The Mind of the Mangi

A Different Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T10:20:00.001-05:00

If you had told me a few years ago that I would spend a Thanksgiving outside of a football stadium, I would have said you were crazy.

I would have had to eat those words.

Last summer when the Ravens announced their schedule, I saw that they were playing the 49ers. This was right after the news that Jim Harbaugh (Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh's brother) had been hired as a Head Coach of the 49ers. I was on Ticketmaster the morning tickets became available to the public and in my search for games, I decided for fun to try and see if I could get tickets to the Thanksgiving game, or Harbaugh vs Harbaugh as I was calling it. Well no upper deck sideline tickets were available, so I decided to try for the corners. There were tickets available so I snatched them up.

That was in July. The working plan in mind was I would likely spend Thanksgiving with my cousins in the morning and then head up to the game that night with CW. Of course life doesn't always go according to plan, but it can come up with something more interesting.

A month or so ago I went to a bull roast fundraiser for one of the Ravens Nest organizations and I made friends with a few folks at our table. I ended up talking a lot with CS and of course, being fans, you make sure to keep in touch with them, especially when you belong to one of the best fanbases in the NFL.

So then it turns out that CW has a conflict, and some of my cousins will be out of town, plus I was asked by some other friends if I could dogsit for them so they can go visit family for Thanksgiving. All of that adds up to I'll be in Baltimore anyway, but now I need someone to go with me to the game. So I check with a few direct friends, they can't go, so I put the word out on Facebook that I have an extra ticket to the Harbaugh Bowl (as it's now being called). CS sees it and is interested, so we're set up to go to the game.

Now we get to the plan, CS knows other folks at the game, so I will be tagging along with her as we tailgate before we head on in. I hear there will be turkey and all of the fixings, so my Thanksgiving will be spent in the parking lots outside The Bank, then going in to watch what should be a hard-hitting game and football at it's finest. The Harbaugh Bowl is the first time in history that two teams are playing where they are coached by siblings, and now it's a Thanksgiving game on top of that.

There will also be no doubt that I was at that game, thanks to the planned FanCam: http://www.baltimoreravens.com/News/Articles/2011/11/Press_Release_-_Ravens_FanCam_Coming_to_MT_Bank_Stadium.aspx

You know I will make sure to be in my seat by 8 PM.

So anyway, It should be a fun Thanksgiving, even if it's non-traditional. I can't wait. I hope everyone I know has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

GO RAVENS!

What Now?

2011-07-04T21:10:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, my poor blog, it's been rather neglected as of late.

It would be easy to blame life on this one since I don't spend long hours on the computer at home. However, I usually would make time to write, even when I was at my busiest back then. I think it's more of a factor that I've had other priorities in my life, and even other priorities in regards to my writing. So now the question for me is where do I go with this? Do I want to continue to write this blog as a record of the happenings of my life, or is it time to take it in another direction?

I say this because lately I've been trying my hand at writing fiction. Let me tell you, it's one of the hardest things I have done in a long time. For the last decade or so I have been an excellent technical writer. If it's an essay or a white paper, I can bang those out left and right. So when I started exploring other hobbies, why not try writing fiction, right? It should be easy since you know how to write very well, right? Wrong.

I've discovered that fiction writing is it's own realm, with a completely new set of rules that I am now learning. It has been a slow process because it's really easy to slide back into the rules of writing that I have known, but don't apply in this realm. However, I continue to plug away at it because from the feedback I have gotten, I have some good stories but I need to polish my writing skills. That part is the biggest challenge, especially with having no formal training. Although the only way I am going to get better is to practice, right?

So I may continue to keep the life record here as a way to sharpen my skills in that realm a bit, though in this case, it would be non-fiction. After all, I haven't written much over the last year, which is odd considering all of the neat stuff I've done, especially with CW. I might also consider putting up snippets of what I am working on, if they are appropriate. Hell, it might be fun to try some sort of story series, but that might happen on a more advanced level.

We'll see what goes from here.

A Rough Ride

2011-04-13T08:30:00.000-04:00

So the news the past few weeks, besides the horrific earthquakes and nuclear crisis in Japan, has been about the battles in Congress over a budget for FY 2011. It very nearly led to a partial shutdown of the US Goverment and furloughing 800,000 of its workers. However, at the last hour, there was an announcement that a deal was made and that a budget would be passed, so there would not be a shutdown. With that, lots of people started celebrating, thinking this was all over.

