The Three Hour Hair Appointment

After months of complaining that I hate how long my hair has gotten, I finally cleared time in my schedule and made an appointment to get it chopped off and to get my nasty roots taken care of. Tonight, I made my way to Pentagon City little knowing that I was about to embark upon a 3-hour adventure with an outcome much different than I expected!

6:45 - I say goodbye to CG, who'd joined me for some shopping and dinner, and go in to the salon. I knew I was early for my 7 pm appointment, but I had my book club book so I was happy to wait.

7:00 - My stated appointment time.

7:05 - My stylist comes out to tell me he's running a little late, and it should be about 20 minutes or so before he's ready for me. Hmmmm. I was to learn later why he might have a habit of running late. But for then, I was feeling amenable so I waited it out.

7:30 - I have now read 20 pages of my book club book. The receptionist sees me and says she's going to go check on my stylist. He quickly comes to the front to get me and I go back to his chair.

7:30 - 7:45 - We have a friendly debate about what to do with my hair. He doesn't agree with my plan for my color, saying that it wouldn't look good. I tell him that I've had it done many times before and loved it. But he basically argues me down, and convinces me to go with just one color of highlights rather than 2 and that he needs to cover all my old grown-out color with a full color of chestnut brown, my natural tone. He sways me towards getting red highlights this time instead of blonde or the blonde-and-red combo. Not what I was planning on, but I've had red before and liked it.

7:45 - 8:00 - He puts in the chestnut brown. He shares with me that red is his absolute favorite color, and that his entire apartment is red. Friends tell him they feel like they get a burn just being in his place. I start to wonder if I've been recruited into his all-red, all-the-time plan for global color domination.

8:00 - 8:30 - I sit with my hair all swooshed up in the brown hair dye at the shampoo station. I read another 20 pages of the book club book.

8:30 - 8:45 - I get a really good rinse from the shampoo lady, who does a nice little temple massage and she's very careful to not get water on my face or hair dye on my shirt.

8:45 - 9:00 - With wet hair now, and kinda shivering, I'm moved over to one of the hair dryers so that my newly-very-dark hair can dry before the next step.

9:00 - The salon officially closes. Some stylists start packing up and leaving. A few are still working with clients. Mr. Stylist laughs and says "It's you and me closing this place down tonight!" Huh. That's not what I had in mind.

9:00 - 9:10 - Mr. Stylist combs out my now-brown hair. I am fascinated to see myself with a full head of my natural color for the first time in nearly a decade. It looks bizarre, but good. Maybe some day in the future I'll go back to my natural brown. I finally catch sight of the clock and am amazed that I've been here so long. Two hours in, and I still don't have any highlights or a haircut.

9:10 - 9:20 - Mr. Stylist is rushing now and gets all my red highlight gunk and the foils on very quickly. He decides to do my whole head, even though I'd only planned on partial highlights. He's not quite so gentle when he's rushing. My scalp is starting to hurt a little from the pulling and tangles. He promises me I'll be done and on my way home by 10. Ten!!!

9:20 - 9:30 - I go under the hot hair dryer. At this point I worry that I've gotten so far in the book club book that I might actually finish it, and I don't want to do that in this crazy distracting atmosphere. So I pick up a hair style magazine instead.

9:30 - 9:45 - Mr. Stylist rinses the highlight stuff out. Again, he's not so gentle. And my hair is feeling very abused at the moment. He describes to me that he's a perfectionist and wants to make sure the color is just right, so he's not going to do just one application of toner, but two. I think to myself that I will never see my apartment again. He puts in one round of the toner, and I go under the heat lamps. Then he takes me back to the sink and rinses out the first round of the toner, in order to apply the 2nd round. Poor, sore, tired scalp wishes shampoo lady was back. My neck hurts from all the leaning forward and hunching in the shampoo sink.

9:50 - We go back to his chair and I can now see my color in the mirror. Um, it's really red. Like, a LOT of red. Not just a few highlights here or there - but A LOT of red. We'll see about this. FINALLY we start talking about how I want my hair cut. First, though, one the poor receptionists who clearly have to stay until everyone is done comes over to see if I can pay now so they can close out the cash register. I'm all caped, so I make her get into my purse to get my credit card. She rings it up and brings it back to me in the chair to sign.

9:55 - 10:05 - Mr. Stylist gets to cutting and he does the cut I want. He kept asking me questions about layers or angles or whatever, and at one point I couldn't even articulate what I wanted and I said "I'm so tired, I can't even explain it." He apologized and offered to drive me home if I missed the Metro!!!

10:10 - Finally, the cut is done. My hair is still wet but I can see the right shape. He says "We're finished!" And I said "After all of this, I'm going to see what this looks like blown out. Please blow-dry it." So he did. And the cut looks great. And the color? Well.... it's a lot different than I expected. Darker and REDDER. (That's a palindrome!) I stand up to grab my bags and leave, and he makes me stop so he can keep trimming my hair at the ends. With no cape on, I get hair all down the inside of my shirt. Which also now has a red hair dye stain on it.

10:15 - I am finally on my way out. All the staff who are still stuck there say it looks great. I have to pick up the gate from the front of the store to let myself out. I can't believe I've been in that salon for 3 1/2 hours, and with tip, I spent $195.

And how do I feel about my hair? Well, it's a tad bit Asrael Abyss / Circe Nightshade. I like it theoretically, but I'm not sure how I feel about it for *me* yet. We'll have to see what kind of reactions I get tomorrow - affirmations or weird looks? And I'll see if it makes me feel any sassier. Cuz it is a darn sassy cut.




PS - If anyone wants to know the name of the stylist and salon, shoot me an email and I'll share. It was a long, drawn-out experience, but ultimately I think the results are good.

It's My Blogiversary!!!!

Can you believe that it was one year ago today that I started this here little blog? When I first logged on to Blogger, after watching my friends Scotte and Mandy blazing the trail with their own blogs, I had no idea how much a part of my life this would become. It's fun, it's fulfilling, and it's given me a forum to share my opinions and amusements. I've enjoyed my own small level of blog-fame (thank you, Wonkette and Express!), I have learned a lot from my commenters and the insightful, funny, inspiring stuff that's out there from my fellow bloggers, and overall it's been a great way to make new friends.

Thanks, everyone, for all your support over the past year. Onward and upward in year 2! :-)

Exploring the 'Hood

On Saturday, a whole gang of us made an evening out of exploring 14th Street. The main plan of the evening was to go see a show at Studio Theatre (which I'll post about separately), but that gave us the reason to check out several different places in the neighborhood.

To start the evening, three of us met for dinner at Busboys & Poets. I know I'm behind the curve on this one, cuz it was my first time there and friends have been going for months. So I'm glad I finally got the opportunity to check it out. I liked the atmosphere a lot. I confess, when I first saw the outside of the building from driving by, the ultramodern steel look didn't fit with my impression of what the funky inside should look like. But I guess they can't help modern condo design. The inside of the bookstore/restaurant does have a great casual, eclectic look and even though it was packed on a Saturday night it still had a very comfortable atmosphere.

BB&P has a decent menu with lots of variety - appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, burgers, and entrees. Other than the entrees, everything is under ten dollars. That's what I like to see! I knew walking in that I wanted to order something with avocado, cuz I had been watching the Good Eats marathon on tv and Alton had just done a show on avocado. So I was on a mission, and I narrowed the menu down to the 4-5 items that incorporated avocado. I decided to go with the tomato, havarti, and avocado burger with a side salad. Delicious! It came out on a nice toasted bun, and the toppings all mixed together to be a really savory, tasty treat. We ended up being an all-burger table, as my companions chose a veggie version of the mushroom & swiss burger and a regular bacon cheeseburger. We were all happy!

After the show, I continued the evening with the other 1/2 of the gang and we proceeded to close down 2 restaurants in the area. Who knew places in 14th St close so early?

