Hammer from Throwing Hammers had another Photoshop Challenge.
This time I participated. I can't match the imagination of these dudes but at least I gave it a shot. I think next time I need to throw down a few beers to chill me out before sitting down to put something together.
I think my favorite is Ray Lewis with the Civil War Reenactors. Great Job you guys I have a lot to learn from you
Check out the results.
Friday was an evening of several Blogger Happy Hours. Gunfighter was hosting one in Arlington and I’m sorry I missed it but location and timing was not on my side. I was able to make the other Blogger HH thanks to Ra and her Hubby.
Before I get to that I promised Ra that I would give an update. Not too long ago I was upset with her and blogged about it. We have been good friends for some time and so I went to her because I decided that I didn’t want to lose the friendship. Seems we had a series of misunderstandings one of which was when I thought she hung up on me when in reality she was dealing with a screwy airline and at the counter at the time. Ra and I have had our differences over the years and we have both had our moments of stubbornness but I think that is what defines true friends. True friends can have misunderstandings and disagreements and still come together and discuss it openly.
So after work Mini Red and I headed to Columbia. Mini Red was gonna hang with Mr. Ra and help him with the boys who are 5 and 2. Ra hadn’t been out like this in quite some time. We arrived at Mad Hatters and I was pleasantly surprised to recognize quite a few people. Before diving in I decided to grab a drink especially since diving into such a social situation can be a bit difficult for me. As my beer was arriving Kassy saw me and came over. She has been taking some time off to pursue her dream of writing and let me tell ya I don’t think I’ve ever seen this chick seem so happy and content at where she is in her life at this moment. If you’re read this Chef… You’re a good man!
Then VK saw me from the other end of the bar and threw me a sexy look. Yes, the old MILF is representing and I love the new look of your blog. I soon noticed I-66 had appeared and we caught up before he was off to grab Arjewtino and help settle a question of mine. Now I’m not one to ask for a link but I had to wonder if Arjewtino was mad at me since he hadn’t linked to me when he moved to his new url. He just hugged me a few more times and promised to fix it Monday. He fixed it and also gave me a blogger report card grade of a C+. I think that should be upped considering his oversight caused me so much heartache plus the law (and common sense) keeps me from bringing Mini Red to a bar.
I met so many new people too: INPY was telling me of his favorite post of mine and how Mini Red flipped me off. I didn’t have the heart to tell him she didn’t. Plus she would have been in deep doo doo if she had. I also got to finally meet VVK and that is one tall dude. I have also found some new blogs to check out… Starting Today… and Just Going with It
As always it was good to see Pat from DC Blogs before he snuck out of there since the crowd was getting rowdy. As I was chatting it up there were some drums being played on my back by none other than Throwing Hammers. I promptly asked for the jacket that was promised since I was now in the Photoshop Club. He has promised an upcoming Photoshop challenge and I’m game to see what he comes up with. The night was topped of with an appearance by Joe, who is one of my favorite bloggers to hang out with.
The night was a blast and it was great to see everyone. Thanks for a great time and I’m anxiously awaiting the date of the next one in hopes I can make it.
Gunfighter did a great post about his love of boobies and their presentation.
I know many of you have the same love for this body part so I urge you to read what he had to say.
Go here and tell him Red sent ya.
Ok so I got this from Arjewtino and had to see where I rated. Seems I'm racier than he is even after the photo of him in a pool with another dude's arms around him.
This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:I wonder if I say Shit!, Fuck!, Damn! if my rating will go up. Let me go see......
ass (3x) , sex (2x) , porn (1x)
Thanks for all the great comments on the last post.
Since I started blogging Velvet was always been a big local presence. Her boldness to speak her mind is wonderful and I have loved and admired her writing. I knew it was coming to an end but when I read “I’m done” I knew she meant it and it hit me and really made me think.
There are times I was obsessed about posting but I realize I want quality instead of quantity.
The obsessing to write has chilled out and the purpose for the blog has changed but now I need to figure out the purpose. Who am I writing for? What does blogworthy mean for Life of Red?
