Intelligent Indeed

I lost my metro Smart Card.  For those of you who don’t live in the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia, the website describes it as:

 

a permanent, rechargeable farecard. It's plastic – like a credit card – and is embedded with a special computer chip that keeps track of the value of the card. The benefits of using SmarTrip include:

 

-Using SmarTrip is easy and fast! Instead of inserting a farecard through the Metrorail faregate slot, you simply touch the SmarTrip card to the circular target panels on top of or inside station faregates. Likewise, you can tap the SmarTrip farebox on Metrobus to pay your fare with SmarTrip.

 

-You may add up to $300 in Metro value on a SmarTrip card, so it can last a long time between charging.

 

-If you lose the card, you don't lose the value. For a $5 fee to replace the card itself, we'll issue you a new SmarTrip card with the value on the card at the time you notified us it was lost. For this important replacement feature, you must register your card.

 

-Does your employer provide the Metrochek transit benefit to you? Your employer can load the value of your Metrochek benefit onto your SmarTrip card using SmartBenefits. Ask your employer about it.

 

Well, as a matter of fact, my employee *does* provide Metrochek benefits, at the value of about $105 per month for my travel.  Yesterday, I loaded my card with the benefits for the month, and…promptly lost it somewhere between the metro station and the office.  

 

I didn’t think I had remembered to register it.  But I tried my luck and called the SmartCard office.  They were able to retrieve my information, find out that the card I lost had $105 left on it, and place an order to send me a new card with $100 on it in the next few days by mail.  It was so easy.  And I’m so relieved not to have to fork out $100 on my travel this month.

 

SmartCard's moto is:

 

SmarTrip^®
More than a smart card. It's pure genius.

 

I would have to agree with it.

Voters, get ready!

I received my Voter's Registration Card in the mail today.  I barely made the deadline for signing up but now, I have my very own, flimsy, paper card.  The District butchered my first name, but apparently, I can still vote with it, and make a correction to my name after I have voted.

 

The only problem is that I still don't know who to vote for...

 

My two favorite candidates have received endorsements from very influential people, so now I'm more confused then ever!

 

Some of Hillary Clinton's endorsements are:

-Jack Nicholson (I always pegged him to be a misogynist - I guess I was wrong)

-A former Cherokee Nation leader

-The American Nurses Association (suggesting that her health-care plan is supported by health-care workers)

-Kimora Lee Simmons (Seriously, that's more of a negative than a positive)

-The New York Times and El Mundo (I didn't even know Newspapers could endorse candidates.  I thought they had to remain neutral)

-California NAACP President (given that this stands for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, it's a strong that this presidential race has transcended…well it has transcended race)

-American Samoa President

-International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts Union (Kooky but cute)

-Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

-Barbra Streisand (again, this is probably a point against her)

-the poet Dr. Maya Angelou, in a very touching video tribute: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/video/35.aspx (if nothing else today, you should watch this video)

-Steven Speilberg (hey, he *is* the King of the World, after all)

 

Some of Barack Obama’s endorsements are:

(note: endorsements for Obama are little harder to find because they don’t seem to be in a neat list on his website)

-Oprah Winfrey (I can’t figure out if that’s a good thing or a bad)

-Caroline Kennedy

-Kathleen Turner

-John Kerry (we all know what happened to Kerry.  Poor guy)

-Robert de Niro

-Maria Shriver

-George Clooney (he’s so dreamy…)

-Members of Pearl Jam (that’s almost enough for me to go into the Obama camp), the Grateful Dead

-Roseann Barr (oookay then)

-Ted Kennedy (a heavyweight in politics, for sure)

My First Pottery Class

I just took my first pottery class yesterday, from Hinckley Pottery in my neighborhood. The studio was full of dust and clay and hippies. Each shelf was labeled with a multitude of stickers like “please don’t scrape the sides of the barrels to get rid of hardened clay – the clay can clog the sink”, “no Republicans here”, “Hey weirdos, this is where the fired-pottery goes”, “I break for Republicans”, “please recycle the orange clay, and sift through the screen first”, “I am a cat lady and all my cats are liberal”, and other things of the sort.

