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Quite possibly the best damn cheesesteak I’ve ever had. Annie happens to be a former Jerry’s employee and knows how to make a mean sub. It borders on the too-good-to-be-true. I don’t want to know how many calories it has — however, I do know that she spread mayo on the bread after toasting.

My obligatory post-Rush afternoon snack: chamomile green tea and Italian dark chocolate — a winning combination!

I opened my mail today and discovered something from my phone company. They were offering a five-cent/minute long distance deal, but something wasn’t quite right about the nickel they depicted on the ad. Sure enough, I got a real nickel and compared the text. A real nickel says “IN GOD WE TRUST” left of Jefferson’s image. Verizon’s nickel says “FIVE CENTS”, as if a true depiction of US currency is somehow offensive. I also find it strange that they didn’t just put the word “Liberty” to the left of Jefferson’s image, as it appears on his right side on the real nickel. Maybe Verizon thought its customers wouldn’t get the connection between a round coin with Jefferson’s face on it and the “five cents/minute deal”, thus the explicit mention of “FIVE CENTS.”

Freaked me out: I got home from the latest and final Star Wars installment to find a message from Verizon spokesman James Earl Jones on my answering machine. :-)

I left work today with the intention of seeing David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion fame) perform with his new side project, Headphones. With three hours to spare, I killed time by walking what seemed to be like half-way across the city. Navigating DC can be treacherous, but to me, there is still a novelty of exploring the old neighborhoods and wondering about the histories of the row houses and businesses.

I arrived at the club on time, and asked one of the bouncers when Headphones would play. “11pm.” I was expecting 9:00 or 10:00. I left, knowing that I’d have time for only 1/3 of his set before I’d have to leave and catch the last Metro train out of the city.

I thought that, while I’m down here, I may as well walk around some more. I proceeded to walk west, toward the nearest Red Line station. Despite the downer of not being able to see David Bazan and Co., the evening wasn’t completely lost. I found a Day Pass ticket on the sidewalk and got to ride home for free! Such is life.

At right, a random woolly sheep from the 2005 Sheep and Wool Festival.

Annie and I met with my pastor tonight and set a date for our wedding: 29 Apr 2006 6 May 2006 21 Oct 2006.

At work recently, I was given the green light to create a CD-ROM/print presentation for my organization’s annual Open House. Naturally I chose XHTML as my format. Yesterday morning, I spent four hours in virtual bliss and left muttering under my breath: I can’t believe they’re paying me for this… I’m having so much fun at work; it reminds me of those enthusiastic employees in the Microsoft TV/print ads…

What a difference five days can make. Up until last night, I’d been completely cynical about the state of the movie industry in 2005. Some friends of mine wanted to go out to the movies, to see nothing in particular. I suggested Kung Fu Hustle and it turned out to be astoundingly good. It started out as almost noir-ish, but quickly progressed into a surreal, heavily styled comedy. It wasn’t a particularly “smart” movie, and it never got pretentious. It’s in Mandarin (most likely) with English subtitles, but I found that for some scenes, I didn’t really need the subtitles to know what the actors were saying (as strange as that may seem).

I’m still in the middle of watching War and Peace. I think one has a greater chance of completing a doctorate degree than of sitting through this entire movie on one’s own time.