It’s Been A Minute
Well, now. It sure has been a while since I’ve posted here. I’ve just moved to a statically-generated site. Now the content is simple markdown, which is gene...
Life of Brian
Twitter Is Bad, It Promotes Evil, It Makes Me Feel Bad, And I’m Leaving
I joined Twitter in May 2007, as user #6,060,732. Over ten years later, after not quite twenty thousand tweets, it’s time to go. It started out as something...
Natural Reaction
Just south of San Francisco, shortly after you merge onto Interstate 280 heading down to the South Bay, there is this massive red stain in the center lane...
Divorced
[I wrote this post several months ago, shortly after the divorce was finalized. I have held off publishing it until all the final details were completed. Now...
Mike Daisey’s Program From April 14, 2011
I don’t have anything to say publicly about Mike Daisey’s lies. What I will say publicly is that Heather and I saw The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs at...
Mohela Is A Pack Of Thieves
I graduated from college in 2000, with some student loans courtesy of the Department of Education. I consolidated them in 2004, and have been paying diligent...
Leaving Facebook
Facebook was always a sketchy proposition for me. I avoided it for quite a while, and then for a very long time I left my profile status “Brian is not Faceb...
The Time I Didn’t Meet Steve Jobs
Everyone has lunch at Caffé Macs on their first day. I was no different. It was exceptionally crowded that day, with a bevy of new hires meandering aimlessly...
Twelve Things I’d Rather Do With $30,000 Dollars
Hedda and I went to see Second City’s touring company at the Woolly Mammoth Theater last night, for their show entitled A Girl’s Guide to Washington Politics...
Write Like No One is Reading
I haven’t blogged much lately. My employment has taken away my ability to talk publicly on most technical topics of interest to me, and my interest in engagi...
Mentally Girding Up To Get Groped
I’m on a bus to the airport at the moment, and I’ve been reading plenty about the new security scanners at the airport. I have been subjected to them in the ...
The Family Business
I have geek in my blood. My grandfather, Gus Hahn, opened an electronics store in 1929 with his former high school physics teacher, Ralph Coe, and for some ...
Leaving the Library, Joining Apple
Yesterday I announced my impending departure from the Library of Congress at an all-hands meeting of the group I helped form. My last day will be May 14. I...
Why I’ll Be Getting The Swine Flu Vaccine
With the start of the flu season and the advent of a vaccine, swine flu is coming back into the spotlight. Rather than covering the pandemic itself and diss...
Do Your Part To End The Early-Christmas Madness
It seems Christmas comes earlier every year, doesn’t it? Well fight back! Shortly after Halloween last year, I popped in to the Cosi on Pennsylvania Avenue i...
NextBus Has Some Work To Do
I’m standing at stop #1001178, at the corner of 14th & I, waiting for a bus going north. I decided to wait and try out NextBus to see how it works. For t...
Robbed on the Metro
I was sitting on the Metro platform at Mt. Vernon Square yesterday evening. It was a quarter to six. The Cubs were in town playing the Nationals, and I was ...
Desi Deschaine - You Will Be Missed
I write with a heavy heart that our good friend Desi Deschaine has passed away. As a staffer for Mayor Williams, and later Councilmember Jack Evans, Desi ti...
Jury Duty Takes Its Toll
I’ve been on jury duty all week this week. The experience has been a fascinating glimpse for me into the inner workings of the criminal judicial system, as w...
I’m Running For ANC
I’m running for ANC 2F03!
My Last Will and Testament, Part 2
Following along the lines of Part 1, I would like it on the record that my funeral should be a Speaking, and be at least as awesome as this.
My Mother Was Right
When I was younger, and even still today, my mother would claim that I was dropped off by space aliens. Turns out, she wasn’t that far from the truth.
Apparently, I’m A Horrible Person
It’s not church parking, nor is it Adams Morgan parking, but parking arguments seem to be in vogue these days, so I decided to start one of my own.
Bitch Still Set Me Up
Time flies when you’re having fun. Or smoking crack.
My Last Will and Testament, Part 1
No, I haven’t been diagnosed with anything. I just saw this article on Wired about green funerals that are coming into vogue, and I just wanted it on the rec...
Eon, Epoch, Era - Orders of Timely Magnitude
Yes, yes. We all know that humans are causing global climate change. We’re responsible for increasing CO2 levels, and the resulting increase in temperatures....
