Snowruary 2010

February was at least two days shorter than many other months this year. And it was covered in snow. Quite a sham.

Here's what happened:

Snomg, Snowpocalypse II!

I didn't really think a #snowpocalypse can have a sequel (#snowpocalypse2), but it seemed appropriate. DC and the northeast were hit by a massive, major, angry snow storm on February 5, and SnowRulesDC went into effect. In other words,

All the trees fell down:

The streets became sidewalks:

Giant snow battles erupted:

Stores ran out of food:



And the city was smothered by snow:

But there were no zombies or post-apocalypse mutants or anything, so we pulled through just fine. Until another blizzard arrived just a few days later... But by that point, we were used to it.

Stats

There was so much snow (and man, was it cold) that I spent pretty much the entire month inside the ol' apartment developing my staying at home skills. This led to:

More sit-ups: 1,400.
FYI: My all time record number of sit-ups in a month is 1,960 - Exactly a year ago in February, 2009. Coincidence?

More Movies at home: 3
- Walk the Line. Johnny Cash was more of a jerk than I expected.

- Inglorious Basterds. Very, very excellent.

- Independence Day. Yes, Independence Day - Laura had never seen it before. We crossed it off the Movies to See List. Glad that's done with.

Fewer dinners out: 4
- Banana Leaves. Asian combo restaurant - Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese. Not too shabby, but nothing spectacular. Had the Grilled Honey Peanut Tofu, not as good as I expected. Though their Crab Rangoon appetizer was impressive.

- Alero. DC Mexican food standby in the neighborhood. No food that I've tried or even read about in this city compares with Arizona/New Mexican style Mexican food. Salsa is not salsa here, and it's certainly not hot. But it's differently tasty - In fact, the Seafood Chimichanga at Alero is wonderful.

- Buca di Beppo. Yes, teens and tweens, the very restaurant where the cast of Real World ate during the season's first episode. Work lunch with my upward chain of command. Had some Penne San Remo (? => Penne with Artichoke hearts + sun dried tomatoes and white wine sauce. Tasty.) and some chicken cannelloni (not as tasty).

- Zengo. Unique and delicious as hell. Asian-Mexican fusion. We ordered a bunch of small plates. In order of deliciousness:

1. Kobe Beef Sushi
2. Thai Chicken Empanadas
3. Edamame w/ XO Sauce
4. Shrimp+Shitake Mushroom Potstickers
5. Pork Belly Steamed Buns
6. Achiote Pork Arepas
Desert:
Mexican Chocolate Tart
Lemon Cake w/ Ginger Ice Cream

# of Bars visited was actually right at my average: 6
Tryst, Bedrock Billiards, Mad Hatter, Brickskeller, Chef Geoff's and Stoney's. Though all but one were for special occasions: A birthday, an engagement celebration, visit from Laura's friend from New York, and two send-off gatherings for a friend who's leaving for Afghanistan.

The latter sendoff at Stoney's was an incredible experience. The entire top half of the bar (two large rooms) was filled with at least 100 people who all knew the same guy (Jeff Le). An impressive person to say the least. His leaving definitely represents the end of an era, I'd say. He was even there for my first tour of the DC Monuments back in November of 2008, and the conversation we had was enough to convince me that there are some awesome people in this city, and that I should move here.

Also a congratulations is in order to two good friends, Stephen & Meghan, who got engaged this month, on Valentine's Day. The only [semi] decent picture I got of the informal engagement celebration was of our friends at Bedrock Billiards crowding around them (they're the two figures facing away from the camera):
If you were there, this picture would make more sense. It was great to be there for this event.


Shows on the Town: 2
- Avatar 3D. Finally saw it on Feb. 12th. And the theater was still packed. What a silly, silly movie - but surprisingly enjoyable to watch. Plus it was in 3D and of course we kept our glasses:

- The Ballet (my second ever): Sleeping Beauty. If it were a movie, it would have been boring. But it wasn't, it was the ballet - surreal and dancy. Our seats were at the top of the theater at Kennedy Center:
I'm not a real ballet fan, but the experience is pretty unique. Recommended to all.

Haircuts: 1
Average number of haircuts per month in 2010: 0.5000
Average number of haircuts per week in 2010: 0.1208
Haircuts/day: 0.0169
Total number of haircuts so far this decade: 1
Number of hairs: Declining
Hair Population Outlook: Not so good

Age at end of month: 27.75 years

Weight gain for the month: Negative 3 Pounds.
- What the ?? I was shocked - shocked! - to see this in my scale. I was even on a strict sitting-around-and-eating regimen. But I suppose it was all those extra sit-ups, and a bit of jumping over piles of snow.

Overall Mood

Average: 56%

This month was not the most exciting I've ever had, and not seeing the sun for many days in a row might have had an effect... But at least I averaged out above 50%!

Peak: Overall a good day. And trying to walk through the snowbstacle course that was the city quickly to get to Avatar 3D on time was surprisingly fun.

Valley: I just wasn't in that good a mood. It might have been the massive blizzard that followed Snowpocalypse by just a few days, and we were yet again locked inside by snow. I suppose getting snowed in loses its novelty after a week or so...

Anniversary

February 28th marks two years of dating this girl:

Thank you, my dear sugarnuts - it's been a completely wonderful two years. Despite your giant red glasses.

Fin

The month was substantially less event-filled than usual, but all in all not bad. Unique, to say the least. I've never seen that much snow...

That just about does it. Here's a special bonus picture of me going to work with bags on my feet:
Forecasts say March will be A) Less snowy and B) 10% longer - or more! - than February.