New Year, Getting Older by the Day

New year resolutions have always seemed a little weird to me--like kissing under mistletoe. I mean, why wait for that specific situation? On the other hand, I'm a very plan-y person. Even buying new blue jeans requires thoughtful consideration and a checklist. Why not take advantage of a cultural imperative to indulge in my own personal obsessions?

So here it is. My resolution for 2008. Late, but not out of date.

Have fun.

Simple and to the point, as all goals should be. I should be able to remember this. And if you're reading this, and you know me, and you see that I'm not having fun on purpose, you have my permission to slap-fight me.

I'm Opening My Eyes Again

I bought a new camera for my trip to Turkey (more on that to come). It's a point and shoot that has both greater resolution and manaul features than my crummy phone cam. Not that I'm complaining.

I've fired up DC Observed again, of course. And I take this little cam with me everywhere I go. The only downside is that it has no GPS recorder. That means all my image mapping is strictly guesswork at this point.

Oh, to have all the cameras in the world.

He Might Be an Evil Genius and All...

Went with the usual suspects to see Merrily We Roll Along at Signature last night. A few things:

• When I turned the corner, I thought for one second I was in a retirement home. I haven't seen that much grey hair since the DC Eagle circa 1990.


• I still hate musicals. Maybe not hate. Maybe...don't get. But I still hate wasting my time.


• My friends and family are funny people. And by funny, I mean random and vulgar.


• Lamb vindaloo is so hot, my saliva becomes poison.


• Stephen Sondheim may be an evil genius and all, but cliche is cliche. There, I said it.

Home Sweet Homo.

I've returned from the Twin Cities. The week-long work conference was exceptionally busy. Work, what a drag. Sheesh.

Although most of my time was spent in the conference center, I did get to see a bit of both St. Paul and Minneapolis.

One of my co-workers used to live in the Minneapolis, so he took us on a night tour. Very cool city. Small enough to live in, big enough not to be bored. And it's on the Mississippi--who knew!

I also found a quaint little gay bar near my hotel. That came in handy when the boys from work stood me up one night. That's OK. I know how gay men of a certain age are. I had a Plan B already in mind. (No. Not that Plan B. Gross.)

All in all, it's nice to be back.

On the Road: Which Is the Evil Twin?

I'm here in Minneapolis-St. Paul for a week-long work conference. I can't say that this trip has has an auspicious beginning. One of the first things I saw from the window of my cab was an old man vomiting violenting on the side of the street. Then giggling and tiptoeing away. I also found out that a man came into my hotel last week, grabbed one of the domesticated ducks that swim in the interior decorative pond, and bit its head off.

Ahem.

Still, the cities themselves have a groovy, post-industrial feel. The buildings are pleasingly square. And the streets are walkable.

I have six more days for some drunk to gnaw my head off.

Same Same, but Different

In August, I was away for a couple of weeks traveling through Cambodia with the husband and one of my friends from highschool. There is too much to say about this excursion right here, right now. The short version: Great food, terrible weather, awesome people, durian stinks, silk is cheap, ruins are big. I'll get around to more detail eventually.

Until then, enjoy the image above: Me, doing my best to make sure Angkor Wat stays a ruin.

DC Observed

I started the DC Observed photography project on May 18 this year. The original goal was to post a photo that was taken in DC every day for one year. I've come pretty damned close to achieving that goal. Vacations, work, and illness have kept me away now and then. But I'm not giving up. If I can do it at least 90% for the whole year, then I'll consider it a success and try for something bigger and better next year.

Fingers are crossed.

How Soon Is Now?

I just finished a presentation on the state of Web 2.0 to a group of historians/educators in Atlanta. They were awesome, but I'm whipped. Up at 4:30 AM and won't get home until whenever.

Zzzzzzzz.

The Beginning of the End

I've been collecting compact disks from the beginning and now have thousands of them. I began to rip them to MP3 a couple of years ago, but just as I was reaching the end of the stack, my external hard drive died. Tens of thousands of songs and hours of my precious time just vanished. So sad.

I bought a new hard disk--with a backup--and began the process all over again in January 2007. And once again, I'm nearing the end of the stack. I may even finish up this weekend.

Then I will weep with joy.

Update 09.05.2007: I'm done! Now all I have to do it get the new external HDs ready, clean up the files list, configure the backup software, and we're off.

I'm Back

What I learned while I was away:

1. One can actually spend four hours playing with a cell phone.
2. Some modern pop music truly is the sound of hope dying.
3. Some babies don't like fireworks; other babies HATE fireworks.
4. South Carolina is full of freaky, freaky people.
5. I have a knack for picking and selling antiques.

Bon Voyage

I will be on travel for a few days, riding the rails to go visit the old lady. This here little ol' blog may get a few cobwebs on it, if I can't figure out a way to get to Blogger from Myrtle Beach.

But I'll be back eventually.

Stay tuned.