Connection Between Ancient North American and Siberian Languages
My interest in computer languages led me to a moderate interest in human linguistics, thus I follow the Language Log blog. Far more interesting than belied b...
Pope Benedict, You Ruined My Day
Well that’s just great. Just freakin’ great! His eminence, Pope Benedict XVI, today announced Seven New Official Sins. (You can’t make this shit up.)
One Lone Hooker
Hedda and I were sitting in our living room at seven o’clock this morning, drinking out morning coffee and chatting, like we do every morning. Since it was a...
14th & K - Douchebag Central
There’s an interesting article in the Post today about the brugeoning club district centered around 14th and K Streets. That’s just a few blocks south of whe...
My Place in the World
In some of my reading, I came across this most excellent quote from the late Stephen Jay Gould. It fairly concisely sums up my attitude with respect to my ow...
Things That Make Me Sad: Toothpaste Edition
Discovering I have half as much toothpaste as I thought, because of a huge air pocket in the tube, makes me sad.
Super-Walkable Logan Circle
This cool little walkability tool will provide you with a score for how walkable your particular home is. Or any address, for that matter.
39,000 People Can’t Be Wrong: Metrobus Sucks
Hedda and I went to the Cubs game today, where they were soundly spanked by the Nationals. I’m unhappy with the loss, but not devastated - the Cubs won the p...
14U’s Message Is Clear, If Poorly Punctuated
I was up at 14U Café the other day, and discovered a poetic placard placed on each and every table. I have reproduced it below, sic.
Small Town DC
It was a beautiful day here in The District, and Hedda and I went out to run some errands, including a trip up to Garden District to pick up some plants to r...
Eastern Market Burns
I was shaving when Hedda asked me: “What is the Eastern Market Building?” Is this a trick question? “Um, the building that, uh, houses Eastern Market?” I rep...
Pigs Are Flying…
…and Hell has frozen over. I received this in the mail today.
My Phone Call With Jack Valenti
My phone rings. The number is “Unknown”, a sure bet it’s either a telemarketer or some scam. I screw up my courage and answer, ready to angrily snarl at some...
Fight Me, I’m Irish
Hedda and I went to ShamrockFest yesterday afternoon. It used to be held in Ballston, but was moved to RFK this year because it had become too large. There i...
What I Now Know
I learned a lot today, courtesy of the gentleman sitting in front of me, talking on the phone. Now:
Why You Shouldn’t Park on M Street
Theft from auto has always been a big problem in Logan Circle. However, if there’s one place in the neighborhood I would recommend not parking, it’s M Street...
Starbucks : Coffee :: McDonald’s : Hamburgers
[] When you walk in the door, it just clicks. You smell the sweet, brown aroma of fresh roast; you hear the whirr of the grinder and the Clack! Clack! Clack!...
My First CDC Meeting
I am an appointed representative from ANC 2F03 to the Community Development Committee, or CDC if you’re into abbreviations. We make recommendations as to the...
Free WiFi at Caribou on 14th & Rhode Island
So somewhere in the last month or two, the Caribou Coffee on the corner of 14th Street and Rhode Island Avenue switched from pay-for-Internet to free WiFi. I...
Prescription Form for Medical Liquor
As has been previously mentioned, our New Year’s Eve was spent at a 1920s speakeasy party. We all dressed in garb, and I dressed up along the lines of the t...
New Years 2006 - 1920s Roar Again
Last night was New Year’s Eve, and much like last year, we celebrated in style. Kasey and Katie’s boss had a hookup with a really cool 1920s speakeasy party,...
The Danger of Podcasts While Working Out
I was working out last week, before I got sick between Sunday and Monday. While doing so, I was listening to various music and podcasts on my Meizu Miniplaye...
Who Is Brian Vargas?
Courtesy of my brother-in-law John, I have discovered a person who unfortunately - and humorously - shares my particular combination of names.
Craigslist Scam (Hopefully) Ends With Delicious Graham Cracker Pie
I am currently trying to sell a really nice, 21” Hitachi CM823F monitor on Craigslist. Two days ago, I got an email from marriebruce5@yahoo.com:
False Alarm on 13th Street
There was a false fire alarm in the condo building across the street from us tonight. The street was swarmed with a half dozen or more fire trucks, including...
