March of Davis 2010

Let's start with the squishy stuff:

Mood

Average mood for the month: 58%. Is that good? I don't know. It's not as good as January (62%), but better than February (56%). These numbers are, as they say, pretty silly. ...So far...

Peak: Very excellent day in Charlottesville, VA (see below)

Valley[s]: Mondays. 3/22 & 3/29. There's really no reason for Mondays.

Food

Let's see if I can break the record for utterly boring data. Here's what I had for dinner every night this month:

3/01: (Home) Teriyaki Tofu w/ Red Peppers
3/02: (Home) Spicy Teriyaki Tofu w/ Rice
3/03: (Home) Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
3/04: (Home) Chimichangas
3/05: (Out) Shrimp & Grits + Cornmeal Encrusted Salmon
3/06: (Out) Sherry Clam Soup + Fettucine Truffle Ragout
3/07: (Out) Scallion Bubble Pancakes + Szechuan Crispy Beef
3/08: (Out) Chili Cheeseburger & Fries
3/09: (Home) Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich + Strawberries
3/10: (Home) Pan Seared Chili Tofu w/ Rice
3/11: (Home) Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
3/12: (Home) Chimichangas
3/13: (Home) Chicken w/ Red Peppers
3/14: (Home) Soba Noodles w/ Peanut Sauce
3/15: (Home) Tofu w/ Eggplant & Green Peppers
3/16: (Out) Dim Sum w/ Spicy Basil Dumplings, Crispy Prawn & other less notables
3/17: (Home) Chicken Bagel Sandwich
3/18: (Out) Pizza & Street Hot Dogs
3/19: (Out) Baked Fish Intestines, Sweet Potato Puffs, Sushi
3/20: (Out) New York Street Pizza
3/21: (Out) Restaurant Pizza
3/22: (Home) Spaghetti w/ Homemade Tomato Sauce
3/23: (Home) Chimichangas
3/24: (Home) Chicken Bagel Sandwich
3/25: (Home) Chicken Bagel Sandwich again...
3/26: (Home) Buttery Spaghetti
3/27: (Home) Buttery [+Parmesan Cheesy] Spaghetti
3/28: (Home) Banana, Pistachios, Peanut Butter, Other Misc. Foodstuffs
3/29: (Home) Chimichangas
3/30: (Out) Passover Dinner: Gefilte Fish, Matzo Ball Soup, Brisket & more...
3/31: (Home) Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches

Chimichangas, PB&Js, and food involving tofu were all tied for first place in the most-eaten-in-March competition (4 dinners each). And now you know.

The important question here is, of course, how valuable is an entire year's worth of data on what I eat for dinner? I suppose I'll have to find out the hard way...

Travel

Laura and I went to Charlottesville & Monticello the first weekend of March to celebrate 735 days of dating each other. I'd say it definitely beat out the previous year's trip to Philadelphia, where we celebrated days 364-366. Some of the highlights:

Stayed at a nice bed & breakfast with fireplaces all over the place:

Visited Thomas Jefferson's shack on a hill:

Visited my first wineries, and did a few tastings. The best was Blenheim Vineyards, owned by Dave Matthews. Yes, apparently he can play the same chords over and over again on the guitar, and make wine. That's talent. Seriously though, it was pretty tops.

One of the barrels was having a party in the basement:

Had some excellent dinners in Charlottesville, and on the way home we ate at this classy looking place and had some renowned szechuan food:
Yes, it was next to H&R Block. But the chef is some sort of enigma-ninja. See the link above... I'd never had real szechuan-spicy food before, and let me tell you: It is truly unbelievable. In short, it makes your mouth go numb and everything (including water) tastes like lemons for 5 minutes or so after just one bite. Not sure if this is all szechuan, but if so - I'd recommend it to any experience-seeking individual.

Afterward we drove home on Skyline Drive, a pretty nifty, way-the-hell-up-there and out of the way road in Virginia. Good views the whole way:



Next: I spent March 18 - 21 in New York with my old friend from Tucson. He'd never been to the large apple, and it was quite a bit of fun exploring the hell out of Manhattan. Some highlights:

1. Had dinner at the Ninja Restaurant, Ninja New York. No picture, it was too dark & ninja-ey there. I'd say it was probably the best dining experience I've ever had - the hosts are ninja-ish, you get spooked by ninjas the whole time, and the food is as ninja as ninja food can get. It's in a ninja castle, and one leaves with a desire to be a ninja. Ninja.

2. Saw Grant's Tomb (did not see Grant), ate breakfast at Tom's Restaurant, AKA Monk's Restaurant in the TV Show Seinfeld, walked through FAO Schwartz, and caught a Broadway show - Chicago. Here's a little picture of Grant's Tomb, for those who want to know what it looks like from the front:

And here's a picture of Spiderman:

3. Got to the very top of the Empire State Building, 102nd floor. In case anyone is curious, it costs $20 to go to the 86th floor, and an extra $15 to get to the 102nd. It is not necessary to visit the 102nd floor. The 86th is better in nearly every way. There's your fact of the day. This is from the 86th:


We visited quite a few Irish pubs throughout the weekend (there are only Irish pubs in Midtown Manhattan, by the way), as well as a German beer garden somewhere a few blocks west of Times Square that was pretty worthwhile. And, of course, we ate many slices of pizza and street hot dogs. All in all, a very excellent trip.

Stats

Movies watched at home: 4

1. The Informant
2. American Psycho
3. Fantastic Mr. Fox
4. The Hurt Locker

Ranking, best to worst: Informant, Fantastic Mr. Fox, American Psycho, Hurt Locker. Hurt Locker was exceedingly overrated (along with Slumdog Millionaire, last year's Best Picture winner). But the Informant and Mr. Fox were both really excellent. Highly recommended.

Miles jogged: 15.9
Actually it's more of a jog-walking-hybrid, but seems like good exercise.

Situps: 500
I'm doing jog-walking now, so bite me.

Restaurants: 9

Bars: 9
You don't need me to list them. Half of them were Irish pubs.

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And that ought to do it. I'll leave you with a picture of me as a wino, sitting on the front porch outside of the tasting room at Jefferson Vineyards in Charlottesville: