Cynically Optimistic

Zoom! Time for another trip to D.C. to see Tom and attend various festive events. I picked up George in Brooklyn and made it to D.C. in time for Happy Hour at Titan was followed by dinner at Bussboys and Poets. After Tom, Ed, and I charmed the pants off a 53 year old woman from Maryland, we were seated in the performance area. Dinner was served!

And now we must talk about grits. I loves me some grits. Don't sully them with cheese, and don't let them be too runny. I was served Basil Terragon Grits for dinner (the crabcakes were much less memorable) that were mind blowingly delicious. DE-LISH-US! I shared them with the table and these grits elicited moans of delight. So much so that we are shusshed with, "GENTLEMEN, PLEASE!" Oh, I'm sorry, was there a show going on? I was having a grits-gasm.

We split at intermission because we were unamused with the reading of the play (or whatever it was) and decided to stroll through the lobby of the hotel hosting MAL. Now, there are a lot of things to look at on the internet, and most of them you never really expect to see in real life (at least I never did). Walking into the lobby of the Washington Plaza hotel felt like I was inside a virtual reality chatroom with every crazy face, complicated hairdo, angry tattoo, and leather clothing/accessory I'd ever seen on the internet. We didn't stay very long, as you were required to buy drink tickets to then buy drinks. I bet plenty more freaky people were drinking up in their hotel rooms.

Saturday we cooked breakfast, watched Futurama, and went back to the hotel to check out the Vendor Mart. Yes, you too can play dress up for the not so low, low, price of leather pants and a vest. We briefly ran into the delightful Mr. Bartender and his posse. I've never seen so much leather or, um... interesting jewelery(?!) on display for sale. Talk about visual overstimulation - and the place was packed. We did a little bit of shopping, trying on a simple vest or wrist-band here or there, but nothing was purchased. Suddenly, it's cold and very windy outside!

With Blowoff that evening, we decided to ramp up our evening slowly. We started with a few petit yet delicious Belgian brews at L'Enfant, followed by dinner at the Duplex Diner (they use iTunes for their bar/restaurant music jukebox). Dessert, coffee, and tea were obtained at Tryst in Adams Morgan, followed by a long walk to the Brickskeller for another beer. Home. Costume Change. RedBull and Vodka. The Land Rover arrives. Off we go!

A short wait in like at the 9:30 Club to get tickets, followed by a longer line at coat check and the party was on. Not only did they spin, but Bob and Rich played a live set. It was a real treat!!! There was a good crowd, including lots of familiar faces. Sean and Chemistry Lad greet me with, "Them Chicken's is Ash, and I'm lotion." Word! The Dinger Dumbek Dynamic Duo were in full effect. Ed materializes again, ready to party. The wolves decended on Chrisafer upon arrival and tore off his shirt. Even Jimbo, sans cellphone (how does he live like that?), met up with his various peeps - all of them famous from his blog. Scott and Colin graced us with their presence also. We danced. We bobbed our heads. We all had a rockin' good time. We remembered to get our coats before a huge line formed.

Stumble home, by way of Yums restaurant. It seems like a good idea right up until the moment you realize you've just inhaled a LOT of Pork Fried Rice, General Tso's Chicken, and Fried Dumplings and the MSG reacts with whatever was in that RedBull (or Tequilla) and the tummy starts acting up. It's a miracle I didn't actually get sick but I paid my price with a hangover Sunday.

By the evening, food was once again appetizing, so we rode out to Virginia for the legendary Sunday Night Dinner™ I had been missing for months. It was also Jeff's birthday, and a whole room full of Basses and Baritones singing Happy Birthday was quite rousing. Later, we sang Suddenly Seymour - yes life is random. My blood cheese levels were equilibrated after a bit of chili and cornbread, then we watched Desperate Housewives. Good show, but way funnier with a group, and a pro running the TiVo remote. We skipped Sunday night's big dance party and ended the night early.

Monday we had late lunch with George and Edgar at Lauriol Plaza, and then hit the road back to NY. I managed to route myself around a burning tanker truck on the BQE which was totally screwing up traffic in Queens for basically the whole day. It was bad enough trying to get out of DC. It snowed while I was "down south", and the light dusting of powder was a nice change of scenery. Now I have to shovel the driveway.

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