The Virgin Convention met in Las Vegas this year, and my boyfriend, Elvis, showed up. The Post did an article on it, but sadly the online version doesn’t include the picture of Elvis My Boyfriend with one of the virgins (though it does call his rendition of “Viva Las Vegas” “mediocre,” but they’re wrong; he has a good voice). The story itself is fairly amusing, though also a bit frightening. Quotes like this frighten me: “Some people can say on their wedding night that they waited. That's something I'll never get to say. But my theory is to have no regrets, just lessons. I want people to learn from what happened to me. It's like, sex, I've done that, and it sucked.” I’m thinking that that kind of attitude might not be the best way to go to your wedding night. The people profiled in the story also have this belief that Vegas = sex. I don’t deny that Vegas is Sin City, but I equate it more with gambling. True, there are strip shows, etc., but what city doesn’t have those? Vegas, in my mind, is more associated with marriage, actually, than with wanton sex having. In any case, these people seem somewhat delusional. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with waiting until marriage. But these people are a bit much. One of the leaders said, “Five kids, two of my sons are doctors. Abstinence works, people. My daughter saved her first kiss for her wedding day. I'm here to tell ya.” I really, really hope that her daughter was just lying to her. I mean, not even kissing until marriage?
Current song in my head:
“Material Girl” by Madonna
I was walking into the Metro this morning and this one woman caught my eye. She was wearing a very nice gray suit (skirt, not pants). She had her hair pulled back, and was looking quite professional…but she was wearing flip-flops. Flip-flops. Hello? Either you want to look professional or you don’t. The only thing I can think of that makes even a tiny bit of sense is that she had different shoes in the ginormous bag she was carrying and was planning on wearing those once she got to work.
Apparently yesterday’s air quality was even worse than Code Red. It was Code Purple. I swear I am not making that up. They added Code Purple last year because the air quality sucked so bad. And yet that didn’t stop me from having lunch outside. Yep, blatantly ignoring the warnings that people, in particular people with respiratory illnesses, should stay in air conditioning. So when I keel over dead at 28, you can blame it on eating lunch outside on Code Red and Code Purple days.
Current song in my head:
“Pinch Me” by Barenaked Ladies
I’m looking forward to this weekend. I’m looking forward to not having many actual plans. Not having anywhere I really have to be, anything I have to do. I think it’s the fact that I went to Oregon and missed out on two whole weekends—I got back last Saturday, but spent all day Sunday at the Smithsonian. I’m fairly busy this week, but the weekend looks fairly open (except for potential time spent with grandparents—both mine and not-mine). And as my room looks like a tornado hit it, I’m looking forward to some quality time at home.
Well, it’s a Code Red day here in D.C. I’ve been wondering how they’d deal with this. Because during the summer, Code Red means, basically, “don’t mow the lawn, don’t put gas in your car, don’t go outside.” It’s when it’s hot and the air quality sucks. The radio people are very careful to call it something like “Code Red Ozone Air Quality Day,” just so they don’t freak anyone out. They might as well say, “We don’t mean the terrorism Code Red, we mean the summer Code Red.” I still wonder if tourists are going to hear it and freak.
In other news, my sore throat from two weeks ago came back yesterday. It’s hiding at the moment, but I can tell it’s lurking. And last night I suddenly developed a stuffy nose. What the heck? My body makes no sense. I’m not even going to talk about the headaches I’ve been having lately.
Current song in my head:
“Viva Las Vegas” by Elvis Presley
Okay, this is just pathetic. I can remember almost every phone number I’ve ever had, excluding college numbers (though I can tell you the Gettysburgian’s number) and the number we had in Mahopac (I was less than a year old when we moved, so that’s not surprising). Scotch Plains, where we moved from 16 years ago? Check. Richmond, where I barely lived? Check. The house in Rockville that I moved out of a mere month ago? Ummm. Nope. Absolutely no recollection. I actually had to look it up—on the Internet, no less—to figure out what it was. Pathetic. I’m only 24 and my mind is going.
Current song in my head:
“Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne
I finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night. I bought it at approximately 2 a.m. PDT (I know, I know) on Friday night and finished it at approximately 9:30 p.m. EDT. It would’ve been slightly sooner, but there was a new ABC Family Original Movie on last night (which was about people our age; frightening!). Anyway, I enjoyed this book more than Goblet of Fire, which you can tell was sort of hastily written. Plus, you find out a bunch of stuff, and a bunch of cool stuff happens. So, it’s highly recommended. And I came into work and a coworker brought in a copy of Seabiscuit for me. Yay! Right. Like I don’t have enough to read. I just need to get over to the new IKEA and get a bookcase.
Work…I’m back at work. And I have a bunch to do. And I’ve been here for over 2 hours and not done a lick of work (other than checking and printing out pertinent emails). Oh well. I’ll get on that now.
