Sept 25

So A, judging from my highly scientific field survey, most people *do* know what BFE is. Which means one of my former bosses and one of your current bosses is functioning below average in the "having general knowledge" category. Which has confirmed our suspicions and also recommends her for a date with Dr. Bill. Many thanks to all who participated!!!

E doesn't get her first paycheque until Sept 25. Frak! That's about 24 days past what I was hoping would be a money moment. So the good news is, she'll be able to cover October rent. But we should probably start looking for someone to cover September's in the meantime. I feel a convo with my dad coming on, hopefully ending with some sort of loan from the Bank of YFALF at a reasonable interest rate. YFALF - yes, the acronym - is how my father signs all correspondence (emails, memoranda, birthday cards) with me; it stands for ,"Your fond and loving father." Maybe the reimbursement for the movers will come through from the College in the nick of time and save me from YFALF? Stay tuned. This blog might quickly become, "The Frugal Academic. But I Repeat Myself."

But who cares about all that because last Saturday was AWESOME! It was Friend Day! B & I, of Washington, DC, drove up for the day and we ate and drank our way around the city, pausing only to take Montoya out for pee breaks and view precious art such as this, a bejeweled ferret:


Who doesn't want a bejeweled ferret in their living room? Stay away from fire, little ferret! [That's an inside joke about a collegue's ferrets dying in a fire. I know, you say, 'That's so horrible, D! How can you think that ferret-death is funny (oh, it's *still* funny, believe me)?!??!' But if you knew what a dick this collegue is/was and how troublesome those ferrets were for everyone else that he dickishly offloaded them onto AND if you were a bit sick in the head like me, you would think it was hilarious. Context makes all the difference.]

I digress and I'm getting ahead of myself. Our apartment is located a block away from Charles St - excuse me, "Historic Charles Street!" - a thoroughfare that leads all the way to the harbour and has every kind of restaurant you can imagine somewhere along the way. So far my Balto goals are only two: 1) become the sort of person who frequents local prestigous film festivals; and 2) eat my way down Charles Street. First foray onto the Street yielded delicious Thai takeout but we can't remember exactly which Thai place it came from or what we ordered so that will remain a mystery dinner. But second foray, at the instigation of B&I yielded this, my new favorite thing:

You've heard of California Roll, you've heard of Philadelphia Roll and now.... the Maryland Roll!!! Gorgeous deep-fried crabcake goodness wrapped in nori and sushi rice and then deepfried again in tempura batter, surrounded by a sunburst pattern of Cupi mayo, mustard, and soy sauce. Crunchy, crabby, deep-fried heaven. And filling too! It was *delicious*. Of course we ordered lots of other things and thoroughly enjoyed them. Thank you Aloha Sushi!


Fortified by sushi, we braved the blazing heat long enough to get to the Walters Art Museum which is right by the Washington monument and is FREE! My favorite price.

We saw priceless artifacts (like the ferret pictures above) and I behaved like a jackass.

Why go to a museum if you're not going to be a jackass? One thing I loved about the Walters was that the building was as much a part of the exhibit as the pieces and there were shout-outs to the crack pots (sorry, I!) who collected all this stuff in the first place - the Walters father and son duo, William and Henry. We were all disappointed that the "Shrunken Treasure" special exhibit did not have any shrunken heads and instead featured crap about children:
That makes me want to play the Wii because I totally rule Mario-verse! Anyway, the museum was pretty cool and can I just say it is SO FUN going to a museum with other people!! i/e not like how I went to a zillion museums in London.

Post-museum B&I drove us around cool neighborhoods, namely Canton (a place I'm going to be spending some more time at, so stay tuned), looking for a place to park. B pulled this wicked U-turn and parallel-parked like she was born for it - I aspire to be like her. Then I learned of a B'more staple: Natty Boh. For anyone who doesn't know, Natty Boh is short for National Bohemian, a nasty kind of cheap, cheap beer that used to be brewed in Balto (it's now brewed in NC). It's symbol is klassy with a k:If you're going to live in B'more, you have to be able to drink it so I need to get my hands on some at some point. But with dinner I was introduced to a luscious Vermont beer, Lucky Kat, and never looked back.

Then, as we were stumbling to B's car, there it was...off in the distant sky...shining...like a Bat Signal. Natty Boh is my destiny.

You see it too, right?

Friend Day rocked!