4/02/2008
Sirens in D.C.
I work within spitting distance of the White House (I've tested it often), so whenever I hear air-raid type sirens I get a little "edgy." What with maniacs flying shit into buildings and all. One is going off right now. Gulp.
3/28/2008
My Grandpa's Senior Photo
I posted my cheesy senior photo a few days ago. Here's my grandfather's (his name was also Joe V.):
He graduated class of 1936 from Moundsville High School in Moundsville, WV. It's a good thing his parents had immigrated from Spain in the earlier part of the century, as the Spanish Civil War began in 1936. He was the perfect fighting age to participate in that terrible conflict, but instead went door-to-door with his uncle collecting donations for the Republican government in the Spanish areas of West Virginia (which were quite substantial at the time).
He went on to Bliss Electrical Academy in Takoma, MD and returned to WV where he worked as an electrician in coal mines in southern West Virginia, which is where he met my grandmother.
In 1945 he shipped off to Japan and helped rebuild the electrical infrastructure in Yokahama until his early release from the Army due to my grandmother having a terrible car accident back home.
He spent most of his later years as the head of the electrical apprentice program for the West Virginia branch of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Every time I pass the IBEW offices here in D.C. I think of him with pride. He was truly dedicated to the Union cause.
I loved my grandpa very much, and I think he was pleased that I learned to speak Spanish and kept in touch with our family there. I still dream about him often.
He graduated class of 1936 from Moundsville High School in Moundsville, WV. It's a good thing his parents had immigrated from Spain in the earlier part of the century, as the Spanish Civil War began in 1936. He was the perfect fighting age to participate in that terrible conflict, but instead went door-to-door with his uncle collecting donations for the Republican government in the Spanish areas of West Virginia (which were quite substantial at the time).
He went on to Bliss Electrical Academy in Takoma, MD and returned to WV where he worked as an electrician in coal mines in southern West Virginia, which is where he met my grandmother.
In 1945 he shipped off to Japan and helped rebuild the electrical infrastructure in Yokahama until his early release from the Army due to my grandmother having a terrible car accident back home.
He spent most of his later years as the head of the electrical apprentice program for the West Virginia branch of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Every time I pass the IBEW offices here in D.C. I think of him with pride. He was truly dedicated to the Union cause.
I loved my grandpa very much, and I think he was pleased that I learned to speak Spanish and kept in touch with our family there. I still dream about him often.
3/24/2008
3/19/2008
Lunchtime protests
On my lunch hour I went down to McPherson Sq. (15th and K, NW) to check out the protests going on there. It's a little disheartening to see the kinds of people down there. Mostly young students (which is good), freaks with purple mohawks (bad), old hippies (very bad), and WTO-style bandits bent on getting the cops to beat their asses on camera for the Internet (very, very bad).
At one point the whole group was staging in the middle of K St. (without a permit), so the cops came to move everyone to the sidewalk (see photos below). The cops, I must say, were very professional and businesslike, not taking the bait to kick the living shit out of the idiots in the front of the group trying their best to provoke them. Instead, the officers simply formed a line, and with a higher ranking officer in back of them shouting instructions to the crowd, gently pushed back the throngs. Nobody got hurt, the crowd moved back, and the protest continued.
During the crowd control maneuver, some Internet reporter wannabe runs up with her HD cameraman, yelling at him to "get them pushing the protesters!" I turned to her and told her my thoughts on her kind of biased "journalism": basically, her kind of b.s. reporting is what gives the protesters (and the protest) a bad name with the rank-and-file Americans out there and provides fodder for the right to use against the anti-war movement. It's one thing to report on police brutality, which, as we know, happens all too often in the U.S.A., but she was attempting to spin the D.C. cops as brutalizing the protesters, which was not true at all. I think my photos of the incident prove that:
Here's the crowd in the middle of K St.:
The cops ask people to move back to the sidewalk:
The police form a line and start gently shoving the protesters back:
All the while, a lame-ass Rage Against the Machine cover band drones on (I kid you not: the singer had dreads and everything, it was comical):
I really wish the anti-war movement could rid itself of the freaks and provocateurs so that it would have a chance of attracting normal Americans who are sick to death of the war but don't want to be associated with the idiot fringe. It's one of the big reasons the right could care less about the movement: nobody takes these people seriously.
Meanwhile, back at the Ranch...business as usual.
At one point the whole group was staging in the middle of K St. (without a permit), so the cops came to move everyone to the sidewalk (see photos below). The cops, I must say, were very professional and businesslike, not taking the bait to kick the living shit out of the idiots in the front of the group trying their best to provoke them. Instead, the officers simply formed a line, and with a higher ranking officer in back of them shouting instructions to the crowd, gently pushed back the throngs. Nobody got hurt, the crowd moved back, and the protest continued.