We started at the bar at the P Street Bistro. We'd ended up in there because we'd decided against the super-crowded Logan Tavern next door, and we turned out to be the only 4 people in the entire place. That was fine with us, cuz the bartender was cool and laid back and we were able to just catch up and drink our martinis. They had a good list of martinis, and I sampled both the Caramel Tiramisu (like a chocolate martini but with butterscotch schnapps and espresso added) and the 007 (Stoli O, orange juice, and 7-up). They were both very tasty in different ways, and they were relatively cheaper than most martini lists around town. Plus, while we were sitting at the bar, we got a great view of whatever the protest march was that was going on down P Street. Who marches at 11 on a Saturday? Anyone know who that was?

This place closed at 11:30, but we were still up for hanging out so we headed back out to find a new venue. And while we were walking, we had two of the biggest cockroaches I've ever seen cross our path. Ah, urban living!

A few blocks down 14th, we found Mar del Plata. It sounds like it's a good tapas restaurant that I may have to try for a meal in the future. But for last night, we just wanted another drink at the bar. Our guy stuck with his whiskey, but we girls switched from martinis to sangria. The red sangria came to us served in 3 different glasses of different sizes, but they were all giant brandy or cognac snifters. But they had filled them to the brim with sangria. So our single glasses of sangria actually had about as much as 2 - 3 glasses at most other places. It made it a great deal for an $8.50 glass! The staff was very friendly, and when they closed at about midnight they were nice and didn't immediately kick our butts out the door. :-)

Usually, when I think about exploring my neighborhood, I turn my feet west and head into Adams Morgan or south to Dupont Circle. I'm glad I went in the other direction this weekend and learned more about the variety of options along 14th Street. I'll have to do it again soon!

A Great Dinner With a View on U Street

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions on where to go for a great dinner on U Street. In planning our evening, AS and I evaluated all the possibilities and decided to check out Tabaq. What a great place!

First of all, check out this view. We sat up on the glass terrace, and we were lucky to get there fairly early because the place really filled up and they said most tables were taken with reservations. That's a note to self for the future.

AS and I were there on our first "friend date" in ages, and it technically was a pre-birthday celebration for her, so we decided to splurge. And this is definitely a good place to do that. For drinks, we went with mojitos (her) and viognier and then a bella martini for me.

Foodwise, we stuck to the "small plates" menu, but we definitely filled up. Even after devouring some of that delicious multigrain bread with a basil olive oil dipping sauce, we then shared orders of the babaganoush, the spinach cigar borek, and the vegetable & pastirma tower. The baba-g was good, and gave another excuse to use that great bread for dipping. The borek was DEELISH and decadent, just oozing with lots of gooey, rich cheese. And the tower? Well, it's the main picture on the very first page of their web site. It's beautiful, and delicious. As anyone who knows my food taste knows, I've never met a goat cheese item I didn't like.

After sharing these three plates, we each got a small plate of her own. AS chose the lobster risotto, which she really liked. It was rich and creamy and even came with a little lobster claw! I chose the grilled tuna, and they did it seared rare like I like it. It was garnished with these small glazed shallots that made for a nice blend of sweet and tart as an accompaniment.

No indulgent dinner is complete without dessert. I successfully twisted AS's arm into sharing the plum creme brulee. Mmmmm. She said it reminded her of Amelie, which led us to a fun conversation about sensual food movies. I really wish I owned Chocolat, cuz I'm in the mood for a little French countryside Depp. But, I digress....

This was a great meal overall. Even though the servers were trying to clear our plates relatively quickly to turn the table over, we still managed to linger for about 2 1/2 hours. And even though all the items are reasonably priced (well, except for my one $13 martini), it's still not very hard to rack up a 3-figure bill. Definitely a splurge night! Check it out sometime!

Strange Love: Strange Highs and Strange Lows

I enjoyed a marathon evening with Onyah tonight, hitting both extremes of giggling hilarity and furrowed-brow concern.

First up, we took in a screening of Dr. Strangelove at the recently-reopened National Portrait Gallery. I'd never seen the movie before, and while I didn't know much about it walking in, I ended up really liking it. It's quirky as hell, and there are definitely high points (all of the scenes in the War Room and between Mandrake and Ripper) and low points (anything in the airplane, even with baby-faced James Earl Jones), but Peter Sellers gives an amazing performance as almost all of the male leads in the whole darn movie. And I found George C. Scott to be HI-larious. I think I will be pondering the slogan "PEACE IS OUR PROFESSION" for quite some time. The new theater there is really beautiful, by the way, and the programming they are offering this fall is pretty intriguing. If it weren't for Chatty McGiggleson and her friends sitting behind us, this would've been a near-perfect moviegoing experience.

From there, we made our way to Gordon Biersch for a late dinner. Our diverse and entertaining dinnertime conversation - ranging from sexual gossip to career path talk to family medical scares to Lance Bass - was helped along by three rounds of drinks. Summerfest beer for her, a sweet and fruity reisling for me. :-)

The evening ended on a down note, though. I received a series of worrisome text messages from a guy I really care about. So I'm probably now going to put off sleep feeling agitated and concerned about him, when I know he won't be getting much sleep either.

And I'm just drunk enough and feeling just emotional enough to be thinking about The Guy. The one from the past. What is it about '80's Depeche Mode that makes you want to prostrate yourself on the altar of dysfunctional relationships?

An Unwanted Rear View

Can anyone explain to me the fashion statement made by thin, almost sheer, white linen pants?

I saw a woman wearing them today and I had to fight my own ridiculous, small-town urge to throw a sweater over her to cover up her rear end! Seriously, what's with these pants that are so light and thin that you can see straight through them?

Sure, the woman wearing them was very attractive, very toned, very tan.... and clearly wearing a thong AT MOST under the pants. But that's not anything that all the rest of us have to see! If the pants didn't have two big back pockets, with white fabric covering up most of the expanse of her rear, she basically would've been mooning all of us!

Call me a prude, but I do tend to think that most things are better left to the imagination. And there's always something to be said for being proud of your body and dressing to accentuate your best parts. Yes, we can tell that this woman has a good body and that she probably diets and exercises religiously to maintain her shapely rear. But I don't need to see it, up close and personal, looming over the pages of my Express.

T. Rex and the Culture Wars

The latest issue of the Washingtonian has a great article about how the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is revamping its hall of dinosaurs. The museum has plans for a $100 million renovation of the exhibits, which includes a lot of work in updating and correcting many of the famous dino skeletons they have on display.

Reading the article, it's so easy to get swept up into the curators' excitement about these ancient terrible lizards, and to remember that first fascination that every child seems to have with the brontosaurus, triceratops, and the terrifying T. Rex himself. The curators talk about advances in technology plus discoveries in the field that help make their fossil recreations of these mighty creatures even more accurate. Their plans sound really ambitious, and I'm excited to see what they are able to accomplish in the coming years as they introduce new, post-Jurassic Park generations to the giants who roamed the earth millions of years before Man took his first step.

He roamed the Earth tens of millions of years ago. If you believe the scientists, that is. Which I do. Religiously.

Aha, and therein lies some controversy. Does the study of dinosaurs necessarily mandate a belief in evolution, and is a museum that displays dinosaurs endorsing evolution over creationism? Is something as simple as the belief in the existence of these creatures a threat to the theory (yes, I said theory) of intelligent design? From the article:

The scientists at the Smithsonian have seen in the halls of the museum some evidence of the growing popularity of intelligent design. "Suddenly it's fashionable to be a creationist again," says Sues (an associate director of the museum). "People come up to me and are very upset that we're not telling the whole story." Some school groups, particularly from Christian schools, have their own tour guides who explain the existence of the dinosaurs in theological terms. Sues says others have patiently explained to him that fossils were planted in the earth by Satan as a test of faith in the creator.

