Grasshoppers Part Deux

So remember when I went to get grasshopper tacos after the worst movie ever about a month and a half ago? Well, I did it again. I was telling a friend about the original experience, and she seemed a little intrigued by the the idea of eating grasshoppers--that is to say more so than grossed out, like most of the other people at the party. She said that we should go get them sometime. So we did. We met in the District near Chinatown, and we walked to Oyamel, the restaurant, to partake of the little critters. I have got to tell ya, this is a happening place. It's a pretty cool atmosphere. A little loud, but nice nonetheless. We had to wait a little bit for a table for two on a Tuesday night, but the wait was well worth it. I had a great time. It's sort of a tapas-style place. We got some other small dishes to share, and we shared the Taco de Chapulines. I think the taco was better this time. It was actually really good. My friend enjoyed it too. For me, I think it was mostly because I was less apprehensive about actually eating the thing. Sadly, I forgot to take my camera, and as such, missed on the opportunity to share more photos of the tasty treat.
The dinner conversation was very entertaining. We swapped roommate horror stories, and in the process we found that we have a mutual acquaintance back in Utah whom we both loathe.
When it came time to leave we walked to the Metro stop and caught the tail end of the Navy band performing Big Yellow Taxi (of all songs). And that is where this tale ends. We separated at L'Enfante Plaza, she going one way, I another. But, I think good times were had by all.
So, in my humble opinion, Tacos de Chapulines from Oyamel are a tasty treat that people should try. They aren't anything like what you would imagine. And who knows, you might just find you like them.

Don't Worry, I Am Still Alive

Dear Friends,

How have you been? I am well. I have had many an adventure as of late, and many people are nagging me to update about my life. And I, ever the people pleaser, will comply with these requests. Even though it is exceedingly late. I figure now is as good a time as any since I can't do this at work. I would, it's just the page doesn't respond to commands on my computer at work.
So since I have the life of a swinging single, I get to go on many an adventure with friends. Most of my outings involve people from church who are in a similar boat as I, being a twenty-something single adult in a very marriage happy church--but I digress.
Anyway, I wish to share some of the cool adventures I have taken in the past few weeks:

Take Me out To the Ball Game

I am not what you would call the biggest sports fan, but I do enjoy (watching mostly cause I stink at a lot of sports) a good game--Football, Basketball, Soccer, even Tennis. Baseball is a tough one to enjoy for me unless I happen to go, and then it is a lot of fun. And two weeks ago, I did just that. I went to see the Washington Nationals take on the Houston Astros. It was a pretty good game, and the Nats even won--imagine that. There was a guy who showed up who had season tickets from his work and let me go down to where they were with him and a couple other people. The view was great from there. Good times were had by all.

I Cannot Tell a Lie, Mt. Vernon Is Pretty Cool

So I won't even try. On Saturday, I got to go see the home of our first president, George Washington. It was a treat. The coolest part was the welcome video starring game show host extraordinaire Pat Sajak (check out his site. It's awesome! My favorite link is the "What's up with Pat?"). He gives you such an in-depth view of the farm that you hardly even need to look at the grounds, but of course you do because you paid $13 or $18 depending on if you get the year pass.

I've got to admit that it was pretty cool. It was awesome to think of the visitors who had been in that house, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Mason...and the list goes on.
Anyway, the only thing that kinda bugged me is how they made it sound like he was so benevolent because he was good to his slaves. I guess it's good that he was good to them, but I have an issue with the idea of someone (no matter how great he or she was) actually having another human being as their own property. I know that it was the way of life at the time, but it still bugs me. But I do still think he was an admirable man who did remarkable things to help form this great nation.

Luau!!

Later that night, I went to a Luau. It was put on by my church and there were hundreds of single adults from all around the DC area. It was good fun. The food situation sucked cause they made it sound like there would be a ton, and it would be good, but there wasn't much, and it wasn't all that great. But I'll stop complaining. They had some cool Polynesian dancers and the coolest was the guy who did a dance with fire.

Waiting until Dark to Watch "Wait until Dark"

Last adventure cause I am tired, I went to the Screen on the Green on the Mall tonight with some friends. They showed the classic suspense film "Wait Until Dark." It was a pretty good movie. I had watched it a month ago for the first time, but I was so tired that I fell asleep in the first half hour, and I didn't wake up until the last half hour, so I missed the bulk of what was going on. It's kinda like what Megan is doing here (look closely at her left eye). The best part was when the dude, though so weak that he must drag himself across the floor to try to attack the terrified Audrey Hepburn, he is able to muster up the strength to leap from the shadows just as the music makes some awful screeching noise. It made most of the audience jump. It was pretty funny. Don't worry, she lives.

