Let the Experiments Begin!

So we've signed up for the dating websites and researched the hook-up databases, but we're going to save that for another night. It's way more fun to tell you what happens when we attempt to mingle with the public.

Bar Experiment #1, Friday night:

We decided to head out to the street with a million bars (or the Theater of the Living as we so lovingly call it) assuming we were bound to find someone interesting in at least one of them. Walking down the road in subzero temperatures we are struck by how overly dressed we were. And by overly dressed, I mean dressed for the conditions. We refused to wait in line for any bar because our years of experience tells us that this will just lead to freezing our butts off then being crammed into an overheated sweatbox where every guy with a hand has an excuse to "accidentally" bump into various parts of our anatomy. Not our idea of a good time.

We settle into a table at one of our favorite bars where the draft beer is served in a very large glass for a very reasonable amount. Guys walked in and out of this bar, but no one caught our attention so we decided to continue enjoying our beers and harassing several of our friends over text. Then Mr. Cop walks in.

You always feel bad for those poor officers who pull the short straw that evening and are stuck patrolling the bars Friday and Saturday nights. Between all the puke and fights, it has to be one heck of a crappy night. On several occasions we have taken notice of these boys in uniform, but feel that ending up in the back of a patrol car is not the ideal way to meet one. Anyways, back to Mr. Cop. He opens the door and walks in with his thumbs in his belt with that "I-have-a-gun-and-a-badge-so-men-fear-me-and-women-want-to-do-me" look. Oh boy. He slowly walks by, staring the whole time. The Ginger and I are attempting to figure out whether he thinks we're underage or is checking us out (the looks are shockingly similar.)

Mr. Cop positions himself at a point where he has a direct view of the bathroom and us. This is very inconvenient for us because beers cause you to pee, sometimes a lot. Ginger is the first to use the facilities. He watches her, looking her up and down. I'm messaging her things like "OMG that cop is staring at you!" and "Eww eww eww!" After she's safely in the bathroom, I'm stuck facing him. Of course I start pretending something amazing is happening on my phone that I can't take my eyes off of. She returns and it's my turn to walk past our new friend. Let's just say the same thing happened to me. Eww. The process repeated itself a few more times that evening.

Okay guys, we appreciate the interest and all, but come on! We leave the bar and Mr. Cop behind. We've had enough socializing for one evening.

Experiment #1: FAIL

Dudders

February: A Time For Groundhogs and Love!

And since that damn groundhog does nothing but bring us snow, we'll turn our attention to the second thing, love.

I have to admit this is the first Valentine's Day in quite some time that the Ginger and I are boyfriendless. What better way to celebrate the holiday than by showing all you happily committed folks how much fun it is to try and find a date. In the next few days we'll check out some popular dating sites (free communication event, FTW!) and even mingle with the public at local watering holes. We're also open to exploring other options if anyone has any suggestions since we are clueless on how to meet "normal" guys.

Please don't misconstrue this as a desperate attempt to find dates. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, FIND US MEN will be the title of that post. This is more of a social experiment, of sorts. So sit back and enjoy the carnage!

Dudders

Break out the Swiffer...

we're blowing the dust off this puppy!

Green Thumb

I do not have a green thumb, I actually pretty much kill every plant I touch. Lucky for me, Dudders is pretty good at it, and shared.
Pretty soon the sunflower and the peppers will bloom. More pics then.

• The Ginger
  

Kittens must prefer Orbit

I came home to this on the floor.

















Apparently, Stride isn't their brand.

• The Ginger
  

Mission: Accomplished!

Not too long ago I asked if anyone had any information about a certain Furry we saw during our adventure at the Westin. I was trying to track down an autographed photo for my friend BurghBaby. Thankfully, iSkunk was kind enough to point me in the right direction then BAM! look what I got in the mail:

BurghBaby, Thanks for the awesome pictures. Hope to see you next year. Draces

(love the paw print!)

Meet Draces. Draces had one of the coolest fursuits you will ever see, beautiful and full of colorful lights! I cannot thank them enough for sending me this cool photo. The next mission is to find a suitable frame (no pun intended.)

• Dudders

Don't leave your silverware in the sun.

We like to eat. We enjoy food. We LOVE breakfast food. We could easily eat it at any time of the day. We could eat pancakes for dinner or French toast for lunch it doesn't matter. We also like spending our mornings off eating breakfast.

This weekend we decided to try Tom's Diner/Folino's on the South Side for breakfast. We left the apartment looking for a place that had outdoor seating and were excited that we were there early enough to have our choice of tables. We chose the table closest to the entrance for no particular reason and looked over the menu. Both us decided on the cinnamon special which consisted of three thick slices of cinnamon French toast, eggs, bacon, and hash browns for $6.99. A pretty good deal in our books.

Meanwhile at the table furthest from the entrance two loud couples sat down. The girls were wearing their finest hooker clothes and the group was ordering shots. It was only 10 AM. Granted I understand I am a handful of years removed from my drinking prime, but come on. But I guess it was ok because they had been drinking since 7 AM. Excellent. We discussed (and mocked) their short dresses and obnoxious conversations. How they were able to drink so much and still walk in heels that would make me the same height as an NBA forward is beyond me.

