Happy Leap Day, everyone! If your birthday is today, then please accept my condolences.

I’m taking a leap of my own today, as this morning I put down a deposit for a cruise in November. Last year, I joined my friend Bo and a cast of characters on a 5-day cruise to Key West and Cozumel. We’re doing it again this year, but this time it’s a 7-day trip that includes the Cayman Islands, Belize and Honduras in addition to Cozumel. Hopefully this time, the packing will be less stressful and the shopping opportunities less disappointing. And maybe I’ll have another celebrity brush at the airport.

Many photos were taken, natch, and many of our fellow cruisers were befuddled as to what kind of group we were. We got rugby team, softball team, secret service agents, football team and firefighters. To my recollection, only a couple of people on the crew pieced together what we were, and even then I only think it was after someone explained it to them.

Leaps elsewhere:

• CNET blogger Daniel Terdiman leaps into the hit Discovery Channel series “Mythbusters,” a show which itself is preparing to leap into shark-infested waters for another Shark Week special.
• The new $5 bill will leap into your wallets this month. Condé Nast Portfolio has an interactive feature about the new bill which compares its new security features with that of a €5 bill and also offers a look at past $5 bills.
• MTV may take a leap into the Beltway with its far-too-long-running series “the Real World.” The series has thus far produced approximately 20 seasons since it debuted in 1992. The last season I watched voluntarily was New Orleans in 2000.

After nearly 5 years of service, the very first iPod I ever owned has reached brickdom. I’d since upgraded to newer models, and this particular iPod had been passed on to others. I determined its brick status this afternoon as I ran some diagnostics on it. It had already been on the outs for a brief while, and today I made the last ditch effort to save it for one of my housemates. It’s destined for recycling in some fashion for the time being.

Elsewhere:

• Bird dogs are up for adoption. (Okay not really, but the photo there is priceless.)
• Wired published some new disturbing and scandalizing photos from Abu Ghraib (NSFW)
• A shopper at the Home Depot on Rhode Island Avenue NE here in D.C. both filed a complaint on D.C. police and fired off a lengthy email to Home Depot’s CEO after he was illegally detained for refusing to show a receipt to the guard upon exiting the store.

I Can Has Cheezburger has this LOLcat builder thing that I’ve been playing with a little too long today. Moar after the jump.

For lack of anything better to post lately, I now present kitty porn.

A selection of wickedly cool knit video game paraphernalia. I’m totally digging on the classic NES controller throw blanket.

A missed connection on Craigslist worth reading.

A map of the world composed of musical notes. (Don’t let my entry title confuse you; I’m sure it doesn’t sound like the Michael Jackson song of the same name.) (image link via kottke)

On and off, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks watching “Sex and the City” from the beginning. It’s one of the few stereotypically gay things I do.

A full-length film version of SATC is set to hit theatres on May 30 and a new trailer has arrived….

I’m particularly like the brassy treatment the theme song gets in the trailer. I’m also surprised, though, that Mr. Big’s full name is revealed. The television series took great strides to keep it from the audience until the series finale, and even then we learn only his first name: John. (video via Towleroad)

As I left my office for the bus yesterday, I passed by an office building that was recently completed. In front of said building was a bird, dead and lying on the sidewalk (pictured at right).

Two things occurred to me at that moment. First, that’s a pretty large bird to find within the confines of the city. Second, it was an excuse for me to try out DC’s “new” 311 service.

For years, 311 was DC’s non-emergency police number. That changed last month when calls to 311 were re-routed to DC’s government services switchboard. Based on a previous account I read, my expectations were low for this call, but then my expectations are low for most local government services. (Hence the pleasant surprise I had when I zipped through the DMV for my photo ID card a few years ago.)

I dialed 311 from my mobile phone and went through the semi-needless opening spiel. None of the voice-menu options obviously matched the purpose of my call — I wasn’t sure where animal control would fit in — so I waited for a live body to answer. To my surprise, I had an actual human on the line within seconds of hearing the final voice-menu option.

The woman I spoke with was cordial and precise. She took down the information she needed and read it back to me to confirm. When I told her everything was correct, she gave me a confirmation number which I committed to my phone’s memory. With that, the call was over. All told, I spent less than 2 minutes on the phone from dialing to hanging up. Not bad if I do say so myself. It was certainly better than the time I had to call 911 a few years ago when I witnessed an accident on the way home from Union Station.

And of course, the bird is gone by now.

Dear Mother Nature,

Please stop being a tease. If you’re going to threaten us with winter weather, please make it worth our while.

Much love,
The citizens of Washington, DC

As far as Washington winters go, this has to be one of the mildest in recent memory. Forecasters gave us the “we’re gonna get hit hard” spiel, and all we had to show for it — at least in DC proper — is a thin veneer of ice with a pebbly texture.

Sure, I could have taken advantage of today’s unscheduled leave policy, but it’s just not worth it for me with the relatively tame conditions outside. I just want one legit snow day. Is that too much to ask for? Winter isn’t winter without one.

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