Famous sister-in-law

Brother Chris's wife Steph was featured in an article in the Baltimore Sun about a very interesting dig she was on (both she and Chris are archaeologists). Steph's the one holding the tile and if you click on "The Search for Artifacts," you can see her in action. Cool, huh? Congrats, Steph!

Restaurant Review: Ella's Pizza

On Saturday, DH Jeff & I went out with brother Chris and wife Steph to celebrate their birthdays. Chris suggested we try Ella's Pizza which had gotten good reviews for their pizza, sangria, and also had a nice list of small plates that looked interesting. Well, I would highly recommend this bright, cheery and easy-going restaurant. We tried a variety of things including some small plates, salad, some pizzas (a little larger than strictly "personal" size), cocktails, sangria, desserts.

Here are some highlights:

- The small plates: basically tapas - really good, fresh and gourmet (think fresh herbs, shaved parmesan). We had one with asparagus & one with shitake mushrooms. One could just have a meal of several of those and be happy.

- The pizzas were noteworthy as well. We chose, three of the "standard" (off the menu) pizzas that looked interesting: one with mushrooms & goat cheese, one with pepperoni and one with onions and gorgonzola. All tasty and habit-forming (they went very quickly), but my favorite was the mushroom and goat cheese - plenty of wonderful shitake with slightly tart, soft goat cheese. If you wish to guide your own toppings, you can do that, too.

- For dessert, we tried the trio of fresh ice creams (choco-choco chip, caramel and vanilla), the tiramisu and the chocolate pudding. Although I'm not such a dessert person, everything was really good and not cloyingly sweet. Since they have changing fresh ice cream selections, I would be inclined to try others they may offer.

- Ella's has a full bar and offers some specialty drinks. I tried the Ellatini, which reminds me of my version of a Cosmo: pink, sweet-tart. I'd definitely have it again. The sangria is also good, though I'm not sure if I prefer it to, let's say, Jaleo's version.

Ella's has something for everyone, including plenty of vegetarian selections (salads, small plates, pizza), and is very reasonably priced. The place is casual, friendly, and they didn't mind seating DH Jeff & I before Chris and Steph arrived. Definitely a keeper!

Book Review: Devil in the White City

Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, tells the incredible story of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago: the fight to hold it in Chicago; the drive to out-do the previous French-held World’s Fair; the desire to garner world admiration and respect not only for the U.S., but specifically for Chicago; the personalities involved in the planning, design and execution of this monumental feat. It also told of Herman Webster Mudgett, an especially prolific serial killer who preyed on the scores of women (and others) who came to Chicago during this time for work, excitement and independence. I take it this is the “devil” in the title, but that “devil” could also refer to the Fair itself and its genesis, i.e., the devil is in the details.

I really enjoyed this book because it enlightened me about an event and an era about which I knew very little. The story of the Fair, this amazing idea-made-reality, was, especially when time was short and things didn’t look too promising for a successful opening, an act of sheer will and of sterling minds over matter to make it happen. The book was also about this horrendous sociopath who took advantage of the environment of the times and of the Fair, to satisfy his diabolical urges. I found this aspect of the story compelling as well…but thought they were two distinct stories which would have been better told as separate, i.e., in different books. Minor matter – it’s very much worth the read. And I now know the origin of the Ferris Wheel.

One of my least favorite things

One of my abiding attitudes is my aversion to depending on others. I really would prefer to just to do everything myself - that way, if things fall through, the only person to blame is myself and I don't have to deal with the "vagaries" of someone else's mentality, schedule, "foibles." Plus, I'm really reliable.

Yesterday, I was pondering this thought as I waited six minutes for the metro; then getting on the escalator at Ballston on the left side, waiting for the two self-absorbed morons in front of me to move along (stand to the right, walk to the left - how difficult a concept is that?) so I could catch my Marymount shuttle, only to get to the pick-up point and see the shuttle drive off, therein leaving me the specter of having to wait for another shuttle, twenty minutes off & making me late for my class. I took a cab instead. I was disgruntled. Not only did I waste precious time, but had the aggravation of seeing my school fees wasted on a system I couldn't count on. Uggh. And $10 for the cab.

