Apparently I’m The New Perez Hilton June 30, 2007
Posted by wes285 in David Beckham.add a comment
The Spice Girls are going on a reunion tour. I can’t decide if I should laugh or cry. But that’s not the reason why. Well, not exactly. My site received the most hits it has ever gotten yesterday. I was ecstatic. That is, until I scrolled down to the rest of my blog stats and realized that 50% of those hits were because someone searched “Posh Spice”. All because of this post that I wrote in January. I’m sure the mere mention of her again will generate more traffic. Just for the hell of it, let’s see what happens if I also tag this post with “David Beckham”, “Spice Girls”, “Michael Jackson”, “Justin Timberlake” and “Paris Hilton”. Like I said, I can’t decide if I should laugh or cry.
It Will Fade. It Always Does. June 26, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Weather, Work.5 comments
I’ve been trying to finish this piece for the better part of two weeks. This website has given me the chance to express my feelings in a way that only putting the figurative pen to the paper allows you to. No amount of talking to people ever really comes close to what you can do on paper. But, I’m not quite sure how much of myself I want to let out into the open. This post was, at some points, twice as long as the final product After writing, deleting, tinkering, rewriting, this is what I came up with.
For the month of June, the weather has been surprisingly nice. Lack of humidity is always a beautiful anomaly during the summer in D.C. Its too bad me being outside has pretty much been limited to walking to and from the metro before and after work. This whole working for money thing is overrated. I’m usually too tired to do anything other than sit in front of the TV with a cold beer. Problem is, when I’m tired I get cranky (just ask my roommates). I’m somewhat of a loner, so what often happens is I sit in my room by myself, turn on some music, and recharge. Only sometimes, I just can’t recharge.
I’ve dealt with depression continuously since my freshman year in college. I suspect it has been longer than that, but that’s when I started seeing a shrink. I’ve been on medication. I’ve written about it before. I’m not afraid or ashamed to admit that yes, there are times when I need help from someone or something other than myself. It’s the way life goes. The problem is, depression doesn’t just stop. Anyone who has been depressed knows that it never really goes away completely (and I don’t mean “I had a bad day, my boss yelled at me, my car broke down in the pouring ran, and I got a D on my exam ” depressed. That’s a shitty situation, but you’re not depressed). It’s like that nagging hamstring injury that athletes get. You get to the point where you can play with minimal discomfort. But at least once every season, you’ve got to miss a few games because of a bad hammy. You need the offseason to fully heal and recharge. I’ve been doing fine the past few months, but it still rears its ugly head every now and then.
For the most part, I’ve learned to recognize the signs and catch myself before I fall too far down. I’ve only had one full blown depressive stage and it wasn’t nearly as bad as the original. Sometimes there’s a reason for it. But most of the time, I get in these seemingly random weird moods. Don’t know why. It just happens. I keep to myself more than usual. I play something like Elliott Smith, Radiohead or Regina Spektor, close my eyes and slowly drift away. You see, sleeping is so much easier than trying to figure out why you’re in that weird mood. You can go away to a place where you don’t have to deal with anything. But, when you wake up, it’s still there and eventually you’re forced to deal with it. Sometimes you figure out what it is. Sometimes you don’t. All you can do is pick yourself up and move on. It will eventually fade. It always does.
I’ve been having trouble recharging over the past couple weeks. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with adjusting to working a 40+ hour week. Coming home tired every evening. But there’s something else there and I’m still trying to figure out what it is this time around. Maybe I’ll figure it out. Maybe I won’t. But eventually it will fade. It always does.
Rape of Nanking, Bloody Tourists, and Hair-Tweezing Socks June 21, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Pain, Stupid People.1 comment so far
The AFI Silver held their SILVERDOCS documentary film festival last week and had several very good documentaries. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see any of them. There was one in particular that caught my eye. I stumbled on this review for the film. I’ve written about the Rape of Nanking briefly before relating a story that my grandmother told me while she was in Nanking. While not nearly as monumental as the Holocaust, it is undoubtedly just as tragic. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians were raped maimed and killed by the Japanese army. It’s getting a wide release before Christmas this year and I urge you to go see it. Or go read The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang. Just be prepared for some very disturbing pictures in the book and, what I would assume, scenes in the movie. The pictures in the book are more disturbing than the video in the Holocaust museum where you have to look over the wall.
