I have not written in my Livejournal in almost a year. Wow.

The last thing I wrote was some weirdly dramatic post about me and Rob not being on the same page. Now, almost a year later, I have no fucking clue what that was about. We're awesome.

My life is about as boring as they come these days. We've become rather frugal, and are both total homebodies, so we don't go out very much anymore unless it's to hang out with a friend/friends at their home. We like it that way. We don't feel like we're missing anything by not going to the bar every single week.

I feel like I want to start writing in here again. Maybe I'll continue to remember that this thing exists.

Bryan

I never write in here anymore. It's not even that I don't want to; I just don't have the time.

At any rate, I'm getting married in less than a month!

I have paragraphs upon paragraphs that I could write in here, but I just don't have the energy, so I'll recap it thusly: I'm incredibly happy.

That is all.

Bryan

Picked up Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 on Saturday, and I have to say, I'm really not impressed. I mean, it's *decent,* but nothing extraordinary. It's just like the last one, which was just like the two X-Men Legends games, and they're all fun, but it's nothing ground-breaking. Even worse, considering I just finished the insanely good Batman Arkham Asylum, it REALLY suffers in comparison to that game.

Anyone else playing this? Thoughts?

Bryan

Well, my 28th birthday has come and gone. Thank you to everyone who sent along kind birthday wishes, or who helped me celebrate in person... I'm blessed to have such good friends. :-)

The actual day itself was actually extremely low-key. I stayed home sick from work, and then Rob and I ordered pizza that night and watched the ANTM and Lost season finales. That was it. LOL. Actually, he's taking me out to dinner tonight, I think.

To be honest, I've been very "blah" about my birthday this year. Part of it is that I've been in a "blah" head space for the last few months anyway (for reasons that have already been documented here in previous posts), but the other part is that I was honestly not thrilled be turning 28. I know that sounds ridiculous to a lot of people, and I admit that it probably is, but it's like... wow... high school was a decade ago. 30 is just around the corner. I'm very quickly hitting the point in my life at which I'll no longer be considered "young," if, in fact, I haven't hit it already. I know a lot of good things are ahead of me, but I'm just having some growing pains adjusting to the reality of it all.

In other birthday-related news, I was able to use some Best Buy gift cards I had received to purchase myself an iPhone! I know, I'm late to the party, but I immediately fell in love with it as soon as I started playing around and exploring everything it could do. A week in, and I already don't know how I could live without it, LOL.

How's everyone's week been?

Bryan

My doctor's office just called me, asking me to come in a week earlier than my previously scheduled appointment, to have more blood drawn. They didn't say why I needed to have more blood work done. It makes me slightly nervous, but I also trust that if it were something immediately life-threatening/altering, they'd have me come in as soon as possible, rather than three weeks from now, and that's what I'm trying to focus on.

But still, it makes me nervous.

Bah.

Bryan

Slickdeals.net is one of my must-visit-daily sites. And today, it paid off in a big way:

Sony Bravia KDL-46V4100 46" 1080p flat-panel LCD HDTV for $930 ($893 w/ DPA). Since I have a Dell Preferred Account, I got the TV for $893, with 0% interest for 12 months. Also, shipping was free. Tax was somewhere around $50.

I've never ordered anything this big for home delivery before, and I'm just hoping and praying that it comes undamaged and in excellent working condition, so I don't have to deal with the hassle of returning it. But right now, I'm absolutely ecstatic. :-)

And I promise, once we get the TV, we'll be MUCH more likely to have people over.

Bryan

PS: We have a 36" Toshiba standard def TV that now needs a good home. We'll give it to you for free if you can pick it up. Anyone interested?

Had a FANTASTIC weekend. Decided Thursday night to take Friday off for a personal/mental health day, and it made all the difference. Managed to get through about half of my MASSIVE stack of unread comics, caught up on sleep, watched some movies, hung out with friends, and spent yesterday reorganizing and scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom, while Rob washed, bleached, and scrubbed the deck. When we went to bed last night, we both definitely felt like we had accomplished much.