During our first class, we focused on centering the clay, and making our first lop-sided bowl. Let me tell you a little bit more about centering the clay. Centering the clay is a term used to describe the process of putting your clay on the wheel, and making sure that it’s perfectly centered. If it isn’t, you will get a lop-sided object since your (relatively) stable hand will work on a piece of clay that rotates at varying distances from the edges of your hands.

Step 1 - First knead the clay to get rid of the imperfections and the air bubbles.

Step 2 – Take a comfortable position on your chair and get your legs wrapped around the wheel. Your arms will be locked against your hip-bones when working, so it’s important that you be as close to the wheel as possible

Step 3 – Throw your rounded piece of clay on the wheel, as close to the center as possible. Start the wheel spinning quickly.

Step 4 – With the palm of your left hand, you push the clay up. Your right hand just cups the other side. Make sure that the mount is wet (you can squeeze water from a sponge on it)

Step 5 – With the palm of your right hand, you push the clay back down. Your left hand just cups the clay. Again, the mount should be kept wet.

Step 6 – Repeat the process several times, until your clay is centered.

This seems like a maddeningly easy process, and the video I am posting also makes it look like a piece of cake, but trust me, clay is not easily malleable, and your hands are a lot more clumsy then you give them credit for. Also, your forearms will ache the next day. Here’s a video of the whole process:

Dating Websites

I feel totally lame, but I've signed myself up on a dating website. I know three couples that have met that way, and are now married. When I think about it rationally, I think that it's not so bad: it's just another way of meeting people. After that, it's up to you to see if there is a connection, if you like his sense of humor, if you respect his philosophy of life, if you have things in common.

But I still feel weird having to describe myself on the profile. I hate to come off as a show-off, and would rather not upload a picture of myself ("look at me 5 years ago, when I was 20 pounds thinner, through the fuzzy lens of my friend's camera, while I was slightly inebriated. I'm so hot!"). I tend to keep my descriptions short and boring, while others describe, in detail, the last time they went to exotic Canada, for example.

Also, I kind of have a thing for Jewish boys. In theory. And so am very tempted to sign up on JDate. The description of the site makes me groan (especially the "The next wedding you attend could be your own" part), and seems really directed to people who would like to get married:

Welcome to JDate, the premier Jewish singles community on the Net. It’s no wonder that countless marriages begin right here – it seems like everyone knows someone who fell in love on JDate! Check out our Success Stories section for hundreds of success stories and you’ll see why JDate is the undisputed leader in Jewish dating. As the modern alternative to traditional Jewish matchmaking, JDate is an ideal online destination for Jewish men and women to find friends, dates, and even soul mates, all within the faith. In just minutes, you can create a profile and be ready to mingle with other JDate members in your area. Our vast membership base and user-friendly interface make JDate a source of Jewish romance around the world.

Using JDate is an adventure -- we’re continually adding exciting new services to a list of features that includes Click!® technology, video instant messaging, live chat, and much more. Meeting new people has never been so fun! Who knows? The next wedding you attend could be your own.

JDate. Where it happens.™

It's totally tempting...And yet, I don't want to get married right now, and I'm not Jewish...D'oh!

Caribou!

You may remember that we've just lost a roommate a couple of months ago...We found a replacement (much to my wallet's relief), but recently discovered that our old roommate had left us a gift that keeps on giving (no, not Syphilis, get your mind out of the gutter please): frozen food!

He left tons and tons of...Caribou meat! What the hell? We have two packs of Caribou steaks, two packs of Caribou rib eyes, a big ol' honking piece of Caribou, and Caribou sausage. It's so weird, I'm still shivering from the shock.

