SeanMike

Thanks!

Sebastian, I can't tell what group that is? And when I click on the link, I guess since I'm not in the group, I just get my own calendar.

but whatevs, since I was just bragging. Before this spring I ate out approximately 99% of my meals. Nearly that same percentage of dinners had an alcoholic beverage accompaniment, and most nights there were more than just one. In April I bought a folding bicycle. Reasoning: easier to transport and store. My first ride was from my house to VA Square Metro, then ride to McPherson Square on Metro, and ride the bike to the Passenger. After several beverages, Uber home with the bike in the back. Later rides were just around the neighborhood. The next week I bought a charcoal grill. About once a week I'd fire it up, and while smoking cigars and drinking beer, grill up food for the week - typically a steak for that night and pork and chicken for the week, plus onions, asparagus, peppers, etc. I'd then microwave and eat that through the week for dinner. At the end of June I bought running shoes and paid for the "Couch to 5K" app. I started running on a treadmill 3 times a week. I also started riding the cheap stationary bike I have in my apartment when it was too hot to ride outside. After each workout, I'd do pushups until muscle failure. (I also ate out more and drank a lot more -- mostly because it was so friggin' hot I didn't want to grill, and I had lots of events.) At the end of July my doctor asked me to take two weeks off from drinking to get some blood work done. I immediately started to taper off my drinking, and started my detox this past Monday. After a mistaken diagnosis of being down to 188, a re-check of my weight shows me at being at 214, or 48 pounds less than when I started. (On 1 JUL I was 232.) I haven't weighed under 200 since at least 2000. This is VERY exciting. I feel absolutely FANTASTIC, and the lifestyle changes I've made are easy to maintain. I'm hoping to be under 200 by the "official" start of Fall, but we'll see. I won't be heartbroken if not - it's more about how I feel and how I look, and how that allows me to have consensual sex with as many other people as possible (and also to eat and drink whatever I want within reason). I need a damn milkshake.

so, just to brag... I've lost approximately 50 pounds since this spring. At 214 pounds as of yesterday morning, that makes me lighter than any time since 2007. Since I'm currently in the middle of about 2 weeks off from drinking, and still cranking up the running and biking, I'm hoping to be under 200 not long for now, for the first time since around 2000. And it's all due to my one, overriding, mind-consuming goal of having absolutely as much sex as possible. (Okay, and to be able to eat and drink whatever I want without swaying back and forth when I walk. But I did find it funny that I was confused as to why I had so much seatbelt on the flights this week, and then I realized it was because there was so much less of me...)

Yeah it's Javi again. Or, rather, Javi + Chris. (I'll be there tomorrow in all odds, so I can confirm, but it's primarily the same as the opening menu.) (And hopefully it won't disappear during my sober spell coming up...)

I've started going to the Arlington World of Beer regularly. The food went from being delivered from local restaurants to (apparently) all "made" (probably Sysco) in house. That being said, it's not bad, it's just what it is - bar food. I do have fun with the beer selection and typically get pretty great service.

SPAM MUSUBI FOR THE WIN

I'd have to say the Passenger and possibly Hogo, since I get asked if I have engraved stools there... Also used to be Ragtime, but I don't go there as often any more. It's more the staff there. (Same with Fire Works, where the staff is really good at remembering folks. I should give them more shout-outs.)

On my way back from Camp Lejeune yesterday, I stopped by Rappahannock Oysters to say hi to Katie, and to have dinner with my mom. Man, that was some good eats. We started with a dozen oysters on the half shell, split between three types. Then we had the appetizer special of fluke ceviche - for $12 it was a healthy portion with two pieces of bread. I couldn't have eaten it by myself, it was too rich. My mom had seared tuna over kflegle (?), a sort of pasta. I tried it and thought it was good. I had the head on shrimp over quinoa, and loved it - the shrimp were huge and tasty, with a good bit of spice in the heads, and the quinoa, grilled peaches, and smoked honey went well together. A dozen oysters, ceviche, two entrees, and two Goose Island beers each (they were doing a tap takeover but we both forgot our glasses) and it was $54 each before tip. Not bad for such great food. And easy to hit off 95 (and to get back on 95).

Yeah, I saw that yesterday. WTF.

Are the berries still in it? While I don't believe it'll be dangerous, the flavor is probably diminished.

http://thebaddeal.com/post/56251879089/negative-reviews-are-fine-as-long-as-theyre The gist: positive and negative reviews are the same. They should be accurate and fair. That also means not basing them off one visit.

Dr. Dennis O'Leary is also a HUGE supporter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, especially the Brewer's Ball. I've had the opportunity to work with him there for the past few years and based off his passion for that, I'd highly recommend just for that reason. He's a great, friendly guy, very passionate about that cause. SeanMike Whipkey

4 ounces Green Hat summer gin, 2 dashes each Fee's lemon bitters, Scrappy's Lime Bitters, Angostura orange, 1/4 ounce lime juice, 8 ounces tonic, three ice cubes. DELICIOUS.

Tonight, I'm finishing off my Green Hat summer gin to the writers of the latest expansion to Borderlands 2. "Why to a video game DLC, SeanMike?" you might think. Seriously: the writing in this game has been fantastic, and the entirety of this DLC - from dealing with issues like "fake gamer girls" to the overall theme of "young woman dealing with the death of one of her best friends" has been handled beautifully, with both humor and drama, in a way that I haven't seen almost anywhere else. It takes some investment to understand the stories - i.e., you need to have played through the hours of the game up until this expansion - but the deft handling of the subject has left me amazed.

Next week my friend Ed Hardy is doing a "Duck Season/Wabbit Season" menu while Wolf Trap is showing Looney Tunes. That includes hasenpfeffer, which I've wanted to try since I was a kid. The menu isn't online yet, but if anyone is interested I'll see if he's cool with me reposting his first draft (or if there's a more accurate one). I'm planning on getting over there one day next week, but if any of y'all try it, I'd love to see what you think. (Now to figure out a day to go and avoid old college friends...)

To Dennis Farina. I need to rewatch Snatch now...

Very sorry for your loss. I'm drinking to Guillermo de Toro, for making such a fun summer movie. Pacific Rim rocked!

I hate saying this, but it's true for me. Take pictures. I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE ( x 10,000,000 times) being that person. But I realized on my tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail that taking pictures of things is even better than taking notes. The two combined: priceless. They don't have to be portrait quality, or even "I'm going to show them to others" - hell, some of my worst ones helped more than others - but they helped SO MUCH. If anything, it'll give you something to compare what you saw on the last visit to what you see on the next. Did they change the bread?

I know a lot of people are hating on it, but I like seeing new concepts in bars. This sounds interesting. I don't know if I'd want it as my go-to neighborhood bar, but it might be fun to visit.

I see Chowhound referenced more on other websites than I do donrockwell.com. That's completely anecdotal, but perhaps that might factor into it.

It's not exactly difficult to find out when a restaurant opens, especially if you're busy making reservations there.

I like the taste of Red Bull too. Mostly, I use energy drinks for the same reasons as thetrain. They're portable, they're fast (you can't chug hot coffee), and they are nothing more than a caffeine delivery system.

So last week I went there and got the "Sushi C" - basically the biggest combo plate. They had one roll that was spicy crab - it looked like grated cheese to me but it was surprisingly good, though the texture took some getting used to. Everything else was quite good, though I got my usual "sushi bloat" - probably didn't help that I had two 22 ounce Kirins with it. Still, not bad pricing either. And on a Saturday night, it was pretty empty...

I've vowed never to underestimate Don's ability to ignore online things he doesn't care for.