I'm giving Weight Watchers another try. I have a checkup next week -- my first in, uh, we'll go with "years" -- and I have a very bad feeling about some of the news I might receive in terms of my general health. I know that a big change is going to be absolutely necessary, so I'm getting a head start. The good (and somewhat unexpected) news is that I'm almost 7 lbs. down from the beginning of the year... nothing major, obviously, but still, it's better to be 7 lbs. down than 7 lbs. up, right?

Last night, Rob and I packed our lunches together. I did the sandwiches; he measured out the chips (Baked Lays for me, Doritos for him). Afterward, we scribbled our names on our respective bags with a marker. It was all too cute for words. :-)

Wednesday night, we're seeing Vienna Teng at Wolf Trap. I can't wait. She's so gifted. Her new CD comes out tomorrow, so I'll have to pick that up beforehand.

Bryan

* Had a great night out at the Green Lantern Saturday night with Graham, Terry, James, Quentin, and everyone else. We had not been out in almost a year -- literally, I think the last time Rob and I went to the bar together was last May, for my birthday -- and it was a blast. Now that I live in the city, I'm hoping to be less of a hermit in that regard.

* A corollary of the first bullet point: thanks to James, I discovered a new shot that will definitely be on my arsenal going forward: the pineapple upside-down shot. Grenadine, vodka, and pineapple juice. Delicious!

* Rob and I are both trying to get our finances in order. It's hard, because my family's season of birthdays is about to begin, and he and I also need to buy suits for a friend's formal birthday event we're attending in May. We don't really have the money, but not attending is not really an option, and he made it well-known that suits were required. So I guess we'll just have to suck it up. But hopefully we'll both get some credit card debt paid off, and some savings built up.

* Been thinking about the roadtrip Amanda and I are going to take when she gets back in the States, and I suddenly find myself compelled to leave the country. I wonder if she would be interested in either Toronto or Montreal? Must remember to ask.

* Right around the new year, I made a declaration on here that I wasn't leaving LJ for Facebook. And I'm still not. But the mass exodus that has occurred on LJ has been swift and brutal on my friends list, and I find myself checking LJ and updating my journal much less frequently than I did in the past. Now, when I go to my friends list, the entries go back almost a full 24 hours per page. In the past, they would've only gone back a few hours at most. I can't see myself NOT journaling, but I wonder if, come next year, my LJ will exist mostly as a private journal? I'm not sure.

Bryan

Good job, gays. We've literally redefined marriage. Go team!

Bryan

Went to Fairfax tonight to watch Idol with Aaron. I have to say, with the exception of Michael Sarver, Lil' Rounds, and Scott McIntyre, I thought everyone had a surprisingly good night.

My favorite, once again, was Adam Lambert. Here's the thing, though: he's CLEARLY one of those guys you're either going to love or hate. There's not going to be any middle ground. There's always one such polarizing contestant every year. See also: Taylor Hicks (HATED him), Blake Lewis (liked him in general, but truly hated the beatboxing crap), and David Cook (LOATHED HIM). But for once, I'm in the "love" column on that particular contestant. I like his huge, over-the-top performances. But I recognize they're not for everybody. We'll see how far he goes. I think the fact that the three polarizing contestants that I named earlier in the paragraph came in first, second, and first is pretty telling on where this kid is headed, though.

Also, the line of the night, courtesy of Aaron: "Paula is like the leaning tower of vicodin!"

G'night.

Bryan

I know everyone is talking about Adam Lambert being a big ol' 'mo, but another Idol contestant might have just accidentally outted himself: Jorge Nunez.

In a video posted on EW.com, at the very end of the interview, he let it slip that he is a huge Kathy Griffin fan, and name-checked "My Life on the D-List."

... Oh, really?

Riddle me this: how many straight men do YOU know who would admit to loving Kathy Griffin? The answer: NONE.

Go on with your bad gay self, Jorge.

Bryan

If you haven't watched it yet, you owe it to yourself to watch last night's "Daily Show."

Last week, the Daily Show did a segment BLASTING CNBC for consistently getting it wrong when it came to the stock market, doing fluff interview pieces with guys who eventually became the architects of the financial collapse, etc. The two networks have been feuding for a week now. Last night, Jim Cramer (the guy who yells a lot and smashes things on his show) went on the Daily Show for a faceoff with Stewart. They devoted the entire show to it. And John Stewart just absolutely HAMMERED Cramer for the entire 30 minutes.