Gunshot Sensors in D.C. - Buy These Instead of Cameras
The Post has an article talking about gunshot sensors that have been installed in the District to help combat the most violent of crimes. It’s a really cool ...
That One Capitol Police Officer
You know the one. If you’ve ever taken the Metro to Capitol South, you know exactly who he is. He always seems to be stationed right there on the corner of ...
Green Festival
Hedda and I went to the Green Festival on Sunday. She had volunteered last year, but I was unable to go because I was working sound for TAP. This year, she h...
Please Leave the Logan Circle Traffic Lights Off
After the manhole explosions in the neighborhood on Saturday, the power was out on 13th Street north of the park. That included the traffic lights around Log...
Zeese Smokes Steele and Cardin in First Debate, Still Ignored by Media
Update:The video of the first debate has been posted.
My Life Philosophy in Comic Form
I think this xkcd comic, entitled Nihilism, perfectly describes my personal life philosophy.
Dead Guy on the Curb
Shortly after discovering Stoney’s yesterday, Chris and I walked back to the Zipcar I had been driving earlier in the day. When I stopped for gas earlier, I ...
I Found Stoney’s
Chris and I were having lunch over at Logan Tavern, and looking over his shoulder I noticed a new sign on the strip that hadn’t been there the day before.
Give ‘Em the Boot
There is a simultaneously hilarious and frightening article in this week’s City Paper about parking enforcement troubles east of the Anacostia river. It seem...
Murky Coffee Owner Nick Cho Wins Barista Regionals
Anybody who either knows me can tell you that I like coffee. I spend a good amount of time working over at Murky Coffee in Arlington, and I often convince my...
Reality Check: Can I Have My Spinach Back, Please?
I went to the Whole Foods on P street this afternoon to pick up a few sundry items, as well as to avert an impending toilet paper crises warned of by my wife...
Logan Circle Profied in Post
The Post has a pretty well done profile of the Logan Circle neighborhood. They hit pretty much every single reason Hedda and I make our home here.
Dream Non Sequiter: A Wreath For Hitler
I rarely dream, and when I do they tend to be very strange. Last night was an interesting one:
My Home Town Under Water
Highland, IN, the town where I grew up, got drenched yesterday in torrential downpours that flooded out streets, homes, basements, and schools. The Times is ...
Sandia Peak and Tramway
Hedda and I are in Albuquerque, New Mexico visiting our friends Dave and Jenny for the Labor Day Weekend. We’re joined by Chris & Katie, Kasey, and Libby.
Most Effective Alarm Clock in the World
Having trouble waking up in the morning? Do you have difficulty rousing yourself from slumber? Can you not hear your alarm? Would you like to pop out of bed ...
Anybody Want Some Pokémon Crap?
Your parents are right. You’ll outgrow it. It might take five or six years, but eventually you will come to the conclusion that you no longer really care abo...
GenCon 2006
Were you wondering where I was? Me, neither.
Borf Rally Hits Logan Circle
Hedda and I were out around the neighborhood last night. We started out at 1409 Playbill (which is really close to P than Google Maps puts it), and then proc...
The Process Exited With An Error All Right
I got this error message today.
Turning Twenty-Eight
My 28th birthday was this past Saturday. Since Hedda had already taken me to see Spamalot as my gift, we didn’t really have anything planned. She did want to...
Nintendo DS Surprises Me
Our good friends Greg & Kat came to visit us this past weekend. Greg is a video game junkie, and works for Cranky Pants Games.
Draw a dragon? That’s easy!
In Brain Age, one of the things you are asked to do is draw things from memory without any reference. You’re just up and asked to draw a giraffe or chainsaw ...
Spamalot
Hedda surprised me with a trip to see Spamalot for my impending birthday. What an awesome gift!
Favorite Line in Spamalot
I almost forgot! Hedda took me to see Spamalot on July 9th, and the show happened to run smack dab in the middle of the final game of the 2006 World Cup. Her...
Slush Mountain
The derth of updates to the blog over the past weeks has been due to my particpation in the annual ski trip. This year’s trip was made to Powder Mountain, Ut...
Letter to the Editor Published
Holy crap! The City Paper published my letter to the editor! You can find the electronic version at the end of The Mail.