Aaargh! How has the pendulum swung so much in the last few decades that science and religion - at least some forms of fundamentalist religions - are so incompatible? Will we ever find a way for religion and science to coexist? I mean, really, how can you doubt the dinosaurs???

I wonder what the Flying Spaghetti Monster would think?

I think I'm going to have to check out the NMNH again soon to see these old bones in person and lend my support for their very existence. Plus, at least as far as I can tell in the magazine photos, that new curator of dinosaurs is kinda cute!

Where to Eat on U Street?

This time I'm asking for *your* opinions rather than sharing my own! :-)

If you were looking for a place for a fun Friday night dinner in the vicinity of U Street, where would you go? I'd love to try a place that's reasonably priced and has a good cocktails / wine menu. Advice???

Narfs and Scrunts and Egos, Oh My!

On Saturday night, AJ and I ventured forth - somewhat cautiously - to see the new M. Night Shyamalan flick, The Lady in the Water. We had previously discussed the fact that we both loved The Sixth Sense and Signs (although we no longer support Mel Gibson), and thought Unbreakable was interesting, but just plain hated The Village. Wanting to each be with a like-minded soul while dipping our toes in the Water (har har), we decided to go see it together.

**** SPOILERS LURKING AHEAD ****

The story of the movie is a story, about Story. Follow me.... the movie, based on a real bedtime story that M. Night made up for his daughthers, revolves around an ancient myth about the creatures of the Blue World, who live under the sea. They used to communicate with the people on the land to... I dunno, impart ancient wisdom or something? It's not made clear. But as time has passed, man has become more tied to the land and has stopped listening to the wisdom from the sea. This is a bad thing.

So now, sea nymphs from the Blue World, called narfs (why he couldn't just call them nymphs, I don't know), visit specific people on the land - called "vessels" - to impart to them this knowledge and hopefully bring about capital-c Change. A narf has only a limited time to visit the vessel, as she must then return to the Blue World by being picked up by a giant eagle. And there are awful, grass-covered dog-like monsters called scrunts that try to kill the narfs. But there are weird grass-covered monkey things that live in the trees that fight the scrunts and protect the narfs. All of this fighting and protecting is governed by ancient rules, and the narf is helped along the way by humans who fulfill the ancient roles of Guardian, Guild, and Healer. But, if unbeknownst to her, a narf is actually the secret Queen Narf (or whatever it was called), then the stakes are raised and the scrunts can attack her whenever and wherever and things are much scarier. Are you following me?

So, cut to the present day. Paul Giamatti is Cleveland Heep, the super of a rundown apartment building in Philly. He's got lots of colorful characters who live in the building, and you can bet that M. Night is only introducing us to them in the beginning because they'll come to play in the story later on. So, Mr. Heep is starting to be annoyed because *someone* is swimming in the pool after-hours, and is wreaking havoc with the pool's filtration system. What could they be doing in that water???

One night, he catches the phantom swimmer, who turns out to be a beautiful, mysterious young maiden in no clothes who wants to hang out with him. Right, I bet that happens in Philly a lot. We learn that this nymph is actually a narf named Story (played by Bryce Dallas Howard, who at times looks too much like Richie Cunningham). With the help of some residents who just *happen* to know Story's story, Mr. Heep figures out the myth. Then a wily, red-eyed scrunt starts attacking, and Heep runs around the apartment building trying to figure out who among the Scooby Gang is the Guardian, the Healer, and the Guild. All the action comes together on one rainy night when they decide to throw a party, end up having to perform an ancient ceremony, fight off a scrunt with pool equipment, and watch Story be carried off by a giant eagle. Oh, and Mr. Heep finally has his catharsis over the terrible personal experiences that made him become a sad-sack building super in the first place. The end.

The casting is pretty good. I love Paul Giamatti and would watch him do just about anything, and he gives the movie all of its real, human emotions. Some of the crazy cast of characters are amusing - watch for Shannon Elizabeth's ex-husband in his biggest role since Punk'd - but I felt that poor underused Jeffrey Wright spent all of his screen time looking confused and wondering how in the heck he'd signed on to this crazy picture. And I never understood why they couldn't find Bryce Dallas Howard some dang pants.

What amazed me about this film was how literal it was. Sure, it was all based on a myth, but everything in the movie that related to the myth was treated just so literally. You need a guild of 7 sisters? Well, there just happen to be that many sisters living in the building. How about a healer? Well, look to the former doctor. I think it was kind of jarring to see such mythological elements just worked into everyday modern urban life - where it's really hard to believe people would just accept all of this stuff happening. The most jarring thing about the movie, actually, is.... big spoiler here.... you spend 1/2 the time wondering what the big, signature M. Night twist is going to be ---- and then, there isn't one. We're so used to his stories being just a ruse for some greater truth that we'll learn at the end, and we've learned to sit through some of his flights of fancy just to wait for the big payoff, but nope, not this time. This story is about Story, and that's all he wrote.

And, AJ and I both agreed that this was the most ego-driven film from Mr. Night. He always gives himself cameo roles in his films, but in Lady in the Water he's the second male lead. Not only that, but he's the "vessel" - the one whose writing will awaken and change the world. Huh. That's a little narcissistic. And who does he have as the weanie, b-plot character who gets taken down by the scrunt? A film critic. Gee, how's that for predisposing reviewers not to like the film?
AJ started exploring the idea that the whole film could be an allegory for the Bush administration, and how we've lost our way as a nation and need a reawakening. That could work. There are actually some veiled references to politics and war in the film. I'd have to think more about that one to see how it works.... While I didn't love this movie, and wouldn't necessarily recommend it to most people, I feel confident in making the statement that we both agreed during the closing credits: "Well, it was better than The Village."

Random Blogger Dream

I know it's not cool to blog about weird dreams... but I had one last week that involved several of my favorite girl bloggers! No, not THAT kind of dream....!!!

In the dream, Velvet, Sharkie, AM, DCOE and I were all working at a Payless-style shoe store in a mall. We were all bored and sullen, like teenagers working in a mall usually are (although, ahem, none of us are quite teenagers anymore), and we couldn't wait for our shift to end because we were going to the movies together afterwards. We were all just sitting around this shoe store, talking about work and boys and gossip and the like. Then we all got to clock out, headed to the movies, had long discussions about what movie to see and what kind of candy to buy, and then we went in and watched a movie. I have no idea what movie it was, and the dream included random scenes of all of us sitting in the theater. Then, when the movie was over, we decided to sneak into another theater and watch a different movie. The end.

How strange is that??? Any Freudian analysis to be had?

I think maybe it just means that I miss my blogger girls and we need to hang out! :-)

More Berry Picking Photos!

Just a few more fun summer photos for your viewing pleasure....

Is It the Heat, or the Humidity?

Lately I feel like I've been wavering somewhere in between mental lethargy and intellectual atrophy. Seriously, some combination of the heat, my 3 week office-less limbo, and general exhaustion has made me feel really out of touch with the world in general, but also really out of touch with my own mental abilities.

I feel barely capable of having an intelligent conversation. I've been following the news - both foreign and domestic - but still feel ill-equipped to form an opinion let alone argue one side or the other of any of the current issues. I've been struggling at work all week to form a coherent thought or sentence, which is not good because 95% of my job is communicating either verbally or in writing.

I am in dire need of some intellectual stimulation. I'm reading a decent book right now about early 20th century history, but the rest of my personal time is spent seeing movies, watching Netflix or the Food Network or Jerry Bruckheimer procedural shows, or reading blogs. All good things, but I need to mix it up a bit.