So friends, that is a smattering of what I have been up since I last wrote anything. I hope you all enjoy. In my humble opinion, living in the DC area rocks! There is great stuff to do all the time. Also, though I think slavery was wrong, my opinion of George Washington is that he was a pretty good guy even though he owned people. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my thoughts on the latest HP book.

Sincerely,

Me

Two Weeks!!

Today (well yesterday really, since it is past midnight) I celebrated my two week anniversary on Facebook. "How did this happen?" you may ask. I shall tell you. One day someone asked me if I was on Facebook. To which I responded, "no." But, there are so many people around me who made casual references to their Facebook shenanigans, that I wanted to see what this whole thing was all about. So I wanted to just look up some of the aforementioned people, but apparently you can't even look up someone's name without, yourself, having a profile. So I made one. It apparently looked at my Gmail contacts who had profiles and added them. There were two at that point. From there, one of their friends sent me a "friend request." I felt so loved. I accepted, and went to work trying to find some of my other friends throughout my life. And so it went, and I am now two weeks into it.
The weird thing is that when you sign on, it'll tell you the goings on of all of your friends' pages. I think it's very voyeuristic, and kinda creepy. It'll tell you what comment they made to someone else, who is now friends with whom, what groups someone has joined. I say this as though no one really knows how facebook works. Frankly I didn't until a couple of weeks ago. Now that I do, I think that it has lost a bit of it's charm. Sure it's fun, and I'll keep my account for a minute or two, but in my humble opinion, the novelty of Facebook wears off fast, but that doesn't mean that my enthusiasm cannot be rekindled. I have yet to add my pictures, and that may make all the difference.

A Mormon Democrat?!! What Will They Think of Next?

You may not know this, but I am pretty cool. Okay, so maybe not. But I like to do things that to me seem cool. So as a Mormon Democrat who majored in Political Science, I am sure you can imagine how stoked I was to have a chance to go listen to Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) speak on Friday.
It was amazing. I even got to meet him and shake his hand. If I saw him tomorrow, he'd have no clue who I was, or that I had ever seen him before, but it was cool nonetheless. In the two second chat that I had with Senator Reid, I said "Hi, I am Darin from Brigham City, UT. Nice to meet you." To which, he responded, "Brigham City? Really? My wife worked at Thiokol." That was all, and he was off to say hello to the next person in line. (side note, the girl who snapped the photo was just a hair too late on the picture-taking) That was brush with greatness for last week. Besides the hasty meeting, his earlier comments were good. He talked about how his membership in the church (he's a Mormon, like me) has influenced his life in public service. I enjoyed his question and answer session too. I think he ticked off a bunch of Republicans (who assuredly comprised the bulk of the audience) , but I think that is part of his job description. It didn't bother me in the slightest, as I am unabashedly Democratic. It heartened me to think that though my church is predominately Republican, the highest-ranking member of the church in the federal government is a Democrat.
Anyway, that was only part of the evening. You see, I went to the event with a girl from my ward (her name isn't listed, as I am unaware of her thoughts of her name being posted in a blog as cool as this). After the shindig, we went to get something for dinner. We drove to Bailey's Crossroads and ate at Raaga, probably my favorite Indian restaurant around here. We had an engaging discussion about, among other things, all of the possibilities of the upcoming Harry Potter book (I told you I was cool) while dining on Chicken Tikka Masala, and Chicken Vindaloo. Mmmmmm Tasty!! And that, my friends, was my Friday night.
So, in my humble opinion, Indian food rocks, and a fun conversation with it makes it even better. Also, Harry Reid is cool. He's soft spoken, but don't think that means he's a pushover. He's a shrewd politician, and he's got a lot of fight in him. Plus I thought it amazing for someone who is in as powerful a position in government as he, but to know that he still has the same morals and values as me. That's pretty cool. And I say these things in the name of....Wait, wrong closing, The End!!

Potter!!!

Okay, so I am a Harry Potter geek. I do enjoy the books, and you can bet that I'll be going to Barnes & Nobel when number seven comes out.
In case you didn't know, the 5th movie, "Harry Potter, and the Order of the Phoenix" opened this week. So a few of us HP nuts from work went to see the movie.
First off, we went to Coastal Flats in the Tyson's mall. I had a tasty little bowl of crab and corn chowder. Very nice. We were a little nervous that we wouldn't be able to get a decent seat for the movie cause there were so many people lined up at ten when we were getting to the restaurant. But never fear, as soon as we walked to the theater, my boss, Gail walked directly to the security guard and was told that our theater was already being seated, so we didn't have to wait in line. We got in and all of us ended up getting seats together except for Tripop's (my former supervisor who was stuck in Atlanta that night) wife and their friend, whose name I don't recall.
The film was great. Of course, it was darker than the others, but the book was too. What can you expect? I enjoyed the movie throughly. Plus, though I was in on time, it would have provided a nice excuse to be late, since we had the VP's okay. This is the gang immediately following the movie at about 2:30 am or a little later.
In my humble opinion, the evening was great, the movie was fun, and I would maybe even pay to see it again.