Sammy Bobblehead
No, not Sosa. Sammy Hulbert!
My First Ever Letter to the Editor
Last week’s City Paper had a really good article entitled “A Line in the Sandbox” that discussed some of the trials and tribulations of a particular DC Publi...
Benny Ant Hill
Hedda and I live in a so-called “English basement” condominium unit. Since we are partially underground, on occasion arthropods of various types will find t...
Neurotic Roomba Repaired
The update for our neurotic Roomba finally arrived while I was in Salt Lake City. The update process was tremendously boring, but the good news is that the...
IFLA Newspaper Conference: Utah Olympic Park
We took a trip up to the Utah Olympic Park in Park City for a dinner and show last night. The drive up the mountain was quite gorgeous, although I spent most...
IFLA Newspaper Conference: Majlis Bremer-Laamanen - National Library of Finland
In 2005, paper newspapers are a way of life - delivered to the front door, read on the subway, on the trains, and so on. In Finland, unlike a large portion o...
Lazy Americans, Indeed
I’m on my way to Salt Lake City for the IFLA conference. I was walking to my gate a few minutes ago, after going through the security checkpoint at BWI. Just...
Real Life Creative Commons Success Story
If you didn’t know, I have a Flickr Photostream to which I post most of the interesting photos I take. I have also posted a lot of my old photos to the photo...
Neurotic Roomba
Hedda and I are big fans of the Roomba robotic vacuum. It’s really great on our hardwood floors, and I routinely use it in the kitchen to get the crumbs and...
A Worthless Observation on Massachusetts Aveneue and Scott Circle
I’m not sure what it is, but no fewer than four times now have I been interrupted on my walk home from the gym by an occupant of a vehicle asking for directi...
Spinning Platters of Death
Last week, my hard drive died on my laptop. Unfortunately, due to my own negligence, the last backup was made in December. I lost some fairly important data,...
DC Snacks Resurrects the Dream of Kozmo.com
We had some friends over the other night (incidentally, the same night the prodigal recycle bin returned), and Hedda mentioned the relatively new DC Snacks, ...
The Prodigal Recycle Bin
As Hedda mentioned, we had a big party on Saturday night. There was a lot of carnage at this party, including a lit candle getting knocked off its perch, spe...
My Wife Is Blogging
After several months of hand-wringing over the name, as well as threats of permanent removal of my slumber to the couch, Hedda has started blogging. So far, ...
Busboys & Poets WiFi Post Makes Print in Express
I just got off the phone with Hedda. She was tipped off by a friend of ours that I had been “quoted in the Express.” For those of you who don’t know - okay, ...
Reason #3253234 Why I Hate Doing Business With Huge Corporations
So I call up our mortgagee for a question about our property tax escrow account, and before she even asks me if I have any more questions, she launches into ...
Busboys & Poets WiFi Port Blocking Is Really Asinine
I really like Busboys & Poets. It’s a nice place, with great ambience, good food, good music, and … well, their coffee is pretty crappy, but you can’t ha...
Fire in the Circus
So the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus has come to DC. Tragically, there was a fire at the Circus shortly after they arrived. Did you hear abo...
Finnigan O’Hurlihoonan - The Irish-American Chiropractic Palm-Reading Gigolo Jockey Leprechaun
Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!
Accredited Witness
It’s official. I am an Accredited Witness of the Toast Game.
Status of My Request: Google URL Console Shenanigans
It started with an email I received on the afternoon of March 3rd, 2006, originally sent from Google URL Console url-remove@google.com to the webmaster email...
IRC Tornado
From a chat room I frequent, run by a friend of mine, edited slightly for clarity and brevity:
Boot and Nuke
Since the Samus switchover, the old machine has been sitting quietly next to my desk, awaiting final dispensation. I would like to strip it down and sell the...
Bird Flu: The “H” Stands for “Humorous”
It seems bird flu really does have a sense of humor. After receiving warm chuckles to its first joke of showing up in Turkey, it seems that avian influenza i...
Snowing in DC
Despite living in the District for a few years now, Hedda and I are still midwesterners in our core. One of the things we miss most from our days in Chicago...
Woman Screaming and a Fire Alarm
Hedda and I were woken from sleep by a woman screaming in the alley a bit before 2:30 in the morning. I heard her scream while I was still asleep, and the ne...