I wasn't one of them.

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Something I Struggle to Understand

2011-03-16T20:26:00.002-04:00

Many bigoted and repressive folks are also the ones who make sure to tell everyone that they are a "Good Christian" and to show off that they are a Christian as much as possible. Jesus teaches us not to make a show of our religion, but to be humble unlike the hypocrites. So why do these folks always seem to conveniently "forget" that teaching as they show off that they are a "Good Christian" but continue their oppressive ways?

She Said / She Said

2011-02-09T08:30:00.002-05:00

So there is a play coming up at The Catholic University of America that may be of interest to folks in the area:

She Said/She Said
When love between two women dies, who decides what's best for their son? When even the courts can't agree on who the parents are, and there are questions about the very definition of family, whose justice prevails?
Written by Rebecca Gingrich-Jones
Directed by Kasi Campbell

This play is based on the true story of Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/04/national/main6055437.shtml

Performances:
Fri. Feb 18 - 7:30 PM
Sat. Feb 19 - 7:30 PM
Thurs. Feb 24 - 7:30 PM
Sat. Feb 26 - 2:00 PM
Sun. Feb 27 - 2:00 PM

Tickets may be purchased here: http://drama.cua.edu/hartke-season.cfm I would advise that you purchase them online. For this show, CUA's drama department has set up an "intimate audience" staging, so the seats are up on bleachers on the stage itself, where one can get up close with watching the show. However, it does mean that seats are limited. If anyone saw "Another Part of the Forest" or "Whales" last fall, then you already know where the audience will be sitting.

To get to the Hartke theater by car, there is some limited street parking, the address is:
3801 Harewood Road, N.E.
Washington, DC 20017

You can also take Metro from Greenbelt, switch to the Red Line at Ft. Totten going towards Shady Grove (or Grosvenor or Medical Center) and then get off at Brookland/CUA station. From there it is about a 10 minute walk across the campus. The theater is behind the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Harewood Road.

It looks like it should be a good show from what I have been hearing. I will be attending the Feb 26 performance so perhaps I will see you there.

And in the interests of full disclosure, I know some of the actors who are performing in this play, hence why I am putting it up here.

Holiday Cookie Orders!

2010-12-09T09:00:00.002-05:00

Hey all, this is from my friend Stephanie and she makes some awesome cookies, so I wanted to put the word out there that she's taking orders. She'd love to get a baking business going and this would help put her on her way.

It's once again that time of year where we scramble around trying to figure out what to give our loved ones. And as much as we'd all love to be able to hand out new luxury sedans with red bows tied around it, we all know that's not a wallet-friendly option. Do you want to know what is a budget friendly and oh so thoughtful option? Fresh, homemade cookies!

I know, I know. You're thinking: "Who has time to bake cookies? I have shopping to do, lights to string up and holiday parties galore! And I can't bake those pre-packaged Pillsbury cookies, let alone real cookies!" Well, take a deep breath and relax because I'm here to help! For the low price of $15, you can give your loved ones, co-workers and random strangers a festive, holiday tube filled with a dozen fresh, homemade cookies! These aren't just your every day, run-of-the-mill cookies either. It's an assortment of four different flavors, all made from scratch from the woman behind Adventures in Shaw! I've always made homemade goodies as gifts and now you can too...without the resulting mound of dirty dishes.

Each cookie tube comes with three cookies of each flavor. The flavors include: chocolate dipped coconut cookies, salty oatmeal cookies, chocolate chunk cookies (with or without walnuts) and buttery cherry jam cookies. The tubes are a holiday red and come festooned with a bright, holiday ribbon! And a personal holiday message can be included!

I accept Pay Pal as payment and all tubes can be picked up at designated times in Columbia Heights (a convenient one block from the metro). For more information and to place an order, click here! I will be taking orders until December 20th!

If you have any questions, email me at adventuresinshaw at gmail dot com and I'll be more than happy to work with you. Feel free to pass this along to others who might delight in cookie goodness during this festive time of year!

Happy holidays and thank you for ordering from Shaw Girl's Kitchen!

I Don't Forget...

2010-12-09T07:44:00.001-05:00

A Grim Anniversary

RIP Tenny, and I hope your family is well, wherever they are now.