July Fourth Holiday Extrava-Danza!!

So, the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I think it has to do with the fact that it coincides with my other favorite day, my birthday (within a week at least). Washington DC is also a pretty cool place to be to celebrate the nation's birthday as well. This year was pretty fun--especially considering the day before I had no plans at all. In the morning, I went to a pancake breakfast, where I was invited with some folks to go to the parade in the city, and then we were to hang around the mall until it was time for the concert on the west lawn of the Capitol and the fireworks immediately afterward. I have to say that the parade was kinda lame. I think most parades are lame. But then again, I only caught the tail end of it. We went for lunch in one of the Smithsonian museums, which was a total rip off I think I paid about $14 for an all-American meal of a hot dog, fries, a coke and a cupcake. I was none-too-pleased. After that my real fun ensued. I played a game with my new digital camera, called "I know you're aiming for patriotic, but you really shouldn't." Boy did I find some doozies for red, white and blue outfits that day. These are only a few. The game continued throughout the afternoon while we were in line for the concert. However, our line was evacuated from the area due to "severe severe thunderstorms" in the area, and we were relocated to a parking facility. Finally we were let out and had to rush to get seats that were far worse than we would have got had we not been moved.

Then the show starts and the host is none other than television and Broadway fading star, Tony Danza. There were a few c-list celebrities who performed, the coolest of which was Little Richard. But, I have to say the show was mediocre at best.

While Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith Crane from Cheers and Frasier) was performing Cabaret, the fireworks started. Then the Orchestra tried to catch up with the 1812 Overture, which was pretty cool with the cannons. I liked the fireworks, but the lights on the Capitol were not dimmed in the slightest, so it did not make for good pictures. In fact, none of mine turned out well.

Afterward, the gang went to Ihop and enjoyed a delicious meal--for Ihop that is-- served to us by Leticia. She has been my server each of the past three times that I have been there. Though she speaks little English, she is very kind. I try to tip her well--for Ihop that is.

In my humble opinion, the Fourth of July is the coolest holiday ever--way to go founding fathers!! However, it is not worth the crowds and mess to see the concert at the Capitol because it makes the fireworks less enjoyable.

B-Day Party

Since I was gone on my birthday, some friends got together and we went to dinner on the day I got back. Here are a couple of pictures from the unofficial first day of "The Year of Darin" (I think that is what I will call my 26th year). We went to the California Pizza Kitchen, and then went to Sara, Megan, Janelle, Joy and Kelli's house for cake (from scratch made by Sara--Thanks a Bunch!!) and ice cream. Mmmm tasty.

In my humble opinion, birthdays are great. Sharing them with friends is a lot of fun, and getting a free dinner and cake just for being alive one more day is fantastic!!

Central Park Is No Place for a Speedo--But Really, Where Is?

So how is this for fun? Two people from my church wanted to take a trip to NYC. Turns out, they wanted to do it on my birthday. So that's what I did. On June 30, at 3:30 am, my travel buddies, Rich and Emma, and I boarded the Chinatown bus in DC and headed for the Big Apple.

We ended up getting there fairly early, and were off for a fun-filled adventure in the big city. Upon arriving, we wandered around Chinatown for a bit. It stinks. We then moved up a bit and walked, looking for a place to get a map until we happened upon a subway station. From there, we took the subway to Times Square, wandered around and I got the nastiest smoothie ever from a vendor at a farmer's market/street fair thing. I am sure you can sense my feelings of remorse when we passed a Jamba Juice only minutes later.

From Times Square (in case you didn't know, I was playing tour guide, since I was the only one in the group who had seen much of the city) I led them to Rockefeller Plaza and St. Patrick's Cathedral, up 5th Avenue to Central Park. We stopped a couple of places along the way and had a good time in FAO Schwartz. It turns out you can rent out the place for a party for your kids for a night, starting at $30,000. That was a few years ago. And you can buy one of these pianos for $250,000. "No thanks," says I.

Central Park is my absolute favorite place in the city. It is amazingly beautiful. That is until you decide to relax on the lawn and rest cause you're so tired from having maybe one hour of sleep, and you see a middle-aged man lying in the park on a towel wearing nothing but a speedo and sun tan lotion. Bear in mind this was my birthday--not a wish come true. After a bit of a rest, we meandered around the park and saw a cool little show by some performers who could do flips over people.

