The One Hundred and Forty First...

Number One Hundred and Forty One:

Dots Back Inn, Dinner, Famous Amos

Talked the kid FINALLY into getting to Dots. Packed. I asked Jimmy the owner what the deal was at 5:45 on a Thursday; we guessed the chilly weather. I dunno, they have been getting crazy popular these days. Worth the wait as we finally took up to the bar. Hope had a healthy salad, I had the delicious Famous Amos burger and some happy hour beers. Fellow Northsider, Robb from the Library came in, plus the usual people and all the waitresses rocked with familiar hellos. Jimmy changed the station to some baseball which helped me linger with another beer while the kid went home. Family neighborhood restaurant in the best of ways!

Um,

Fordstache!

The One Hundred and Fortieth...

Number One Hundred and Forty:

Home, Dinner, Leftovers

Just chilling at home on a chilly Wednesday, eating leftover Pot Roast, perfect evening for it. Watching Justified, a kind of decent replacement for the kick ass Deadwood (minus the wonderfully written dialog) that got cancelled before it had a chance to finish it's thought.

The One Hundred and Thirty Ninth...

Number One Hundred and Thirty Nine:

Home, Dinner, Steak

I'm getting pretty good cooking on the grill that Lisa bought for my birthday (and kind of new home) gift. It rocks. I have a "meat" side and a "vegetarian" side; meaning I have never cooked meat on the left half out of consideration of non-meat eaters. Hardcore vegans might not partake though because it's not completely separated, smoke still permeates throughout. Flank steak has been my new kick. A previously dismissed piece of meat that cooks surprisingly fast and well, and great marinaded. Mashed potatoes too! Yum!

By the way, it has really come to the point in this blog and the 365 mission that I occasionally take two in one day. I also took one at lunch, at Riverbound with the BK crew, "just in case". Although, "just in case" is for the writing material rather than the actual picture.

Our waitress today, the good one spoken about in a previous post, totally buddy chatted with us about some bachelorette party she went to at The Vault (actually Bank and Vault, I think), where they had a lame meal, and crazy guys getting in her space on the dance floor. I couldn't really understand what the hell she was talking about, only because once she said The Vault, I was wondering who eats dinner at a place called "The Vault". Bachelorette party gals I suppose!

The One hundred and Thirty Eighth...

Number One Hundred and Thirty Eight:

Home, Breakfast, Cereal

Fifth in the Paint-By-Numbers posts, the sailboat on the ocean has been undervalued by me. Manipulating the photograph from the original look, which is kind of faded, it really brings out the lush color of how it might have once been. Lisa thinks it is one of the oldest we have, and giving it the attention in this blog post, I am starting to appreciate it much more. The cereal this morning? Well it tastes okay enough; it's Kashi. Some of the shapes in the bowl, however, are suspiciously close to the look of the cat kibble.

The One Hundred and Thirty Seventh...

Number One Hundred and Thirty Seven:

Home, Cheese and Crackers

Lisa and I made a conscious decision today to be slugs around the house; reading, video gaming, slouching. We blame the snow we saw this morning, well, heard in the wee hours of the night, and the chilly weather. Blah. Wine and cheese and apple and crackers was a good thing in the early afternoon while watching the rest of the Ghost in the Shell movie that we had fallen asleep to the night before. Great movie. The cat? Not so much interested in wine, cheese, apple, cracker OR a movie.

Catstache!

The One Hundred and Thirty Sixth...

Number One Hundred and Thirty Six:

Carini Italian Restaurant, Lunch, Sausage & Mushroom Pizza

We were to meet some people from the local Audubon list-serve for some birding adventure at 1 o'clock on the Malvern Hill Battlefield, this pizza place was just on the way. The interior of this place has always felt like you have walked into some serious Italian restaurant kitch, and I have long been a fan of Carini. I used to live on this side of town and they had some crazy 5 dollar (then 10) large cheese pizza special on Mondays, or something. Over years of eating there, I felt, that their pizza started to go the way of the downhill grease slalom, but today's pie was really good. I think it usually depends on the person making it. The crust was a little thicker than the usual style they do, but crisp and cheesy and delicious. Good stuff before the some birding!