So I have created a "to do list" for the fall of cultural exploits I want to pursue (exhibitions, plays, lectures, etc.) and I will keep adding to it. Maybe I'll take another class in the fall, too. And so far today at work I've had about 8 major things dropped in my lap, so I have no choice but to get smart and get working on them asap. Of course, if this darn heat would go away, I'd start getting better sleep and I'd perk up right away! So there. I blame the heat. AND the humidity.

Bright Lights, Big City

Big Apple, here I come!

I'm so excited. I just got approval to take off 2 days in August, so I'm going to head up to New York for a quick cultural extravaganza. Woohoo!

Last year, I took my first-ever solo overnight trip. I went to NY to see The Gates in Central Park, and I just spent the whole day walking all over the city and taking pictures. Then I splurged and enjoyed my own fancy hotel room with room service and a hot bath. I slept in the next morning and enjoyed a quiet train ride back here to DC. Best time ever.

And now I'm about to do it again! I'm going up on a Wednesday, courtesy of Amtrak, and plan to see a 2 pm matinee show as well as an 8 pm show. Then on Thursday I'll walk around, hit the Park, and maybe finally make it up to the New York Historical Society. I already scored a 3-star hotel room on the cheap (if you've never tried Quikbook, check it out!) and my train reservation is made.

Now... the fun part! I am going to check out all of the different shows that are playing and what exhibitions are up at the big museums, and plan my itinerary from there. My goal is to see one musical and one dramatic play, and I could spend another long day at the Met, but I'd actually like to explore somewhere new.

If you were going up to NYC in a few weeks, what would you plan to see? Are there any shows that are can't-miss? Any museums that inspire you? I'm open to suggestions!

Drunk, Full and Happy

That's how I felt as I made my way home at 7:30 this evening. It's always fun to be walking around amongst the people who are just heading home from work while you're a bit tipsy from an early happy hour! :-)

Earlier this week, I got an email (yes, I'm on the email list) from Skewers Restaurant at 17th and P announcing their July happy hour specials. It seemed like quite a deal, so I was able to recruit my friends AJ and AH to check it out.

Oh, the choices, the choices!

The drink menu was awesome. I can't remember them all, but there were about 8 different kinds of specialty drinks at $5 for the happy hour price, plus $3 beers. The drinks included both exotic and tried-and-true choices, like pomegranate martinis, rosewater martinis, cranapple martinis, and so much more. Plus, they had $2 appetizer specials. Yes, you heard me, TWO DOLLARS. Check these out:

• Blackened Chicken Skewer Served over Mango Salsa
• Mini Lamb Skewer Served over Eggplant Salad
• Mini Filet Mignon Skewer Served over sauteed mushrooms
• Monkfish and Tomato Skewer Served over Tomato salad
• Blackened Shrimp With fresh Gazpacho and cilantro
• Mini Dips with Zataar-Pita Chips Hummus, Baba Gannouj, Tabouleh, or Black Bean Salsa

We started with a round of the pomegranate martinis. They're good for you, right? They have antioxidants!!! Wow, were they tasty. Then we ordered a bunch of the appetizers to go around. Before the appetizers came out, we moved on to our second round and switched to the "French Martini." This tasty little beauty included a raspberry liquor and pineapple juice that separated themselves out in the glass, along with vanilla vodka that made the whole thing taste like a fruit danish. OMG they were delicious.

I had the lamb and filet mignon mini-kabobs, they had the chicken mini-kabobs, and we ordered both the hummus and the baba gannouj with pita chips. I shudder as I'm about to quote Ray Ray, but YUM-O. The mini-kabobs came out in a gorgeous presentation - the skewer with 2 chunks of meat was balanced on the edges of a martini glass, where the salsa/salad/mushroom side was nestled in a bed of mixed greens. It was gorgeous, and those sides were all really tasty. You just can't go wrong with Middle Eastern-style spicy grilled meat. The hummus and baba gannouj were tasty as always.

We decided we were still hungry enough - and still having so much fun just hanging out - that we ordered entrees, too. Both AJ and AH went for the chicken yogurt feta dish that they both loved. I was going to just get another kabob, but AH rightfully encouraged me to get some greens in for my day. I'd had a really bad-for-the-diet comfort food lunch, so I'm glad she steered me in the healthier direction. I ordered the beef kabob salad and got the grapes and feta added for the extra charge. Oh, delicious!

I'd had the chicken kabob version of this salad before, but since the last time I've had it they have changed the presentation for the better. It used to come in a very tall clear plastic bowl, almost tulip-shaped, which made it hard to get in on every last grape or piece of lettuce. But now it comes in a wide, shallow dish that is much easier to handle. After AJ rescued me by taking out all of the olives and preventing any further infection of my meal with their nasty oliveness, I dug in and thoroughly enjoyed this salad. It would be great without any meat, but the beef made it even better. I strongly recommend getting any of those salads with the grapes - I'm a sucker for fruit on salads, and they leave such a clean, sweet taste on your palate that it makes the world seem a happier place.

After a final round of drinks for me and AH (AJ had to drive home), we were totally satiated and I, for one, was feeling happily tipsy. In fact, in the middle of some conversation about work or family or something, I believe I blurted out "I should just take our cute little waiter home with me!" Yeah, no worries, that didn't happen... ;-) But even without a saucy ending, this was truly a great evening, filled with great friends, good food, and some darn tasty drinks.

Skewers is having this happy hour all month long, Monday - Friday, 4 - 7 pm. Check it out!

On This Day in History

Today marks the 158th anniversary of the start of the Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY, way back in 1848. It's hard for me to even imagine it now, but this gathering of about 300 people set off a firestorm of controversy as women dared to demand equality, respect, and the same freedoms enjoyed by men in this great nation of ours. As Frederick Douglass, a participant in the Convention, noted:

"A discussion of the rights of animals would be regarded with far more complacency by many of what are called the wise and the good of our land, than would be a discussion of the rights of woman."

As a result of the Convention, Lizzie Stanton's Declaration of Sentiments - modeled on the cherished Declaration of Independence - was released, and these women and men had paved the way for the Suffrage Movement and the eventual and hard-fought adoption of the 19th Amendment.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the Convention, from the Library of Congress Collection

Growing up nearby, I visited the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls many times as a young girl, but I know I never appreciated that history then as much as I would now. That's definitely on my list of sites to revisit if I ever make it back to my old hometown.

I want to personally thank Elizabeth Cady Stanton - only 32 years old at the time! - Lucretia Mott, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and everyone who worked so hard to make it possible for me, and my mother, and my future daughters, to have a voice in this great democracy of ours. If you're planning to check out the newly-renovated Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery anytime soon, stop by and pay homage to these fearless leaders who made it possible for all of us to achieve what we have today.

Are You a Collector?

I find it so interesting to learn that people are collectors. It doesn't really matter what people collect -- but whatever those objects of desire are, they somehow tell a lot about the interests, the passions, and the (shall we call them?) quirks of the collectors themselves.

A friend of mine has just recently started his own collection of a very specific kind of baseball cards, and he plans to get all 250 of them over time. His enthusiasm for this plan got me thinking about collections in my own life.

I've never really been much of a collector - other than in my college years, when I was majoring in ancient religion. I went ahead and bought all of the Franklin Mint Egyptian statues that each came under an individual dome of glass. I think I ended up with 10 or 12 of them, and I still have the set but several have battle scars from many moves. Either the glass domes have shattered or pieces of the statues themselves have gotten broken off. I still like them, (despite the occasional friend mocking) but I don't feel a need to keep them forever. I'll probably get rid of them whenever I move again. That's about it for my personal collections - I am a pack rat by nature but I don't keep sets of things, and I even try to purge my books, CDs and DVDs on an annual basis.

But I definitely grew up in a collecting family. My parents were big into the Franklin Mint. Dad collected chess sets - I think he was up to 5 at one time - and Mom went for lots of those collections of the month, including the silver Disney spoons and the Disney bells, the miniature mantel clocks, the replica Faberge eggs, and of course all of the wooden, wall-mountable shelving systems to display them.