We left to find our hostel and we relaxed there for about an hour. We were beat. We took off again to do some more exploring, and ended up going to Grand Central Station. I wanted cheesecake for my birthday, so we went to Junior's, where I had been before and had their cheesecake. It is very good. However, we had the absolute worst service ever. The waitress took off for most of the time we were there. We waited and waited for her to come back, and finally we were sick of waiting, so I asked the girl who was bussing the table behind me if she could get it for us. Now the waitress was all smiles and lolly pops, but it was too little too late. She didn't even come by to ask if we wanted dessert. I was going to look at the check, but Emma said, "it's your birthday, I've got it." So I was not responsible for what happened to the tip. They (rightfully) left $1.35.

At this time I was busy responding to a text message (one of my 26 reasons why we love Darin Howard from Kade--btw I'm 26 now). I noticed they had left the tip and wasn't at all upset about it. But then the waitress comes to the table to see what we had left (while we were there--we were standing up, but still it's rude) she looks and I swear to you she says, "you're only leaving a dollar!?" I look up from my phone and said (loudly enough that the surrounding tables heard me, but not intentionally), "you were terrible," and I went back to the text message and walked away. Apparently a lot of people got a kick out of that. The table behind us was laughing. From there, we went to the Empire State Building and saw the amazing view from there.

Only one incident occurred at the hostel when two Asian girls first knocked for about five minutes on our door, and then opened the door and came into our room looking for a phone charger. Crazy, but we didn't have it and then they left.

The next day, we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We came back to Manhattan and toured the financial district and saw Ground Zero. We ended up going to Little Italy for lunch, and wandered around SoHo for a bit. It's a cool little piece of the town, and we stumbled upon a special treat, Rice to Riches, where I got some cheesecake flavored rice pudding. From there, we took our pudding to go and walked to the bus in Chinatown.

Now, don't fret, that is not where this story ends. You see, we got on an earlier bus (4:00 pm) to get home earlier, but I walked into my apartment, and all manner of excitement that was going on there, at midnight. How did that happen? you may be asking yourselves. I'll tell you. Chinatown buses break down, at least ours did. We were stuck on the New Jersey Turnpike for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours waiting for a bus to pick us up and take us the rest of the way. So, eight fun-filled hours later, I was home-sweet...well at least home.

Now, for some opinuendo: In my humble opinion New York is great fun. A great place to visit, but so bloody expensive that I couldn't imagine living there. My opinion of the Chinatown bus is that it is worth the ten extra bucks to take the bus run by Hassidic Jews--far cleaner and we didn't break down when I took that one. Lastly, in my humble opinion, it is not wise to assume because it is midnight on Sunday/Monday and all of the lights are out, that your roommate is in his room, asleep.

Greetin's from Virginee

Hey, so #1 it's been a while since I have posted anything here, and so I have a wee bit of catching up to do. There have been a few momentous occasions that have happened since my last post. The first of which is my one year anniversary of my arrival in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

You see, I had never been to the east coast of the US until fall of 2005. I interned here through the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. Though the job itself wasn't all that exciting--as I understand it, many internships aren't--I fell in love with the area, just cause it's such a change from Utah. Upon returning from the internship in December 2005, I decided that I wanted to move back to DC. I had to finish my last semester of college, but then I would be free.

Meanwhile, I had to live for the last four months of school, and doing so required me to get a job, which I did--the worst job ever, EVER!! I worked as an "account manager" at Discover card. I had to try to convince people to keep services that they had on their card, like identity theft protection, and a service that calls and cancels your credit cards if your wallet is stolen--like I couldn't do that myself. Anyway, I had to try to smooth-talk irate people everyday on the phone and give them specials to keep these things. It probably would have helped if I believed in them. I also thought it was kind of underhanded how the sales people pretty much duped elderly folks into signing up for the services--but I digress. I hated the job, but saw no real way out of there that would allow me to get a better job, or to get me out of Utah.

Then, one day, my best friend, Kade (you may not know him, but one day he'll probably get his own posting here) called me and told me he had gotten fired from his job. Long story short, he couldn't find another job in Utah easily, and he decided to move to North Carolina. He was going to leave on June 16th, but I said, "do you want to wait for one week and I'll go with?" This gave me two weeks so I could quit my job, and square away a place to stay when I got here.

So we loaded up Lafawndah the Honda (Kade's Accord) and drove cross-country. We saw many sights (including the world's largest truck stop as seen on the right, laughed a lot, nearly vomited from the stench of a cattle slaughter yard or something like it in Nebraska, and only had one argument on the way out.

We arrived safely in Arlington, VA at my friend Rachel's (side note here, Rachel is probably one of the nicest people around to be willing to let me crash at her place 'til I got a little bit of stability)place on June 25, and I have been here ever since.

It hasn't been the most easy thing, but with the help of some great folks, it's been a lot of fun. I have a job. I am in a decent apartment (my second house here in the area), and have met a lot of interesting people. I think I can be considered a Virginian almost--Northern Virginian that is.

In my humble opinion, a cross-country move was one of the coolest things I've done, and I am glad to have been here a whole year.