That may be one of the worst quality photos I’ve posted to my blog, but it doesn’t matter. That was the view of the polling place from my apartment window this morning around 7:30a after I got back from voting. I went out at around 6:15a, waited in line, did my thing and was outta there. I realize that if you didn’t get up early enough, or didn’t take off from work to go during the “less busy” times, you’re gonna have to wait, but it’s worth it.

There’s a pretty common sentiment going around the web these past few days and I agree with it: VOTE. And I say that as a former non-voting, apathetic, my vote doesn’t matter, things ain’t gonna change slacker.

I won’t say that it doesn’t matter who you vote for, but I will say that I don’t care who you vote(d) for so long as you voted and took an active part in the process. I have always felt that it doesn’t matter how much money or influence you have, how many friends you have, your celebrity status, none of it, your vote is your business and frankly–it’s none of mine. I might be disappointed in your choice until I hear your reasons, but it’s still none of my business who you cast that ballot for. I’m fairly sure that if someone’s chosen candidate doesn’t win, they aren’t going to turn their back and say “Well to hell with the country. I’m moving to Canada.” Ok, they might say that, but I doubt we’ll see a mass exodus of soon-to-be expats.

Regardless of the outcome–which I am on pins and needles about–this is a very historic election for many reasons. Even more important to me than the first black presidential candidate with a shot at winning, is the voter awareness and turnout for this election. People are finally realizing that they have to do their part and give a damn about who’s leading us into the next four years.

I headed back home after the polls and changed to go to work. While I was waiting to cross the street, a man who had that “maybe homeless, maybe crazy, maybe not” look was trying to talk to a woman who was ignoring him in favor of her cell phone. I turned off my music and realized that he was asking about the line up the street at the polling place. I told him that people were lined up to vote today. He asked if he needed ID and I told him that he would need it and need to have registered. He genuinely seemed upset that he wouldn’t be able to vote today. I broke my personal rule and asked him who he wanted to vote for and he said Barack Obama. I let him know that in DC, there were plenty of registered voters that had his back.

It’s important, it matters, if you haven’t done so already–get out there and vote.

Another full day yesterday, met James, Michael and Fredo at Union Station and we took in the area, generally allowing our wanderlust to take us around. I was pleasantly surprised to see a Fantom Comics in one of the retail spots. I don’t often head over that way since once you get past the picturesque parts of the station, it’s more or less a mall and food court.

We grabbed some pics of the area and generally chatted and caught up while we walked around. Stopped in for coffee at Jacob’s and enjoyed time geeking out all playing on Brightkite. We spotted some well-done pumpkins and a few smashed remains and covered a good bit of ground before heading back to the metro and riding over to Dupont Circle. A welcome break was found with some Minestrone at Dupont Italian Kitchen before I realized that time was quickly ticking away and I was running a wee bit late to head back home and meet Kyle to head out to a housewarming party that evening.

I bid the boys farewell, focused all of my Metrobus Qi and Karma and didn’t have to wait too long for a bus home. It was just barely enough time for a shower and change and sorting out a way to transport a 10-inch cheesecake across town. Kyle and I also had quite good Metrorail Karma and made it over to Eastern Market in about a ½-hour, which is pretty good for a weekend evening and single-tracking in some spots. Paul and Al’s place is lovely, but I already knew that having been over a few times before last night for movies and what-not, but it holds a gathering quite well too. I met some fun people, had some lovely drinks and a not-so-lovely shot of Absolut LA. Turns out that an aromatic blend of Acai, Acerola, Pomegranate, and Blueberry isn’t really all that great straight up, but I’m sure it makes a lovely cocktail.

Sadly, my cheesecake didn’t make it out for guests, but I happily cut into it this morning to go with my coffee. I’m definitely going to have to freeze or give away chunks of this thing since finishing it on my seems like a daunting task to a guy that’s at least pretending to watch his weight.

First off, these are not as good as Paul’s wings… yet. But as a trial run, these are really yummy! I generally don’t watch Good Eats when it’s on, but I always have plenty of them stacked up on the TiVo. The other night, The Wing and I was on and I figured I’d give it a try. Turns out that it is pretty easy. I stacked a dozen wings in my dual-deck steamer for about 20 minutes. In the fridge to cool off and dry for about an hour and then in the oven for 40 minutes. It is a bit of a long time, but it’s very low-maintenance. Next time I will take a page from Paul and brine the wings ahead of time. If I could just wheedle his recipe out of him, that’d make it so much easier.