As a single Mom and now having this class time is limited. As a Blogger I sometimes sit behind the computer for a really long time. Monday night I had a kick ass run with Mrs. M, ran some errands and chilled on the couch with Mini Red. I didn’t touch the computer all evening. It was kinda nice. The weather is getting beautiful and that’s another factor in less blogging.
Life of Red won’t end and I won’t stop blogging but some re-evaluating is definitely going on.
In the meantime... Tish is doing the Self Portrait Challenge again and found this fun thing to do:
Maybe I’ve been trying too hard and you’ll enjoy me more if I’m not readily available?What a day! I didn’t think I would be doing much but Shortie contacted me and said she and her Dude were heading to The Big Jig. Wahoo! I’m in! I should be since I wore a big sticker on my ass promoting the Big Jig last weekend at the Shamrock Festival.
I was tickled to say the least and now I was more ready to get that photo with the Green-Eyed dude. We headed back out of the tent and around and who should we see next… JOE! I completely interrupted his conversation to ask about his stage hand and ask for a photo with him too. Cool!
Joe pointed us back around into the tent to find the green-eyed guy. Thank goodness for Shortie cause I would have missed him. Shortie’s Dude showed up outta nowhere and offered to take the photo so Shortie could get in it too.
Well, we were about done there and we had gotten our drink on pretty good as well as the photos we wanted. We were hungry so we walked towards Fado’s but it looked crowded. I suggested the inexpensive Fuddruckers and all were up for that.
We had an awesome time and here I expected to not even leave my apartment this weekend. I love when things come up out of the blue and those are often some of the best experiences.Sunday night Mini Red and I were invited for dinner at Miss Monnie’s, The Creole Princess herself.
I was so excited since she and I have been emailing for sometime now and I know she’s an awesome cook. I felt as if I already knew her. This is one amazing woman who has been dealt some interesting cards, to say the least, and she just shines despite the past. She has an amazing attentive husband, Robby, and two awesome dogs, Lucy and Jaru.
We arrived and were greeted with Monnie smashing her face in the window and the dogs barking excited to meet new people. I instantly recognized the yellow walls I have seen in the pictures. Her home is beautiful and reflects her well. We were introduced to more of Monnie’s friends Tsiporah and E. E and Mini Red became instant friends and had a blast playing with the dogs as Tsiporah Monnie and I talked, well… I talked... a lot, as if we had all been friends for some time.
Soon after Robby walked in and opened the wine and we were all sitting down to eat a most fabulous meal. Come to find out Robby is a runner and Tsiporah is training to run a marathon. I told her I would be glad to volunteer and hand out water or whatever if she needed anyone at her training meets. I’m so excited for her. Maybe one day I will finally run a marathon.
We had an awesome time and feel as if we have a new group of friends. Monnie is an amazing woman and an inspiration.
Next time my camera won’t fail me and I’ll get a picture of Monnie's impression of a Camel Back Spider. Hahahaha.
It was great to finally meet you Chica and see we redheads aren’t so mystical after all.
See what Monnie had to say about us. The Reds are Coming!
Had a blast at the SHAMROCKFEST! If you weren’t there then you missed a great time.
We got a bit of a late start but I think many had the same thought. As we were walking out of the Metro Station to the Stadium all the kids were clapping. They were so excited to get their drink on but JT and I just laughed and commented on feeling so old amongst the kiddies.
Since we had VIP tickets we had a separate entrance and flew right through. As they were strapping on my wrist band for my unlimited beer the dude commented on how I look like I’m always ready for St. Patrick’s Day with my red hair. I said, “Yeah but I still need to wear green.”
He said, “What? Are your eyes brown?”
“No! There Greenish! Ahhhh good point!”
It didn‘t take us to long to get pointed in the right direction towards VIP Area #1. Ahhh that first beer tasted so good. We enjoyed our beer and just took it all in. It was amazing how many were drunk already and others had set up a huge flip cup tournament.
We pulled out our schedule of bands and decided to head out and investigate. We found The Connells were playing at the HiBall Events Stage. The crowd was large and we couldn’t get too close but they put on a good show.