They got rid of most of these trinkets in their big move in 2002, but have since started new collections that match their current interests. They have a miniature flag to represent every country they've ever been to on all 7 continents (which makes for an easy Christmas present for me to get each year, cuz Mom loves that little shop in Union Station that sells flags of the world), and they collect logo golf balls. Seriously, I think they have 6 of those giant display cases filled with golf balls. That makes for another great gift whenever I go anywhere, cuz any gift shop worth its salt has a logo ball. Even little bro collected the Franklin Mint classic car models. Yeah, my family has a lot of *stuff*.

I've had friends who collect any and all things frog-related, or who keep all the playbills and ticket stubs from shows they've seen, or who track down all the different concert posters from a certain band. Now that I think of it, I do have a sort of mini-collection of monkey-related things at my desk at work. Little plastic monkeys that were drink decorations, a wind-up monkey, a baby gorilla in a diaper, and a monkey statue from Chinatown. I do like monkeys.

What about you, fun and quirky readers? Do you collect any items that are funny, or sentimental, or important to you in any way? I'd love to hear about it!

Who's a Silver Fox?

A few of the gals at work and I recently were discussing the concept of the "silver fox" and we were trying to describe it to someone for whom the term was unfamiliar. In my mind, the silver fox is an attractive middle-aged or older man whose gray or silver hair makes him look distinguished and thus more attractive.

But in our conversation, several questions arose about what exactly qualifies someone to be a silver fox. Does the hair have to be fully silver, or can it be salt and pepper? Is there a certain age range? What about if someone young - say Taylor Hicks - has had their hair turn really early? Is a silver fox by his very nature someone who is financially successful? I usually picture a businessman or academic. Can a boho/hippie guy be a silver fox?

The Wikipedia entry is no help - it says it can either be a derogatory term or it can be used to describe attractive women of a certain age. Really? I've never heard it used to mean a woman! The Urban Dictionary (NSFW) is a little more helpful, as long as you skip that first entry (eek!) and focus on the second one, then don't read much further.

AC's definitely a silver fox, even though he's prematurely silver.

Steve Martin's a personal fave. The funny silver fox with an unexpected dose of pathos and an attractive vulnerability.

Tom Brokaw: The silver fox as the voice of authority.

Who's your favorite silver fox?

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Woohoo! After three weeks of telecommuting limbo, I'm back in my office! The phone AND computer AND A/C AND lights work! You have no idea how exciting this is! :-)

Oh, and I just saw that yesterday's post about berry picking was actually my 500th entry here on this little old blog. Fun!

Berry Picking!

This morning, Scotte was kind enough to let me tag along with a few of his friends to go berry picking. What a fun, yummy way to spend a summer Sunday!


We met up super early, as Scotte picked me up along the Green Line at 8 am (in the moment, I was mentally referring to it as the butt crack of dawn, but I've had a nap now so I feel better about it), but it ended up being the smart move as we managed to avoid most of the heat of the day. After meeting up with pals at Shady Grove we made our way to Larriland Farm for a day of berry-loving fun.


The red raspberries and blueberries are in season right now, and it was *almost* the right time for ripe plums. I didn't bring any plums home but I did try one in the field, and boy did I end up with most of that juiciness dripping all down my shirt! ;-)

Picking the berries was surprisingly fun. Scotte and I were laughing, as former farm kids, at the irony of the fact that this used to be a chore for us but now we were PAYING people to do work in the fields. Life is funny, eh?

Lessons for anyone who goes berry-picking: (1) Wear sneakers, not flip-flops. I had to wash off my feet when I got home. (2) Bring lots of water. (3) Bring sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat. (4) Check the web site beforehand to learn which fruits are in season so you can plan your picking strategy for the day. (4) Bring cash, cuz it's all pay-as-you-pick. Except for the berries you eat out in the field. Yum! (5) Wear an outfit with pockets, to carry your cash, camera, water bottle, etc. with you while out in the fields. (6) Go ahead and try one of the funky beverages they have at the farm -- that blueberry iced tea was tasty, and I have no idea when I'll ever be able to sample it again so I'm glad I tried.

Once I got home, I stopped and picked up some vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm. Berries and ice cream for dinner tonight! And dessert.... and breakfast tomorrow....

(Annoying post note: Check out the time I started this post. It wasn't finished until almost 9 pm. Yeah, that's how long it takes to upload photos on a dial-up. And I still didn't get to post all the ones I wanted. Suck. See how much love I give to you readers???)

The Original Single White Female

In keeping with my pledge to use Netflix to catch up on the classics, today I finally watched one of the most acclaimed films in cinematic history, All About Eve.

Wow. I had no predispositions about this movie - I didn't even really know the story, and thought that Eve was the Bette Davis character - but that meant I was totally open to it, and I was really blown away. The movie is compelling, intelligent, funny, poignant, and features some truly incredible performances. This is the first time I've seen a Bette Davis movie, and she's quite a force on the screen. All of the actors do a great job, but I think the real star here is Joseph Mankiewicz, the writer and director. This was one of the best-written films I've seen in ages. Hats off to him.

All About Eve is the story of a scheming young woman who latches onto her idol and remakes her self in her own image, eventually eclipsing the idol as she becomes a star herself. Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is the queen of the Broadway stage, surrounded by directors, writers, and other theater folks who allow her to act like a grande dame just to keep feeling the reflected light of being in her orbit. While her behavior is often that of a child, Margo's very troubled by the fact that she is now of an age where it's laughable to still be playing the ingenue roles, and she's afraid of being replaced by a younger model.

Perhaps wanting to feel a little more in touch with her humanity, Margo takes in Eve Harrington, a young woman who appears to be her biggest fan. Margo at first is charmed by Eve (Ann Baxter) and her lack of pretense, but slowly she begins to see that Eve is worming her way into every aspect of Margo's life, including her personal relationships. Margo starts to push her away, in her less-than-tactful way, but it's too late. Eve - not an innocent after all, but a major conniver - has already insinuated herself so far into Margo's world that she ends up claiming a role that had been written for the star and becomes a star herself.

Jennifer Jason Leigh has nothing on Eve Harrington - whereas SWF went for violence, this movie depicts a much more insidious manipulation, as Eve wins everyone's affections and achieves her dream on the stage. Luckily, Margo is pretty good at managing people herself and by the end of the movie, her friends have all realized the truth. Eve may have won the coveted Susan Siddons acting award, but it's an empty victory. And there's a great "cat becomes the mouse" final scene that makes you believe Eve will get her comeuppance eventually.

The story of these two main characters is great fun to watch, but I think the biggest strength of All About Eve is its commentary on the role of women in society. Margo very articulately laments a world in which she is considered less desirable, and thus of less value, after a certain age. Her fear of being replaced by a younger woman, both in work and in life, is very real. And she speaks quite openly about wanting to become "a woman" - only by finding and marrying a man, and giving up the working life. By the end of the movie, she has done just that, and she seems happy. But does that imply that a woman can't have both, a career and a life?

The DVD includes a great "Backstory" feature with lots of trivia about the making of the movie and its cast. Most of it is mentioned here, as well. It's amazing to learn that, for such an acclaimed and award-winning artistic endeavor, there was a lot of drama behind the scenes. Bette Davis wasn't the first choice for the role and only came on 2 weeks before shooting began (can you imagine it with anyone else?), but she appears to have ruled that set like Margo would the stage. Producer Zanuck hated her, she and Celeste Holm - fantastic as her best friend Karen - didn't even speak to each other, and eventually in an Eve-like fashion, Ann Baxter screwed her out of the Academy Award. She even started an on-set romance with Gary Merrill, who played Margo's husband Bill, while they were both still married. Add to all of this drama the fact that young ingenue Marilyn Monroe was in a supporting role, and jealous wife Zsa Zsa Gabor came to the set often to make sure there wasn't any funny business going on between Marilyn and her husband, George Sanders (Addison DeWitt). Ah, to be a fly on the wall on the making of that picture!

