Hey, you fucks who have been robbing men in Chicago.... John is ready for you!

So, it's snowing here in marry old District, and it is, might I say, fucking beautifull! There was a dribble more than a drizzle when I went to the Cat this evening, but by the time I left I had to find my bike in the pile of snow encasing it. Winter-better late than never. I always get a thrill out of riding through the snow, especially when it's been accumulating. So there I was sloleming through the alps, the music from my favorite decade (okay maybe not so much) still pulsing through my veins, and I shoot through an intersection where a lone individual is rapping, yelling, having an argument, sharing a motivational speech with himself. As I decide to keep periphrial tabs I hear him exclaim,"Damn son, you a soulja, a soulja, a soulja!" And my now repped witty reply was,"Word up!" Seriously, proudest momment of my life. (A post ride photo to follow when the battery on my camera re-charges...)

Joe got a flat on the way home last night so I drove him to work this morning. I knew it was going to be pretty with all the snow all over everything so I took the camera. There weren't that many people out, but it seemed like everyone who WAS out had their cameras with them, too. There was an old man by the Potomac with a really old-timey camera, on a tripod, with that accordion-looking thing on it (anyone know what I'm talking about?) I bet his pictures are better than mine.

It was still really dreary and gray when I started out, around 10am:
People had their kids out building snowmen ... adorable



I schlepped over the the WWII memorial, which I haven't visited before. It has a great view of the Lincoln memorial, which is probably much nicer in the spring. Walking back to the car I noticed I had a good view of the president's house:



More in the responses: the Tidal basin, Potomac Park, the sun begins to come out, the Jefferson Memorial, and the sculpture garden (my favorite):

All of the pics in this post were taken just outside my house. I was pretty drunk when I took them, so I didn't have a very steady hand for some. There's something very nice about being drunk during a heavy snow.

- petite brussel sprouts (frozen)
- water
- season-all
- about a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
- coarse-ground black pepper

1. Put about 20 brussel sprouts into a small sauce pan, or enough to cover the pan
2. Fill with just enough water to cover the brussel sprouts
3. Add olive oil, season to taste and heat on a medium heat
4. Fool around online and forget about them
5. Turn the heat off when you smell them burning
6. Serve

I actually like them this way. They have a good roasted flavor, and they're very infused with the olive oil.

My parents and I went out for Sunday Brunch at a local brewery and grill place today. The broasted chicken was glorious and I found out that they have the trivia with the handheld devices at the bar, making this the first place I have found in Green Bay with such wonders. I'm going to have to gather up my nerds one night, get a few pitchers of homebrew, and test the level of my otherwise useless factual knowledge.

There was also this astounding Family of Bad Sweaters at the table across from our booth. It was like watching the wardrobe of "The Cosby Show" eat buffet. There were approximately 7 adults and 4 children, each donning a sweater so foul and garish that I was mesmerized for a full 10 minutes by the fluctuating sea of bold, disharmonious colours and busy geometric shapes.

There was also 80s hair. It was early 80s hair, too; that mysterious transition between the limp shapelessness of 70s hair and the era of the poodle bangs. The men all had curly hair, thus accentuating the uniform helmet of unparted, untapered coiffure. The women displayed both the short and long versions of scraggly early 80s hair. One of the women (the one in the oversized black V-neck cardigan with the first buttons near the navel and florescent argyle pattern on the front) even had a black leather bomber jacket with "PACKERS" emblazoned across the back and green and gold trim on the cuffs and waist.

I tell you, Killoggs, this family was my own personal gorgonian monster. I would have attempted to capture it on film but I feared rousing its cognizance and facing the relentless attack of diamonds and triangles and gold hoop earrings that would no doubt result from my photographic efforts. Family of Bad Sweaters, I salute you. You have collectively done the unthinkable and stolen The Gold Medal of the Unfashionable from Blonde Texan Exotic Bird Woman and Entire Polish District of Chicago. You are both magnificent and terrible, Family of Bad Sweaters.

I got an email from Jessica today. I assumed it was Jess and thought it curious that she'd be writing me in such a naked, vulnerable way. It was not. Enjoy, and feel free to email this little Shakespeare.

Sender's Name: JESSICA
Sender's e-Mail: jessicahall513@yahoo.com
Subject: i want to talk to someone
Sent via http://www.killoggs.com/feedback/

Message: hay i want to talk to you about something

Brandon to jessicahall513

Sure. What's on your mind?

wrote:

well i want a boy friend so i can lick there dick and they finger me and play with my cheast but i dont want a baby

Yeah, justify this shit. All my British acquaintances tell me that they can't understand a fucking thing most african-americans say, that it really sounds like a different language to them.. Sometimes I wonders if it be worth they effort figure out da regularities of there grammas.

I don't care who the fuck you are, when you write like this, and you're trying to fuck with someone, but the target has to read it three times to get it, you need to pay more attention in English class.

While watching what is surely one of the best episodes of Inside the Actors' Studio ever (a two-hour interview with Dave Chappelle) I saw something that was arguably one of the most offensive things I've ever seen.

It had absolutely nothing at all to do with the show itself. Right in the middle of a commercial, the TV screen went black and this weird and fuzzy image popped on the screen but it was hazy and kind of skipped around a lot. On the screen was a middle-aged white man sitting in a park or something and he starts talking about how when he was a kid he was sexually molested and that turned him towards the "gay lifestyle." Then he goes on to say how he's now found Jesus and that has saved him and brought him out of "that lifestyle." The ad/propaganda ends with "this message has been brought to you by the Arlington Assembly of God" or something.

Now, I'd say this was just some kind of weird fluke or some signals got crossed but I have a feeling this was some kind of pirated message. I mean think about it, it's the Bravo channel which is known for Queer Eye and Project Runway (featuring numerous gay contestants) that can't be a coincidence.

But man, that's just straight up hateful propaganda. There's no way any network would actually allow this church to buy ad space if THIS was the ad that they were going to show. The way the ad just kind of popped up and cut into another ad and the super negative message it contained just makes me feel that this was somehow pirated onto the airways.

All I can really say is just, wow. It's kind of scary that people feel that being gay is something that can just be "cured" by finding Jesus. I mean, yeah this kind of hatemongering is nothing new but the subversive and sneaky nature of this ad really creeped me out.