Things haven’t been quite as frenetic as they had been, but what has been going on has been sufficiently mind-encompassing that I’ve hardly had time to think, much less put those thoughts into anything remotely resembling a coherent sentence. Regardless, the thoughts have been swirling around in my head, waiting for the right time to come out. I’m not promising this is the “right time,” but it’s sometime.

The freelance gig is going swimmingly, and I’m still enjoying myself. It can definitely be hard work, but I didn’t expect anything else, and I don’t think I’ve ever worked on anything for this long without taking a day off. I could do this professionally, if I didn’t live in completely the wrong town for it.

Speaking of the town, sometimes I love this town. I love Washington DC. The place is electric all the time, alive with power and energy, and hums quietly, almost nervously, after dark. When the streets in the Capitol area go dark, the streets around town gain an eerie quiet, like the life is right there under the surface if you’re willing to peer a little deeper in order to find it. I used to be far more involved with that life than I am now, but what can I say; I just don’t have the free time and the free energy that I had when I was an undergrad with nothing to worry about except class the next day. That’s no total excuse though, I very much miss some of the evenings I spent downtown.

Part of what reminded me of all of this was a post by Veronica, writer of one of my favorite daily reads, about a moment that could have easily happened to me. While my spinning activities have languished for far too long, the last time I spun out, a scene nearly like this played out. It brought memories rushing back, the anger from the end of that night that wound up keeping me from the scene for a long long time, the pride at having the highlight set, and the sheer happiness of looking out over a dancefloor full of people. It was a great night, even if it ended more annoyingly than anything else with an abrupt stop and rapid departure, lest the club-hired “security” thugs demanding an early close but certainly no cut in pay lose their patience with us. Even so, I know what it’s like – to be tired of being “out there,” but to live for the thrill of being “in here.” It’s a strange concept to describe, being tired with something but being irrevocably tied to it, wanting to be the heart beating at the center of something that lives and breathe around you, but not wanting to define it. It’s funny, I didn’t (and likely still don’t) understand what its like for Veronica, but after her post today, I think I’m starting to get it. Or feel it at least. Perhaps that’s more important.

In other news, most of you know I’m a hideous Alton Brown fan, wishing I could waltz through the kitchen with his scientific skills, his geeky personality, and his culinary technique (have you seen his knifework?), so take it as no surprise that I don’t think I’d ever get tired of owning The Good Eats 27-DVD Pack. It’s a hefty $250, which is a bit much to drop on a DVD collection at the drop of a hat, but if anything else, it makes me glad that those DVDs are out there to buy when I’d like them. In the meantime, I need to finish Gear For Your Kitchen.

I admit, I ranted a bit after having to wade through a disastrous thread at Lifehacker about climate change, and being put in the position where I simply couldn’t stop myself from staring down a few people that I probably shouldn’t have – I despise getting into discussions like that on message boards and forums and things- it’s why I started my own blogs on my own interest topics, so I could say what I want to say and discuss what I feel without having to feel in my own space. Flame wars in comments never change minds, no one’s going to wake up after being rebutted on a message board and say “You know, you might be right – I’ll research the matter more, thank you for opening my eyes!” So rather than simply absorb other people’s content, I like to, when I can, create my own. Still, it’s maddening sometimes. I did rather enjoy the hybrid myths over at Yahoo! Green, nearly as much as I enjoy the entire site as a resource. I need to perfect my “Green Plan,” but there are a lot of good ideas there. Click “Count Me In” to develop yours, and get some energy (and money) saving tips. Yahoo! has kind of re-captured my attention with Yahoo! Tech, but that’s partially because they brought on one of my favorite people ever for their flagship technology show.

Speaking of politics, at the behest of Pastilla, I think I might have to pick up Lee Iacoca’s book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone. I read the first chapter after checking out this post from a blog I had never read before but will surely check back on now, and had the exact same reaction. I’m incredibly impressed.

Anyway. That’s enough politics.

On to sex. Seriously – I’ll warn you now, some of these following links aren’t going to be work safe. I’ll denote with [NWS] but tread lightly, okay?

So I love Digg, if only for the news that people submit. The comments and the Digg community are absolutely worthless, but the news that the site provides is usually interesting enough to click on and digg. So imagine my surprise when in the same day, Digg alerted me to the existence of my new favorite superheroine, Captain Schoolgirl. [NWS] Seriously – she’s my favorite. And it has nothing to do with the motorcycle (lies) and nothing to do with the shirt (nothing at all!), but I have to admit, I dig the idea. I don’t like to think of myself as one of those guys who has a thing for schoolgirls, I mean, I’m young enough to know a lot of women who wear uniforms like that for school. I think my fascination really grows out of the fact that I never knew anyone who did wear anything like that. And maybe too much anime. Moving on.

Perhaps the next best thing in the world that I couldn’t adequately examine at the office was when I discovered that Posh Suicide [NWS] is Macenstein’s “Mac Chick of the Month.” [NWS] I love Posh Suicide, even though I generally stay away from the whole Suicide Girls thing (more power to em, assuming the stories about them being performer-oriented, self-empowered ladies doin’ it for themselves are true…hell, more power to em even if they’re not). Still, Raevyn and I both have crazy crushes on her, and when we found out that she’s an avid World of Warcraft player as well as a Mac user and lover, it just made us love her more.

Seriously, I’m not normally into drooling over personalities like this, I can count on one hand the number of celebrities I lust after and still have fingers left to flip off the celebrities I don’t care for, but every now and again I’ll make an exception. The photos from the shoot with Posh’s Macbook Pro don’t hurt either. My poor Io never had it so good. What? Hey, I’m human too, you know.

Anyway, summer’s on its way, and the air conditioning is going on. If temperatures keep up, it might be time to start thinking about Mojitos, barbecue, and warm summer nights. Mojitos I can do, but I might need some help with the barbecue. This’ll fit on our tiny little porch quite nicely, I think, and accommodate some friends gathered on the steps at the same time.