The basic gist was this: CNBC is culpable for its part in the current financial crisis -- for NOT asking the hard questions... for taking CEOs at their word instead and parroting what they were saying as opposed to doing their own investigations and analysis... for ignoring what they CLEARLY KNEW WAS HAPPENING. He really hammers the point home that the financial media really failed at their job.

As one commenter on a blog I read said, "It's incredible that a comedian on a fake news show is more an authentic news man than the supposedly "real" journalists."

Too true.

Bryan

* Today was an expensive day at Best Buy. Picked up lots of stuff from my wishlist that came out today: the new Kelly Clarkson CD (just over halfway through it, and it's AWESOME -- MUCH better than "My December"), the Pinocchio Blu-ray (fun fact: Pinocchio was the first movie I ever got on VHS, when I was just 4 or 5), and Milk and South Park season 12 on DVD. I also had the Role Models DVD in my hand, but decided to put it back on the shelf; while it looks incredibly funny, it's not a "must-have," and it's one of those movies that will be on sale for $5 by the time Christmas rolls around.

* I did another thing to help the economy today: I took advantage of an awesome Slickdeal for 80% off your total Restaurant.com order. For those not in the know, Restaurant.com sells restaurant gift certificates for much less than face value. Usually, it's $10 for every $25 of value. For instance, usually you can get a $25 gift certificate for $10, a $50 one for $20, a $75 one for $30, and so forth. So I was able to pick up the following gift certificates -- $25 to Cubano's in Silver Spring, $25 to Bullfeathers on Capitol Hill, $10 to Ted's Montana Grill in Ballston, $25 to La Tasca Tapas Bar in Clarendon, $25 to Alero in Dupont Circle, $25 to B. Smith's in Union Station, $25 to Sticky Rice right around the corner from the house, $10 to ZPizza in Old Town, and $25 to Red Hot & Blue in Rosslyn -- for a grand total of $16.20. SWEET. A lot of these are restaurants that I've been wanting to try anyway, so now we have a valid excuse.

* Planning is about to begin in earnest for my 10-year high school reunion. I emailed 9 of my classmates and asked if they wanted to be a part of the reunion planning committee; thus far, I've heard back from 6 of them (three of whom are good friends of mine already), all in the affirmative. We're getting together next weekend in Salisbury to begin the planning process. The first decision we have to make is the date of the event, for which I'm going to push hard for Homecoming weekend (mid-October). All in all, I think we'll have a good group. Hopefully things will go smoothly.

* I'm still not street-legal in DC yet. I now have my DC license, switched to new insurance (Progressive is charging me half of what my former carrier Geico was going to charge me; screw you, gekko.), and gotten my car inspected. I was going to get my registration/plates taken care of yesterday, but both DMVs that were open had lines running out the door and around the building all. damn. day. Seriously. So, eventually I'll have DC plates, but not yet...

That's all I've got. Be good.

Bryan

I feel like I'm in a rut of some sort, and can't figure out exactly what the problem is and/or how to fix it. I just know that I feel consistently frustrated and vaguely unhappy.

I must ponder this.

Bryan

Last night, as I was trying to fall asleep, a thought randomly popped into my head: the movie theater (at least as it currently exists) will be obsolete in the next 5-10 years.

Think about it: how many times have YOU complained about not wanting to go to a movie theater because it's too expensive? Too crowded? The people are rude? The concessions are horribly overpriced? It's uncomfortable? It's inconvenient? You can just rent/buy the DVD in three months anyway?

With the advent of home theaters, and the soaring popularity of HD TVs, Blu-Ray DVD players, Netflix, etc., there are a lot of people who don't go to the movies anymore, period. And even die-hard movie fans such as myself are going a lot less... whereas in college, it wasn't unusual for me to go to the movies 4 or 5 times a month, I might go to the movies about 10 times a year now, and only for movies that I either can't wait an extra three or four months to see (e.g., going to see "Watchmen" tomorrow night), or the movie theater experience offers me something I won't be able to get at home (e.g., seeing "Coraline" in 3D). Otherwise, I typically just wait, so I can watch it in the comfort of my own home.

