Drugs, Rock'n'Roll, and...

Everyone does drugs, whether it is something as innocuous as a cup of coffee to something potentially dangerous like falling in love, to the totally dangerous stuff like crystal meth. While I do not condone the use of the dangerous stuff, I try as much as possible to live and let live with the lesser drugs. My preferred drugs are caffeine and television. This week promises to be a good week for my fix. First, Amber Tamblyn* joins the cast of House on Monday evening. Second, Burn Notice returns on Thursday evening, and it looks like they are keeping Coby Bell** on the cast—insert very loud ‘Yay!’ here.

Over the weekend my craving for new music blew up, and I bought two albums at Hot Topic. Selfish Machines by Pierce the Veil*** is a wonderfully seamless set of post-hardcore songs. It is listenable, without sacrificing screams and earnestness. Linkin Park has produced an amazing concept album, A Thousand Suns, which shocked and gratified me. It has gravitas and maturity, and it is worth every penny.

Finally, the bowl of vegetarian pho I had at Pho 14 on Park Road Saturday afternoon constituted one of the most fulfilling erotic**** experiences I’ve had in ages. The flavors, the textures, and my own decision to take time and enjoy it—it was better than sex. I’m still happy just thinking about it.

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*Whom we love not only for her excellent performance as Joan in Joan of Arcadia, but also for her excellent chemistry with Jeremy Renner in the all-too-short-lived The Unusuals.

**Whom we love for being totally hot, as well as talented and cool.

***Who may well be the best-looking band on the planet; usually there’s one or two unattractive people in a band, but all of these guys are totally hot, and musically talented.

****Erotic in the sense of a deeply moving physical experience.

Thinking about Making Curried Vegetables and Other Stuff

I think for me, the stages of encountering "the new" follow along these lines: 1) euphoria; 2) terror; and 3) mundanity. Sometimes #'s 1 and 2 switch places. I've slid past the terror at the realization of my aloneness and freedom in the universe, and now am on to thinking, "well, maybe I could make some curried vegetables this weekend." Somehow, this is progress has been very similar to one summed up by Douglas Adams:

It said: "The History of every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases.

"For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question How can we eat? the second by the question Why do we eat? and the third by the question Where shall we have lunch?"

—The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, chapter 35.

Despite my official agnosticism and adherence to no specific religion or philosophy, I do find a lot of wisdom out there to draw from. Taoism, in its most philosophical form, is very useful to me. It has been mischaracterized as "go with the flow" but I believe a more accurate description of the Taoist way is "learning to surf the flow." Logs that go with the flow of a river get caught up on rocks; kayakers endeavor not to do the same.

Other philosophical streams I draw from include Stoicism, Existentialism, Soto Zen and ethical studies. I view the texts and thoughts available to me from the subject areas not as maps for going forward; instead they are like those like those guides showing me how to recognize different species of trees or birds, as I pick my own path forward.

Good Friends, Good Food and Good Beer

Yesterday I enjoyed an excellent evening, meeting F at Meridian Pint in Columbia Heights for dinner. The beer selection was superb, and the food truly delicious. In most restaurants, there is one or two token vegetarian dishes so the token vegetarian can have a night out with his more omnivorous friends. Otherwise, you'll find a restaurant wholly dedicated to veganism. Meridian Pint, on the otherhand, had a selection of well-made vegan dishes as well as food for the omnivores. And Monday evenings feature the "Meatless Monday" specials. So F and I split an appetizer of tempura with a pungent sauce (it had anise seeds floating in it – yum!). He had chicken with mashed potatoes, and I had the seitan and vegetable kabobs over couscous.

I enjoyed catching up with F. We hadn't visited with each other since the party he hosted on his birthday. That was an epic party, but there were so many guests he and I really didn't get to visit with each other then. Last night I fear I gave him an earful about work worries, family worries and existential worries. Thankfully, F is an exemplary listener.

Meridian Pint was booming for a monday night, so I have high hopes for their continued success. There were many people there at a rally for our current mayor, but most of them were downstairs. The bulk of the people upstairs were there to hang out or to have some quality food. I can't wait to go back and try some of their other dishes. The vegan three bean quesadillas sound especially intriguing.

While we were sitting there, our mutual friend S walked past the window and waved at us; he was taking his dog out for walkies. After dinner we crossed the street to the dog park and had a nice conversation with S and his dog. The air was cool and comfortable after all the heat and humidity we've had lately. Truly an enjoyable evening.