Location : 2916-3154 Nicholson St, Hyattsville, MD 20782,

Another Part of the Forest, Oct 14, 15, 16, 17

2010-10-14T09:50:00.000-04:00

Giving a heads-up because this sounds interesting and I'll be seeing it on Friday night.

Another Part of the Forest, by classic American playwright Lillian Hellman. "A ruthless Civil War profiteer's fortune is endangered when his dysfunctional family turns on him."

Dates: October 14: 7:30 PM
15: 7:30 PM
16: 2:00 PM and 7:30PM
17: 2:00 PM

Location: Catholic University of America's Hartke Theatre. It is metro accessible off of the Red Line at Brookland/CUA station. As I remember you walk across part of the campus and around the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and go walk up Harewood Road (Google maps shows it to be around 4120 Harewood Rd, NE)

Cost: $15.

Buy your tickets in advance because this is not in the main theater, this is in a more intimate setting with the audience on the stage area itself, so space is limited. Buy them here http://drama.cua.edu/hartke-season.cfm

On Privacy, Pain, and Trust, Part 2 of 2: Reflections

2010-10-06T23:26:00.001-04:00

After writing out my own experiences last night (and still feeling a bit sick at having to recall those memories) I continued with the thoughts and reflections I had been having over the past few days in regards to Tyler's situation. I could remember the pure fear and panic I had going through my own head and I could easily imagine that similar thoughts and emotions were going through his. However, there was always one point I would reach where I would stop and have to say "Wait, this is the part I don't understand." Despite the fact that I was on an extreme emotional edge, I didn't quite snap and feel like I was falling and about to hit rock bottom and be done for. Why didn't I snap, but Tyler did?

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On Privacy, Pain, and Trust, Part 1 of 2: My Story

2010-10-05T20:20:00.000-04:00

I've been reading a lot lately on the recent suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi and the rather horrible circumstances that brought him to that tipping point. It reminds me a lot of a similar experience that I had while in college of being outed by folks I thought I could trust and the pain and suffering I experienced. I understand and empathize with what Tyler must have felt when he found out just what had happened to him. Here is my story:

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Playing By Your Rules

2010-09-27T22:48:00.001-04:00

I am currently filling out my drivers license renewal paperwork and one of the questions is asking if I wish to be an organ donor. Five years ago I immediately checked "Yes" to this question. This time around, I am checking "No."

It is not that I don't believe that my organs could help someone, rather I am playing by the rules that have been handed to me. Since I am a man who loves another man and not a woman, the FDA and other rulemakers automatically assume that I am a walking disease factory who is hell bent on infecting others. It is too bad since my behaviors and testing proves otherwise. However, this assumption means that I am banned for life from donating blood or bone marrow.

Since I am already banned for life from being allowed to donate and help others, fine, you can't have my organs either, you probably do not want them anyway. Just remember that under the current rules, a promiscuous straight person can happily give all the blood and bone marrowthey want, but a monogamous gay person cannot. You had better pray the promiscuous ones always practiced safe sex.

Perhaps if the rules change I will go back to checking "Yes" to organ donation; but I am not holding my breath that it will happen in my lifetime.

Location : 2-34 Parkway, Greenbelt, MD 20770,

Here We Go Again

2010-09-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

So Monday was designated as a day to run errands. One of my stops was to hit the local laundromat to get change for the washer and dryer at my apartment. As I left from there, I started to hear a noise from the engine of my car. I couldn't figure out what it was at first so I let it go for a moment to see if it would come to me. As I am down the road a mile later, I realize the noise only happens when I push down on the clutch. I now know what this means, the clutch is going bad.

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Building Self

2010-09-16T08:00:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, I received the news that the EFN Lounge in DC had closed.. I wasn't surprised by it because on my previous excursions, the bar was basically dead except for Fri nights and the occasional Saturday night. Not too many businesses can survive on that. When I got the news, my next thought was "Freak out from a sub-group of the folks I know on Facebook and Twitter in 3...2...1..." Sure enough, it happened, I watched as the "Oh my God it's closed, what do we do?!" status updates began. A friend of mine and I talked about the situation, and yes, we started to make fun of it and the collective reaction. As I predicted, for many of these folks it seemed like going out to "Bear Happy Hour" at the EFN Lounge was their only Friday night activity, and it had just been taken away from them. With the way they acted, it was like the only thing they could do now was sit at home and stare at the wall. For me, I was just laughing and shaking my head at them.