A Pic, A Tick, and a Flick

Went to Tony's yesterday for a no-brainer Saturday: take a few photos, grab some dinner, then play Wii-version of Resident Evil 4 until we passed out from video-game-induced stress. After a late start (thank you so much, nap fairies!) we tooled around Sterling, Virginia, looking for inspiration. That didn't work out so well, so we just pulled into a parking lot near a field to capture the low sun. It was perfect. Except for the fat, black tick I found on my leg. Cue phobia!

We hightailed it to dinner, where Tony captured the lovely photo above, among others that may see the light of blog sometime. Or maybe not. Junk food and camera phones turned out to be more fun than expected.

Back at his place we fired up the Wii after David, the third leg of our tripod of destruction, showed up. The game was awesomely fun. In fact, zombies + Wii = fun. And what did we learn from this educational experience? If a friend says "Don't jump out the window!", jump anyway. And if the online guide says "Shoot the old woman!", just don't.

Zombie Apocalypse Update

Tony shared the zombie quiz with his office mates and all--ALL--have a better chance of surviving than I. True, they own guns and are ruthless in the way only computer programmers can be. But I am a zombie movie freak. Certifiable. You'd think all those hours spent in the dark watching the living dead would give me at least one leg up. Maybe two.

Time Capsule Tuesdays: Schoolhouse Rocks

Schoolhouse Rocks is pretty much played out nowadays, thanks to all you lame hipsters out there. But when I was young, these cartoons really resonated. I remember sitting at my grandmother's house and at school watching and singing these songs. That's how ubiquitous they were. And while singing never helped my multiplication tables, the segment explaining how a bill becomes a law actually taught me something useful. Take that, Sunday School!

I'm posting Three Is a Magic Number for no other reason than the line "A man and a woman had a little baby. They had three in the family." My parents were divorced by this time, I had two brothers, and even then was super gay. So this song became one of my first clues that 1) the media lies, and 2) the expressed culture doesn't always reflect the actual culture. Fuckers.

Party Down

The husband and I went to a swell neighborhood cookout tonight. The weather could not have been nicer. We met some great guys and gals. Ate a million little brownies--thank you, Costco! Had one margarita. Got one mosquito bite. And only had to walk across the street to get some. Survey says: Perfection!

What's in a New Name?

People have trouble with the name of this site. That was semi-intentional on my part. But after spelling "ecstatic" for the 300th time, I'm wondering if I took a wrong turn somewhere in URLville.

A co-worker, who's a much better writer than I, suggested that I call this blog GayCatsOnTV.com. Accurate and has a nice, generic ring to it, likes Snakes on a Plane. When I typed "gay" and "cat" into domain name generator NameBoy.com, it delivered some other ideas--such as HomoCat (so angry), GotGay (very aspirational), and GayestCat (too conceited).

Perhaps I should just stick to the devil I know. (Now, that's a great name for a blog!)

Last Night

Had a rough, long day at work. So I took a walk around Dupont Circle to clear my head. The streets were packed with people, but no one seemed very happy. Including me. Dinner didn't help. More walking didn't help. And it began to feel like rain. It took more than an hour before I remembered that the husband had made cookies for me the night before. Everything (and everyone) suddenly seemed a little happier. And I headed home.

Mac vs. PC Smackdown

I'm in the market for a new computer. Some things I know: It's definitely going to be a high-end laptop. The surprise is that I'm actually considering moving to a Mac. I've done a fair amount of research and--surprisingly--found a number of other PC users who've made the switch. Their reasons mirror mine: I'm sick and tired of babysitting my computer. I hate dealing with compatability issues with software and hardware. I hate being part of a monopolistic monster. The list goes on and on.

On the other hand. All of my software is PC-based. My friend Tony is the best PC helpdesk you could ask for. I haven't used a Mac in 15 years. It's much more expensive. Blah, blah, blah.

But perhaps the real reason I'm considering buying a Mac is that I want to cause trouble. That's T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

Big time.

I want all my PC friends to cry and all my Mac friends to fawn. I want to be the evil soap opera star pulling the strings. Can you hear my evil laugh? Can you?

Decisions, decisions.

I Can See Clearly Now

I have to again point out how cool my new glasses are. The plastic frames are completely flexible and look highly engineered. Like the stealth bomber or something. Tony thought they looked like plastic zip ties, and I don't think he's wrong!

When I purchased them, I told the salesperson that they looked like something you could buy out of a Tokyo vending machine. He looked confused and said, "These aren't disposable."

I believe he missed the point.

Consider It Done

The new Everything Ecstatic template is done. I've finished up a few last tweaks last night--moving some margins, building a new header, adding a second robot acrobat, and fine-tuning the white screen under the copy. Husband's verdict: The robot is distracting. My verdict: Ecstatic! (What did you expect me to say?)

Now I can focus on content. Hmmmmm. What to write, what to write--oh, I know. I watched Snakes on a Plane last night. And, um. Hmmmm.

I wonder if I should add another robot acrobat. . .