Current song in my head:
“A Little Less Conversation” by Elvis Presley
Well, I made it to Fort Worden and back without getting killed by Samara. I regard that as a success. However, I didn't make it to the Port Townsend tourist information place to pester them about film locations, which I regret. I'm currently at my folks' house in Portland. The trip has been very nice and relaxing. Nothing terribly thrilling. We stayed at a lovely house in Ft. Worden from Sunday until yesterday. It was all very Victorian and had two staircases, which I loved. On Tuesday we went out on my aunt and uncle's boat and sailed around Puget Sound. It was gorgeous, but now half of my face is sunburned. Happily it's fading. We went to a Mariners game last night, and they won, which was good. The stadium was packed, which was quite a change for me. I'm used to going to Camden Yards, which is rarely anywhere near full. Now I have a day or two to hang out here before heading back to D.C. Of course, I have to pick up the new Harry Potter book tomorrow night (yes, tomorrow night; why wait until Saturday?). I can't believe it's already almost Friday; this week has flown by. I must admit, though, that I'm looking forward to staying in one place for more than three nights.
Current song in my head:
"One Girl Revolution"
You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.
Which Austen heroine are you? Take the quiz here!
I leave tomorrow to visit my folks out in Oregon. And I’m looking forward to it. But right now I’m in frantic pre-trip mode. I haven’t packed yet, and I’d feel bad about that, but it’s fun things that are keeping me from packing. Last night was an impromptu happy hour at a former coworker’s house, then watching The Amazing Race with Brent, Steve, and Katie. Tonight we’re all going out to dinner to celebrate Jody and Lucy’s birthday. I need to do laundry. When will that happen? And did I mention that they changed my itinerary, so now tomorrow I have two stops—I go National to Detroit to Minneapolis to Portland. Ugh. Oh, and how am I getting to and from the airports? To be determined.
And since I’m missing a week of work, I’m trying to clear things up there, too. It would’ve been fine, but I got pulled into a lunch meeting. A lunch meeting that went 2½ hours. Leaving me an hour to do stuff at work. Riiight. So I’m just going to stay a bit late at work. Not a big deal. Particularly since we’re not meeting until 6 downtown, and it doesn’t take 2 hours to get from Bethesda to Chinatown.
So I’m excited and hyper and bouncing all over the place. I probably should’ve stuck with my more mellow mixes instead of putting in the dance mix. Oh well.
Current song in my head:
“Dr. Jones” by Aqua
Okay, I realize that we were all complaining for a really long time that the sun never came out and it was cold and rainy. Inevitably I am longing for those days. Well, that’s not completely true. I like the sun being out. But I could easily live without the heat and humidity. It’s already 78 degrees out, and the humidity is somewhere in the 80s, percentage-wise. Ugh. Welcome to summers in D.C.!
I took yesterday off to sleep. Conference totally wiped me out; I spent Monday and Tuesday completely tired. When I woke up yesterday morning, I was still exhausted. I took that as a sign to stay home and sleep (work is very quiet). So that was lovely, except that it was approximately 90 degrees in the apartment. Carrie and I have yet to turn on the air conditioning. But I’m going to Oregon and Washington on Saturday, where it’s a lot cooler. Forecasts for Portland have highs in the mid-70s; highs for the place in Washington we’re going are right around 70. Mmm. Sounds lovely.
And…HAPPY BIRTHDAY JODY AND LUCY!!!
Current song in my head:
“I’m Gonna Be Strong” by Michael Ball
I met Elvis this weekend. He was at a booth in the exhibit hall at our conference. He was very nice, if somewhat quiet; also taller than I would’ve thought, and had lovely eyes. When I get the electronic version, I’ll put the picture of me and him up for all to see. Conference was a blast, honestly. I enjoyed it much more than I did last year’s, I think in large part because I was busier. Plus, I experienced Ruth’s Chris Steak House for the first time. I’m hardly a steak connoisseur, but that was the best steak I’ve ever eaten. It was fantastic. And the night was definitely helped by the staff reception—the one with the open bar. Sure, dinner came to $68 a head (and there were 15 of us), but I had plenty of money left from my per diem, seeing how I didn’t eat lunch any of the days I was down there. Conference was held in the exotic location of Washington, D.C., so there was the added benefit that I slept in my own bed at night. It was exhausting, and my voice is shot, but I had a fantastic time.
Current song in my head:
“How You Remind Me”
Last night, WMPT played the Michael Ball at Royal Albert Hall concert as part of their pledge drive. Now I'm using all my willpower to stop myself from blowing money on Michael Ball stuff. But some of it is totally worthwhile!
I had a lovely weekend. It was pretty low-key. We turned over the keys to the house, saw some movies, played an evilly intricate game called Politika, stayed up late enough to see the sun rise, and finished unpacking my room. I woke up yesterday with a nasty sore throat and stayed home from work. Apparently something’s going around at work; a bunch of people are out sick. That’s not good. Our annual conference is this weekend. We really need to be healthy for that. Oh well.
Current song in my head:
“Cleveland Rocks” by the Presidents of the United States of America