HPatPoA and McD's, chiarOscuro and pretty girls, plans for The Day, and a FishHighway!

Yesterday afternoon, Nathan picked up Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on DVD, and also McD's, so we respectively watched and ate those, and then I headed to chiarOscuro, arriving just after 2000--but the guy gave me the before-2200 price anyway. (And a bit later, the coat check guy didn't charge me again for adding my hoodie to my jacket. He got a tip. :) I like the layout of the place, most of the music was excellent all night long (with the occasional powernoise mixed in for bad measure), the DJ has an LED board displaying the current artist and track (if he remembers to update it), and Blade and Blade 2 were projected on the wall, alternately, all night long. (It was a Blade Trinity-themed night, kind of--movies and posters on the wall, giveaways near the end of the night, also announced on the LED board. I didn't win anything. :P) My only problem with cO is that I know next to no one.. I recognized Danielle and Putz, but they barely acnowledge my existence despite being regulars at Cue and Alchemy; I saw Shasta (whom I met at Bagel's last party) but didn't approach her; on the other hand, faeriemage showed up sometime later, and she rocks. And is cute. And might hit me after she reads this. ;) There was also a girl I almost met, except that I suck about approaching new people--we danced, separately, a few feet apart for a fair chunk of the evening, exchanged smiles, but neither of us approached the other to say hi; I planned to do so at the end of the night when they kill the music and hit the lights, but alas, she left shortly before that and disappeared. Maybe another time. :)

In a bit, I'll go see faeriemage dance in a Benefit for the Roma in Alexandria, accompanied by a buffet, and then head out to Manassas for dinner with family at the Old Dominion Brewing Company restaurant in Ashburn. :)

megachrisgt, weeping_angel, andidoru, y'all rock extra early. cawfetalk, comeseptember, and neuroscidude, y'all rock in a timely way. :D

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Via subbes: The logical, and physical, extension of your aquaria: Fishighway! (Just in case they're jealous of the hamsters.)

Via fuzzyamy: The 10 Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time

Birthday goodness! Belly dancing event, Old Dominion dinner, giftses, and Xmas decorating.

I must say, I've had an excellent birthday so far. :)

Around 1230 I headed out to Casablanca, the location of the benefit dance for the Roma, featuring one faeriemage. Got there around 1300, the nominal start time, was seated with Jonathan (uv_halo) and a random woman, none of us knowing the others, but as chance would have it, Jon was also there to see Jessie, and was pretty cool. The dancing got off to a late start, closer to 1400 than 1300, and Jessie was #35 out of 40, so it all ended closer to 1700 than 1600. However, it was all interesting and fun to watch, with a wide range of styles (including some impressive ballroom dance by one couple, and a dance while standing on four inverted goblets by one woman) and costumes and music (including some Tchaikovsky and some techno.) (And Jessie was great, though she'll tell you otherwise. :P)

So I left there around 1700, calling mom on the way to learn that I was supposed to be at Old Dominion at 1730. (I'm told Matt sent me an IM before noon telling me so, but this is lies, vicious lies.) (No, really--no IM from Matt!) Anyhow, it turns out I was only about 10 minutes behind Steph in leaving Alexandria, and we both arrived before my parents, Shauna, Jen, Ben, and Matt, around 1745. I had a 4x4oz beer sampler--the three specials (a belgian, a cherry, and a winter stout) plus the Oak Barrel Stout (aged in bourbon casks): the cherry was very cherry-y, the Oak Barrel had a distinct chocolatey flavor, the Belgian was a bit tart, but all were good. :) And the food--oh, the food. Their seared peppercorn steak with brandy cream sauce is honestly one of the best I've ever had, and that's saying a lot. The spicy tuna steak sandwich someone else had, also excellent; the Oak Barrel Stout bread pudding, delectable. :)

Presents! They brought them to the restaurant, so I opened them mostly during appetizers. A sappy card from Kangaruby (my grandmother), a funny card from the parents, hand-knitted socks from Kangaruby, DVDs from Steph and Matt (Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), and from the parents, a DVD (Van Helsing, plus a novelization), and... *drum roll*.. a Magellan SporTrak [Color, North America] GPS! Very pleasing. :D

After dinner, I headed back to my parents' house, where I got the card Brendan selected for me, helped decorate the full-size tree in the living room, and assembled, fluffed, and decorated the "kids' tree" in the play room. Ah, home for the Christmas season.. so nice. (I wasn't too happy about being 10,000 miles from family and friends for Christmas last year.) :)

Incidentally, Brendan (my 2.8-year-old nephew) is ridiculously bright. He's been learning about the planets on his LeapPad recently, and I'm told that he overheard his grandma say "Saturday", and he replied with "Not Saturday, Saturn-day!" and proceeded to rattle off the facts that Saturn is yellow with rings and 18 moons, Mercury is closest to the sun, Pluto furthest away, Earth blue and green, Venus closest to the Earth, Jupiter red and brown with a big spot.