We now have the ability to download/view movies directly from any number of (legitimate) sources -- iTunes, Netflix, Blockbuster, On Demand, etc. -- once they're released on DVD. But how much longer will it be before some studio gets the genius idea to bypass the middle man altogether and have first-run movies available for download on opening night? Or to have a download-only premiere, and therefore skip the theater process completely? And actually, I would argue that it might make a lot of sense for independent studios to go this route sooner rather than later, as many independent films can usually only be found in large cities for most of their theatrical releases under the current model, and this would enable more people who live in small towns and cities to see these movies.

Thoughts? Do you see things going this way, or am I crazy?

Bryan

So, a year ago today, Rob finally quit canceling on me and we met for the first time. I'm not going to lie... I was not convinced right off that there was anything to this. In fact, after having him cancel plans on me so many times at the last minute, I had branded him with the big giant "F" (for "flake"), mentally, and was really only coming over for a booty call. We hung out, talked quite a bit, made out some, but he refused to have sex with me. "I'm trying things differently in my 30s," he told me. "I want you to come back. And if we have sex tonight, I'll probably never see you again." (Honestly? Most likely true.)

So there was no sex, and I DID come back. And THAT time was mostly about sex, I won't lie. LOL. But then I kept coming back. I found that, even from the very beginning, I was VERY at ease with him, and vice versa. I could talk to him, and he could talk to me. We were both homebodies who preferred staying in and watching TV over going to the bars. We had a lot in common in terms of our backgrounds. Weeks turned into months, and in the first few months, we went through a small portion of my movie collection. I know it probably sounds lame, but those were some of our best dates... just hanging out on the couch, a freshly delivered pizza in front of us, watching "Transformers" or some other such flick.

One thing became readily apparent pretty early on: this was not my usual relationship. This was something much deeper. Rob was someone who I could picture myself starting a family with -- being co-PTA parents with. We didn't (and still don't) have much angst at all. I wasn't sure what to make of that. (I'm still not entirely sure what to make of that, at times.) But I know that my life wouldn't be as fantastic as it is every day without him in it. And i anxiously look forward to seeing what this next year will bring us.

Happy anniversary, baby. I love you.

Bryan

I think a lot of people familiar with animation would agree that the 90s were a great time for cartoons. Shows like The Simpsons, South Park, Tiny Toons, X-Men, and Batman: The Animated Series were all high-quality 'toons, and eminently rewatchable and entertaining for both adults and kids. (OK, maybe kids shouldn't necessarily watch South Park.) One of my favorites during this era was the Animaniacs.

One of the recurring segments on the show had the characters singing incredibly catchy but also pretty educational songs. I was thinking about the one about the 50 state capitals the other day and looked it up on YouTube, which led me to look up a few of the others, and now I can't get them out of my head. So I'll share my misery.

Two of the videos are now outdated, but they're still pretty entertaining and catchy. See if you don't find yourself smiling and humming along to them.

The U.S. Presidents:


The 50 State Capitals:


The Nations of the World:


Bryan

Rob and I are celebrating our anniversary this weekend. (I know, right?) We're looking for a nice restaurant to mark the occasion, but neither of us is particularly well-versed in local restaurants.

We'd like to go someplace nice, but casual enough where we can wear jeans. Definitely not looking for a chain restaurant or anything of that sort.

Food-wise, the only things that are really out are Indian and Middle Eastern. Everything else is pretty much fair game.

So... suggestions? :-D

Thanks!

I started the day off with a $50 ticket for using a "secret" entrance to 395 that I and hundreds of other people use every day, but a cop was sitting there today.

That, sadly, was the best part of my morning thus far.

Bryan

People -- mostly men of the homosexual persuasion -- have been clamoring for this to be released on DVD for YEARS, and it's finally going to happen:



It's being released on May 26. I'm sure famblueraincoat will be the first one in line. I'll probably be second.

Of course, the first season features this oft-quoted sequence:



"And that, Marjorie, just so you will know... and your children will someday know... is the night... the lights... went out... IN GEORGIA!!!"

Love it.