The birding turned into more of an amusement of birder types than good bird spotting. The location was great for a lot of varieties; vast open fields, some deciduous woods and just down the hill a nice wetland that sometimes had migrating shorebirds, which was the reason why we were there.

Unfortunately, the organization of the outing was a little haphazard. There were about 8 of us, a nice couple in their late fifties that volunteered to drive people from the parking lot to the spot about 1/4 a mile away. There were a few ladies, I guess these peoples' friends, another man, probably a life long boy scoutish dude in his late 50s and then the pasty "guide"in his thirties. While the people were all very nice, I believe a few were definitely beginners (more so than even me), and the scout guy definitely knew his shit.

After the short van ride, we started along this trail, at a considerable distance to any of the wetlands to see easily with our meager binoculars, yet we stayed at this location a while. It was only when the scout guy forged ahead, with Lisa and I following close behind, starting down the 3/4 mile trail to actually get close, did we start seeing something. This scout guy, started out cranky, and was probably an asshole anyway, but I respected his style and the way he birded, which was similar to how Lisa and I do; just keep walking and find stuff, get to the best viewing destination then maybe sit a while. At one point we waited for everyone to catch up and a swallow flew overhead. One of the ladies said, "Ohhh! What is that? A Swallow?" The "guide", who minimally saw the overhead shadow, dismissed it, saying it was a Robin. Wrong! As we made our way along, finally nearing the levee trail that divided the low water with the higher water, we started to actually see some shorebirds, ducks, and a few other nice waterfowl, with an opportunity to view even more once out on the levee.

The scout guy quickly picked up on the ducks as we were a bit ahead, then the rest of the crew arrived. We told them what they were and where the best spot to view them was. The "guide" then got really excited to see a mated towhee pair in a tree ahead, which made all the other people get really excited as well. Towhees are all well and good, but please, calm down, they're towhees. After too long a moment spent on them, they then directed their attention back to the water, the "guide" telling us not to go further on the levee path for fear of scaring the birds away. We were really doubting that. The scout guy again mentioned the name of the ducks, and after a few befuddled moments among the rest of the crew, they finally said the duck name too! That is when I saw scout guy shake his head in the utter disappointment that he was even here. He, and we, were pretty done with this crew, but I think we really wanted to go over the levee trail, so Lisa and I made one last attempt. The "guide" then quickly said we should really NOT go any further, hinting that we might scare the migrating birds away forever.

(As far as we basically got to the levee)

Wrong. Lisa and I, and I think that scout dude, knew enough about birding that we would not screw it up; maybe he was talking about the rest of the group, still ooo-ing and ahh-ing over the towhees, but it didn't matter by this time. I turned to Lisa and gave her a look, then we both looked up the trail we had just come from and saw scout guy making a bee-line the fuck out of there; back to the parking lot. Screw the van ride back. Lisa asked if we should follow that guy's lead. Yes.

So we followed about a 1/4 mile behind him back up the road, not even bothering to try to wait for the rest of the crew to give us a ride back; it really wasn't that far of a walk back anyway. That dude was outta here, and so were we. It was a great walk back, reminding me of some of the hilly areas in the mountains. As we were nearly back to the battlefield parking lot, the crew in the van pulled along side and asked if we wanted a ride the rest of the way. We politely declined.

So while we didn't really see many great birds, some nice ones like the yellow legged sandpiper, the green winged teal and the ringed neck duck, the far more interesting part of the adventure was the different birders! I don't think we'll be going of this particular guide's trip anytime soon, however, we really enjoyed the area and will definitely go there again.

The One Hundred and Thirty Fifth...

