Scones and Oddballs at Garnett's

Sure, Garnett's seems like just a nice, normal sandwich place, but don't let it fool you. Just this morning I encountered an alien there. Only last month, I'd been there and a friend had told me about an alien he'd met and almost dated, here. But that was just a story; I didn't actually lay eyes on a stranger from a strange land.

Today I did. I was innocently sitting at the counter when a guy came in, a guy I'd met a while back at Garnett's; now that we know each other, we usually have a good chat when we run into one another. He was meeting a friend for coffee after her run and she soon arrived, dimpled and pretty and still in her running clothes. As they began catching up, it was hard not to overhear their conversation; Garnett's bar is small. She was lamenting that, "I've never ever done anything wrong in my life. I've always been good."

He laughed but clearly couldn't think of how to answer that, so I turned to her and said, "Give it a few years and that'll take care of itself. You won't have to worry about that anymore." He agreed enthusiastically and she looked dubious. And no, that didn't make her an alien.

What did was when he told her that his hard drive had crashed and he'd lost all his music, years- worth gone with no backup. She looked at him as if he were speaking Mandarin. "What's the big deal?" she asked. "I haven't put any new music on my iPod in five and a half years."

WTF? They already knew I was eavesdropping so, I didn't hesitate to give her my best incredulous stare and asked, "Are you kidding? How is that possible that you haven't wanted any new music in five and a half years?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, she said (and I quote), "Well I don't really like music. I just use it when I run." This was the moment she officially qualified for alien status. Who doesn't like music? I mean, seriously, who? And note the employment of the word "use" instead of enjoy, like music is a utilitarian thing instead of pure pleasure.

There's no way to respond to a comment like that and I didn't try. After they left, I went over to Hunter, busy prepping for lunch, and told him the story. He was as shocked as I was that there could be someone so alien in our midst and said, "Not like music? I'd..." and pantomimed blowing his brains out.

Now I don't want to judge here (be quiet, Andrew) but, honey, you most definitely have done something wrong in your life and sadly, you're paying the price every single day and not even realizing it. Alien or not, you have my deepest sympathy.

On Nick's Deli and Naps

When you're entertaining until 2:30 but have to get up at 6 a.m. and you're not a coffee drinker, some adjustments are in order.

The energy's got to come from somewhere and for me it's food and lots of it (and doubtlessly a little nap before I go out tonight).

And not just any food, but the kind of eats that will distract me from my fatigue and keep me going long enough to get a few things done before giving into it.

Despite a crack of dawn breakfast, that meant a mid-morning chocolate chip scone hot out of the oven at Garnett's.

They bake their scones fresh every morning and while it's true that most baked goods are better fresh out of the oven, scones are sublime when they're warm and steaming.

The variety of scone changes daily but with my chocolate sweet tooth, I lucked into the ideal taste delight for me today.

And when you get up at 6, you're ready for lunch by 11.

I hung on until after 11:30, but not by much, and then I made the two-block dash to Nick's Deli on Broad Street (okay, Nick's Produce and International Market, if you want me to be specific).

As a recent commenter to one of my restaurant posts wrote, "...nothing in the world beats a sandwich from Nick's."

I heard that and today I needed an 8" ham, turkey and bacon sub doused in oil and vinegar.

What a huge and delicious sandwich; with a pile of potato chips almost as big as the sub, I got enough sustenance to be relatively productive before shifting into siesta mode.

At the counter being rung up, I was asked how my day was going.

I explained that it was a 3 1/2 hour night with an early morning wake-up call.

Handing me my bag, the girl empathetically said, "Eat this and then take a nice long nap."

You know, I think I will.

You Talking to Me?

It was an especially great day for random comments, good and odd, directed my way. Maybe it's time to change the sign on my forehead...or something.

"I should have known you'd be here. Are you in the Mekong Beer Club?"
-A local boutique owner on finding me at the bar with a laid off girlfriend wining and dining at Six Burner tonight. And the connection is...?

"You know you love it when that happens. Just like I love it when I open my mouth and surprise people."
- A friend who waited out a long-winded conversation to regain my attention. Yes and thanks for harshing my mellow.

"Every minute of every hour I spent on this project my heart ached for you. Every minute. Of every hour."
-An ex (from the 90s!) on transferring VHS tapes to DVD. Oh, come on.

"You're sure to be a twitter hit if you dare to go there."
-A friend and fellow music geek. Aw, shucks.

"It was your witty repartee that made it worth coming in."
-Customer leaving a coffee shop about our conversation. My kind of compliment.

"The thing about living in DC was, sometimes I couldn't remember where my house was. Did that ever happen to you ? "
-Local street legend Richard on the subject of living in Washington, my former hometown. Can't say that it did, Richard.

And so it goes...