Kevin Costner's Russian's Rusty: Washington DC Metropolitan Area Thread II

Hey, Patrick Fitzgerald is in my building and there are cameras outside. They got a great shot of my lunchbox.

And OK, there are plenty of "better than you" types here, whether they're corp. ladder-climbers or scenester scum, but are they really that hard to keep out of your life? I mean, there are just as many if not more (more, in my experience) nice, funny, cool people who aren't gonna pull that bullshit on you hanging around.

What's wrong with you?

Thousands of Fairfaxians, Arlingtonese and Montgomery Countish go to work every weekday from 0730 to 1630 to ENSURE YOUR SECURITY.

You non-profit NGO hangers-on should all be ashamed that you aren't helping this great nation defend itself against the evildoers. Look at my striped shirt, fucking look at it, etcetera.

By the way, just to clear the air, the MITRE corporation is a fucking pox on humankind and 90% of their employees can go fuck themselves right in the eye with an awl pike. "FFRDC non-profit" my mom's balls.

This is like the truest shit ever written, btw.

Also, MITRE has been instrumental in fucking up this project at nearly every turn since I arrived. So it's just a little personal.

Well, if you mean established social set as like, one other person, then yeah that's sorta the case but if you mean like several friends, or even two? Then no, I don't believe that's true.

I mean, Tom and I kind of have an established social set, albeit a not-huge one. And like, no one ever wants to do anything. Because like half the time it kind of sucks going to places here and it'd be better to just hang out at home, or in Baltimore. So like I guess basically what carly said, yeah there are probably cool people here, I mean there definitely is but you're going to have problems by and large finding them because of the complete non-existance of the local scene and local custom and social infastructure.

I mean, you could probably go to J Paul's any night of the week and meet 80 trillion people but most of 'em suck.

I actually have more friends from college and high school living and working in DC than anywhere else. What I find, however, is that the ones living in the outlying suburbs are more willing to hang out with me, but lack any sort of circle within in the city.

On the contrary, I have other friends from college that live in Columbia Heights and China Town, know a lot cool people in the city, but are ridiculously hard to meet up with and sometimes weirdly reluctant introduce me into their world. Normally, I would assume that these people don't actually like me, but I think it's more just a general disconnect between suburban DC-ers' and those in the city.

So, despite all pessimism about DC, I think living in the actual city is the only logical way people of our type (non-twatish) can find a good circle to run with. It makes me want to leave College Park with the quickness.

Pharmacy Bar
Wonderland
Asylum
The Reef
Marx Café
The Black Cat
Café Saint-Ex (on weekdays)
Bar Pilar
Georgetown Billiards
Bedrock Billiards
The Saloon (U St)
Polly's
W Domku
Townhouse Tavern
The Raven
Galaxy Hut
The Brickskeller
Aroma
The bar at Firefly
The Big Hunt

maybe petesmith can explain to you why college park is a wonderful place. i'd do it for him, but i don't really agree.

my out of town friends who visited me still talk about the falafel place of dc.

Here, though, since they drive the market, they drive out most of the unorthodox niche joints--bookstores, strange bars, weird art things, whatever--that make a city interesting, and people who like to see something surprising every once in a while are kind of fucked.

It's funny, though, how interesting/okay people tend to cling together once they find each other, and have to look to each other for entertainment. It's like being in an expat community, but without the expensive long distance and dodgy water supply.

Also it's just kind of ugly inside now!

I actually think I might kind of prefer Pharmacy now. Although I'm still pretty sure that my favorite spot on that strip isn't any of those places but Blue Fin instead.

And to get with Brian's positive vibe: Amsterdam Falafel is excellent, and the all-you-can-stack toppings bar is the starving drunk's friend.

Re: social scene, I feel like it seemed easier just out of college, because everybody I knew was in the same boat, kinda poor and living in grungy apartments and run down group houses where they'd throw parties a lot and we'd go for $2 drinks at the Common Share. And now it's a few years out and people are movin' on up and working more hours and buying places and going to fancy lounges to hang out, except I went back to school and am poorer than I was before.

Re: security, I was so tempted to apply when I saw this job posting, Web Designer and Developer (Baghdad, Iraq)

"Yeah Mom, I landed this awesome gig building websites, uh, it's great experience, but.. it's kind of out of town.."

I haven't been there since maybe August? Whenever geeta was in town...but that was a weeknight and the crowd isn't quite the same as it used to be, a lot more...uh...Adams Morgany. I mean I dunno, in my very lengthy experience with dive bars and the like, the really grungy ass ones have 10x better crowds than tricked out "THIS IS A DIVE BAR!" designed ones. I mean the Asylum ripped out its innards and had it redone by the dude who did Reef (xpost what Stephen just said). I think they just attract different clientele. This might be due to the yuppification of Adams Morgan/Columbia Heights just as much as it is due to the change of atmosphere. I hold out hopes for Galaxy Hut and really didn't awful mind going there even though I'm not a beer person because it's so munky looking inside!

Granted, buffalo wings are fucking awesome.

Also I just saw a taxi with spinner rims. Point, DC.

another favorite dc thing: Ask Tom chats
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032400577.html

http://www.washingtonian.com/chats/dining.html

xp

Weeknights nxt week are good for me.

i wouldn't introduce dc cabs into testimony, logos or no, the cab system in the city is really really awful.

I would love to hang out, am out of town again and don't have a place to live yet, but looks like I should have a job so will be settled.. uh.. soonish. You know, by the time the weather gets too bad to go out much.

xpost the weather is never too bad to go out. I have climbed 5 ft snowdrifts to get inside of bars. Though if it's raining, that's right the fuck out.

Last DC cab ride I took, the driver was too baked to go over 25, and kept telling meandering stories about his former career as a soccer star in Europe, how he represented Ghana at the 1972 international Boy Scout jamboree, etc. Awesome.

Tom Sietsema: The one that leaps to mind at the moment: a still-breathing (but stunned from boiling water) fish.

that sounds like a fun cab ride! the cab rides i've had from the bus station to my house at 2 am have been more stressful.

Pharmacy is alright by me! If it sucks that night we can always hit Asylum and make fun of the D&D decor or go over to the Reef and hope the downstairs is open.

EMSE 315: Legal Issues for Information Security Managers