Number One Hundred and Thirty Five:

Mekong, Dinner, Claypot Chicken

Gina had been craving noodles from Mekong all this week while at work, Lisa just happened to mention Mekong for dinner tonight as a suggestion. On the fly we combined the two with some beers thrown in the mix by the illustrious An and his brother Liem. The Richmond Spiders I am sure were not enjoying the ass beating they were getting the middle of their game as I took this photo, right before the half. It didn't matter very much to us, however, with conversation revolving around the Picasso Exhibit among odd and sods.

The One Hundred and Thirty Fourth...

Number One Hundred Thirty Four:

The Camel, Dinner, Greek Pizza

Quick bite and a beer before the Board of Directors meeting for WRIR 97.3. The beer, Bells Two Hearted, the dinner was a really great tasting Greek pizza. Tonight was my vote night. In other words, I was getting voted in (or not) to be on the Board. By unanimous vote, I am now a member of the Board!

Boardstache?

The One Hundred and Thirty Third...

Number One Hundred and Thirty Three:

Greek Grill Cafe, Dinner, Kebab

I was really surprised (and glad) that Hope actually wanted to bike to the FURTHER location of the Greek Grill for supper this evening. It's a pretty adventurous ride, having to cross over a few busy traffic streets and dodge various variousnesses. She did it and was rewarded with some spaghetti while I took part in a pork kebab. Good stuff.

Sure enough a few moments go by when I hear, "Hello neighbor!" It was Talia who lives a few doors down from us and also great host of the Louisiana Dance Hall on WRIR 97.3. We chatted a moment, she was jealous of our bikes and was going to give her husband, John, a hard time that we biked here from home, so they could too. Ha! Anyway, I also saw one our administrative heads from the library, Christine, the assistant director. It looked like a double date with her husband and another couple. I noticed her a bit too late to say hello; their food had arrived and they were all in good conversation.

This napstache is the same mural from a previous 'stache a number of weeks back. This time I noticed that it was none other than Happy the Artist who did the mural! Can I call that a third person I knew (well know OF) at the restaurant? Nah? Ah well, I tried! After a good meal, we still managed to bike back just as well, in spite of our full bellies.

The One Hundred and Thirty Second...

Number One Hundred and Thirty Two:

Roma Ristorante Italiano, Lunch, Turkey Sub

Apparantly by the large screen t.v. behind me, Baseball season has started. Also featured at this decent little Italian joint in the east end, a bad jazz station that you might first think is musak, then actually hear some Satchmo to satiate you, then whack you on the head with jazz musak again, to catch you off guard and nearly not swallow food. Ouch. Decent food, bad music. Don't believe me, go to the website and listen to their webpage musak!

Musakstache!

The One Hundred and Thirty First...

Number One Hundred and Thirty One:

Home, Dinner, Spaghetti

Another good yoga session with Iffet! The routine for dinner afterward has been Italian lately, whether it be pizza from Arianna's or Spaghetti made at home. Quick and easy before the Antiques Roadshow!

The One Hundred and Thirtieth...

Number One Hundred and Thirty:

Banditos Burrito Lounge, Lunch, The "El Dorado" Burrito

Lisa and I had 10am viewing tickets to the Picasso Exhibit @ VMFA. We were nearly first in line, and they kept the pace great as we went to the basement of the new building. I have to say, they have done a fine job with that new space. The "basement" or ground floor for special exhibits is terrifically well thought out, being able to move the space according to whatever exhibit is there at the time. The last one we saw not too long ago was for the Tiffany Display and it was completely unique and specific to that exhibit. Same thing with Picasso. VMFA redeux is well done.

Picasso was moving. Going in, I had in the back of my mind, of all things, an old facebook status update from my friend Anna who had just been to the exhibit:

"First I started mumbling; "dammit, dammit all", the I got the urge to yell really bad words, then cry, then scream and lay on the floor kicking my feet, then went back to mumbling and shaking my head like a bum on the corner. Humbled by the power of Picasso."