Moral of the story: Be self-reliant and avoid depending on others. Sometimes folks come thru, but don't count on it. I'm going to find other ways of getting to/from school that don't involve a lot of waiting around. And invest in a laptop. More on this story as it develops...

Thought for the day

If I'm really bored, is this a result of the situation or my lack of creativity in entertaining my mind?

Treo 680: friend or foe, revisited

Ok, there's one really irritating thing about the Treo 680, but as I understand, it's not only the Treo but all PDA-type superphones: their batteries run down super-quick, so one must essentially re-charge every day. And it takes a while to re-charge. Blah - that's a hassle!

Who knew?

This article in Sunday's WaPo alerted me to the unlikely fact that 1) there are actually Republicans in Arlington County Government and 2) they actually give a damn about illegal immigration in Arlington. Who knew?

I think I'll make some time to shoot them some emails...

Restaurant Review: The Liberty Tavern

Saturday evening I convinced DH Jeff that we needed to check out this new place in Clarendon called The Liberty Tavern. I had walked by there and had seen an area with lounge-y couches and thought, hmmm...looks like my kind of place. Then lo and behold, WaPo featured it in the Weekend Section's Fare Minded, giving it good scores for food, noting the area and even restaurant produced fare (think cheeses, butter, bread).

Ah, so it's not just a barstaurant or another one of the area's ubiquitous Irish bars! Hurrah! Here's the set-up: the ground floor is occupied by the bar, tall bar-type tables and chairs, and the lounge-y area with coffee-type tables at which you can eat and drink in a relaxed fashion. Upstairs, where we ate, is a soothing, wooden-floored dining room with cool red-shaded lighting.

We shared a very nice, light fritto misto (calamari, shrimp, zucchini spears) and a very fresh chopped salad. I had the "intermezzo" portion (a smaller portion of their entrees) of their gnocci dish and Jeff had the fish and chips. I tried the blackberry cocktail & a glass of shiraz. Food run-down: fritto misto was very good and not greasy; the chopped salad had enough field greens and blue cheese to keep me happy; the gnocci was a tad too salty but consisted of perfect little tasty pillows mixed with beans instead of the standard big, doughy lumps & the smaller portion size suited me after the well-sized appetizers; the fish and chips are HUGE and very crispy (note that before ordering heavy appetizers); and the bread basket offered a nice variety, freshly baked with wonderful whipped local butter. The drinks: Jeff didn't have anything that night, but I tried two: the blackberry cocktail was good, not cloyingly sweet, a little tart - nice, but not wowing. The shiraz was not one I was familiar with but was very enjoyable - I'd order it again. Service: our waiter was attentive, informative (food origins-wise) friendly and seemed sad to see us go without dessert. We never had to ask for water-glass refills - water-bearers were alert and proactive. The atmosphere was very comfortable and relaxing; however, the upstairs dining room does get noisy, especially when a large family came in.

I definitely want to go back and sit downstairs. The menu also has pizzas - I'd imagine the smaller, personal pizzas, which could be nice with a little salad. Oh, and did I mention - the entire place is NON-SMOKING! How enlightened.

Fred is official

Fred Thompson finally declared his candidacy for president. Let's see if he actually has any ideas or positions that distinguish himself from his eight (unimpressive) competitors.

Treo 680: friend or foe?

Well, except for the price tag and the "New AT&T," mostly friend. For instance, in the calendar function you can color code your appointments and have different views of your calendar (daily, weekly, monthly), which means I can code my workouts and see at a glance how I'm doing that week. Yeh, it's OCD, but it's meaningful to me.

Also, it has cool built-in ring tones that you can assign variously to your contact list (or even unknown callers). DH Jeff has his own special one, and there's an inoffensive flute-like one I use for general callers. And it always asks you if you want to include the "unknown" phone number in your contact list.