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Busy Busy Busy

2010-09-16T00:17:00.000-04:00

Ahhhh my poor neglected blog, it is starving for some content. That's what I get for not making the time to write. I've been hearing a lot about that lately from a writing related podcast I have been listening to. I will make the time for it soon enough. Now that summer is winding down, that means less time being spent outside on activities.

Of course, another good distraction as of late has been the return of CW to DC. If you haven't heard it already, it's official now in that we are together as a couple. He's already started to meet my friends and they seem to like him, plus I've started to meet some of his friends as well, and they seem to like me, so it's a good sign of things to come.

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A Different Summer

2010-08-23T09:30:00.001-04:00

Compared to my last summer, things have certainly been different. My amount of traveling may have been a bit lower but that doesn't mean I haven't kept things interesting.
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Pennsic Fun

2010-08-23T09:00:00.002-04:00

Since last Saturday I have been camped out up in Pennsylvania for Pennsic XXXIX. After a few years of hearing about it, I finally made my way up to experience one. At the very least it would mean a week of camping, and I do love to camp.

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Music To Make or Break

2010-08-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Ever since I was young, I've been one of those folks who pays attention to the background music being used in the scene of a TV show, movie, or even video game. I think it started with Looney Tunes. I would notice the music being used in each scene and how each bit of it was used to convey more emotion from the scene. As I got older, I started paying more attention to movie soundtracks, and could recall certain scenes of movies just by hearing a bit of the music that was used.

Then there's video games. My favorite video game series is The Legend of Zelda. I've been playing it since the first one for the NES, and I've almost taken back my title of having played and beaten every single one that was made. Well who didn't end up having the original theme become an earworm for them at some point or another? Then the series started becoming more music based, starting with Ocarina of Time. In nearly every single produced after that, you're using music to advance in the game, whether it is playing an ocarina, conducting a magical baton, or howling into the sky.

What I really like though is when I can start hearing familiar themes being built on and used again in a whole new way. As I have been playing through LOZ:Twilight Princess, I have noticed how the background music is now based off of a theme of Ocarina of Time, or a wolf song is from a prior game. Considering that Twilight Princess is supposed to take place in between Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker, it's fun to try and pick out the original themes that the new music is based off of. Of course, some areas use the same music (Zora's Domain) used in prior games, and that can work, but I like it when I can hear an actual remix.

As I've gotten older, I've begun to think more about how the music I hear helps me in recalling something and what my feelings are on it. What may make a movie go from good to great would be if I could get into the music with it. My favorite scary movie, besides the actual plot, would be the original Halloween. You listen to that piano theme and it sets up those feelings of being out somewhere along in the dark. It's the same with video games. I've been listening to some old themes lately, and what I realize is that while Nintendo may not be for the most hard core of gamers, they write some of the most gorgeous music I have ever heard. Maybe that's a reason why I have stuck with them over the years.

It's fun to be able to find this sort of stuff, and I can only hope it continues this way.

Mad Men S 04 E 02

2010-08-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

My thoughts on the recent episode of Mad Men, don't read any further if you have not seen the episode yet. If you do so, no crying that I spoiled the episode for you. It was really good so I had quite a bit to say.

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Storm Craziness

2010-07-28T09:00:00.004-04:00

Since last week, the DC Metro area has been under one of the worst heat waves it had seen in years, including a few record-shattering days. That would all be broken by Sunday when a cold front came in, hit the massive amount of humidity in the area, and formed an intense thunderstorm.

The warnings came in that it was a fast and intense storm, capable of producing 70+ MPH winds, and if you were outside, to get the hell inside. Luckily by then, I had returned from Baltimore and I was just sitting in my apartment doing some E-mailing and such to catch up from the weekend.

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Shore Leave

2010-07-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

To continue making 2010 the year of the con, I attended my third con this year, this being Shore Leave 32 up in Hunt Valley, MD. I had a very good reason to go this year, especially for a first time. Back in February when the Shore Leave folks were doing pre-registration at Far Point, I read the flyer and discovered that Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff (Adm. Adama and Starbuck) of the new Battlestar Galactica were going to be there. On top of that, one could have a photo taken with them. Since BSG was one of my favorite series, I made sure to sign up that weekend.

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