We soon finished our beers and headed back to VIP Area #1 for more beer. As we were deciding where to go head to next I saw a familiar face… Ar-Jew-Tino! Ohh and there’s Kassy and I-66. Kassy looks awesome as a brunette but her boobs didn’t look as big as they did in that last Blogger HH photos she was in. I was so excited to see everyone since I haven’t been to a happy hour in so long. Then I saw JOE! It’s Joe Logon… “Dude! I didn’t know you were gonna be here?” So what does Joe do first…? He gathers everyone for a blogger photo.
Poor JT was probably overwhelmed with his first introduction into blogger world but I made sure to introduce him around. Mrs. M felt the same way the first time I brought her into blogger world. He even got his picture snapped and I warned him he was gonna be blogged now. “Uh oh” was his response.
As the bloggers were dispersing we headed out to investigate. We found VIP Area #2 but it was way more crowded and we didn’t stay long. Just as JT was asking if I was gonna take any pictures I noticed the most incredible mohawk, which stood about a foot high. I asked the dude if I could take his picture cause I loved his mohawk. He said sure but I had to be in the picture with him and giving the finger to the camera.
I’m such a dork I can’t even flip the bird cool like. Hahahaha. The number of Port-A-Potties was impressive as can be seen behind us. If you had to pee the line was never long… Thank goodness. The longest line for a toilet was in the VIP area where they had trailers with running water but even those lines weren’t bad.
Carbon Leaf was playing at 6:10 so we beat feet over there and it was so cool! The crowd 
was HUGE but we pushed forward. I loved watching people get picked up and all the hands that just carried them up towards the front over top of everyone. They played for only an hour and there was an hour lull before Flogging Molly was to perform. There were so many people so we headed back to the VIP area on the other side. Seems everyone else was to drunk to think of this so we grabbed some seats and chilled out for a while where it was less crazy.
At about 8 we decided to head out to catch emmet swimming who was playing til 9 and Flogging Molly was playing 8 to 9:30. The plan was to catch the end of Flogging Molly but we were having so much fun with emmet that we stayed right there. When they were done the rain was coming down and we were done for the night.
I couldn’t have asked for better weather or better company. It was an awesome day!
Other ShamrockFest Recaps:
Shamrock out with your...
Pot o' gold
Never Have I Ever
Um, they should call it Boozefest Revisited
Shamrock Fest '07 (mohawk)
My interview with DJ AM
Quotes from ShamrockFest '07
ShamrockFest, David Mamet and the Pretty Young Abercrombie Blonde
Friday was the All Holiday Blog Celebration at the Science Club. So if you’re a Blogger in the DC area and you missed then you missed a lot.
Mrs. M and I got a late start since we had to drop Mini Red off at her school dance. We got off the metro and hoofed it through the bitter cold. It was colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra. We arrived and found Velvet and Scarlett just inside the door. This is when I realized my face was frozen.
All the bloggers were in the back in an area called “The Lab” but Mrs. M and I needed a drink to thaw us out. We moved to the back and found the host, I-66, along with many other bloggers. I finally got to meet FreckledK and later on Kathryn showed. This was the first time I had really talked to her since my first HH back in August. Home Improvement Ninja organized a 50/50 raffle for Manna and let the Birthday Girl, Kassy, announce the winner. I-66 organized the superlatives and urged the voting at the HH. I’m surprised the results were in as soon as they were. Good job Dude!
For me the Blogger Happy Hours are not complete without my favorite Blogger dudes JoeLogon, Hammer or the ever studly VK. Oh and I must say I disagree with Velvet because I thought Home Improvement Ninja’s sweater was very festive not gay. Lots of new people were in attendance and I just wish I could have talked with them all. One of the new people I really enjoyed meeting is the ever famous KOB from DCBlogs who I’ve heard so much about.
Throughout the night various people, non-bloggers, would walk to the back, push through us all and realize it went nowhere. It reminded me of mice in a maze “Oh no we went the wrong way. These are bloggers! Turn around quick before someone notices us!”
The night ended with another hug demonstration from Hammer. It was another fabulous Blogger Happy Hour and I send kudos to our ever fabulous Social Chairman, I-66.