During the crowd control maneuver, some Internet reporter wannabe runs up with her HD cameraman, yelling at him to "get them pushing the protesters!" I turned to her and told her my thoughts on her kind of biased "journalism": basically, her kind of b.s. reporting is what gives the protesters (and the protest) a bad name with the rank-and-file Americans out there and provides fodder for the right to use against the anti-war movement. It's one thing to report on police brutality, which, as we know, happens all too often in the U.S.A., but she was attempting to spin the D.C. cops as brutalizing the protesters, which was not true at all. I think my photos of the incident prove that:
Here's the crowd in the middle of K St.:
The cops ask people to move back to the sidewalk:
The police form a line and start gently shoving the protesters back:
All the while, a lame-ass Rage Against the Machine cover band drones on (I kid you not: the singer had dreads and everything, it was comical):
I really wish the anti-war movement could rid itself of the freaks and provocateurs so that it would have a chance of attracting normal Americans who are sick to death of the war but don't want to be associated with the idiot fringe. It's one of the big reasons the right could care less about the movement: nobody takes these people seriously.
Meanwhile, back at the Ranch...business as usual.
Five wasted years in Iraq
I work right downtown, one block off K Street, NW—the heart of big-time lobbying in D.C. Here's what I saw when I got in this morning:
As the last two pictures show, the cops were arresting protesters and putting them in the paddy wagon to be booked. I couldn't help but think the real people they need to be arresting live a few blocks south at the White House.
End this stupid, disgusting war now and put the resources toward fighting our real enemies in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia!!!!
As the last two pictures show, the cops were arresting protesters and putting them in the paddy wagon to be booked. I couldn't help but think the real people they need to be arresting live a few blocks south at the White House.
End this stupid, disgusting war now and put the resources toward fighting our real enemies in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia!!!!
Curlers on the Metro
Seen on my way to work this morning, I give you the following:
I've seen this lady on the Metro several times now rocking the curlers all the way downtown. Here's the thing I can't answer: She obviously cares enough about her appearance to curl her hair, so why is she totally unembarrassed to come out in public without bothering to remove the curlers, thus branding herself slovenly and lazy? Such are the mysteries of the world.
I've seen this lady on the Metro several times now rocking the curlers all the way downtown. Here's the thing I can't answer: She obviously cares enough about her appearance to curl her hair, so why is she totally unembarrassed to come out in public without bothering to remove the curlers, thus branding herself slovenly and lazy? Such are the mysteries of the world.
3/13/2008
3/07/2008
Where in the World is Xose the Destroyer?
I like to think of myself as world-aware, and although I traveled a fair amount through my early 30s, when I actually map it out, it seems that I haven't really seen too much of the world firsthand. I've spent a bunch of time in Spain, of course, but I've never made it into much of Africa or any of Asia. Maybe someday I'll get on the stick and fill some more countries in orange.
3/03/2008
Indoctrinate the kids
This is a toy that will not be in our house anytime soon. I wonder if it comes with two screeners that alternate between talking to each other about what color to paint their nails and screaming at grandmas to take their orthopedic shoes off?
2/25/2008
Lawrence Welk Anomalies, Part XVII
Now for a "modern spiritual performed by Gail and Dale." Sweet Jesus indeed.
2/22/2008
Ready, oh so ready, for the weekend
Man, is it just me, or do 4-day workweeks seem longer than the regular 5 days we normally slog through? I was preparing a meeting packet this week, and that's always brutal, but for some reason, it really kicked my culu this time.
We're going to brave the ice storm and go to our friends' house on Capitol Hill tonight for dinner. I need some conversation, vino, and good food like a mofo, let me tell you.
In other news, the baby is moving around inside Jenny all the time now, and we're trying to figure out whether it's playing soccer or dancing or both. I always put my mouth next to Jenny's belly and yell "What are you DOING in there?!?" :-) Jenny thinks it's weird, but it worked for Boo Boo when she was in there, and it will work for this one: they come out ready to rock! :-)
I've been getting together with my old bassist from MyLOH to play some new music. We are having my friend Etienne come over to play drums tomorrow and see it that clicks musically. Stay tuned for new music in the short term!
Gah! Will 5pm NEVER GET HERE?!?!?!?!?!
We're going to brave the ice storm and go to our friends' house on Capitol Hill tonight for dinner. I need some conversation, vino, and good food like a mofo, let me tell you.
In other news, the baby is moving around inside Jenny all the time now, and we're trying to figure out whether it's playing soccer or dancing or both. I always put my mouth next to Jenny's belly and yell "What are you DOING in there?!?" :-) Jenny thinks it's weird, but it worked for Boo Boo when she was in there, and it will work for this one: they come out ready to rock! :-)
I've been getting together with my old bassist from MyLOH to play some new music. We are having my friend Etienne come over to play drums tomorrow and see it that clicks musically. Stay tuned for new music in the short term!