We are Hollow

I was having Happy Hour with some friends at Cafe Mozart the other day, when I saw a shelf displaying chocolate Santas. A sign said: "We are Hollow - PLEASE DO NOT PINCH". It really made me laugh...And then, I thought about IT some more, and I was horrified to realize that, alas, this was in fact true: what's more hollow than a Santa who only gives gifts to spoiled and wealthy children?

Merry...Whatever!

Greetings, earthlings...Er, sorry, I got my messages mixed up. What I meant to say is Happy Day After Christmas, or rather Happy Boxing Day.

I can't believe how many things are still open on Christmas and Boxing Day (Kinko's, perezhilton.com, the guards at the gate of a posh neighborhood in Georgetown, the street cleaners on my street)...And then I remember that, not everyone enjoys the job benefits I do, and not everyone celebrates Christmas (for example my Jewish cousins, and my Buddhist neighbor). I am ever so grateful of these few days off.

Enjoy whatever you are celebrating (Christmas, the lack of colleagues at work, the empty streets, the unencumbered shopping) this year!

A Game of Life!

A friend, who is an avid mountaineer, says that there are three essential things when climbing a mountain: 1) To be warm, 2) To be satiated, 3) To be rested.

 

If one element should be absent, a climber can still survive the climb.  But it two elements are missing, there is real danger to his/her life.  For example, one can tired, so long as he/she is warm and full.  But one cannot reasonably be expected to climb a mountain on an empty stomach and dog-tired.

 

This same principle can be applied to life in general I suppose, provided one has: 1) Good health, 2) A stable job, 3) An active personal life.

 

Right now, I feel like I have good health.  My job is stable but not very fulfilling.  My personal life is blah.

 

So the score is

 

Health              %  100

Job                   %  50

Personal           %     0

 

Hum, better not try to climb that mountain!

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Holy Beans!

Lately, I've been trying to recapture that lunchtime feeling from Congo, when I would nuzzle up to the office cook, to see her red beans rolling in tomato sauce and bouillon-cubed water. That steam, those bursting skins, that salty tomato sauce! Just heaven, even in a hot climate…

We would then have to loosen our belts, and deal with that heavy, satiated felling for the rest of the afternoon.

So I bought red beans yesterday, out of nostalgia, and forgot to soak them over night. No worries I thought, I can just boil them for a few minutes, let them sit out for a while, and cook them for 30 mins. Not so. The beans were almost as hard as they were when they were dry.

So I decided to take a break and have them for dinner the next day. The next evening, I took them out of the fridge and cooked them for another hour. Still not soft enough to be edible! So I left them for the next day. On and on, until I had cooked them for what seemed like 4 hours! And they still aren't quite soft enough to eat.

I now have a newfound respect for Maman Cécile, the Congolese office cook.

A slice of a (crime ridden) neighborhood

At about 10:30 pm, last night, I heard 4 loud cracks that reverberated in the icy parking lot across from my house. Savvy enough to recognize the sound by now, I ran to my third floor window to figure out who had fired the gun. Instead of a person, I saw a large, dark blue SUV, driving erratically down the street. It hit a car parked on the side of the street (effectively reducing it to 2/3 of its original size), and that car hit the car in front of it, creating a domino effect.

I squinted to see the back of the SUV but couldn't see the license plate number.

Soon after that, a series of neighbors came out of their houses to talk to the policemen that arrived 5 minutes after the altercation. While we were talking to them, a series of 4 shots were fired again, this time one street away, and the cops were on their way again.

While the neighbors took pictures for accident reports and assessed the damage to their cars (there was a 4-car pile-up), we got to talking a little bit. Here are some excerpts of the conversations:

Woman who's still in college (panicked):

"I can't believe my landlord wanted to increase rent for this crap-hole. I told myself I would leave 6 months later, and I'm still planning on doing that. It's too unsafe. Did you go to the meeting at the community center? You should go, they explain all about what's going on with the gangs. It feels a lot better to understand the dynamics. Still though, I'm gonna leave, anytime now".

