Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

Super diva Donna Summer, 63, passed this week. I should have known I was gay when I enjoyed dancing to her inspirational and soulful singing when I was 10 years-old. Beyond her glorious days of disco, Ms. Summer never quite made a successful comeback, nor was she ultimately successful in battling cancer. That's the beautiful and sad reality of many lives; great but often unfulfilled and over far too soon. On the activism front, I am still on my sabbatical, however, a few weeks ago a major highlight thus far this year for me was attending a pre-trial court hearing for Pvt. Bradley Manning , the greatest government whistle blower since Daniel Ellsberg. He is once again being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, although his own government is trying to put him away for life. I was overjoyed to see Bradley smiling in court and engaging in detailed conversations with his attorney. He seemed engaged and a bit hopeful during the proceedings. At one point, Bradley entered the court f...

Sometimes you just need to escape reality, and sometimes you have a hankering for a good game. It's great when these two wants collide. For me that's been fantasy role-playing. My Pathfinder (sometimes called D&D 3.75) campaign has had more than two dozen sessions, and that's what I would consider a long-running campaign. The makeup of the game has changed a couple times, and I think we are settling down to the five players we have now. I am pleased with the gaming troupe we have. I mentioned in a previous blog posting about Mike and how he came late into the campaign and was playing a disruptive character. Honestly I think it was more Mike as a player. I have played several fantasy role-playing games with him in the past -- and as a player he is usually very impulsive and makes poor decisions. Overall, he's a better DM, but even that is not saying much... But anyhow, yes, he was asked not to return to the group. And this last session just had a better feel to it. H...

My new job is going well, and it appears our contract is being expanded. That means that my co-worker and I will be overlooking other contractors from our firm arriving within the next month or two as the project moves into the next phase. Today I am home on a paid holiday! I don't think I've ever had Veterans Day off from work before. Bruno is doing well, and it seems that he is gaining much better bladder control and his listening skills are improving, as well. Later this morning we are going down to the lake! Anyhow, let me dive into a couple things. I love cooking! And a few weeks ago I made this delicious and nutritious soup for myself and my housemates. Here's the recipe I created. First make the chicken stock -- I stole this from the cool cookbook my sister Ellen bought me. It's "Japanese Hot Pots" by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat. 1 pound chicken bones and wings 12 cups water, plus more for boiling the bones Place the bones in a large stockpot, fill it ...