Two Guys Yelling
I was drawn to the front door by the cacophony of two men screaming at one another in Spanish. When I lowered the shade, I saw two men face to face in a, sha...
Setting Trends in Weddings
Hedda ran across an article on Chicagoist talking about the possibility of holding weddings at The Cell (a.k.a. Comisky Park). From the entry:
Interview by Fox 5 News
I was interviewed by Fox 5 news this afternoon for a piece they are doing on neighborhood blogs, like the Logan Circle Updates blog. Robbie Chavez came by, a...
Anonymously Quoted in the Washington Post
As I previously blogged, I attended the Bush Impeachment Panel on this past Monday. During the question and answer section, I stood to ask a question of the ...
Uploading Tons of Photos
One of my big concerns in this era of digital photographs is that the snapshots I have taken can be easily lost in the event of various hard drive failures o...
Amusing Surname Assumptions
I got this amusing piece of junk in the mail this afternoon. Before you think too highly of my multi-lingual capabilities, I can assure you that the only la...
Does Anyone Else Think It’s Funny?
Okay, sure - it’s probably going to mutate into a super-deadly global pandemic wiping out twenty to fifty percent of the entire human population, but does it...
New Camera
After losing our old camera several month’s back, Hedda and I were finally able to purchase a new digital camera to replace it after some generous donations ...
Back From the Holiday (A Little Late)
Heather and I got back from our Christmas/New Year’s vacation today. It was a couple of days longer than we were expecting, thanks to Northwest Airlines canc...
Evening Out With Matt and Clarissa
Heather and I met our friends Matt and Clarissa at Stetsons for happy hour. We ate a lot of wings and a lot of fries; and while the others consumed several b...
Cowboys Get Beat Bad
So Hedda and I got back a little bit ago from the Cowboys game. There really wasn’t any sweet revenge, as I had so fervently hoped. Instead, the Cowboys suff...
Tickets to the Cowboys Game
Last night, Hedda surprised me with an early Christmas gift. She got us tickets to this Sunday’s match-up between my beloved Cowboys and their nemisis the Re...
Banksy Graffiti Art
Teddy and I were chatting about my recent musings on Borf’s plea, and he pointed me at a UK artist named Banksy.
The Mole Man Cometh, and Gets Chopped Out With a Scalpel
Here’s one entry you probably weren’t expecting:
Mixed Feelings Over Borf Guilty Plea
There’s a little flame war going on over over at the Logan Circle Blog’s comments for the post describing the arrest of Borf, a local DC graffiti artist/vand...
Phone Phishing Scam from Domain Registry Support
A few minutes ago, I received a phone call, and the number came up as “Unavailable.” I’m not one of those crazy types who screens their phone calls, so I pic...
Smart Car Crash Test
Europeans have a different idea about automobiles than we do. For many years, the price of gasoline across the pond has been higher than even the so-called h...
Email and Old Friends
It started off with an email from an old friend and co-worker Michael Klynstra, to whom I had not spoken since shortly after Geneer went under. He was one of...
Happy Thanksgiving
The lack of updates has been due primarily to Hedda and I being out of town, visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday. I do have Internet connectivity vi...
Find Independent Coffee Shops
If you’re like me, you enjoy a good latte in a laid-back, independent coffee shop - preferably with free wi-fi. They’re easy to find with the help of Delocat...
Stuck in an Elevator
Heather and I live next to a construction site. They’re building a very large condominium building right next door to us. Since our unit is slightly below gr...
Geek Humor - or, Why My Wife Doesn’t Think I’m Funny
There’s a post over on Slashdot about capacitors going bad on some Dell workstations. It’s not really that interesting of an article, but this punny comment ...
Independence Air Was Too Good To Last
I’m sad to see that Independence Air is filing for bankruptcy, and if no new options become available, they will cease operations after sixty days. Hedda and...
Public Urination
Since Hedda and I moved to DC a few months back, we have collectively called the police more than any other place we have ever lived together. And although I...
Everybody Has My Laptop
As a contractor, I spend a fair amount of time working in various non-traditional office locations. I am partly enabled to choose my work location by the mob...
Requiem for a Blog, or Young Bloggenstein
The DCist is mourning the death of Mayor Tony Williams’ blog. You see - and I never knew this - “a blog that goes without an update for 30 days or more is co...