Now before you start thinking this is going to become a food blog, just remember we love to eat and food will appear in our blog. We, like the rest of the world's internet users, believe our opinion deserves to be heard so we will tell you what we think of food we order. It's only fair.

All of our food arrived and it looked delicious! I eat my food in a very specific order because egg can't touch my ketchup and ketchup cannot touch my eggs. The eggs were cooked just right, the bacon was very good, and the toast was good (it's hard to screw up toast). The French toast was kinda eh. But we're very picky with French toast. Overall definitely a good value for the price. Tune in next post when we critique another restaurant.

• Dudders

Summer is awesome

Today, I spent my day off at Duddersmom's house. I literally grew up in a village, it is too small to be considered a city or even a borough. Downtown consists of a post office and general store that specializes in all things hunting related. Our house is situated on a little over five acres surrounded by large trees. I love spending time here, plenty of privacy, peace, and quiet (except on Practice Your Hunting Skills Sunday).

We made a trip to our local Lowe's to pick up a new sprinkler for my garden, I mean gardens. I'm very lucky to have a lot of available space to grow all kinds of vegetables and flowers. We walked down the garden hose aisle and found one of those sprinklers that shoots in circles and half circles watering large areas. That's when I saw IT. It was one of those sprinklers that makes the wave back and forth, like fingers made out of water waving left to right. Those sprinklers remind me of spending time at my grandparents house running around and jumping through the fan of water with the neighborhood kids. I made such a big fuss that my mom had no choice but to buy it for me. On our way home we decided it would be a total waste of a summer day if we didn't stop to buy ice cream cones. (We already had the ice cream at home, Giant Eagle, Eddy's 4/$10).

The first thing we did when we arrived home was make two delicious double fudge brownie ice cream cones. There is nothing like sitting outside on warm summer day, enjoying the sun and ice cream. After we inhaled our cones I set up the fun sprinkler. I spent the next half hour putting my hands and feet in the tiny streams, giggling each time the wall of cool water drew nearer. My mom got such a kick out of how much fun I was having. It never ceases to amaze me that the littlest things like ice cream and a sprinkler have the ability to make me so happy! I love summer.

• Dudders
  

Decisions

I absolutely SUCK at making decisions. I freely admit this. I usually refuse to pick a restaurant and defer to my friends. I switch around outfits more than once, and even after I am ready, I often question some part of what I'm wearing.

This was also the case in pet naming. The kittens had names for the entire month, Bert and Ernie. Once Dudders and I brought them home, it the names seemed too cute. After watching The Simpsons, Dudders decided Lenny and Carl seemed to be a better fit.

And I agreed, but sometimes I wonder if should have gone with Ralph and Wiggum. Especially after they've dumped all of their water on the kitchen floor or jumping repeatedly at the patio doors.

• The Ginger
  

Dang this is tough...

This whole having a blog thing is a little more difficult than we thought it would be. How do you get used to writing about yourself every single day? Yeah sure we have plenty of stuff to say when we have lots of cool things going on in our lives, but what do you type when all you did all day is work, come home, and hide from the heat. How do you make that interesting?

I awoke, minutes before my alarm went off. The sun was beginning to rise and rays of light fell across my face. I arose from the comfort of my bed to begin my day. I made my way down the stairs with my brown eyes half opened. I prepared my breakfast of bagels and an Instant Breakfast drink. The smell of cinnamon filled the kitchen as I poured low pulp orange juice into a short, blue glass. After I finished the last bite of my strawberry cream cheese covered bagel, I cleaned up my dishes. I made my way back up the stairs to the bathroom to brush my teeth and washed the sleep from my eyes. I changed out of my comfortable light blue Hello Kitty pajamas and into my work clothes. You're not still reading this are you?

We have so much more respect for those who have the ability to post every single day and keep us entertained. We'll continue to try our darndest to keep posting almost every day and keep you mildly entertained (hey, we're new cut us some slack.)

Happy Independence Day!

Celebrate by exercising your freedom to do whatever makes you happy. Tonight we'll be enjoying some delicious food prepared by The Ginger's mom, beer, and awesome neighborhood fireworks shows. Hopefully nobody's bushes catch on fire. Not that we would have firsthand experience with that or anything. Have a great day!

Our Friday with the Furries

Admit it, you’ve sat at home imagining what goes on each year at Anthrocon when human-sized animals roam the city of Pittsburgh. You may have even taken a drive past the Convention Center just for glimpse. This year a small group of us decided we would get up close and personal with these large fuzzy creatures because really how much do we know about our Furry friends? Well we had questions and I was willing to ask them.

For the last four summers Pittsburghers have been treated to an animal invasion when Anthrocon comes to town. This conference is for those who view animals like people, giving them humanlike characteristics, and their dedicated fandom. “Furries” are just one of the groups that takes part in the conference. Anthrocon began in Albany, New York in 1999 moved to Philadelphia in 2001 and finally made its home in Pittsburgh in 2006.

We made our way downtown to the final destination of our adventure, the Westin (where most of the Furries stay). On our way there a nice family from Cleveland stopped our merry gang. They asked us if people in Pittsburgh always dressed liked cats. We knew this was going to be a good night.

