Justin just forwarded this to me with the most appropriate subject heading I’ve seen today: I dunno what to say about this

A Vatican official suspended after being caught on hidden camera making advances to a young man says he is not gay and was only pretending to be gay as part of his work.

In an interview published Sunday, Monsignor Tommaso Stenico told La Repubblica daily he frequented online gay chat rooms and met with gay men as part of his work as a psychoanalyst. He said that he pretended to be gay in order to gather information about “those who damage the image of the Church with homosexual activity.”

Vatican Official Insists He’s Not Gay

Elaine: No, these are saved.
Man: All of them? C’mon, you can’t take *four* seats.
Elaine: What, is that a rule?

Seinfeld, "The Movie"

I know there is no hard and fast rule on saving seats. I hate doing it, I tell people that you have got to show up early or on time, or you fend for yourself. In most situations, one seat is what I save and that’s it — movies and bars especially.

Gregory and I went to Merkado last Friday for our usual nachos and cocktails. Instead of meeting him on the metro and walking from U St, I took the bus there because I know that sometimes there are difficulties getting seats at the bar. Their happy hour starts at 4, and the only place their specials are good is at the bar. When I got there, the bar was packed, as expected, but there was one seat available. I checked with the woman seated next to it and she said that it was taken, then her friend corrected her that it was not because they could “spread out the other way.” There were coats and bags on the other stools so I assumed that their friends were actually there. Silly, silly me. This couple was expecting “at least 5 more people”, I know this because another group approached them to ask if they could swap spots because their group was expecting “a bunch of people” too. By the time Gregory arrived, to no available seats, neither of these groups’ bunches had shown up, so it just looked really stupid, and made these people seem horribly rude. Additionally, people came in to try to enjoy Happy Hour, but when turned away from what looked like available seats, they left. One couple even told the hostess, “No, we wanted to come for Happy Hour, but all those seats are being saved,” before they headed out.

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I really should have picked up some red wine to go with this meal. I’m all for health, but water just was not cutting it. I picked up the cut of meat at Trader Joe’s when I was out near Bailey’s Crossroads tending to Justin’s cats. I really have to try making it there more often, either via zipcar rental or a lot of patience with the Georgetown TJ’s. The last time I was there on a weekend, the line had snaked all the way from the registers around the inside loop of the store and the place to start standing in line was right near the entrance! Problem is, it’s worth it, the food there is food, they have a lot of natural and organic options, and in many cases it’s cheaper than the bigger name supermarkets.

A good commitment to trips there and local markets, farmers and otherwise, will go a long way towards getting healthier options into my kitchen.