Gah! Will 5pm NEVER GET HERE?!?!?!?!?!
2/13/2008
2/04/2008
Our schools are seriously broken
Okay, it's official. Our educational system is totally effed, as far as I can tell.
This morning I had to get up at 5am to go stand in line to register my 2 year old daughter for preschool. Turns out that finding a secular, decent preschool not housed in the dingy basement of a rec hall is tougher than it would be thought.
We got in, but what a freaking hassle. The folks in the front of the line had been there since 7pm LAST NIGHT. Whoa.
At least we didn't have to interview for a spot or get asked to list our daughter's "qualifications" like some other preschools in the area require. QUALIFICATIONS?????? SHE'S FREAKING 2 YEARS OLD, YOU A-HOLES!
Gahhh!!!!!!
This morning I had to get up at 5am to go stand in line to register my 2 year old daughter for preschool. Turns out that finding a secular, decent preschool not housed in the dingy basement of a rec hall is tougher than it would be thought.
We got in, but what a freaking hassle. The folks in the front of the line had been there since 7pm LAST NIGHT. Whoa.
At least we didn't have to interview for a spot or get asked to list our daughter's "qualifications" like some other preschools in the area require. QUALIFICATIONS?????? SHE'S FREAKING 2 YEARS OLD, YOU A-HOLES!
Gahhh!!!!!!
1/07/2008
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to all of our friends and family and family friends out in cyberland.
We are sure to have an eventful 2008, and anxiously await the opportunities that come with expanding our family by one, getting more education, and living life to the fullest!
J,J,S
We are sure to have an eventful 2008, and anxiously await the opportunities that come with expanding our family by one, getting more education, and living life to the fullest!
J,J,S
12/10/2007
11/14/2007
Fun Chicago Trip!
This weekend I went to Chi-town for a SNAP conference and got to see two of my good friends from college, Mariangela and Punky. It had been too long! We all went to grab some killer Thai food, drank some wine and martinis, and Punk and I went on to see a some random band play live. Great times!
11/08/2007
No more band
I'm bandless again. I had to quit after a very torturous attempt at finding a practice time that wasn't in the middle of the two hours I play soccer every weekend. Apparently, those were the only two hours in the entire weekend that would work for the band. Not wanting to be unreasonable, I quit. Which sucks.
I really enjoyed playing our music. I enjoyed my bandmates, most of the time. And the music was fun. But that's the way it goes I guess.
I am now back to solo project mode. ¡Coño! is my band now, and you can find me on the InterWebs here: www.myspace.com/conocono
I really enjoyed playing our music. I enjoyed my bandmates, most of the time. And the music was fun. But that's the way it goes I guess.
I am now back to solo project mode. ¡Coño! is my band now, and you can find me on the InterWebs here: www.myspace.com/conocono
10/15/2007
Good pre-Halloween weekend
Boo Boo and I had a fun weekend doing pre-Halloween activities like going pumpkin picking, attending the neighborhood Octoberfest party, and even making a construction-paper witch hat and broom.
Jenny and I have always loved Halloween, and I hope that Sylvie also does (so far, it's a big hit. Sylvie loves to play dress up with a million different hats and stuff, so Halloween isn't a big stretch. Can't wait to go trick or treating!
Also, my good friend Jane came to visit from NYC. We used to work and wine together out in Oakland/S.F., and it was really nice to see her again. Come back soon, Jane!
10/09/2007
Grandparents in/Boo in hog heaven
Sylvie's grandma and papa are in town for the week and she couldn't be more excited about it. Also, mommy and I might as well not exist anymore... :-)
Me: "Where are you going?"
Boo: "Outside with grandma and papa."
Me: "Can I come too?"
Boo: "Daddy no come with us. Stay inside."
Well, at least I know where I am in the pecking order! :-)
Me: "Where are you going?"
Boo: "Outside with grandma and papa."
Me: "Can I come too?"
Boo: "Daddy no come with us. Stay inside."
Well, at least I know where I am in the pecking order! :-)
10/01/2007
Ain't that a kick in the head?
Ouch. Got fouled hard on the pitch this Sunday and took a knee to the side of the noggin. That freaking hurt. Goose egg ensued. :-(
Scored a freaking awesome goal with my left foot, though, so that made everything all right. :-)
Boo Boo and I made a bird house this weekend, which was exciting and fun for both of us. Mommy got time off for good behavior this weekend. :-)
Scored a freaking awesome goal with my left foot, though, so that made everything all right. :-)
Boo Boo and I made a bird house this weekend, which was exciting and fun for both of us. Mommy got time off for good behavior this weekend. :-)
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