DC

So far, I really like my new job. I work with an interesting mix of people: my immediate boss is only a few years older than I, one guy usually dresses in flannel and has a ponytail down to is butt, one guy is a clinical hypochondriac/germaphobe and the other guy always wears army fatigues and has an unhealthy obsession with guns. Other than that, I don't have any good work stories yet; just cool people and that I'm enjoying it.
I'm sick right now (stupid cold) so I want to keep it short but I had to write about this while I remember.

In case you've never been there, DC has a lot of homeless people. I've learned from Kristin (and others) that often times they have some sort of mental issue (for some, that's an understatement). Many of them tend to hang out in the same areas...I suppose that a certain concrete wall or patch of grass becomes something like their home. Now, keep in mind I'm NOT making fun of these people, but it is weird when you see things such as I have in the past week.

The two weirdest displays I've seen came in succession today as I was walking to the station from work. One guy was hunched over on the side of "Mass Ave" praying to a parking meter (seriously) and the other, a toothless old man, was skipping around the station shaking his empty coffee cup like a hip-hop artist pouring a bottle of Cristal onto the ground...all while blaring Christmas music from a boombox. Hey, 'tis the season.


-N

Madagascar or Mexican?

I've been waiting to talk about this for some time, for no reason other than it's nerdy.

As some of you know, I have a strong interest in gardening, some might say I'm obsessed. Now, being that we live on the 10th floor of an apartment that I could only assume was built by the Minoans, our green space is non-existent. I have, however, done quite a bit of research and, using a combination of shade tolerant plants, a well-lit window, supplemental grow lighting, humidity trays and the heat from our blazing radiators, I've managed to create a fairly effective apartment greenhouse.

The highlight of our collection is the Vanilla Orchid I purchased off of eBay in September. Yes, I did say Vanilla Orchid. At this point, I would like to defer to the words of a friend who is far more gifted in prose than I:

"So hang on. You're going to grow a vanilla orchid and... extract the vanilla from it? Like, as in "why not try some of my ice cream, made with fresh vanilla from that delightful orchid by the settee"?"

Yes I am, and well said, BW. The process is very time consuming as the orchid will not produce flowers for another two years or so. The flowers only last one day and have to be hand-pollinated. Also, the curing process takes at least a few weeks (from my understanding).

Included in the "greenhouse" are (or should I say "is?" This is where my English fails me because I am about to make a list with multiple nouns, but it will begin with a singular one....help?) a gardenia, two different kinds of basil, some thyme (not doing so hot) and a cactus (which would probably grow in my oven if I were strapped for space)...

Here the specimens (the vanilla has doubled in size since I got it and the gardenia has a flower on it now):

Evil?

Okay, so this is not my typical blog entry.

Lately, I've been very fascinated by the person of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ever since I saw an interview with him and (I'm blanking on the anchor's name right now), I've been wanting to read more about him and his regime. What I'm trying to figure out is if he is either A). A mad scientist and a gifted politician whose people adore B). The devil C). A hack with good speech writers

So lately, in my spare time I've been looking up articles on him and just seeing what he has to say. IF nothing else, he is a gifted speaker. On that note, so was Hitler (I've been trying to locate some of his speeches as well to compare them, but I am afraid that the CIA will come knocking on my door soon).

I want to write more about this, but I need to get back to work...I would recommend anyone read his (Ahmadinejad's) blog. More specifically, his letter to the American people. There's an English option if you can't read Farsi.

-N