Mission Accomplished

There were several benefits to meeting a friend at Lemaire tonight.

I got to see the Jefferson tree, supposedly a big deal but basically the same every year, in full decorated mode.

I wouldn't want to water all these poinsettias.

I got to hear about the Wye Oak/Yo la Tengo/The National show at Merriweather Post Pavilion that I hadn't gone to, having learned my MPP lesson at the Louis XIV, Keane , Killers show years ago.

Still, that was an awesome lineup and if I could have been transported, I'd have gone in a heartbeat.

I met a guy from Philadelphia who made sure I knew how to properly order a Philly cheese steak in Philly (wid, whiz).

Onions always. Provolone? Sorry, no.

I met a guy as knowledgeable about sipping tequilas as I am and compared favorites. The edge may go to him since he's explored mescals and I've yet to go there.

$100 a bottle Cuervo Familia? Nope, haven't had it.

I met a guy (we'll call him J.L.) who proclaimed my Interpol show backstory one of the best he'd ever heard.

"No, he did not." Oh, yes, he did.

I got asked to give a guy from Northern Virginia my top restaurant list, which he proceeded to write down. promising feedback.

"What? No Millie's?" Sigh.

I got to share some Discovery wines (L'Enclois des Bories, a Minervois fruit bomb with a pepper finish and a Centine blend, more easy-to-drink fruit) with friends for a mere $15 a bottle.

It's getting there by 7:00 that's tough.

I enjoyed a plate of Vermont semi-soft bleu with fruit and the braised BBQ pork quesadilla to provide sustenance.

Why choose a hard bleu when I can go soft?

My friend and I had some great discussion about offbeat ballet, poetry, wet hair and private exercising before being overtaken by outsiders.

In the end, I had promised my friend (who considers me trouble because we always end up staying out too late) an early night but we said goodbye by midnight, thereby disproving that theory.

Confucius say it's not how late you stay out; it's how much you accomplish in the time you are out.

Much merriment and sometimes that's enough.