CharmingGeek.net Funness

February 12, 2009

Valentine’s Idea

Filed under: holidays,media,video — bdparker @ 2:40 pm

Looking for the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day? You can’t beat the economy and sentiment of writing a poem. In case you’re having a little trouble starting out, here’s some inspiration.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCz0ZouYE0M

February 11, 2009

Single This Valentine’s Day? Get Excited!

Filed under: holidays,media,video — bdparker @ 1:21 pm

You’re going to have a blast. How about a girls night out?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxot1Ng6YCo

February 10, 2009

Ah, L’Amour

Filed under: holidays,media,video — bdparker @ 10:10 pm

In preparation for Valentine’s Day (my favorite holiday) I’m going to feature a few of my favorite videos. First, I present you with this lovely animation from Don Hertzfeldt, of “Rejected” fame. (I AM A BANANA!)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfEKv4990P4

February 4, 2009

25 Things

Filed under: general,personal — Tags: , — bdparker @ 3:04 am

Ok, 4 people have tagged me for this on Facebook. I figure I’ll go ahead and give in.
Here we go:

  1. My biggest pet peeve is homophone misuse. I can’t stand it when people confuse “”to”, “too”, and “two” or other simple homophones like “their”, “there”, and “they’re”.
  2. I’m a really slow writer. It’s going to take me days to finish this list. I always put a lot of thought into everything I write. And I’m easily distracted.
  3. I like to open bottles with my teeth. It’s a trick I learned in Uganda from one of my best friends, a Nigerian.
  4. I have no use for winter. I want it banished. I’d much rather be hot than cold. I’m rooting for global warming.
  5. I’m an environmentalist. Pollution is one of my biggest pet peeves. I want to be able to enjoy nature.
  6. I like loud music with a strong beat.
  7. I spent three spring breaks in college driving cross country. I think I visited 30 states or so in those trips.
  8. I love to go places, but I’m getting a little tired of traveling — that is, the actual journey. It may have something to do with spending between an hour and two every day just going to work in northern Virginia.
  9. I get really excited about math.
  10. A lot of times I don’t say what I’m thinking because what I’m thinking is a stupid Internet meme.
  11. By my 27th birthday I’d never broken a bone. By my 28th, I think I’d broken three. I should get an x-ray. And drink more milk.
  12. I’ve had very few serious injuries. They were both in Costa Rica. First time I went, I caught my leg on fire. That was the worst pain I’ve ever felt. The second time I went there, I got in a motorcycle accident and lost about a pound of flesh. I’m hoping to retain some scars from that.
  13. The first criteria on which I judge restaurants is whether or not they have a place to hang coats. It’s hard to enjoy a meal when you’re sitting on your coat or picking it up off the floor. Attention to details is important.
  14. I miss being able to get sweet tea at every restaurant I go to.
  15. I have one sibling — my older brother Scott, who’s in my Facebook profile picture.
  16. I don’t listen.
  17. Usually, right after I meet people, they ask where I’m from. I guess I have a southern accent. Now that I’ve lived up north for a while, if I hear a recording of myself, I’m surprised at how slowly I speak. I’m not in a hurry.
  18. When I was a tyke, I had a Hot Wheels police motorcycle that I rode. Mom claims that’s why I’ve always wanted a motorcycle. I love my bike.
  19. I decided I’m going to focus more on eating “food” and less on “food products” like HFCS and processed foods. Right now I’m drinking artificially-flavored, syrupy, black cherry soda from IBC. So you see how that’s going.
  20. I’m into big art. I have a painting of Raphael’s cherubini over my bed. It’s as big as my bed. Love that picture. I’ve actually had the same print in my room since I was a freshman in college. It got abused over the years but shortly after I moved to Virginia a very good friend got me a new print and framed it.
  21. I’m kind of a drama snob. I love to go to a play, but only if it’s produced in a way completely unlike it’s ever been done before.
  22. I have a crush on Missy Pergrym. Therefore, I am mad at Ben Rotheslesberger.
  23. I’m all for trying anything once. If there’s not a really good reason not to, I say, “Why not?”
  24. I’m critical. That is to say, I question everything. My opinions and beliefs are stronger for examining why I hold them and discarding what is unfounded.
  25. I love a good argument. Often I find myself arguing a completely indefensible point just to get somebody to say something rational back to me. I do it without realizing it. I’m perfectly willing to give up when the argument is lost. If nobody manages a convincing job, sometimes I’m left confused, briefly thinking I must have been right.