See you guys next year! Hahahaha
When I mentioned the Blogger Happy Hour to Mrs. M she immediately agreed to be my Wing Chick once again. I was really looking forward to the happy hour since work had been another round of stressful lay-offs. I have thwarted that doom twice now. Phew!
As we were walking to Mackey's from the subway Metro Mrs. M looked past me and said, "Oh Hello there." I'm thinking, "Who does she know down here? We're suburban people." I look over to see Tasty Red. Mrs. M is on the ball and not only recognizing people but getting recognized herself.
The bloggers are usually in the back, which is where we found I-66 ready to greet people since he and VP of Dior are Co-Social-Chairpersons of Blogsgiving HH. There were familiar faces of people I've talked to and people I've seen but haven't talked to. But first thing is first and I needed a beer. Come on now you should all know that part by now…Beer first.
I found Velvet sitting in a corner. Hmmm reminds me of a line from a popular movie "Nobody puts Baby Velvet in a corner". She was surrounded by Home Improvement Ninja and Boz. I met View from Dupont and EJ Takes Life. I had to admit to EJ that the first time I came across her blog I thought it was BJ takes life and I thought BJ stood for… Hmmm, you know. Hey Pretty was there celebrating her 30th birthday and getting her drink on when Hammer showed up. He is always fun to talk to but he arrived sans ass kicking boots since they are in the shop for repair in preparation of Winter.
EJ and I went up to the bar for another drink when someone tapped me. Hey it's VK, and he brought a posse of his peeps. I worked my way back and sat down and chatted with Velvet for a bit. Tasty Red joined us and we soon saw Ashburnite who was flanked by two Blogger dudes…
Allan and Aaron. Allan came over to introduce himself since I'm a new reader to his blog. Meanwhile Mrs. M was talking to Boz, who she says is extremely intelligent and fascinating to talk to. Mrs. M was ready for another drink so we made our way to the bar where Mrs. M pays with ones. I tell the bartender she has ones because she's a dancer (wink wink) and Mrs. M swears he was staring at her the rest of the night. As we made our way back someone walks behind me and says "Life of Red" and keeps walking. I ask who that was and it's Ar-Jew-Tino who I recently started reading and I loved his post on Takoma Park. I bump into Jeff who I met at my first Blogger HH in August. We start discussing Blogger Beta and how I finally switched due to peer pressure and now I feel doomed since it doesn't get picked up by DC Blogs and even Bloglines is having issues with it. Hopefully, it will all get worked out soon but I do believe Jeff was laughing at my quandary.
The night was winding down and people started leaving but not before some impromptu flashing of Velvet's belly and the realization that Home Improvement Ninja's shirt reminded me of a candy cane. Both of which should have encouraged some interesting comments especially from JoeLogon but I think he may have been off his game since he arrived late and had to catch up and get his drink on. Then, of course, there was Hammer's lesson on hugs between the genders and how the male hug is done in a way that says "I'm not hugging you I'm just slapping you on the back." He used I-66 to show how it's done.
Mrs. M and I left with Tastee Diner on our agenda, as usual. After Tastee we took the Metro back to Grosvenor and Mr. M called. He had been out with his boys and was back at a friend's house. So I took Mrs. M to his friend's house so she could drive Mr. M home. When we arrived Mrs. M got out of the car and some dude came running and jumped in my car. He's a friend of Mr. M's… One I hadn't met yet. We all chit chatted a little and admired my car before I was on my way. As I was arriving home Mrs. M called to tell me Mr. M's friend stated very empathetically, "She's cute! Hook me up!"
Looks like this chick might have a date soon.
Joe's photos 1, 2
I started informally blogging in May of 2005. A year later I got more involved one of the first blogs I got addicted to was the Rusty Nut Telegraph written by Brico. Very shortly after finding him I found Tish and they found each other in person... finally. These two people have become near and dear to my heart.
With that said Brico’s birthday is today. It seems fitting he was born on Halloween. I have a friend at work that shares the same birthday and I swear there is something special about someone born on Halloween. These people seem to have a huge heart and awesome sense of humor.