On to less serious matters. Having lived in the D.C. area all of my life, I have always viewed tourists with a bit of contempt. Now that I work and live in the district, I can’t stand them at all. I understand D.C. is chock full of history and a huge tourist spot, but as everyone in the area knows, tourists simply do not know how to use the metro. Walk left, stand right. Don’t stop at the end of the escalator unless you want to get run over by a gaggle of angry people rushing to get to work. And for chrissakes, move to the middle of the friggin’ car. You will have plenty of time to get off the train and I don’t appreciate getting smushed against the door by some large midwestern woman. It really isn’t pleasant, for either of us.
With my first real job, I’m slowly remembering why I hate wearing socks, and shoes for that matter. I’m lucky that I don’t have to wear a suit and tie everyday. Just slacks and a collared shirt. But, obviously, you wear dress socks with your dress shoes. Now, common practice with dress socks is to pull them up all the way just under your knee. You look like a complete mook with bunched up socks around your ankles. This is not the early 90s, Andrea.
Unfortunately, socks have a tendency, by about 2 in the afternoon, to sink down and begin to bunch up. As is common practice, you pull your socks back up. The only problem is, the second time around, you somehow manage to pull every hair out of your leg. At least that’s what it feels like. For the next couple hours your legs feel, not so much painful, but perhaps slightly irritated or uncomfortable. Well, okay, its a bit painful. If you are a woman I don’t think you can understand this phenomenon. I imagine this is what Gulliver felt like when the Lilliputians shot him with tiny arrows. Why this doesn’t happen the first time you pull your socks up is beyond me. But, I’m not complaining.
Dukies, 4 Year-Old Pimps June 17, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Kids.3 comments
Mike Nifong, the former district attorney who prosecuted the Duke lacrosse case, officially lost his license to practice law in North Carolina and resigned on Saturday. Sportswise, having gone to the University of Maryland, it’s a part of me to hate Duke sports. I’m not going to lie, I had a little chuckle, and almost a moment of delight, when the whole thing first broke. But as the facts started coming out, it was pretty clear that something wasn’t quite right about the entire case. With all the evidence, or lack thereof, in this case and his blatant misconduct, Nifong clearly deserved to be disbarred. He even agreed himself:
“I’ve talked with Mr. Nifong, and he has told me [that] in light of the findings of fact this commission has made — and he’s told me that he believes this has been a fair and full hearing of the facts — that he believes that disbarment is the appropriate punishment in this case,” defense attorney David Freedman said.
If I were one of the lacrosse players, I would be relieved that this entire debacle was over and more than happy to put the whole thing behind me. But, the three players plan to push for criminal charges.
“I don’t think that any of us are done with Mr. Nifong yet,” said Jim Cooney, Seligmann’s attorney.
Honestly, what’s the point? Sure, it’s human nature to want to exact some sort of revenge or retribution for being wronged. But is this really necessary. The man already lost his livelihood and will always be remembered as the guy who bungled the Duke (non-existant) rape case. But what exactly would he be charged with? A defamation suit is certainly understandable. The names Reade Seligman, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans will forever be synonymous with the Duke rape case. But, that’s a civil case and I doubt Mike Nifong would be able pay even 10% of a $20 million lawsuit. Sure he violated some sort of legal code of ethics, but I don’t see where he committed a criminal act. What this basically amounts to is you said some mean things about me and they hurt my feelings. Okay, it isn’t that simple, but you get the point. Just leave this behind you and move on. I don’t think anyone really wants to hear anymore news about this.
Apparently my 4 year-old nephew Matthew is a pimp. His best friend in preschool is Emily. And he also had a play date in my parent’s neighborhood with two girls. Twins. How does a 4 year-old pull more game than I do?
Bird Shit and My Bahamavention June 15, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Birds, Vacation, Vacation.add a comment
I started writing this post almost two weeks ago. Due to moving and unpacking (read: laziness) I just finished it.
I’ve been running around today getting things delivered to my townhouse and servicing my car. In between I got a car wash. I stopped at home to grab some stuff and parked my car under the big cherry tree in our front yard. I come back out to take my car to get the brake pads replaced and there’s a huge hung of bird shit right in the middle of the windshield on my driver side. Unbelievable. And wasn’t the relatively clean white stuff that comes right off with some washer fluid and a few strokes across with the wipers. Nope. It’s a little yellow with some nice chunks of brown mixed in that cling stubbornly to my windshield. Damn swallows. I’ve been lobbying my parents to get that tree cut down for years because the damn roots jut out of the ground making mowing the lawn around that tree plain frustrating. Now that I have a new reason.
