Caterwauling

So goes my life. Enh. Tomorrow’s a new day. But until then, Reader Poll Monday questions!

1. Would you rather eat ONLY Syrian food or ONLY Mexican food for the rest of your life?
Crud, I’d go Indian. But in this case, Mexican.

2. What’s the meanest thing you’ve ever done?
I have to insert the disclaimer that I don’t normally do mean things on my own behalf. I might wish for karma to catch up to someone, but outright being an asshole is a waste of my energy.

However, that said. …

I think it was when I agreed to help someone stalk their ex, I applied for a job at his workplace and under “Have you been convicted of any crimes?” I wrote, “Not under this name.” This before I managed to sneak into his building and leave various STD-related pamphlets under his door. And I’m not even going to talk about how I got his new phone number (back then — I couldn’t give two shits now). I have always been, uh, *resourceful* at finding people’s whereabouts. And dating a cop never hurt anybody. 😉

But anyways, the proverbial “they” say that if you want to fly, you’ve got to soar with the eagles, and that the company you keep reflects you. God, the dumb shit I did back then. It’s amazing how much more enjoyable life is when you’re surrounded by better people — it’s cheesy, but I really do aspire to be the person they think I am.

3. Did you see a movie this weekend? If so, what?
Nah, I’m waiting for “The Devil Wears Prada.”

4. What’s the most recent CD you purchased?
Blue October. I didn’t do the CD but rather a bunch of MP3s from various releases. I can’t explain my obsession with it, but I recommend it. I’d start with “Calling You,” if you’re so inclined.

5. If 12 hot Blogger girls put their heads together and made a calendar, would you buy it?
Probably not.

6. Where did you go on your last vacation?
Uh. … Define “vacation.” Because if not for work trips, I’d never get out of this city. But if I can just not screw up my budget, I am definitely beach-bound later in the season.

7. What defines summer in your world?
Street fairs and festivals. Italian ice. Funnel cake. It used to be grilling on the balcony, but I can’t do that here so the grill sits very lonely right now. Oh, and of course having the A/C turned down to “frostbite” so I can still sleep with my comforter.

8. What time did you get up this morning?
4 a.m. Fucking cats. Life became more enjoyable when it was a “humans-only” zone when I closed the door to the felines.

9. If you could be interviewed on any talk show, which one would you want to be on?
No doubt, “Best Week Ever.”

10. How many hours a day are you actually WORKING at work?
I’d say I work seven or eight hours; it’s just oftentimes spread out over 10 or 12.

Like all D.C. denziens, I suffer from what I call “D.C. Ennui.” But it’s sort of a misnomer, because it’s not that we’re bored with our city but, rather, that we’re so over the traffic and the tourists that we dislike going to events because of the layer of aggravation that tends to enshroud them.

Now, you know we all hate tourons, but sometimes I think the worst offenders are the ones who carry a driver’s license from the metro area. And it’s high time for me to break out of my comfort zone — sometimes I feel like I can maneuver Manhattan better than the city that gleefully accepts my taxes.

Now that I’m in the city proper, I realize that spending the weekends in the suburbs is just stupid when I’m literally two Metro stops from, oh, everything. That said, yesterday turned out to be sunny and hot (the weather had called for rain. Bah!), so we wandered down to the National Barbecue Battle.

Best. Sign. Ever.

The weird part is that I had more sun(burn) than BBQ. We wandered Pennsylvania Avenue freely, as it was closed between 9th & 14th. The city smelled of spicy sauces, burning charcoal and firewood — a welcome change from the usual just, I don’t know, combo of corruption, sewage and body odor. 🙂

There weren’t that many participants in said Battle, and nothing really appealed to me. We wandered for awhile and decided to get in what I called the “Line Ride” (obscure “South Park” reference) for the Safeway tent, as it was an hour and a half to get to the front of it. But Safeway had claimed a space the length of a city block, and there was an endless bounty of food samples, coupons and other takeaway items.

Here’s a concept: nuts in D.C. Shocker!

Mr. Peanut Lost Its Shoe While Dancing to ‘Promiscuous’

My only complaint was about the idiot family behind us. The father kept reading shit and whacking me in the back with whatever he was struggling to comprehend, and at some point he put up his umbrella and dinged me in the head a couple of times. He was a treasure compared to his kid, who kept stepping on the backs of my flip-flops and running ahead of me in line, whining about the wait and just plain acting like an obnoxious brat.

Too bad I was too stuffed from the Safeway Experience to even try any ribs, but I’m not complaining about an inexpensive day out in the sun with lots of scenery, and I ain’t talking about the monuments. 😉 Nothin’ wrong with sneaking a glance around at good-looking, half-dressed people. Nothin’ wrong with that at all. …

But at the other end of the spectrum, the thought of photographing people snarfing down food as though they were to be shipped off to Ethiopia is too gross even for me to commemorate, but I thought these were appropriate to capture, given the location:

Dubya’s Ride

Dubya’s Other Ride

And just for giggles, this is of one of the fountains in front of the National Archives:

In Which I Almost Dropped the Camera Into Said Fountain