And, of course, being able to read my email wherever is cool. Although answering via the tiny keyboard takes a bit of practice.

Ok, that's the update.

More on immigration

Robert Samuelson opines that uncontrolled immigration effects "importing poverty" in this piece in yesterday's WaPo. This to me is common sense, but as he states, often overlooked in discussing poverty rates in this country. If you have a large, low paid, low-skilled, undereducated (remember, education in countries like Mexico is much more tenuous than our system) populace and has a very high fertility rate (ie, no "family planning"), then it follows that if this population is included in your census, the national poverty rate is going to be exaggerated. (Side note: evidently the Census Bureau has in the past asked agencies to halt anti-illegal proceedings/procedures so they could get an accurate count - so you know illegals are included in the census. If I had more time, I'd actually look up a link for you, but I don't, so I won't).

More localities enact their own solutions in this WaPo article and others encounter road blocks to enforcement.

Roadblocks are typically pro-illegal activist groups ("Mexicans without Borders," anyone?) that say these attempts at the re-establishing rule of law are "anti-immigrant" and "racist," and who file all sorts of law suits to stop or impede these initiatives. Sounds like the rhetoric used by another demographic to stop meaningful discussion of an issue. Then they embolden illegals to march around and protest these legal and reasonable measures (doubly reasonable and understandable considering the Feds' near-total abdication of their sworn duties).

Have any of you actually lived in Mexico (or places like it)? I have, and let me tell you, rule of law is notional. Things folks here take for granted - such as the fact that you call 911 and someone actually comes to help you - such as the fact that mostly, you can trust cops to carry out the law instead of aiding and abetting it for profit or extorting bribes out of you. These are two small examples and no, I'm not kidding. And I didn't see the worst of it. Read Daughters of Juarez for an idea of goverance (or the complete lack thereof) extant in Mexico. Do you really want to import that? It's no wonder most of these illegals don't think they've done anything wrong. But neither they nor their home country "governments" should be lecturing us on how to run OUR country.

I applaud locales (as you well know if you've read my blog for awhile) that take the initiative to deal with their very local and impactful illegal f/n (foreign national) issues. It's a pity they have so much blow-back from fellow Americans that have no clue what they're really supporting.

Update 9/6/07: Coincidentally, there's an editorial in the WaPo about the 2010 census and how ICE claims they won't halt raids for illegals during the census. Yeh, 'cause now they're getting serious about enforcement! The writer, typical of WaPo's (pro-illegal) stance, actually wants a period of non-enforcement so that the Census Bureau can get an accurate count of who's here. Uh-huh. So they can get appropriate representation or some such. Well, a halt is unlikely to reveal how many illegals are here because they're unlikely to admit as much. I say it's high time we started enforcing laws already on the books, regardless of what it could mean for the damned Census.

Alcohol-induced insomnia...

...has the most surprising results. Last night, we went out for a good-bye dinner for a friend and we imbibed. As is the case sometimes when I imbibe a bit much, I woke up very early and couldn't get back to sleep. Well, this occurred at 4:30am this morning, and I decided - no benefit to just lying here, so I pulled on some clothes and went running. It wasn't even light yet. Yet, I was perfectly clear-headed and energetic. For those of you who know Arlington, you'll know the distance I mean when I say I ran to the Ballston Gold's Gym and back. It was something I was wondering about - how long it would take me to run to that gym, as my classes are in the Ballston area.

I report: 1) the run didn't take that long, 2) it was absolutely PERFECT temperature and humidity level, 3) besides a handful of stragglers from Friday night, I saw another female runner doing her morning constitutional, as well as a cop car speeding up and down Wilson/Clarendon Blvds. Funny thing: DH Jeff didn't even realize I had left I told him when he finally woke up.

Parting shot: why is it that it usually takes a crowbar to get me out of bed at 7am, but sometimes alcohol provokes a cheery and energetic pre-dawn awakening?