Anyway, got back from The Bahamas with the family on Saturday. We stayed in Atlantis which is a pretty swanky resort. The weather was sunny and 85 every day except the last day when it rained. The beaches were really nice and they had a million swimming pools and a cool water park with the greatest lazy river of all time. I dare you to name one that’s better. I had a great time, but I don’t think I would go back there if I had to pay for it myself. The resort is basically a huge cruise ship with just one port of call. It had a night club, a bunch of different restaurants, and a casino that didn’t have any poker tables. It’s geared more towards honeymooners and couples or families with elementary age kids. Nice place, but not great for college grads/young adults. On top of all that, The Bahamas is expensive.
At first I thought it was just on the resort. But we ate off the resort in proper Nassau several times. They were cheaper, but still expensive. To give you an idea, I had a BLT for lunch one day that was $10. A gallon of gas is $5. A taxi driver told us that the cost of milk was close to $6 a gallon compared to $3.79 in the DC area right now. That’s not that big of a deal to me since I don’t drink milk. But Jesse would go broke in a hurry. I’ve never been to Mexican beaches other than 4 hours in Cozumel during a cruise, but the beaches there are probably comparable and food and drink is way cheaper. But, I’m not complaining at all. Probably the last free vacation I get from my parents.
Aside from the priciness of it all (which didn’t really affect me since I didn’t pay for a single thing) it was a good trip. A few other things:
-Atlantis has the largest aquarium in the world with an incredibly diverse population of marine animals. They have the requisite sharks and exotic fish. But the coolest animal there was a monster sting ray. This thing easily had a wingspan of at least 10 feet.
-I wasn’t that impressed by the beaches. Sure the sand was white and the water was clear. But, they seemed a bit manufactured. In the water, the sand was a bit rocky and not that nice to stand in. I’ve been to nicer beaches.
-We ran into quite a few professional athletes. I walked by Grant Hill with his daughter. He isn’t nearly as tall as I thought he would be. But he did make his toddler daughter look tiny. He had to slouch down to hold her hand. Jeremy Roenick and his family were on my flight back to the states. He makes millions of dollars and he sat in coach. He’s one of the best hockey players of the last 20 years and he sat in coach. Maybe something to do with the blue collarness of ice hockey. His wife was pretty hot. I’m pretty sure we also ran into a few professional football players. I couldn’t put names to the faces, but judging by their size and musculature, they were clearly in the NFL.
-The resort has a huge marina adjacent to it. I’ve seen large yachts before, but one of them was absolutely enormous. Probably the size of my parent’s house. No joke.
Arjewtino Has Fun With VA Vanity Plates June 11, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Hilarious.add a comment
I’ll start posting my own stuff, including my Bahamavention, when I get more settled in (read: stop being lazy). But this post from Arjewtino about Virginia vanity plates is why he’s one of my favorite bloggers. Perhaps a little too much free time. But utter brilliance nonetheless.
The D.C. DMV is Awesome…Really, I’m Not Kidding June 7, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Pain.add a comment
I am BACK from the Bahamas. Well, actually I’ve been back since Saturday. But, I’ve been busy packing stuff up and getting ready to move to D.C. I am now officially a resident of the district and was stunned by how efficient the D.C. DMV was compared to Maryland’s MVA. I had to get my car inspected, change the tags and title on the car to D.C., and change my driver’s license to D.C. so I could get a street parking permit. Drawing on my experiences from the MVA (where you would have to go to a different window/station to accomplish each of the four tasks), I figured it would take 3-4 hours. Well, it actually did take about three and a half hours, but that’s because I failed the inspection and had to drive to from SW to NE D.C. to get a new gas cap (what the hell is gas cap pressure?) and replace a headlight (yeah, I’m a moron for trying to get a car inspected with a dead headlight). But, once I actually passed the inspection the second time around it only took 30 minutes for me to finish the last three things that would have easily taken 2 hours in Maryland. I only had to go to one window to get new tags and title, new license, and parking permit. One station. What a novel idea Maryland.
I’ll write about the Bahamas in my next post, but I leave you with maybe the greatest commercial in years. Too bad it’s been banned in the U.S. Goddamn FCC.