Why The World Needs Superman

After feeling kinda down on the world this morning (evidenced by the post below), I decided to finally take advantage of my flexible schedule and go check out Superman Returns. I've heard very mixed reviews of the movie from my friends, but I wanted to hold back judgment until I saw it myself.

I liked it! There were definitely things that I found annoying or that didn't work well for me, but overall, I liked it. The visual effects were cool, and I didn't mind the technique that occasionally made Brandon Routh look like he was made out of wax. It added to the slightly other-worldly, super-human mystique. And that boy can fill out the suit. ;-)

But I had very little use for Lois Lane. Kate Bosworth belongs to that school of so-skinny-they-could-break actresses, and I found it really hard to believe that she was actually carrying that little boy around. And I didn't like Lois's attitude or her smoking. It was much more believable with Margot Kidder. But Lois really lost me at one particular turn. I won't give away the details, but suffice it to say she can go off and play reckless, intrepid girl reporter as often as she likes, but the instant she brings her kid into a situation that she knows will probably be dangerous, she is dead to me. I'll file Lois away with Dunst's Mary Jane -- these superhero movies would do just fine without the girl.

Why do I think the world needs Superman? Because that guy "in a funny red sheet" represents hope. I admit that in the first big "Superman saves the day" action sequence, I actually started to well up along with the crowd that cheered him on. We all need a little more Superman in our lives. He doesn't quite fit with that old parable we all learned, cuz Superman tends to give you the fish rather than teach you how to fish, so it's probably not a great idea for all those residents of Metropolis to just always rely on him to get them out of a scrape. They need to learn how to take care of themselves, but still the fact that Superman exists is enough to give them hope that they will survive any bad situation.

Sound familiar? Balfour had told me to be on the lookout for all of the religious imagery in the movie.... and trust me, you don't have to look hard. Superman as Jesus is a major theme of Superman Returns. Everything from the nostalgic Brando quotes - "I have sent...my only son" - to the iconography to the plot to the actual references to a "savior" push the notion that Kal-el is a new Messiah. Very interesting, especially considering that the character of Superman was created by two young Jewish men in the WWII era. (If you haven't already, you must read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.)

And as for the *little* twist....? Intriguing. I'm looking forward to Singer's next round, when Superman Returns Again. (Can you see why I don't write movie titles?)

The News is Bad

One of the side effects of all this working from home (nearly 3 weeks now) is that I've had CNN on for a lot longer on a daily basis. Usually I have it on just for about an hour as I'm getting ready in the morning, mostly just as background noise. But since I now sit here in the apartment for hours on end working on the computer, I have had CNN up for big chunks of the day. I've also been reading a lot more news sites than I normally have time for - the NYTimes and the Post and WTOPnews.com for all the local details.

And what have I learned? Wow, this is not a very good time for news. All of the major stories over the last few weeks are pretty bad, and it sounds like things are getting worse. North Korea and its missile tests, US destroyers heading to Japan, terrorist bombings in Mumbai, Israel and Gaza and Lebanon and Syria. A civil war in Iraq and more horrible killings and mutilations of US soldiers. DC and its crime emergency and murders on the Mall. That's all kinda scary news. US soldiers charged with rape and murder, the Supreme Court and Gitmo, fires in the West and serial killers and rapists, Bob Novak and his sources, New York says no to gay marriage, and endless posturing and campaigning on the Hill. Aaargh, it's all falling on a spectrum somewhere between enfuriating, disheartening, frustrating, and just plain annoying.

About the only good thing I've seen on CNN recently was when Lewis Black was promoting his book about anger management, and he screamed at CNN to stop running that damn crawl at the bottom of the screen. And they did! For like a minute. We need Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to give lots more money away, or another successful space shuttle launch, cuz we are so in need of some good news. I think I need to switch to the Food Network.

Has anyone seen any good stories lately?

Book Talk: The Stolen Child

I recently finished reading Keith Donohue's debut novel The Stolen Child. I happen to know Keith, and I'd heard over the last few years that he had written a novel and that it would soon be published. So I was excited to read it when it came out, and I'm happy to report that all that build-up was worth it. This is a really engaging, interesting book!

The story, which has been called "a fairy tale for adults," centers on the myth of changelings. All of those mythical creatures we learned about as children - like faeries, and sprites, and goblins - really do exist, and The Stolen Child tells the story of a long-term encounter between a community of these creatures and real-life humans. When he is a young boy, Henry Day is kidnapped by a group of hobgoblins who live in the forest, and one of the creatures transforms himself to look, sound and act like the real Henry and takes his place in the human world.

The novel follows the next 30 years or so of these two main characters' lives. The real Henry Day becomes Aniday, yet another creature of the forest who learns how to live with his new companions on the very outskirts of the human world, which is rapidly encroaching upon the forest. The former changeling who becomes Henry grows up in the Day family and eventually has a family of his own. But, as he gets older, he becomes more and more drawn to learning about his own history, when he himself was just a child kidnapped into the forest.

The Stolen Child explores the theme of identity, and the question of whether we are who we are intrinsically, or if we become who we are in response to the community in which we live. It's really thought-provoking. I give it 2 thumbs up!

One fun thing to watch once the book came out was to see how a major publishing house markets a debut. Amazon.com picked The Stolen Child as its featured fiction for the month of May, and they promoted the heck out of it. (I have no idea what kind of deal the publishing house must have negotiated to have this happen, but I have to imagine it was worth it.) Seriously, Amazon pimped the book on the side of their cardboard shipping boxes! (Blogger is being a pain about photos today, sorry.) Friends and I watched as the novel kept climbing up and up, and I think I saw it reach the #7 most popular book spot on Amazon. I heard it also made it to the high-20's on the NYTimes Bestseller List. The good news is that, from what I can tell, Mr. Famous Author has stayed modest and sarcastic through it all, but he seems to really be enjoying the ride. Wouldn't you? ;-)

Correction: I have since learned that there wasn't any financial deal between the publisher and Amazon. Rather, Amazon picked The Stolen Child themselves as the one to promote for their featured book for May. Hearing this makes me even more proud to be an Amazon customer. Knowing that a company that could be all about the bottom line - and *only* the bottom line - instead chooses to nurture talent and take risks to showcase the new books (or CDs, etc.) that they deem worthy for their customers gives me hope that maybe the world isn't just all about the almighty dollar.

Name This Memorial

Anyone recognize this DC memorial? It's one of my favorites. I happened to have some time on my hands and my camera with me a few days ago, so I had fun snapping a few shots. Think you can identify it?

(Disclaimer: Balfour and the H sisters are not allowed to guess!!!)

I Can't Wait To Get Back In My Office

The telecommuting / alternate work location wackiness continues. Some more unusual experiences I've had while being office-less over the last 2 weeks:

PRO: Yes, I admit it, sleeping in a bit longer than usual and working a bit later into the night. My daily schedule is so out of whack it's going to be hard to get back to usual.

CON: Just finishing up that important email to a bigwig and then gasping and lunging to grab trusty cat, Cleo, who just jumped onto the keyboard, and praying to God / Allah / Jeebus that she didn't hit ;alskjdfa;lskjfd;aiwsujfa;lkwfea;skdlfja and then send.

CON: Being even more frustrated than normal when you find out your apartment is part of a Verizon area outage, and thinking about how much life would suck if you couldn't have Internet access at work OR at home. (Luckily, it was fixed by Sunday night.)

CON: Making special arrangements to go with your staff to an alternate work location just to log in to one special thing on the company server.... only to find out after an hour-long bus ride there that your access is denied. DENIED.