Walking thorough each period of Picasso's artistic life with that intense kind of statement I started noticing the faces on his paintings and sculptures; they are all so distant to me. Distant in the way Industrialized societies may have left people with an emptiness, or void of meaning; the empty and crooked feeling in eyes and facial expressions in his work was very sad to me. Brilliantly melancholy in that whole early 20th century sense of Modernism and what is the modern world. T.S. Eliot had his Wasteland, Joseph Conrad had his Heart of Darkness; the literary idea of a new sense of things coming apart then being re-realized, Picasso has his place in this in his art. Some of the most reflective pieces that I stared at wondering and feeling affected by were The Kiss (1925), Portrait of Olga in an Armchair (1918), Man with a Guitar (1911), Massacre in Korea (1951), one of some cute woman reading curled up on a couch that I can't seem to locate the title, and countless others. I understand Anna's quote, the exhibit --rather Picasso, his art, moved me in a way that great art should. Plus, that dude, did a LOT of stuff. A master.

Afterward we walked to Banditos where Basketball was what hung on the walls in television sets as churchgoers were being let out from various denominations hungry for lunch and hangovers were being dragged to their first meals of the day. Lisa saw the bull in the background for this napstache, appropriate for our morning we think!

Picassostache!

The One Hundred and Twenty Ninth...

Number One Hundred and Twenty Nine:

Sprout, Funk Brunch, Soul Hash

The good people at Sprout let me do a Funk Brunch set at their restaurant! PLUS, they did a rad menu to accompany!

I got there around 11 and got set up and just started spinning records and playing funk from the 60s & 70s. Hope was there to help and she had a blast too. At first only a few people came, then gradually it got pretty busy. They put me in the front corner and just let me go at it. I had a magnetic board to let people spell stuff, a la Soul Train Scramble Board, but I couldn't see it, so all kinds of silly stuff was being put up. Still made it fun! I also had a box of records to give away, with a sign on it that read, "dance for a record" but no one took any; well no one danced for any either! A lot of people did manage to bop around in their chairs while they ate, so that was good enough for me! Here is the playlist, kind of, which I kept writing on this giant sized post-it paper, the kind they use for office meeting and stuff. I forgot some songs in between and at the end just stopped writing them down, but still a damn fine representation!

I didn't get enough pictures, should have had the kid do it, but there was a nice crowd I would say. I will call the Funk Brunch a success and hope to do it again sometime! This Napstache is toward the end of it, hearing that the sign had letters spelled out, "Grey is not Funky"! Bullshit! I was laying the FUNK for close to four hours! BOOM!

The One Hundred and Twenty Eighth...

Number One Hundred and Twenty Eight:

Home, Breakfast, Cereal

Early! Friday Breakfast Blend won't play itself! Plus it was a special show dedicated to Japan. Think about Japan! This Paint-By-Numbers is Lisa's favorite because reminds her of an actual painting (without the help of numbers) that her folks have of a somewhat similar bridge that they know the location in Pennsylvania. A lot of rich greens with branches poking through, and the reflection of the water on this one, complete with a couple of people fishing in the distance, is really quite relaxing too. Anyway, yes despite the time change it is still dark out!

The One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh...

Number One Hundred and Twenty Seven:

Bev's Homemade Ice Cream, Dessert, Mexi Cali Chocolate

I talked Hope into going into Carytown with me, which was great because she got to go to the bank, then meet me at Plan 9, then a quick trip to River City Cellars where David had some beer on hold for me. The kid then actually talked me into Carytown Sushi, a great little place we used to go to pretty frequently when we lived around the area. We used to each get the Sushi Sampler at 9.99. Unfortunately, time has taken its toll and that plate now exists under another title and 4 more bucks. So we split some upgraded thing for 25 bucks, a lot of sashimi kind of drew Hope away, she likes the rolls, but it was still good stuff. She then suggested Bev's and I asked if she was buying. After some chagrining she agreed to buy mine! HA! Only fair since I bought dinner, dangit! Anyway, the servers at Bev's most always hide in the back until they hear someone come in, serve them, then vanish to the back once more. We were the only ones there after some smooching couple left and I started my napstashing with great humor. Continuing the "other dimension" theme from yesterday's photo, I was cracking myself up when another employee came in and kind of caught me doing this one. She ignored it. Probably for the best...

