dorks and dates

Based upon X's report from dropping off the boys on Friday night there's no way I can properly relate the degree of fantasy cooldom on exhibit at the Anime Pavilion. I'm not making that name up. They had a fantastic time playing Magic - the Gathering - with the adults and then returning the next morning for some more dueling. I'd say it's the rough equivalent of me finding an arcade when I was 13; total focus. If you imagine comic book shops, Dungeons and Dragons, and indie record stores, then simply blend that all together, you have a winner.

After dinner last night we exited, stage left, and headed to Woolly Mammoth to see Too Much Light Makes Baby Go Blind - 30 plays in 60 minutes. I'm a huge fan of Woolly as a structure and the company, as a whole. Too Much is actually a visiting show by the Neo-Futurists out of Chicago (much like the soon-to-be returning Second City and their Barack Stars in February) but the theatre is perfect for just about any production that'll I'll glom onto. The Neos are smooth in their ability to complete all thirty self-penned plays in a random order determined only by the audience yelling a number upon hearing the cue - 'curtain'. As they told us before the show began, we'll get some things right away and others we'll laugh about in two years; and it's true - I've mysteriously been able to recreate in my mind nearly all 30 vignettes. It's quality theatre by a group of horribly talented actors.

Nothing but rain and cold today as I bundled up and headed to Eastern Market for Christmas shopping and then on to Dupont Circle for a winter's farmers market. The rain and cold kept a number of vendors away from Eastern this morning - and customers - but I had a great time, nonetheless. As I was awaiting the stalls to get configured I wandered into Capitol Hill Books with my coffee (from the grand Peregrine Coffee) and grabbed a few volumes. The first thing I came across on the "new arrivals" shelf was Spice by Jack Turner; who doesn't want to read an annotated history of the spice trade? No one, that's who. I'll eventually be well-versed in any spice questions that might arise at Quiz Night. I didn't get much Christmas shopping done but I did end up with a beautifully hand-turned maple, french-style rolling pin. The farmers market gave me the Jerusalem artichokes and cauliflower that ended up in some type homemade red sauce, parmesan-gouda, and fresh ricotta lasagne. These things happen...

I'll leave you for the day, or night.

t