Are We Really That Much More Likely To Need Health Care?
So after moving into the District, Hedda and I discovered that many things in DC are much more expensive than in Virginia. Okay, make that pretty much everyt...
Holocaust Museum
Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for the first time. The experience is extremely powerful, and not for th...
Logan Circle News Blog
The Logan Circle Updates blog, very recently created by our friends Chris and Jennifer, is getting quite a lot of press lately. It was covered on the local n...
Started Swimming
Following an episode that can only be characterized as a back muscle cramp, in which I was unable to sit up in bed, I sought medical advice from a profession...
Baths Still Suck
It rained most of the day Saturday, but despite the dampness the move went well. Sunday was spent unpacking the mass of boxes that the truck had vomited onto...
Moving Day
Today Hedda and I will move into our new flat, with the help of a bunch of our good friends. Feel free to check out the ArdCam and watch us move everything o...
This is Not An April Fools Story
This is for real, but how fitting that I discover this on April Fools Day. There was an article in the Washington City Paper about the construction site righ...
This Is An April Fools Story
Finally, proof that there is water on Mars!
Three Little Keys
Q: What does a crapload of money and a lot of signatures get you?
Worry Wort
I just returned from the bank. I am holding in my hand a very large certified check, and my account balance looks far less impressive. I have butterflies in ...
Mom Visits
My mom came to visit this weekend, and it was so great to see her. She was able to accompany Heather and I on our walk-through of the new condo, and she was ...
Buying a House Today
Things have been really crazy around here. Heather and I have been going through the final motions of purchasing a condo, and that all culminates today. We a...
A Promise to Weeks and Mike
It’s funny. This morning in the shower, for a brief time, my mind wasn’t clouded with thoughts of the impending settlement on the condo. In this brief respit...
Blogging Killed the C-SPAN Star
On Friday, I had the pleasure seeing Lawrence Lessig speak at the Library of Congress. I consider Professor Lessig to be the foremost thinker about the myria...
Dream Non Sequiter
I rarely remember my dreams. So when I do, I feel compelled to tell people about them. I had a dream last night that Heather and I were visiting Dave Edwards...
Laptop Back
My laptop hard drive died again a few weeks ago. After much hemming and hawing, I was finally able to get HP to repair it for me. Despite the fact it was tec...
Condo Shopping
Wow. Again, sorry for the lack of updates recently. Hedda and I have been working hard to affect probably the biggest change in our lives since moving to Vir...
What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?
There’s a great little column in the NY Times where they asked a bunch of scientists that very question. The respondants include some pretty famous names, in...
Goodbye 2004
Well, here we go! One minute before midnight! This past year has definitely been interesting. I posted 135 blog entries in 2004, including this one. We start...
Laser on my Plane
As the plane on which Hedda and I were flying approached National Airport Wednesday night, I was looking out the window of the airplane, and I noticed this h...
How To Fly For Free
Hedda and I are sitting in Dulles Airport right now. We were waiting to fly home for Christmas. However, the flight was way oversold and we decided to volunt...
Evil American Express Telemarketing
For the past week or so, I’ve been getting a single phone call every day from a mysterious number: +1 888.389.6736. The first several times the call came thr...
Yuletide Cheer
I couldn’t agree more. Given the retail penchant for beginning Christmas Season earlier and earlier every year, I’m surprised people aren’t really flipping o...
Whoa, A Post!
I apologize for the dearth of updates around here. I know that some people rely on me for their daily entertainment, and I have been remiss in fulfilling tha...
Sold the Car
I sold my car on Friday, and we sold Hedda’s car back in July. It feels really good to have one less thing to worry about. No more insurance payments. No mor...
A New Olympic Sport
Only in America.
Easily Tripp Over Amazon Batteries
So there was a recent power outage here, and I noticed that my computers shut off when it happened. Now, that may not be so surprising to you, but I have a U...
Weeks’ Labor Day Bonanza 5
This past Labor Day was spent at Silver Lake, in the vacation cabin of Weeks’ family. The trip has become an annual affair where many of our college friends ...
I’m Not l33t Enough to be a Blackhat
Since I work from home, I spend a fair amount of time working from the local cool coffee shop, The Common Grounds. They have good coffee, good sandwiches, fr...