Man whose car was considerably damaged, to cop (laughing):

"Ya, I wish I could claim that dent from the accident, but the truth is that I damaged it earlier on with my foot".

Man whose car suffered the least damage, after moving it from under the third one (in his pajamas, with a winter coat):

"I'm going back to sleep".

Woman who has lived on the street for 20 years, engaging the surprised onlookers (animatedly):

"It's not the environment…I raised my three kids on this very street, and let me tell you, the eighties were terrible…all these drug-related problems…Two of my kids went to college, the older one here (pointing to her Virginia T-shirt), and the third one is a senior in high school…I tell you, back in the day when my kids were napping on the top floor, I would look out the window, and see the drug dealers stash their drugs…then I would call the cops on them with the location and the description of the drug-dealers…they were always surprised when they were caught…Lavinia had to remove her shrubs from her front yard 'cause they'd always stash to their drugs there…I tell you, it's not the environment…And you know, I should know, I'm white. It's all gang-related now".

Woman who has lived on the street for 30 years, when examining the damage to her totaled car (matter-of-factly):

"Well, at least I didn't fill up the tank".

Adopt a Family for Christmas

I don't know about you but, given that my family (parents, sis and bro) are all grown up, we've decided, for three Christmases straight now, to give each other little-bitty presents that are worth no more than $10-15. They are always thoughtful presents and appreciated, but any present more than $15 is a little pointless given that we are well-off and can generally buy our own items throughout the year.

But the financial freedom is not available to everyone. In fact, plenty of homeless families will not have a Christmas/Kwanza/Hanukkah this year. Community of Hope, a homeless shelter in Washington D.C. (more like a set of apartment complexes for families transitioning into other more permanent housing like their cousin's, or subsidized housing), is looking to get gifts for about 200 families. Here's how people can help:

Community of Hope Adopt a Family Program

You can help Community of Hope make Christmas special for a needy family. It is our desire to make sure every homeless child and parent in our housing program for homeless families, along with numerous other needy families we serve through our medical clinic, receive Christmas gifts for the holiday.

Your $50 contribution to Community of Hope enables us to purchase a gift card for one family member. For $100 we can purchase two cards or for $250 five cards. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Click HERE to read more.

or CLICK THE GIFT CARD ABOVE to make your contribution!
http://www.communityofhopedc.org/

If you can't afford it, don't sweat it! I certainly can, now that my family has let up a little on the gift for Christmas.

One Issue Voter

I fear I have become a one-issue voter. My issue? Health insurance.

Surely there's got to be a better way to do health insurance, from a country that is so technologically-sophisticated, and customer-service orientated.

This always happens:

1-I go to the dentist/gynecologist/doctor once a year.

2-I work with the medical office to ensure that my paperwork is accurate and up-to-date.

3-I pay the entire bill. My insurance promises to reimburse the allowable fees. That still leaves with having to pay $538.20 that day, of which $300 will be covered by my health insurance and $248.20 (I sometimes really wonder why I am paying $150 per month and yet still have to shell out $250 out of my own pocket).

4-I go home feeling healthy, yet disgruntled at having had to wait 1 hour to see the dentist/gyncologist/doctor, when I arrived perfectly on time.

5-Three months later, I still haven't been reimbursed the $300.

6-I call the insurance company. They tell me that my dentist/gynecologist/doctor hasn't submitted the claim.

7-I call my dentist/gynecologist/doctor. The office tells me that they did. In fact, they sent the claim months ago. The office is annoyed, but sends the paperwork again.

8-I wait another month until reimbursement.

Can you imagine if you had 3 kids, which means three times as many appointments, and just a 1/3 of the time to follow-up with all of these? What if you were a cashier at Giant on your feet all day, then had to rush to school to pick up the kids at 4 pm, then spent all your evening cooking, checking homework, giving baths, and doing laundry. It's impossible!