Bryan

Here's where things now stand:

* Bed (And OMG, it took us *40 MINUTES* to get it up the stairs. We both thought we were going to die.)
* Dresser
* Buy new desk
* Trash old desk
* Clothes (the half that are staying with me are moved; the half going into storage need to be packed up)
* TV (donated to Goodwill)
* Computer
* Bookcase
* Books
* Comics
* DVDs
* Dining room table
* Cookware
* Dishes
* Miscellaneous other items

It's been a VERY long day (and trust me when I say you don't know the half of it, unless you're Rob or Aaron), and I'm completely exhausted, but I'm now unofficially a DC resident. :-)

Bryan

Just curious... does anyone out there subscribe to Marvel's digital archives?

I love collecting comics, but it's gotten so expensive in recent years -- has anyone else noticed that they've started selling a lot more $3.99 comics?! -- plus, it just takes too much space to house them all. I was thinking that subscribing to the digital content might make it more cost- and space-efficient, if you can also read books that are currently on the stands. That would probably enable me to cancel at least half of my monthly titles, I'm sure.

Thoughts, opinions, comments?

Bryan

One of the nice things about moving in with Rob is that we've been able to take our time and move things a little bit at a time. This has also enabled us to do things on the cheap, which is nice, considering that this is my second move in only eight months. 

Earlier this week, Aaron and I found out from our landlord that the place we're living in currently HAD in fact been sold. We had been planning on being out by March 1, but now they want to close no later than the 23rd, so they want us out by then. So, in essence, we lost a week of potential moving time.

I took a personal day off work yesterday to get some move-related stuff accomplished. I knew that Aaron was taking today off for the same purpose, and I didn't want us to be tripping all over each other. I thankfully got a LOT done... I packed up all of my remaining comics, plus my books, and moved them over to Rob's. I started cleaning out my closet, throwing away things that I don't need (which was actually a very small amount, considering I just did the same thing eight months ago). I rented a storage space in Sterling, which is where we'll store Rob's bed and dining room table, plus a few of my things (extra clothes, some Ikea chairs, my night stands, etc.). Last night, Rob and I went to Ikea and bought a new desk, since my old desk has been through a number of moves at this point and won't survive another one. (It is literally falling apart.) I also donated my TV to Goodwill; it was 14 years old (I received it for Christmas my freshman year of high school), and I'll be purchasing an LCD or plasma TV later this year. It was actually a little sad, saying goodbye to it... it was one of the few things that has moved with me EVERY time I've moved. But it's still in decent condition, and is cable-ready, so hopefully it'll find a nice home in a teenager/college student's bedroom somewhere.

This weekend, we're going to try to move all of the "big stuff" that will require a truck. I just got word from Rob that we will be able to use a delivery truck from his friend who owns a commercial bakery (which... bonus... my mattress will smell like fresh-baked bread for a little bit, LOL). Here's where things stand currently:

* Bed
* Dresser
* Buy new desk
* Trash old desk
* Clothes
* TV (donated to Goodwill)
* Computer
* Bookcase
* Books
* Comics
* DVDs
* Dining room table
* Cookware
* Dishes
* Miscellaneous other items

It looks like I still have a lot to move, but most of the actual packing is done; most of this stuff just needs to be moved. By the end of the weekend, 90% of my stuff should either be at Rob's or in storage, with just a few small things left to take care of.

In other news, I'm really going to miss Aaron. We crack each other up, and I'm going to miss just hanging out with him, cackling about stupid stuff. :-\

Bryan

Nicktoons just recently began airing a new X-Men cartoon, "Wolverine and the X-Men." It comes on Friday nights at 8, I believe.

The first story arc was three episodes long and wrapped up this past Friday, and I'm somewhat shocked to say that it's actually REALLY good. They take some liberties with continuity; not like X-Men Evolution did, but it seems like the continuity is most closely based on the movies, as Rogue has no flight/super strength powers, and has a very close relationship with Wolverine, Toad is green and has the prehensile tongue/mucus-spitting powers, etc. But the animation and storyline are both pretty solid. The core team consists of Wolverine, Cyclops, Beast, Emma Frost, Iceman, Shadowcat, and Angel, and it looks like Storm will be joining the mix in the next episode, while Nightcrawler also appears in the opening credits, so he'll probably be included as well.

Here's a trailer, for those who are interested.



Bryan

Y'all know I'd never say an unkind word about ANYONE, but when I look at this byline and photo...



... All I can think is, "... really? Wow, there must have been a serious dearth of applicants for THAT job."

Bryan