives to a suspect who was charged with indecent exposure on April 20, 2005. Aaron Marcus Dugo, 26, of 4916 McFarland Drive in the Fairfax area was arrested and held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on a $1,500 bond.

And from 2/12/2005:

A Burke-area man was arrested after peeping into a residence. Officers were conducting surveillance in the 4800 block of Nash Drive in the Burke area after receiving information about peepings. They saw Aaron Dugo, 26, of 4916 McFarland Drive, looking into the basement window of a house. Mr Dugo was arrested for peeping into an occupied dwelling and drinking in public. He was transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and held on a $2,500 secure bond.

So don’t forget, if you’re ever thinking of hiring this man or even just being his friend, Aaron Marcus Dugo allegedly likes to creep around at night and masturbate in front of girls who are home alone.

I’m totally liking this sunlight thing. Did the work thing. Went to the gym for kickboxing, but the class was completely filled when I arrived. :( But I suppose, for once, this wasn’t my gym’s fault. Although, there is a larger studio they could use for that class, but of course they don’t. Anyway, biked for a bit instead.

I realized today when I looked at my calendar that this month is more than half over. The March of Dime walk is in less than 2 weeks and I still haven’t convinced myself that I like to walk/jog. Oh well… Just 5 miles, right? Anyway, when I got home and it was still light out, I decided to take a jog around the neighborhood. Lots of little kids playing outside supervised by a couple of neighborhood moms. And no drug dealers that I noticed on my whole route. Excellent day. :) -J.

Tomorrow: New Gilmore Girls!

LOTD (the first blog of its kind that I have seen… though I don’t particularly go around looking for blogs that often): The Grand Experiment — A couple trying to conceive via the “Turkey Baster Method.”

QOTD: “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?”
“No, no, no… maybe..?”

Hi all,
I’m still alive. I’ve been looking at WordPress thanks to Ian because I was complaining about blogger recently… Seemed to be loading slowly, comments weren’t always working, and entries would get lost mid-publish. Anyway, he’s in charge of it and I sit around making sure he makes the new page hokie-looking, so I’m being lazy about updating in the meantime.

Found out that the reason Sonny wasn’t updating was because he couldn’t connect to the server that hosts his page. He figured I was having the same problem, but I was just being lazy. Oops…

Weekend was cool. Played tennis with my parents and sister on Saturday morning. Haven’t played in years and it wasn’t as bad as I remember it. For some reason I have memories of playing and really not having fun. In any case, it was pretty fun and my mom made waffles. Tennis snack or something…

Did a few things for work and engineering society-related stuff then made a trip to Wegmans. Spent the evening with Ian watching Numb3rs and reading.

Sunday, sat out in the sun and “helped” garden. Hung out with Ian, his brother, and his brother’s gf for most of the day. Then got sushi with Ian at Tono Sushi (near the zoo). Very good. They have these cool crunchy sushi roll doobers that are very tasty. Haven’t seen those anywhere else, which is why we had to go to this place.

Went home and lost at Boggle(TM). *gasp* Anyway, that was about it for the evening. :) -j.

LOTD: The Annotated New York Times

QOTD: “Does workman’s comp cover that?”
“…Ogres?”

So gross… Good thing my cousin doesn’t hang out at Princeton:

Local Student Charged With Despicable Crime: “A 28-year-old grad student at Princeton is under arrest tonight, accused of of acting out against Asian students by filling bottles with his bodily fluids and then spraying it on his victims. A disturbing story to say the least.”

LOTD: GasPriceWatch.com - The Worlds Largest Consumer Advocacy Gas Price Site

Friday - tried to get lunch with Lenny and Stephanie, but they were too cool for us. Ended up going to Five Guys with Ian and then stopping by the HOY afterward to swipe some movies. Watched Top Gun and Shaolin Soccer instead of going in to DC to see the cherry blossoms. Got started on a new book (borrowed from Ian): A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Finished 1984 last week and also started Asimov Laughs Again : More Than 700 Jokes, Limericks, and Anecdotes. Stole the former from Squidgey and the latter from Sonny when I was hunting for a French/English dictionary for him. Spent the evening with Ian helping me install WordPress and picking a new template.