No wonder people are reluctant to go to the doctor's.

Whichever candidate proposes to streamline and simplify the process, gets my vote in November 2008.

Simple bully math

My parents have a little dog + My parents are traveling = I have to take care of the dog

The dog is little + it is cold and snowing outside = I dress the dog in a green coat

The dog looks ridiculous + we go to the dog park = The big dogs instinctively attack my pooch

(note: the picture is not of my dog, but you have to admit that this one's cute!)

Black Rose

The Black Rose website states:


About Black Rose
Black Rose is a not-for-profit organization which provides a forum for the many different expressions of power in love and play. This can include dominance & submission, bondage & discipline, fetishism, cross-dressing, to name a few.

Black Rose is a support, education, and social group for adults who share these interests in the context of caring relationships. Black Rose is a pan sexual group, open to those of any sexual orientation. It is our goal to provide a comfortable, safe, and discreet environment where one can meet others of like mind. We are not a swingers group or a sex club. We do not make referrals. We are not a chapter based organization. We welcome the interested, the inquisitive, and the discerning to join us as we explain, explore, and enjoy.

You must be at least 19 years old to attend any of our functions or to receive our literature or newsletter.

Every person who attends a Black Rose event, in exchange for admittance, agrees that he or she, and his or her representatives and assigns, will not hold Black Rose or any coordinator liable directly or vicariously for injuries or other damages that result directly or indirectly from attending the event.

Hum, I guess that's why I felt like a prey in my little conservative little suit at the hotel, on Friday...

The suspence is killing me

I am in a hotel in Capitol Hill waiting to meet with a group of public health people and the hotel is overtaken by people in leather clothing, dark dyed hair and halter tops. I thought some kind of biker convention was going on but apparently it's an "alternative" conference for the Black Rose. I can't check the website from here but the suspence is killing me...

City to Boost Anti-Gang Efforts After Spike in Violence

Hum... This might explain why we haven't been very successful at getting roommates.

By Allison Klein

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 30, 2007

At least five violent ganglike "crews" of young people are warring in the Columbia Heights and lower Georgia Avenue areas of Northwest Washington, where 11 people have been shot in recent weeks, city officials said yesterday.

Since early October, people in the neighborhoods have reported more than 100 gunshots, said D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D- Ward 1), who represents the area and has been pleading for more police attention. Officers have made two arrests in the cases involving the 11 victims.

It's absolutely incredible more people aren't wounded and shot," Graham said yesterday. "This situation is red-hot."

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) joined Graham yesterday at Georgia Avenue and Harvard Street in Columbia Heights to announce plans to target hostile crews.

The police department is streamlining its gang intelligence unit, giving $1.2 million to community partnerships for gang intervention and spending $1.8 million to expand the ShotSpotter system, Lanier said.

"These crews are a very, very strong driving force behind the crime," Lanier said. "We have to get right to the heart of that."

ShotSpotter, a collection of gunshot recognition sensors, finds gunfire within seconds and alerts police to where the bullets were fired. D.C. police began using the technology last year in the 7th Police District, the southern half of the city east of the Anacostia River.

[…]

Halloween night was one of the most violent in Columbia Heights. Nine people were shot, including in a drive-by at 14th and Harvard streets NW that left four people wounded (note from 007inAfrica: this is one block from my house). A police car was half a block away and raced to the scene after an officer heard shots.

[…]

Columbia Heights community activist Thomas Kwesi Danda Smith said he has been frustrated by the police department's response to the violence.

"Police are reluctant to give us adequate coverage," Smith said. "We've been begging for foot patrols, for them to actually get to know residents, get to know business owners. They don't seem to have any ownership in the community or really care."

Apartment troubles

I love my apartment. I truly, truly do. I share it with an architect (female), and a guy who works with a construction company who is never home. Unfortunately, said guy is planning a move outside of the city and closer to his girlfriend.

