Zagat's Where to Eat Near D.C. Monuments

1.  Capitol Hill - Johnny's Half Shell; Monocle; and Good Stuff Eatery
2.  National Cathedral - 2 Amys; Le Zinc; and Cactus Cantina
3.  Mall - Cafe du Parc; Central; Fiola; America Eats Tavern; Paul; Luke's Lobster; Meatballs; and Sou'Wester
4.  White House - The Oval Room; Bombay Club; BLT Steak; and Bread Line
5.  Zoo - District Kitchen; Palena; Ripple; and Sugar Magnolia

Zagat's Where Do You Like to Take Out-of-Town Guests?

1.  America Eats Tavern
2.  Ben's Chili Bowl
3.  Martin's Tavern
4.  Mussel Bar
5.  Old Ebbitt Grill
6.  Pizzeria Paradiso
7.  Sou'Wester
8.  Virtue Feed & Grain

What I’ve learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0034

1651.  During the summer, the Yards Park (in D.C.) hosts a free concert series (YardsPark.org/Events) out on the esplanade on Friday nights;
1652.  Dress in a way that is fashionable and expresses your identity;
1653.  Stand like you would if you owned the world;
1654.  Don’t be a dancing monkey. . . . Have fun and be fun, but don’t try to entertain;
1655.  Never leave a conversation because you “run out of things to say.”  Force yourself to stay.  Your brain will learn how to improvise, if it is forced to;
1656.  Guerin Austin (i.e., the host of Caps Red Line) is pretty tall. . . . She’s 5’ 10” at least;
1657.  John W. Marshall, son of Justice Thurgood Marshall, sounds like Barack Obama;
1658.  Mike Ribeiro (of the Washington Capitals) likes to dance . . . so does Guerin Austin;
1659.  Any emotion is better than no emotion;
1660.  Attraction is transferrable;
1661.  You should really open packages when you get them . . . not several months after the fact;
1662.  Robbie likes to scuba dive;
1663.  Cirque du Soleil (CirqueDuSoleil.com) is pretty amazing.  It’s like gymnastics on acid;
1664.  Cirque du Soleil wouldn’t be the same without the music (and lighting).  It wouldn’t have the same energy or sense of drama;
1665.  “The Hokey Pokey” is rather perverted;
1666.  The deviled eggs at Virtue (Feed & Grain) in (Old Town) Alexandria remind me of leftover, dark meat, fried chicken;
1667.  Robbie likes her burgers medium rare;
1668.  The world may not be perfect, but it’s where you live, so you may as well figure out how to navigate through it and meet your goals;
1669.  You can’t argue someone into liking you.  You can’t argue someone into being with you;
1670.  Beautiful women hear compliments about their looks all day.  Compliment her for her sense of humor or ambition or even just for what the two of you have in common;
1671.  As soon as you start blaming people, you’re missing the point.  Focus on you;
1672.  You are what you do.  Look at how you spend your time.  That’s you.  If you see anything you want to change?  That’s where you can start;
1673.  Taking care of yourself on the outside helps on the inside;
1674.  Negativity breeds negativity;
1675.  Negativity isn’t sexy nor a rational response to the world;
1676.  Be wary of simple answers to complex problems;
1677.  Your physical obstacles are much more of a problem if you believe them to be a problem.  If you hold limiting and negative beliefs about your looks (or any other physical obstacle), your behavior will reflect this.  Because you have unattractive behavior, the result is that you will manifest the limiting belief that you yourself created due to your physical obstacle;
1678.  Do what you can to minimize the physical obstacle.  Once you have done this, simply act in spite of your limiting beliefs;
1679.  Experience and willingness to learn breed experience;
1680.  Whenever you get good at something, you will find you periodically reach a plateau in your skill level.  At this stage, you need to experiment and start trying different methods and techniques;
1681.  It is important to realize that when you think something should be possible, you need to be persistent in order to achieve it.  Most people don’t have enough determination and will give up too soon.  But if you really believe something can work and you persist at it, eventually you will crack the secret;
1682.  Don’t be someone who makes assumptions as to whether something is possible or not, be willing to test those assumptions with your actions;
1683.  (In general,) I think you’re penalized if you work ahead.  Most people put things off until the last minute.  It’s easier to have fun now and put off work until later.  When a deadline approaches, your coworkers are staying late and working longer hours.  But you’ve already put in the time to get your work done (i.e., by staying late and may be working weekends), so you’re leaving at a normal time.  People see you leave and they think you’re not a team player and that you’re not willing to sacrifice to get the job done.  When in reality, the opposite is true.  You’ve already put in the time and sacrificed.  In fact, you’ve probably put in more time than your coworkers have at that point and you’ll probably put in more hours than everybody else will by the time the deadline’s over;
1684.  The Big Hunt (TheBigHunt.net) in D.C. has a pretty good Happy Hour.  Every day from 4 o’clock to 7 o’clock, they have PBRs, Bud Lights, Lite Ass Brews and Bad Ass Ambers for $2.50, rail drinks for $3.00 and all other drinks for a $1.00 off;
1685.  The salmon B.L.T. (i.e., grilled salmon with bacon, lettuce and tomato on toasted ciabatta) at the Fish Market (FishMarketVA.com) in (Old Town) Alexandria is pretty tasty, but not as tasty as the one at Rustico (Restaurant & Bar);
1686.  Wearing rock climbing shoes is probably a lot like wearing ballet slippers;
1687.  It’s amazing how little training you get for doing some things that could seriously hurt or possibly kill you . . . (indoor) rock climbing you get may be an hour . . . and (tandem) skydiving you get about thirty minutes;
1688.  If you don’t know what you want . . . if you don’t know how to get it . . . if you don’t know how to tell when you do get it . . . then your odds of success are very small;
1689.  You can’t manage what you can’t measure;
1690.  Lobbyists can be kind of douche-y;
1691.  Bruce (Springsteen) doesn’t believe in opening acts;
1692.  Bruce (Springsteen) has some gospel influences;
1693.  It takes Bruce (Springsteen) a couple of hours to get warmed up;
1694.  Every Wednesday, the Chadwicks (ChadwicksRestaurants.com) in (Old Town) Alexandria has $5.00 (midrange) martinis from 4 o’clock to 12 o’clock;
1695.  I can remember growing up without the Internet.  It’s kind of sad that I’m so dependent on it now that a few days without connectivity can really inconvenience me;
1696.  “Compostable" products have to turn into carbon dioxide, biomass and water at the same rate as paper in less than 180 days.  “Biodegradable products,” on the other hand, have to be able to turn into simple compounds, but they can still leave a toxic residue;
1697.  Cantina Bell isn’t as good as California Tortilla or Chipotle;
1698.  People who dominate any field are only a “hair” better than everyone else.  However, the difference in the success they enjoy is enormous;
1699.  Self concept is how much you truly believe that you are capable of doing something.  Your overall self concept will determine your success in life.  It is impossible to act in a manner inconsistent with one of your self concepts.  You have an overall self concept and it is made up of all of your individual self concepts.  You have a self concept for everything in your life (i.e., dress, income, how you drive, etc.);
1700.  Want to get better at something?  Then you must change your self concept in that area.  It is impossible to act inconsistent with our self image, but if we want to get better at something, then it is crucial that we change our self concept in that area;

Zagat's Best Crab Cakes in D.C.

1.  Blue Duck Tavern
2.  Clyde's
3.  Hank's Oyster Bar
4.  Johnny's Half Shell
5.  Kinkead's
6.  Nage
7.  Oceanaire Seafood Room
8.  PassionFish
9.  Ris
10. Tabard Inn