I stopped a gentleman in a black and white tail and asked him why some people wore just tails while others donned a whole costume. He seemed a little offended by the question. He quickly answered with, “not all of us have money to buy a whole suit.” Not the answer I was looking for. But now we wondered how much one of those suits costs.

Thankfully my next Q&A session went much smoother. I made a new friend from Michigan as we sat on a wall outside the Westin. She was more than willing to answer any silly questions we had.

She wasn’t wearing any fur and referred to herself as part of the fandom, someone who has an appreciation for anthropomorphics. She said she occasionally wore a tail to her college classes. Again I asked the tail and whole costume question. The costume is actually referred to as a “fursuit.” When you’re wearing it you give it a “fursona” and you become your “furperson.” This is a character you have created and it can be anything you want it to be. She said her character was the opposite of herself: outgoing, talkative, and confident. Partial fursuits can start around $500 and those really nice ones we all admired could range from $1,000-1,500. Wow. Those are hand-sewn spots on some of those fursuits.

I had to ask her, why Pittsburgh. She told me many other cities are absolutely brutal. Our city welcomes Furries with open arms while others have people lined up across from the conference yelling cruel things at them. I felt a lot of pride for our city when I heard the heartfelt way she said it.

We finally became brave enough to enter the Westin. All you heard from us for the next few hours was, “look at that, ooo ooo ooo, take a picture of that guy, oh my goodness it’s Sonic (the Hedgehog), and will you take a picture of me with that one!” Some of the most fun I’ve ever had, seriously. The fursuits were amazing!

I found another new friend who was walking around with a dog puppet (the man refused to be in any of our photos because the fuzzy friend on his arm was the real star.) I asked him why some Furries wore clothes. He told me that most of the conferences had a theme and Furries will sometimes wear clothes to match it. This conference’s was “Modern Stoneage Furry” (which explained all the random cavemen running around the hotel.) He said one conference he attended had a 80s theme and even had in a Delorean there for the guests to take photos with. I have several friends who would gladly put on a fursuit just to have a photo in one of those.

I then approached a woman who was wearing a NEO Furry t-shirt. She explained that was her local chapter and she was an admin for it. I asked her the big question, how do Furries go to the bathroom? She explained most suits do not have a zipper or flap or anything else to make going easier as most people would think. They have “headless lounges” where Furries meet up with their friends who will assist them by removing the fursuit. This is to ensure that the magic of the Furries will not be ruined when you take you mask off in public. I know we were all bummed out when we saw someone with a fursuit and a people head. This is also a reason some participants will just wear partial fursuits which consist of just a fuzzy head, arms, legs, and a tail that stick out from people clothes.

We definitely learned a lot from our Furry friends. The Furries did not go out of their way to make us uncomfortable. Most of them love to pose with you and enjoy that you’re having so much fun along with them. There were no Furries “going at it” in front of us. It was a very positive atmosphere where everyone, participants and observers, were just there to have a good time. I also learned it is very lucrative to be a pizza delivery person when they are in town. The most important thing was that these people were just having fun living their lives. I was so excited to learn that one of our favorite Furries (the grey squirrel who kept balancing a fuzzy acorn on her head) is a friend of someone close to me.

If you’re still on the fence with the Furries, I do have to mention the charity work they have done over the years. Through auctions and ticket sells to various events during the conference they have made several local donations:

• 2006- $8,407 for the Western Pennsylvania National Wild Animal Orphanage
• 2007- $7,608 for Animal Friends
• 2008- $13,154 for Pittsburgh Parrot Rescue
• 2009- $8,992 for Animal Rescue League Wildlife Rehabilitation

This year their donations are going to Fayette Friends of Animals. They even campaigned for them to win the Chase Community Giving Contest on FaceBook where they could win anywhere from $20,000 to $250,000.

• Dudders
  

Why are we doing this?

We consider ourselves to be in a unique situation, at least compared to a lot of our friends. We’re unmarried, no kids, just starting out in our careers, and 30. Granted we don’t act nearly that old and thankfully don’t look it either. If you ever go out for beers with us, we’ll be the only ones who get carded. I will put money on it. My friends call me Dudders or Duds or Dudsy (mostly during hockey season). I’m tall, outgoing, and friendly. My co-conspirator, The Ginger, is a ginger as in she has red hair. We won’t argue over whether the use of “ginger” is appropriate or not. We like using it and she enjoys calling herself that so everybody is happy. Get over it. We also won’t argue over whether being in our situation or having a family is cooler. That’s like comparing apples to oranges. We’ll argue about other stuff though.

We have three cats between us, Peter the Cat (or Fat Petey) and the evil twins Lenny and Carl. Don’t worry we’ll have lots of good photos and stories about them. Their hobbies include eating, sleeping, and tormenting us.

This blog will let you experience our awesome adventures and equally awesome points of view. We can be opinionated I will warn you, but we’re also amusing, silly, like sports, march to our own beat, and have the sense of humor of a couple of 13 year old boys. Enjoy, or run for the hills now.

Dudders