Bevstache!

The One Hundred and Twenty Sixth...

Number One Hundred and Twenty Six:

Home, Breakfast, Cereal

Third in the Paint-By-Numbers series. Lisa and I talked a bit last night about the ones we have on the walls. My opinion is that this is the oldest one we have. She says it is hard to tell just by the design because they reissued them over the years. It still has that older vibe to it. I dunno. Very cool stuff but it might have lost it's kitch over the years. I mean you can still walk into a craft store and probably pick one up and do one yourself, but would it have the same allure that one already done from the 50s or 60s have? With that mystery of just who might have done the one you bought at a flea market. Maybe.

So I Google "Paint By Numbers" and this great link comes up: An exhibit! This Napkin Moustache picture has a little, "Hey! I'm in another Dimension!" angle to it, with the tv antennae and shadowing, but it works!

The One Hundred and Twenty Fifth...

Number One Hundred and Twenty Five:

El Nopal, Lunch, Nachos

So Emily happened to be in the east end neighborhood and Gina and Justin like to to dig on some El Nopal, so we hit it. Group 'stache was frequently mentioned but Justin was dubious. We still managed to talk him into his second group 'stache by the way for this blog, Gina has like 3 or 4, I think, even if unpublished here, and well, this was Emily's first. A good group 'stache! Interesting thing about this place today; for lunch they had a drink special called the Margareta Hulk; 64 ounces of green margaretaville for 19.95! What a bargain! IF you didn't have any plans for the next few hours, it was the perfect getaway. Unless Hulk got mad and tore shit up, then you would probably wind up in the drink tank at county. Just sayin...

The picture on the wall was a great desert scene, but we all thought it was missing a monster of some sort; a chupacabra, a UFO, or both, or...HULK!!!

The One Hundred and Twenty Fourth...

Number One Hundred and Twenty Four:

Home, Dinner, Leftovers

Number two in the Paint-By-Numbers decoration series, ha! Yoga was great, Lisa missed it being at some conference, but it was a good sun sweat with a good group. Home, then some microwaving of leftovers and dinner was ready in front of the television watching Jeopardy! This is one of my favorite PBN that we have. It used to be in the old house in the bedroom, complete with another PBN you may see here in another post, and a sail we had for a headboard at the bed, it gave it a real seafaring kind of feel. I sometimes wonder WHO painted this one, because they really followed the rules of the color kind of vibe. Aloha!

The One Hundred and Twenty Third...

Number One Hundred Twenty Three:

Home, Dinner Steak

After a blow up argument with the teen, we left the dining room for the living room. Tell me I am not the only one that gets furious at lackadaisical youth? Please. Anyway, I need to calm down now... The above picture is a Paint-By-Numbers from who knows when. A woodland scene with a 5 or 6 point buck on the trail, green trees lush green, opening up to an open mountainous lake. Pure paint by numbers awesomeness. Lisa used to aggressively collect them years ago, even featured in Home Style several years ago as a result of it!

Paint-By-Numberstache!

The One Hundred and Twenty-Second...

Number One Hundred and Twenty Two:

Home, Dinner, Pizza

After finishing a pretty damn good River City Limits show on WRIR 97.3. I picked up some pizza from Arianna's to have on the couch with Lisa. Wine included! So nice! I think we are gearing up to watch the Disney classic Love Bug. I know! We walked up to our local city library, returning a book and saw it while looking at the DVDs. Haven't seen it since, I don't know, I was eight? Should be interesting.

Pizzastache!

The One hundred and Twenty-First...

Number One Hundred and Twenty One:

Dots Back Inn, Lunch, Burrito

I had my belated Birthday lunch from my work buddies today at Dots. Carolyn and I both happened to be off last Friday. Come to think of it, I also had a burrito last week for my birthday --Burrito Friday? Anyway, great as usual!