I liked that these were so easy to do because at the same time I was making a cheesecake for a party tomorrow night–sweet potato style! A few friends have experienced this one before and it usually is well-received, though I do fear that there might be too many sweet potato “strings” in the cake. It will still be delicious and I suppose those strings are part of life, but one can always hope for perfection!

It would have been nice to do something this evening. Being in an apartment building, I don’t get trick or treaters. But this week at work has just been too tiring, so I didn’t feel like trying to arrange anything, and it would seem that no one else did either. I might pop in my copy of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and snack on my wings and enjoy a drink or two, mostly appreciating that I am not at work for another few days!

Now if only the cheesecake manages to bake well and not crack, we’ll be in business! Happy Halloween and a Blessed Samhain to everybody.

The plan seemed simple enough, get up and out to see the new G1 phone at a T-Mobile location. James was our navigator, so he determined we should head to Pentagon City. I haven’t been to Pentagon City in ages, so was looking forward to a little bit of shopping as well.

Much as I love Metro’s Trip Planner, they were way off on the Green Line yesterday to the point where every train I tried to catch at my home station was early. And I am not usually a metro-runner, but when it’s another 10 or more minutes until the next train, I am about ready to knock people down that are in my way. Made it to Pentagon City, met up with James and headed to the food court. Here’s where I remembered why I so rarely go to the big mall… people. There were so many people, so completely unaware of their own surroundings or anyone else. It’s like that experience of being on the metro and someone, usually a tourist, in front of you just stops moving, maybe they look around gaping-mouthed with a vacant stare. Pentagon City was that same thing, magnified. More than once, there was a clear line of people trying to get to the escalators and the person right in front of us came to a full stop, causing a few seconds of a human-sized traffic jam while they tried to sort out things in their own little world. It’s an escalator, people, it’s not that complicated.

We did get down to a bit of shopping, I was mostly looking for sweaters, preferably cardigans. I joked with Michael as to whether it’s a sign of age when you’re deliberately trying to dress like Mr. Rogers. I just think they’re a better option when you’re in a place like DC that reports temps in the 50s but actually feels more like high 60s once you start walking around. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much of anything I liked. I do prefer zippers over buttons, but you wouldn’t think it would be so hard to find some that walked that fine line between being ridiculously high-fashion and plain-jane boring. I didn’t end up finding much that I wanted, but I sure feel like I hit enough stores. We got sidetracked by other places as well and finally found the T-Mobile “store”. It turned out to be a kiosk that was an authorized reseller, so they didn’t have a demo model. After checking both our phones and Google, we discovered a store a few more metro stops away that did have one and we headed out.

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I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive Norman for sending me one of his cast-offs, a 2-quart crock pot, or as the more refined say, slow cooker. Yes, I know it says Crock Pot on the damn thing, but I’m trying to bring a little culture up in here, ok?

Hm, got called away for a few things around the office and completely lost the plot of where I was going. But it was going to end up with asking people for crock pot recipes, I know that much. So far I’ve managed to throw in a mirepoix under some chicken parts and come up with a fair effort of chicken and veggies when the meat held together, and the second round turned into more of a chicken soup when the meat fell apart. I actually added noodles to the second batch and enjoyed slurping away at the cure for the common cold a few nights in a row.

From what I’m told crock pot cooking is simple and easy, but it’s so not my style. There’s a level of preparedness to it that I generally don’t have. I’m fine running by the store on the way home and throwing something together in, dare I say it, 30-minutes. And while it was nice coming home to some simmering chicken and veggies, making sure that I was up and tossing raw parts into the pot (before my shower of course–chicken hands) before heading out felt like a bit of a pain. Still, I’m seeing a lot of options for slow cookers, I just need to find some fun recipes. Also since he sent me a little mini-pot, I’m still evaluating it before I decide to buy a larger one on my own. The small one makes great serving sizes for one person, but it would never fit a whole chicken or decent sized roast.

So feel free to tell me where I can go and just where I can stick it… Answers in the form of a crock pot recipe, please.