Read the rest of this entry »

I remembered on Monday when I was filling out paperwork for the new company, but forgot today that it’s my workiversary! Luckily TLD remembered and brought in doughnuts for everyone to share. :) It was also nice because today’s the new Friday and I have tomorrow off to loaf around. And because of the company change-over thing, we get 3 pay-days in a row, this week being week 2. Yay Thursday!

Ok so last night there was this meet & greet with the new CEO. Everyone stands around making smalltalk for a while and then they all sit down for the presentation. Right in the middle of the CEO’s talk, someone’s cell phone rings. Now, as someone who hates ringing in public, I would try to silence my phone as quickly as possible so as to minimize the disturbance. This person, on the other hand, let it ring twice, then acted surprised when he received another telephone call 2 minutes later. How do I know, you ask? Because after the first phone call, he didn’t turn his phone off. Then there were the other people who had forgotten to turn their ringers off too, but didn’t get caught like that guy did. No no… Instead, they turned off their phones without turning the sound off first, so they made the shutting down music/noise. Good thinking.

In other news, I’ve been trying to be less lazy recently. I went to the gym once and jogging twice so far this week. And today I took a walk during lunch. I figured it only takes about 12-15 minutes to walk a mile, so that leaves me with plenty of time to eat my lunch still. At the very least, it helped keep me alert for a little while longer after lunch.

I got passed by a polite jogger last night. I guess I never knew what jogging etiquette was. By the time I was headed back home, the sun had completely set and it was dark. I somehow knew there was someone coming from behind me; I probably heard his shoes or breathing, but I can’t recall exactly what tipped me off. In any case, as I started to turn to look, the person announced his presence by letting me know he was passing on my left. So, I got out of his way and all was well. I dunno… I guess that wasn’t interesting. Oh well.

The new kickboxing instructor at the gym is a bit… um, hyped up on speed with caffeine and sugar on top? Maybe I’m just really out of shape (a very likely possibility), but his class seems to move twice as fast as the other classes I’ve taken. That’s not to say that the time flies by quickly. Oh, no. It feels twice as long, probably because he does two moves per beat, whereas a normal human would do one. I may just be uncoordinated. In any case, I leave work when the class starts so I don’t have to sit in as much traffic and end up doing a 45 minute workout instead of an hour. I think this works out better for me because I’d probably give up at the half hour mark if I showed up on time. If I show up late, I can somehow rationalize not being able to leave early. And when it gets to the point where I would want to leave, there are only a few minutes left anyway.

Seems as though the dying isn’t slowing down any time soon. From the headlines: Two Dead in Cairo Bombing, Six Shot on Eastern Shore (kills 2, wounds 4), Coach shot at Texas high school. Yeah, I know I’m just looking for things now. But with all the deaths last week, then Saul Bellow and Prince Rainier this week, the 16 people in the helicopter in Afghanistan yesterday, and the other recent school shooting in Minnesota, it’s kind of hard to ignore.

*awkward subject change*

The weather’s been nice. Going to start raining tonight and tomorrow though, so I might not head out with Ian for date day with the cherry blossoms like we did last year. We’ll see, I guess. Granted, even so, I kind of feel bad going to look at them when I read this article on how we’re trampling all the roots and killing the trees.

LOTD: Overheard in the Office

QOTD: “There is no trust fund. Just i.o.u.’s that I saw firsthand.” -W

Has Cookie Monster given up sweets?: “My beloved blue, furry monster — who sang ‘C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me’ — is now advocating eating healthy. There’s even a new song — ‘A Cookie Is a Sometimes Food,’ where Cookie Monster learns there are ‘anytime’ foods and ’sometimes’ foods.

“Sacrilege!” I cried. “That’s akin to Oscar the Grouch being nice and clean.” (Co-workers gave me strange looks. But I didn’t care.)”

Very good article by Chelsea Carter. She said what I was thinking. I’m glad there are journalists out there like her. :) -j.

Florida to allow use of force even outside home: “Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday he intends to sign a bill that would allow people who feel threatened on the street, in a bar, at a ball game - or just about anywhere - to ‘meet force with force’ to defend themselves without fear of being prosecuted.”

Right… Remember how when you were little, your mom would say, “I don’t care who started it! You should know better. Go to your room and think about what you did. [Just wait until your dad gets home.]” Well, I guess Barbara raised her boys differently.