February 3, 2009

Meteorology

Filed under: DC,mobile update,rants — bdparker @ 5:50 am

For somebody who spends most of his daylight hours inside a windowless office, I sure talk about the weather a lot. If you like weather, I suppose Washington, DC is a good place for you. You like sunny days? You like driving rains? You like snow, sleet, ice pellets, freezing rain? You like unseasonably warm weather, or frigid temperatures? We got that. In fact, that was all today. There are plenty of cool days and mild days. Sometimes those come with gusting winds as well. If that doesn’t satisfy you, we’ll have scorching sun, unbearable humidity, tornadoes and hurricanes later. Just stand by. We’ll let you know about the changing conditions every ten minutes on the eights.

January 29, 2009

Frontline Playlist

Filed under: Frontline,media,video — bdparker @ 7:53 pm

Just let it run, there’s almost an hour worth of music here:

January 27, 2009

Finally

Filed under: media,mobile update,picture — Tags: , , , , , — bdparker @ 3:43 pm

It’s still snowing right now. There looks to be about an inch and a half on our porch railing. I decided to work from home this morning since I have a window here and would rather watch the snow fall than sit in my office dungeon thinking about how cold it is outside. Still I have to go in to work this afternoon. I hope all the crazies stayed home.

img062.jpg

January 26, 2009

Wintry Mix

Filed under: rants — Tags: , , , , — bdparker @ 8:15 am

It’s snowing, which I guess is ok. Tomorrow there is supposed to be enough snow to actually stick, but it’ll all wash away as it turns to rain over night. I actually like snow. I hate that it requires cold. The problem is that we’ve had cold for the past three months. I’m looking into opportunities in warmer climates. I hear there’s good money in piracy off the coast of Somalia. I’m not sure that killing, plundering, or holding for ransom are for me, but sailing around the tropics sounds ok.

January 24, 2009

Night in the City

Filed under: DC,food — Tags: , , , , , , , — bdparker @ 4:13 pm

I went out to celebrate a friend’s birthday last night near Foggy Bottom. Yesterday was about the warmest day I’ve seen in months, so I was excited to ride my motorcycle. I took the long way in, since it was so nice out, and got to see a dozen George Washington U students walking around in cardboard boxes as part of some fraternal hazing ritual. Thanks to my two-wheeled transport, I parked right outside the door of McFaddens for the party. Well I left the club at about 2:00, just in time to go up to Adams Morgan for some jumbo, slice pizza. If you’ve never been to Adam’s Morgan, you’ll want this visual to get some context. There are four or five places in Adams Morgan that sell “bigger than your head” slices of pizza. Pizza Mart is by far the best. While I was ordering, more than one person came in and said “[Praise the Lord!!] look at the size of that!” I got a real kick out of the one guy who kept asking for a vegetarian pizza. The Pizza Mart isn’t exactly a health food store.

It takes a while to eat a slice of pizza that big. While I stood around on the street and watched the happenings of Washington, DC at 2am, I picked up what must have become DC’s version of Hawaii’s “Aloha.” People were just shouting “Obama!” to each other as they passed on the sidewalk. Of course I also overheard someone say “How come every time you see a young, black person you say ‘Obama’?” I didn’t hear the answer.

Speaking of Obama, I hear he wants to jump-start the economy through a massive public works program. He can start with the streets in his neighborhood. Riding a motorcycle through Washington, DC is akin to riding a wooden roller coaster with some bolts missing. Seriously jarring.

January 22, 2009

My Retirement Income Outlook

Filed under: economy — Tags: , , , , — bdparker @ 8:12 pm

I got my end-of-year 401k summary from Vanguard today. It’s not looking so hot. Down at the bottom, they have “Estimated Monthly Retirement Income” based on my average contributions and my portfolio’s performance.  At this rate, I’m going to owe them money.  As soon as I retire, I’m going to start getting monthly bills from my retirement account.  This is one of those few times that I’m glad I have another 30 years of labor ahead of me.  There’s good news, though; the earth’s getting warmer! So even if I don’t have any money when I retire, I can at least bask in the sun on the beaches of West Virginia.

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