Dead On Penn, Utah Genes, and dreams

Well, that sucks. Remainder of Live On Penn cancelled. (WP, 7/28) You don't suppose the current poor attendance had anything to do with the ticket cost increasing from Free to $3 to $7 in the last few years, hm?

Interesting article from the NYTimes via Christine: By Accident, Utah Is Proving an Ideal Genetic Laboratory (link with skippable ad, maybe you don't have to be registered) or the direct link.

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So in last night's dream, ( there was a pet store, rowing, a tattooed friend in drag, fence repairs and escaped ferrets.. )

Secret Errand, brutal traffic, arts&entertainment, & GRC

Around 1630 today, I decided to run a Secret Errand. Having previously looked them up, I called the Springfield, Fairfax, and Baileys Crossroads locations of Secret Store. The former two had not what I sought; a stocker at the latter claimed that they did. Thus I set my Away message to a cryptic "Back in a bit," drove to Bailey's Crossroads, passing very heavy traffic on 95S and 395S, questioning my timing..

Arriving at Secret Store, I looked around, looked around some more, asked a sales associate, who asked a stocker, who eventually asked a manager, and the end result was this: It seems that, if the stocker was correct about the availability of the Secret Item less than an hour prior, it was no longer in stock by the time I arrived. Manager then called a few other area locations, none of which had the Secret Item, as it is somewhat Seasonal and is just about Out of Season. The Manager apologized profusely, and is looking into the possibility of ordering the Item.

By this time, it was about 1745, and traffic was no less abhorrent on 395S than it had been an hour prior--and was, in all likelihood, worse. Rain, you know. I had already established tentative plans to visit Christine after she got off of work, in which case I generally arrive around 1830, but I had no cell phone with me with which to notify her of any change in plans. However, analyzing Plan A (return home via heavy, heavy traffic, get phone, change away message, contact Christine, arrive at 1930 or 2000 at the earliest), I opted for Plan B (head north.) As it happens, traffic on 395N was brutal all the way into the city, and it took almost an hour to get from Baileys Crossroads to NE DC. (For comparison, it took 30 minutes to go twice as far, coming home later.)

So, I showed up at her door a bit after 1830, she was pleasantly surprised, and we watched the tail end of an episode of CSI with grapes. Afterward, we watched Big Fish--still a delightful movie, which she'd gotten from Netflix some time ago--with Kettle Corn popcorn (KaPop brand, very tasty), followed by my reading of Twain's "Tennessee Journalism," followed by my departure around 2200.

And here is some Gratuitous Relationship Cuteness: On our first official date, July 12th, we were supposed to watch 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but Blockbuster provided me with the wrong version. She got the correct version a little while later through Netflix, but hadn't watched it yet. We considered it tonight, vs. Big Fish or The Magdalene Sisters, but decided that we'd watch it on August 12th, our one-month annmensiversary. :D

Amusement!

Well, that was exciting. I just got four six comments from June 28th! (Plus one two from the 27th, several minutes later!)

Update: And by morning, 2 (6/28), 1 (6/29), 2 (7/2), 3 (7/3), and 1 (7/4). Whee!

Via subbes: In the wake of Subservient Chicken, we have Subservient President! (Good phrases to try can be found here.)

Via skinglist: How America views the world. (Be sure to scroll down for all the maps. :D)

Today's Buttercup Festival is delightful. Electricity is like spaghetti, but wicked hot! (In the future, the link will be here.)