It's hard not to think about Japan right now...

The One Hundred and Twentieth...

Number One Hundred and Twenty...

Sprout, Dinner, Fish tacos

The kid and I went to Sprout after some stuff we had to do. I had this great coupon for them, plus Sprout people are good people. They are a "localvore" restaurant, which means over 90% of the food they serve is local, from local farmers and producers. Plus owners Jamie & Laurie are just great people to know that give a shit about Richmond! As well as musically inclined, and totally support local music / art / creativity! Anyway, the meal was great, I had the fish tacos and Hope a basic salad. NOM!

There was a bit of a gathering at the bar; married ladies on a night out, I swear I recognized one of them from somewhere, but anyway... We were at a two top near the bar and under this great cast iron chandelier!

Sproutstache!

The One Hundred and Nineteenth...

Number One Hundred and Nineteen:

Home, Dinner, Tuna fish sandwich

After a heated argument with my kid over various teenage crap (Me: you never prepare for anything! Teen: who cares! Etc etc --ad nauseum), we both calmed down a little. I opened a can of tuna fish for tuna salad sandwiches, then I realized, as the cat meow incessantly upon the opening sound and fish smell, that Lisa had made some earlier that day and there was a leftover dish in the fridge! Ah, well, the kid and I polished off the one I made, being more civil to each other, kind of like boxers in their corners between rounds. Anyway, this sandwich was eaten hastily and not in the happiest of moods.

The One Hundred and Eighteenth...

Number One Hundred and Eighteen:

Home, Dinner, Burger

You know what is really cool? When you get to know people that were once acquaintances a bit better. Laura and her husband John came over for burgers (and bocas) on the grill this evening and gave our yard the once over for the upcoming Northside Garden tour this May. I have known Laura (who happens to be "liking" EVERY ONE of my Napstaches on my Facebook update for the year as well--yeah!) around town over the years, and these past couple years have happened to gotten to know them better. John is a contractor and she used to work for the City of Richmond and now they are both part of City Garden, a swell market garden here in town. They know their stuff. It was great to see how they each had a passion for the work they do. We walked around our yard as the spring day turned to a chilly evening, looking at our various plants and shrubbery getting some tips and care. One of the most interesting to me being that you can just break off some of the branches with your hand on the box wood, so rest assured, I won't have to get all Texas Chainsaw and ruin the damn thing after all. After the nice walk around we had some grilled dinner and some of my leftover birthday cake, then more talk and drink in the family room. Good people that were great to get to know better! More! Laura was up for a stash after dinner too, so...here's to getting know friends even better!

City Gardenstache!

The One Hundred and Seventeenth...

Number One Hundred and Seventeen:

Balliceaux Restaurant, Dinner, Burger

After a nice rigorous (for us) yoga session, it was off to Balliceaux for the Secretly Ya'll storytelling event. We went to the last one and had a good time, meeting Gina, who secured a table for us. She did it again and we got to get our burger, booze and stories on. Great event where there are several featured storytellers that spin some yarns, then, after an intermission, they draw names from a hat for random people to come up and tell tales. Some are great storytellers, others just have a funny thing that happened to tell. What is brilliant about it, particularly with the "amateurs" is where the stories kind of sidebar, then wind up. Thinking the tale out often leads to wonderful, clever passages. Great stuff.

This one was while Jay from Deep Groove Records was on the stage.

Storystache!

NO!

I had to rename this thanks to my friend Janet!

Secretstache!

The One Hundred and Sixteenth...

Number One Hundred Sixteen:

Home, Dinner, Spaghetti, Birthday Cake

We had so many plans for today, but the rain squelched everything. Laura and John, City Garden pals, and Michael and Melissa, were going to come over for burgers and cake and help us evaluate our yard for the upcoming Northside Garden tour.. Boo rain! Anyhow, we wound up rescheduling for the grilling, but no rescheduling of me eating my birthday cake! Lisa made it from scratch, chocolate cake with strawberry icing...my favorite!

Damn fine tasting!

Cakestache!

The One Hundred and Fifteenth...

Number One Hundred Fifteen:

Home, Dinner, Pork Tenderloin

On the couch. Chilling with Lisa. Watching Anime.

Good times!

Porkstache.

The One Hundred and Fourteenth...

Number One Hundred and Fourteen:

Cafe Ole, Lunch, Veggie Burrito

Today is my birthday, so I took the day off. Lisa and I went into Carytown for lunch and record shopping. Picked up some goodies at Plan 9, mainly some singles and a sweet copy of Cold Blood's "Thriller". After a grocery store date, which Lisa hates and I don't mind so much, we got home and lo and behold my ebay win of the single "Pig Snoots" by Natural Bridge Bunch (Andre Williams) arrived!

Hell yeah! Original French import version on Atco! Nice gift to myself! Great, crazy brain worm of a song too! Sweet! This little stache has an element of either Dali or Clouseau, you can decide.

Birthdaystache!

The One Hundred and Thirteenth...

Number One Hundred Thirteen:

Padow's, Lunch, Roast beef and turkey

Quick bite at this okay place that might be sliding downhill to mediocrity. I see they now have draft beer which consists of regular lite beer crap and some Legend. But more importantly was my trip to Michaels next door to score a 40% sale on something special for the Funk Brunch in a couple of weeks! ;-)

Oh, also, Carolyn, who is on vacation on some cruise in Mexico, submitted a Napstache. First one out of country!

The One Hundred and Twelfth...

Number One Hundred and Twelve:

Rivers at Watergate, Dinner, Roast Cider-Marinated Chicken

Lisa's folks went to New York and offered us their tickets to go see Madama Butterfly in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center. We made a day of it. Thrifting quickly in Ashland, then going to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Dinner HAD to be at the Watergate hotel because there is nothing like eating where Tricky Dick had crimes committed. Although, we honestly tried for reservations at another place first, but they were booked solid for the time we needed to eat before curtain. The food was okay enough, we had the Pre-theater option, which was a three course meal of salad, entrée, dessert. We were the youngest there, by the way, by twenty years. When I overheard a couple near us say it was the gentlemen's birthday tonight, I half jokingly said the waitstaff were going to sing to him like it was a Chi-Chi's. It turns out they did AND he got the free dessert! Hilarious! We snuck this photo in when we could, that is the Kennedy Center to the left outside the window. So, a fun meal then across the street to the opera.

Madama Butterfly is a fairly straightforward story, one that has culturally stood the test of time for various reasons, maybe that is why it is so popular, and the Kennedy Center was packed. Behind us there was an old guy who name dropped who he knew in the production and where he was going in the next few weeks to a younger Italian guy who also had some bragging to do. Lights dimmed, then the silence your cells announcement. We were in the THIRD row, in the middle, we could see and hear the conductor, Philippe Auguin, breathe heavily during the intense moments. The production was stunning. The lead played by Catherine Naglestad was intense and by the end of the third act, you really got her sense of Butterfly's undoneness. I swear during some segments of the performance, and being so close to the stage, she was looking right at me belting the lines. Such a strong character. A great performance and a real visual treat!

So what to call the stash? I still have to go with the Watergate theme and:

Scandalstache.

or

Break-Instache!

The One Hundred and Eleventh...

Number One Hundred and Eleven

Home, Breakfast, Cereal

Living on the bus line often provides some decent early morning entertainment; people watching. Some mornings it's the older blonde woman who doesn't litter. Other mornings it's the older blonde woman who DOES litter and I want to go out and shake some sense into her. Special mornings you get two different dudes, looking entirely too wired, amped up and antsy for this time of day, impatiently looking for the bus to hurry up and arrive. The thing about Public Transportation (or P.T.) in a medium sized town is that you will always be waiting for your bus at least ten minutes. Bird's eye breakfast view here.