We each have separate full-baths, so we never fight about whose nasty hair is clogging the sink. We live three blocks from the metro, Giant, dry-cleaners, and have at least 5 bus routes to services our area. It's located a mere 20 minutes by bikes from the White House.

We have a cool-assed dining/living space with tons of light, bohemian furniture, and a nice TV corner. We have the cutest bricked-in yard, a roof space with 2 barbecues, and lots of cooking utensils. To top it off, we have a washer and dryer, and a dishwasher.

So why is it that we've advertised for our house four times and are completely unsuccessful at getting a renter? Could it be that the rent is expensive for the area? It's not exactly Disneyworld around my neighborhood (see previous posts on shootings), but still, it's seems like it's a total renter's market out there and people are incredibly spoiled.

Meanwhile, we are going to have to go one month without renter soon and will have to split the cost of the room in two. I can't afford that!

I'm starting to think that I'm not cool enough, or I smell. Sigh, I'm going to start to buy strong bath salts.

Omigod it works!

Omigod, the blogging-from-your-email thing works! It's quick too!

I'm happy to report that the stupid fly is walking daaaangerously close to the sticky fly trap. D'oh, it avoided it again. Perhaps it is smarter than it looks? Perhaps it is extremely cautious to steer clear of its pathetic friends trapped in goo?

Trying this new thing...

So, I seem to have firewalls bigger than the Great Wall of China at work, and consequently have not been able to access my blog for the last 6 months. I am trying, instead, the blogging feature that allows one to blog from the email. We'll see if it works.

Let's see, it's been months, and what do I have to say? I have a fat fly dancing around in my halogen lamp and I periodically hope to see it land on the fly strip that hangs from it. My mouth is still burning from the reheated turkey soup (courtesy of Thanksgiving of course) from two days ago.

Wow, well, it all makes for a fascinating blog entry.

The Green Revolution

2005 First place winner - University of Colorado, Denver and Boulder

You may have heard that Al Gore won the Nobel Prize for Peace. I was very surprised given that he’s such a polarizing individual. Though I haven’t seen the movie An Inconvenient Truth, I am totally onboard with his message of global warming.

I feel like people react defensively about the subject because they are scared to change their habits. Call me a dork, but I imagine that this green revolution that is taking place, will be a lot of fun. I’m a little biased because I have lived in several foreign countries, where being green was a requirement.

Take Canada, for example, where large households pride themselves on having just one small trash bag to throw out by the end of the day (the rest of the garbage goes into recycling or composting). When I lived in my tiny apartment in Japan, we have 4 or 5 trash containers to sort a variety of things from plastic, to glass, to food waste, etc.

But that’s not the fun part. I think the green revolution will challenge people, their habits, and their environment. In Washington D.C. for example, the Solar Decathlon will quick off a full week of wonders. If you love home-design TV shows, wait 'till you get a load of this.

According to the website:

The Solar Decathlon is a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. The Solar Decathlon is also an event to which the public is invited to observe the powerful combination of solar energy, energy efficiency, and the best in home design.

The event takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., October 12 - 20. The team houses are open for touring everyday, except Wednesday, October 17, when they will close for competition purposes. An overall winner is announced on Friday, October 19 at 2 p.m. See the

schedule for more information.

Teams of college students design a solar house, knowing from the outset that it must be powered entirely by the sun. In a quest to stretch every last watt of electricity that's generated by the solar panels on their roofs, the students absorb the lesson that

energy is a precious commodity. They strive to innovate, using high-tech materials and design elements in ingenious ways. Along the way, the students learn how to raise funds and communicate about team activities. They collect supplies and talk to contractors. They build their solar houses, learning as they go.

And you should see these houses! They’re modern, have gardens growing on the walls, large windows and sunroofs, collect water in garden cisterns, and make imaginative and efficient use of space. Some teams are so organized that they actually market their houses to potential buyers.

It’s futuristic! It’s entertaining! It’s science fiction!