I Don’t Even Know Her
When I lived in Chicago, I had set up a Game Night crew. Every week or two we would get together and play D & D. Since we’ve moved to Viriginia, Hedda an...
Three Tequila Night
Kasey turned 26 last night, and she invited Hedda and I over to her new place down in Water Front for a birthday/housewarming party. Unfortunately, Hedda and...
Emptied My Camera
Well, it’s several weeks late, but I finally got the pictures off the camera from Nate & Kathy’s wedding. You can browse them here.
Stupid Quiz with Cool Graphic
Courtesy of Husky Ted, I took this silly quiz about my social tendencies. I don’t normally post these kinds of disposable Internet junk sites, but I think th...
One Year of Marriage
Hedda and I celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary yesterday. I can’t believe all of the amazing changes in our lives that have occurred in the last year,...
Bohanan Wedding
Nate’s wedding was this past weekend, and it was a good one! Hedda and I were both standing up on Nate’s side, which gave the pastor pause a few times when h...
Turning Twenty-Six
So I turned 26 on Thursday. I was expecting this birthday to pass by without much notice from anybody. I mean, twenty-six is just one of those birthdays that...
Nate’s Bachelor Party
Nate’s bachelor party was this past weekend, and it was a blast! We started off at Mark Wiley’s house for a little cookout and pre-party drinking. The evenin...
Hedda Quoted
Hedda got quoted in USA Today. How cool is that?
Two Down; 7,998 to Go!
Today, after months of work, I successfully executed a bulk-import of two hierarchical objects into our repository running on the Library’s primary servers. ...
Shredder, You Idiot!!
I burned out my little 3-page strip-shredder a few weeks ago. Actually, I didn’t burn it out. I fed too many sheets to it one too many times and stripped its...
March For Women Photo
There is a photo of us when we were Marching for Women’s Lives. From left to right, that is Alex Lo, Brian Vargas (me), Heather Vargas (my wife), Katie Schul...
Sunday Morning
Saturday Night is over. No more rehearsals, no more call, no more brush-ups, no more curtain. No more “Exhibit A” and no more cast parties. It’s really very ...
Cicada Algorithm Reverse Engineered
There are a few cicadas on my porch, and I have been fascinated for much of the morning by their behavior. One of them has spent a large portion of its time ...
Lies, censored Lies, and Censorship (Warning: Bad Language)
I was just updating my PGP Key page so that it showed my fingerprint, as well as a method for easily contacting me to personally verify that fingerprint. I m...
Geneer Wall Gantt Timewarp
Back in the old days at Geneer, before they went out of business and screwed a bunch of us out of two weeks pay, we used to do a lot of cool experimentation ...
Show Weekend #2
Tonight marked the start of the second weekend of the run of Saturday Night. My mom made the trek from Indiana to see the show, and we’ve had a great time si...
Google To The Rescue
The post I had accidentally deleted has been restored thanks to the Google Cache. Thanks to BTJ for expressing his desire to help, but not actually doing any...
First Review of Saturday Night
The Washington Post has the first review of Saturday Night. The review is not very positive, which is too bad. Still, at least nothing bad was directly said ...
Fire!! (Just Kidding….)
I hate Arlington Courthouse Plaza. I mean, it’s an okay building and all. It has nice, solid concrete and working elevators. The people are nice, and they pu...
Accidentally Deleted Post
I was updating my post on the fire alarm this morning, and I seem to have accidentally pasted over the wrong entry, thus deleting my Alan Turing Was Gay post...
Alive - And Without Devouring Any Souls
Let’s see. What have I been doing lately? Oh, right! Everything!
March For Women’s Lives
Hedda, Katie, Chris, and I spent the morning and afternoon in the midst of the March for Women’s Lives in DC. The march was a rally mainly for the pro-choice...
Working in the Park
I got my new backpack from Amazon yesterday. Amazingly, I got a shipping notice at 1:22, and the package had arrived by 13:00! That was fast!
Irony (n.)
The CEO of McDonald’s has died of a heart attack.
How To Make A Latte
After getting my milk steamer, it took me a long time to figure out how to use it correctly. It’s surprisingly difficult, but I finally figured out exactly h...