CON: Worrying about how many of those non-nights or weekends minutes you're using up on important business calls.... I'm afraid of my wireless bill. I better get reimbursed -- or at least claim it on my taxes!!!

CON: As everyone is trying to be productive, having several staff meetings or assignments either outside or in the power-less (and therefore AC-less) building, and freakin' DRIPPING with sweat in the ridiculous heat for several hours a day every day.

PRO: Working at home does come with one big perk: No Pants Necessary!

The good news is I'm hearing we could be back in the office either late this week or early next week. I can't wait to just sit at my desk and do my work again. Who'da thunk it???

Bruised, Sunburned, Hoarse, and Happy

That's how I felt when I got home last night from one of the best days of the summer! On Saturday, in celebration of Onyah's imminent birthday, she assembled a posse to head south and take over Paramount's Kings Dominion for a day of revelry and roller coasters. What a great time!

I hadn't been to an amusement park in about 8 years or so (my how the time flies) but no matter how old you are, once you step inside and hear the music and the rattle of the coasters, feel the energy of the crowd, and smell the popcorn and funnel cake, you're guaranteed to feel like a kid again!

My Top 10 List of Our Day at Kings Dominion:

10. Learning the hilarious-when-combined facts that it was Christian music weekend at the park, and that we were going to be joined by a friend-of-a-friend named Jesus. Oh, we found lots of reasons to shout his name! I should have gotten an "I'm With Jesus" T-shirt. Although our dirty minds came up with much better ideas for t-shirt slogans...

9. Ignoring the suspicion that we were probably the oldest child-less group of adults roaming around.... wow, there are a lot of teenagers at an amusement park!

8. Giggling whenever we would see a new ride that I know quite well because it's one of the options in Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, in which I kick a@@.

7. Feeling grateful that I don't have to be embarrased to be short, cuz the not-very-cushiony bicycle seat on the stand-up Shockwave is adjustable for height! Hooray, I am more than "this tall!"

6. Recognizing roadside landmarks on the way down to King's Dominion, which used to be a very frequent drive for me as I was making the move from Richmond to Pittsburgh. Those crappy gas stations off of random exits look exactly the same!

5. Celebrating overcoming bad childhood memories of the bumper cars, and learning that they actually are a damn good time. Just press on that gas and keep going, and don't tense up when you get bumped.

4. Giggling with glee as we learned that the giant swing ride is still just as much fun as when we were kids.

3. Soldiering on and still getting on more rides even after I got my head smacked really hard in the side-to-side motion of the Anaconda. Yeah, I don't like that sideways stuff so much.

2. Cheering on my much more adventurous friends who survived the Drop Zone and its terrifying freefall. I have definitely learned my limits as I've gotten older, and plummeting to the Earth from a giant tower in less than 4 seconds is NOT something I have to experience.

1. Realizing that the reason we're stuck sitting backwards on a ride halfway up the incline is not because the ride is broken.... oh no, it's cuz we're the bad kids. Yep, they had to stop the ride to reprimand us. Hilariously embarrassing, and the best story of the whole day!

A Very Special Day

July 9 is a very important day. There are two special birthdays today: our beloved little roly poly panda baby, Tai Shan, turns 1. And my beloved little roly poly Mom turns a little more than 1. ;-)

Things these birthday babies have in common:

Tai Shan is a little guy who is so cute that people just giggle looking at him.
My mom is a tiny little woman who most people think is adorable, and her dirty jokes make people crack up.

Tai Shan has a very open, inquisitive look on his face, mainly because of the markings that give him such big eyes.
My mom has a tremendous intellectual curiosity and loves learning about everything, and she's got those big eyes (which I inherited) that give her a sort of wise owl look.

Tai Shan eats a healthy diet of mostly bamboo.
My mom was on a health food kick long before it was popular, and she eats mostly shoots, roots, seeds and nuts.

Tai Shan lives really close to me but I haven't gone to see him yet, and I really should cuz someday he'll go far away back to China.
When my mom did live really close to me (in the same house), I probably didn't spend enough time just hanging out with her, and now that we live so far away I wish that we could spend more time together.

Happy birthday, Butterstick! And a very special happy birthday, Mom!!!!

Tidy Bowl to the Rescue

I don't know what kind of industrial cleaner the Navy Memorial has started to use on their fountains over the last few weeks, but the darn things are finally clean! Sure, seeing blue fountains is a little bit jarring, but it's a heck of a lot better than that gross, dark green, algae-ridden, duck-poo-filled stuff they used to spray into the air. Bully for the blue!

Best Excuse Ever

I had dinner tonight with an old friend who runs a non-profit organization in a small town in South Carolina. We were trading funny work stories, and he broke out the most hilarious tale I've heard in ages:

My friend called in to his office earlier today to see how things were going. He was told that one of his staff called in cuz she couldn't come to work. Important to note: they live in coastal South Carolina, and this woman in particular lives right on the banks of a river.

Apparently, she couldn't come in to work today because she couldn't leave her house. And she couldn't leave her house because when she went out to her car to head to work, there was a 10 foot ALLIGATOR sitting next to her car, just hanging out. So she had to call and wait for the fish & wildlife folks to come make the big toothy thing go away.

Um, AN ALLIGATOR?!?!?!? That truly is the best reason to not go to work ever. But I have to say, after 2 weeks of telecommuting, I'd rather have a day at the office than an alligator at my door.

DC's Wildlife

Check it out! Enlarge this puppy for a good laugh.



Yep, that is what you think it is. Fuzzy lovin' right here in our nation's capital. Tee hee!

Emmy Nominations Snooze-Fest

I just watched the announcements, and boy were these nominations boring. There are so many nominations for shows that are ending or are already over - "The West Wing" and "Will & Grace" and "Six Feet Under." Come on already, can't we start getting some of the newer shows and talents in there? Or some of the ones that have been shut out for years (ahem, Lauren Graham, like Sarah Michelle Gellar before her) because they happen to be on smaller networks?

The complete list of nominations in all categories is available here.

Big surprises? For me, I'm shocked that LOST didn't get nominated for the category it WON last year, Best Drama Series. It did pick up a directing nom for the season finale and a few technical awards, Plus there weren't any Housewives in the major categories, and they totally dominated last year.

Steve Carell better be a lock to win the Best Actor in a Comedy Series category. All of the other major acting categories bored me to tears. (I say that having never seen "The Closer" or "Rescue Me" though, so perhaps Kyra Sedgwick and Denis Leary are good options in their categories.)

In the Supporting Actor world...
No Michael Emerson for LOST?!? Henry Gale was the best tv character all season! Okay, okay, they gave Henry Ian Cusick / Desmond the nod, so that's our only chance for a LOST acting statue. But I am so excited that Jeremy Piven got nominated as a Supporting Actor for "Entourage!" And I have to give it up, Alan Alda did a fantastic job on "The West Wing."

"Grey's Anatomy" - my 2nd favorite show - did really well on overall # of noms, and that makes me happy. Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson are both nominated as supporting actresses, and I think Cristina and Bailey both rock so it's hard to pick who should win. But I'm leaning towards Chandra. (I bet Dancer in DC was happy to see this one!)

I am happy to see two of my favorites, "The Amazing Race" and "Dancing with the Stars," nominated for Best Reality Competition.

Overall, though, I find this whole list disappointing. "Two and a Half Men" gets major nominations? Stockard Channing is nominated for that painful, piece of crap show?

I don't know how I feel about this new "blue ribbon panel" selection process. To me, these nominations sound like just more of the same. Unless they push Conan aside and bring back Ellen Degeneres as the host, this will yet again prove to be the most boring awards show of the year.

George W. Bush Is a Cancer

It's true. Today is his 60th birthday. Have any birthday "wishes" to send his way??? I could think of a few, but I bet they're not what he's wishing for himself.