Kathryn and DC Cookie sponsored a Blogger Happy Hour at Gazuza. This is my first Blogger get together, which means I am no longer a Blogger Happy Hour virgin!
Miss Chatter and I decided to team up and attend this event together since it was a first for the both of us. We both wanted to hit home prior to the HH to freshen up after the grime of a Friday. So we agreed to meet at the Dupont metro at 7:15ish.
I had googled Gazuza for the address and read a few reviews. The common thread was “It’s a place to see and be seen in Dupont.” I fretted over what to wear since I’m no fashionista, but that didn’t last long. I decided to be myself and in the end I didn’t change from work. I even stuck with my huge shoes, which could double as a weapon if necessary. I was, of course, going into the District, which is in a “Crime Emergency” status.
I arrived first, which is very unusual since I can’t seem to time things right and I’m usually fashionable late. I left Miss Chatter a message, as I was riding the escalator, that I was outside the south exit. When I arrived at the top and was gathering my bearings as to where I was I realized there were a few people standing around. Since I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself I decided to move to the back behind the newspapers and wait.
I had a blast watching people. I hadn’t been downtown in sometime and I hadn’t been in Dupont for YEARS. I had wondered how the young, chic, upwardly mobile (YCUM) in downtown looked and acted. I realized they weren’t so different. I was surprised how many more people joined to wait for someone outside the metro. It reminded me of the airport. People would emerge from underground and find someone waiting for them and there would be hugs and kisses and sometimes awkward moments. One woman stood around and finally realized the dude she was looking for was standing there the whole time watching her. They laughed and she hit him before they did the kiss on the cheek greeting. One woman walked out and right up to a parked car to use it as a full body mirror to check and adjust herself.
A man approached me and whispered “What is everyone waiting for? Is someone going to hand out chocolate?” He completely caught me off guard but I had to laugh because I was thinking the same thing. He said he was satisfied with my response since he was just looking to make me laugh. I couldn’t help but think this could so be a Missed Connection moment. I will be sure to check for it. I had to resist my urge to pull out my little pad of paper and start writing all of this down. Seems I remembered it all just fine… so far.
We arrived at Gazuza about 7:15 walked in and… nothing. We don’t know what these people look like except for the few photographs. I thought for sure I would recognize Kathryn right off. We were hoping someone would recognize Miss Chatter with her Nats baseball jersey. First things first and we grabbed a beer. As we were talking I get tapped on the shoulder. “I’m here to meet a group of bloggers and I have no idea what they look like.” Ahh, that’s us too. We have met Jay Gatsby. He isn’t a blogger…YET, but he is a commenter. After Jay’s third drink we send him over to the other side of the bar to look for more bloggers. We didn’t want to just approach random people, but after Jay had loosened up he was willing. It wasn’t but a few minutes when he came back to tell us they were all in the back. We grabbed a second beer and headed over.
First we met Kathryn who pointed out a bunch of people and the blogs they write including Grateful Dating, Looking to Live and Home Improvement Ninja. We spoke to a few others but it was so difficult to hear. I tried to read lips and would catch bits and pieces and get by. Miss Chatter and I were feeling very out of place and grabbed some seats on the couch and just watched. She made a very good point that since she was married she was out of practice on approaching people. This was my cue that it was up to me. I thought I saw Kassy so I grabbed Miss Chatter and over I went. She recognized my blog… how exciting! She had roses for all the ladies. I asked if these were courtesy of one of the guys hanging out her window from her dancing episode? She laughed and introduced us to more bloggers, including Wendy who writes Harmony Music. It was so difficult to hear that we couldn’t get details on everyone.
Miss Chatter and I excused ourselves to hit the bar again. I asked Kathryn if Velvet was there. Yeah, I finally got to meet the famous Velvet. We chit chatted about each other’s blog and she asked about Mini Red. Mini Red is starting puberty so there should be plenty to write about... With Mini Red's approval, of course.
9:30 was approaching and I couldn’t finish the beer I had or I would surely be a mess. Miss Chatter needed to get back cause the game was on at 10. We made our departure and agreed to do this again. I very much enjoyed the evening and it was nice to put the faces with the blogs and find out REAL names. I've found more blogs to check out too.
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