Saturday Night Tickets On Sale
The show draws near! Just another few weeks of rehearsal. If you want to order tickets, they went on sale today. So come see me sing and dance and stuff.
Wanna Sit In A Car With Me For Eleven Hours?
In addition to my day job of being a geek, I also occaisionally moonlight as a gamer. As in roleplaying games. As in Dungeons & Dragons and the ilk. That...
Just Take My Money!
The most annoying thing about this new-fangled e-commerce crap is that every goddamn site wants me to sign up with a username and password just to buy someth...
Visit From The Fam
Hedda’s parents came to visit us this past weekend, and they brought her grandparents with them. What a crazy weekend! They drove from South Bend over a two-...
Sweaty Rehearsal
Rehearsal last night was the most gruelling I’ve ever attended. I was sweaty and breathing hard by the end of it, and this is a family show! We were blocking...
Happy Birthday, Heather!
Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife! I love you, Heather!
Transcript of a Call form Sony Ericsson
Transcript from a call I received yesterday afternoon:
Back in Virginia
Hedda and I returned this evening from a whirlwind trip back to the midwest. It’s crazy trying to fit in family, friends, and driving (curse you, Ohio!) all ...
$13.86 Poorer
James Avery has come up with the perfect idea for what to do with your $13.86. Donate it to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
$13.86 Richer
Yesterday I received a letter from Jerry W. Kilgore, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia. It contained a check for $13.86, my payment as pa...
A Year Ago
A year ago, Heather, Weeks, Lou, Nicole, Pete, and I were in Italy. What a great time; I hope we can go back again soon.
Adventures in Read-Throughs
Tonight was the first rehearsal for Saturday Night. For those of you not familiar with theater, the first rehearsal is the read-through. The cast gets togeth...
Cast in Saturday Night
Katie called me up early last week to see if I would like to audition with her for Saturday Night, performed by The Arlington Players. I’ve been itching to g...
Half-Time
Oh. My. God. Did you see the look on Janet’s face when JT did his thing and her boob popped out? Now, I know it’s totally staged, but it was still priceless....
Sick
Blah…I hate being sick. I’m not sure what I have, but hopefully I’ll be over it by tomorrow. It knocked me out most of yesterday and all of today. On the bri...
Winter Wonderland
It’s snowing right now. It’s been snowing for the past several hours. Snow is cool, especially when you live someplace that doesn’t get snow very often, but ...
Free Your Books
Here’s your Cool Idea of the Day. It’s kinda like Where’s George for books. Except it’s not quite as utterly pointless. And the intention is to give away boo...
Frothity Goodness
I never really liked coffee. You see, whenever I would pass a Gloria Jean’s in the mall, or even just meander down the coffee isle at the grocery store, the ...
Come Sail Away With Me
Hedda and I are on our way home for Christmas right now. She’s driving now, and we just passed mile marker 90 on I-80 in the drudgery that is Ohio, and “Sail...
Most Annoying Sound Ever
Q: What’s more annoying than … well … anything at all?
Blog Discovery
While ego surfing, I discovered this LiveJournal entry by my good friend Teddy. It describes our wedding. (No, silly. To Hedda, not to Teddy.) I didn’t even ...
Shower
Working from home has certainly been detrimental to my pesonal hygiene. It’s really easy to wake up in the morning and skip showering or shaving or pants whe...
Back to That Same Ol’ Place
Tonight I took a walk. I was ostensibly running errands, but I found that my feet kept taking me the long way around my neighborhood. I walked past my first ...
Back to Chicago
Provided we found our way to the airport correctly, Hedda and I should be taking off from BWI back to Chicago right now. (I am pre-dating this entry, so it s...
Found an Apartment
Hedda and I found an apartment yesterday. It’s a different style place than we’ve been used to, though. We’ve lived in a building built around the turn of th...
Apartment Hunting in DC
Holy cow and I am exhausted. Hedda and I just spent all day running around Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia looking for apartments to rent. We visited five...
Farewell Avanade
Well, this is it. My last day.
Wedding Weekend in Wausau, Wisconsin
Hedda and I just got back from Wausau, WI, where we attended the wedding of one of my college roomates to his long-time girlfriend. Congratulations to Dave a...
Moving to The District
My life has taken an exciting and interesting twise! I have taken a contracting position with the Library of Congress, and Hedda and I will be moving to Wash...