Fishy Stories

Two recent news stories strike me as utterly ridiculous. And no, I'm not even going to address North Korea and game theory. These are much more inconsequential:

1. Kenny Boy Kicks the Bucket
This one just makes me mad! So he had heart disease. What a chickensh*t way to get out of sentencing for the inevitable jail time and coming to any sort of justice for what he did. Do you think the Prez will go to the funeral? That's quite a dilemma. Do you go mourn for one of your oldest friends and most successful campaign fundraisers? Do you go if he's recently been convicted of fraud and conspiracy and ripping off all of his employees? I bet those White House PR handlers are in a tizzy about this one.

2. David Hasselhoff Gets Emergency Surgery
Have you seen this crazy story??? Okay, just maybe it happened that way... but this story sounds like it's missing a few steps. KITT's driver / European pop star extraordinaire was apparently shaving at the gym, when he hit his head on a chandelier, which then shattered and showered him with broken glass. A shard of glass hit his arm and severed a tendon. Hmmm. How exactly can one be shaving and hit a glass chandelier with your head so hard that it shatters??? Does this sound like there are a few blanks that need to be filled in? My cynical self believes a publicist has been spinning a web here -- sounds like Mr. H might have been doing something a little more than shaving. Care to speculate???

Give That Woman Another Statue!

In the last 2 weeks I've had the fun of seeing our most honored film actress show exactly why she has so darn many statues through two VERY different new perfomances.

First up, Robert Altman's film version of "A Prairie Home Companion." Our Meryl (born Mary Louise -- didn't know that!) plays Yolanda, one of the homespun singer sister duo "The Johnson Sisters." As you may have guessed from their Robert Altman intro at this year's Oscars, Meryl and Lily Tomlin are perfectly matched as sisters. Meryl is soft, earthy, maternal, lovable, and shows us once again that her talent knows no bounds as she's a pretty darn good folksy singer. You even believe her as being the mother to a not-too-annoying Lindsay Lohan.

Next up, the titular demon Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada." She was awesome! Without her, the movie would've just been another "Mean Girls" or Kate Hudson kind of chick flick. But Meryl rocks this role so hard, and looks like she's having so much fun, that you just smile and enjoy the ride. With her icy glare and her quiet-but-deadly tone of voice - "No, no. That's all." - little Princess Anne Hathaway is no match for the mighty Meryl. She just eats this movie up. And when the movie softens the character just a bit by showing her vulnerability, Meryl lets that show through but you still believe that she'll use that pain to become even more of a powerhouse. Miranda was scary, but believable.

I love watching Meryl Streep on screen, but I also like reading or seeing her interviews. She seems very down to earth, sensible, and friendly. I really appreciate seeing people who are amazingly accomplished in their field yet still retain their humanity and sense of humor. They've even named a Sesame Street character after her! Heck, let's give her another award just for seeming to be a genuinely real person.

Federally Festive

I caught these angles earlier this week.


Those flags are always there, making the Hoover Building a little softer in appearance. I wanted to snap some bunting photos while the city was all dressed up for today, but I didn't have my camera with me yesterday and today was just too danged hot. But trust me, the bunting, flags, and red, white and blue balloons were out in full force!

Happy 230th birthday, America! :-)

A Dog Day of Summer

In a somewhat surreal way, today ended up being all about dogs for me. Witness:

1. I started out the day by popping in a DVD that I bought a few months ago and hadn't seen in years.... Disney's Lady and the Tramp. You can't get much more doggy than that. "He's a tramp...but I love him...."

2. I caught an episode of Trading Spaces around noontime that featured two couples who are big dog lovers, and whose dogs like to play together at the dog park. So there was lots of talk of dog beds and photos of big doggy-dogs.

3. CG & SM and I met up to go to the Smithsonian Folk Life festival, and in the Alberta area we saw a very strange demonstration of innovation featuring these weird little things trying to "learn" how to walk:




4. After getting all hot and tired, we went up to Austin Grill for swirly margaritas. We noticed a woman sitting all by herself eating a meal and reading, and she had a big Target shopping bag next to her. But we also saw that she had pulled out of the bag a cute little stuffed Target dog with a backpack! The plush dog was sitting on the table next to her plate. We were very curious as to why she had sat the dog on the table. Was he her dining companion? We tried to snap a picture of it but it was too dark in there. But CG thought the little dog was super-cute and was planning to head to Target soon to figure out how to get one of her very own.

5. Then, as we were about to leave, we saw another young woman come into the restaurant, and SHE had one of those cute little Target backpack dogs sticking out of her purse! Oh, what is this?!? Aha, we remembered that today was the opening day of the renovated Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, and Target is a major sponsor. (I'm a fundraiser, it's my job to pay attention to those things.) So we thought this might be the key to getting little backpack dogs of our own!

6. We made our way over to the museum opening, texting our friend who just started working there saying "R u at work? We r coming over. How do u get a Target dog?" You can see we had our priorities. After a few minutes of exploring, we found a couple of dad-looking guys holding several Target dogs each, so I went up and asked how to get them. They pointed towards the Target tent and off we went.... So all 3 of us scored a Target backpack dog of our very own! Much giggling and cheesy photo-taking ensued.

7. Then we went and found our friend where she was working. And.... surprise! She had nabbed a whole bunch of little Target dogs for us. So now we have lots of them!!!! (Don't worry, I'm going to share the extras with my coworkers.) I mean really, how freakin' cute are they?

Long Live the Flip Flop!

The Flip Flop Flap of 2006 continues! I'm going to take this as a sign that we DC flip-flop lovers are AHEAD of both Hollywood and the NYTimes. Check it.

Since I don't work in an investment firm or on a Congressional committee, I will continue to wear my flip-flops and love them.

In fact, I was in a meeting yesterday with the head of our office, a Presidential appointee, and THREE of us were wearing cute, colorful, casual flip-flops.

I Have To Say I Love You...In a Song

I've been doing some playing around in my iTunes library this morning, downloading some random stuff and making playlists. And today I'm in the mood for some happy music, so I'm gravitating towards love songs. (Trust me, there's no particular reason for this.... I wish! I think it's just cuz it's Saturday and it's sunny and I just watched "Lady and the Tramp" on DVD.)

And it strikes me that there are just SO MANY really great love songs out there. Sure, sometimes I'm in the mood for angsty heartbreak songs, or songs of desperation or longing, or whatever other gloomy or self-pitying music is out there. But for now, let's focus on just those great songs of true love -- the ones that just make you smile and either cherish the one person you have in your life or hope that there's still that one person out there for you.

What is your favorite love song?

My favorites change as my musical tastes change and I start exploring different genres. But they always tend to be the songs you want to sing over and over, holding a pretend microphone and emoting in front of your mirror - or dancing around your living room and not caring if anyone can see in the windows!

When I was younger, I loved Madonna's "Crazy for You" and the Bangles' "Eternal Flame" and then, later, The Cure's "Friday I'm In Love" and Depeche Mode's "Somebody." In college, there were a whole lot of those Southern rock bands that had breezy summertime love songs, but they're not very memorable cuz I can't think of them now.

In grad school I discovered the Barenaked Ladies, and along with all their layered, dysfunctional stuff I just came to adore "If I Had $1,000,000" as everyone should. "I Drove All Night" is a great one, though I confess I prever the Cyndi Lauper version over Roy Orbison (sacrilege!) and the Indigo Girls' "Power of Two" is always at the top of the list. Stevie Wonder has given us several good ones, and "For Once In My Life" always makes me smile. And Trisha Yearwood's "She's In Love with the Boy" actually gets me singing along with a twang! :-)

But the current winner? For now, I think there's nothing out there that can beat the exuberance, and the burst of pure joy that you hear - and feel - in that classic gem, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. If I were to get married tomorrow (and take dance classes tonight!), that's the one I would dance to at my wedding. Love it!