What I’ve learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0062

3051.  I’d describe Dave Matthews (Band) fans as hippie yuppie.  They can be as diehard as Dead/Phish Heads, but they’ve got (way) more money to spend;

3052.  Dave Matthews (Band) acoustic isn’t all that different from Dave Matthews (Band) electric (i.e., plugged in);

3053.  You might want to leave some drinks and/or snacks in your car when you go to an event at Jiffy Lube Live (in Bristow, Virginia). . . . It takes forever to get out of the parking lot;

3054.  I’m a fan of (Sunday) brunch on Capitol Hill (i.e., 8^th Street, SE) . . . at least during the summer;

3055.  Rebecca (i.e., the bartender at Senart’s Oyster & Chophouse) and I, we go way back;

3056.  You shouldn’t leave your rice in the cooker for more than a couple of days;

3057.  Megan can’t buy me a drink if I only get one;

3058.  Passion always trumps excuses.  If you have passion, there is no need for excuses, because your enthusiasm will trump any negative reasoning you might come up with.  Enthusiasm makes excuses a nonissue;

3059.  Hamburgers without the buns aren’t very filling;

3060.  Hot dogs without the buns aren’t very filling either;

3061.  Don’t expect someone to take care of you when you don’t even know how to look after yourself;

3062.  (Sometimes) if someone hasn’t had many relationships, it doesn’t (necessarily) mean that that person doesn’t like them or doesn’t want one.  That person just doesn’t like the prospective men/women s/he could have one with, or they don’t like her/him (in return);

3063.  The costumes in “The Lion King” (i.e., the musical) are really creative and imaginative;

3064.  Ushers in the Kennedy Center’s Opera House (specifically in the upper tiers) don’t like it when you put your playbill on the guardrail;

3065.  It’s amazing how cold water tastes so much better than (luke)warm water;

3066.  Your workout shake blends better if you put the Vitargo (powder) at the bottom of the Blender Bottle under the whey protein and the wire whisk ball;

3067.  My lower ab(dominal) muscles are weak;

3068.  It’s easier to trim (fat from) chicken if the chicken is (partially) frozen;

3069.  (Fresh Wave) Fresh Pods (FreshWaveWorks.com) (actually) seem to work;

3070.  Satisfaction is the beginning of regression.  Never be satisfied, keep working hard;

3071.  Mini (sweet) bell peppers are pretty tasty;

3072.  If you want to avoid the lines getting into the Filene Center at Wolf Trap, there’s a little known (side) entrance to the left of the National Park Service (NPS) administration building;

3073.  A paradox is the truth standing on its head to attract attention;

3074.  Stress, including the mental stress of uncertainty, is an ingredient in attachment or love and that perhaps even manifestations of hatred (its polar opposite) somehow enhance love;

3075.  Uncertainty psychologically can lead to some of the greatest feelings of attachment and dependence;

3076.  If you can’t start a conversation with the woman you want to meet, she’ll never know about the successful man that you really are;

3077.  If your father was a better man with women, you would look different. . . . How will your children look?

3078.  If I don’t handle this part of my life, what will my life look like in one, five and twenty years?

3079.  I can say I’ve seen an Oscar winner in concert (i.e., Jared Leto, the lead singer of “30 Seconds to Mars”);

3080.  Jared Leto could’ve been a cheerleader in another life;

3081.  Linkin Park sounds “heavier” live;

3082.  Chester Bennington (the lead singer of “Linkin Park”) doesn’t look like he’s aged much;

3083.  According to Luisa, we think alike;

3084.  Unless you actually convey femininity as a woman or masculinity as a man, you’re not going to attract a suitable companion of the opposite sex;

3085.  To put it plainly, you are programmed to reproduce;

3086.  By virtue (or vice) of being smart, you eliminate most of the planet’s inhabitants as a dating prospect;

3087.  The purpose of relationship (and perhaps all of life) is to practice loving.  No partner is going to be 100 percent perfect anyway, so learn to appreciate people for what they have to offer, not what they don’t.  And love them for that.  That’s what real loving is;

3088.  Nobody’s asking you to lower your standards; you should spend time only with worthwhile company.  But do question the standards to see whether they’re serving you or you’re serving them;

3089.  Given a choice between happy-go-lucky and picky-but-lonely, happy sounds like more fun;

3090.  You will have bad times, but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to;

3091.  According to both 2006 and 2009 studies published by Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, and Keith Oatley, a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, those who read fiction are capable of the most empathy and “theory of mind,” which is the ability to hold opinions, beliefs and interests apart from their own.  They can entertain other ideas, without rejecting them and still retain their own;

3092.  It’s no surprise that readers are better people.  Having experienced someone else’s life through abstract eyes, they’ve learned what it’s like to leave their bodies and see the world through other frames of reference;

3093.  Another 2010 study by Mar reinforces this idea with results that prove the more stories children have read to them, the keener their “theory of mind.”  So while everyone thinks their kids are the best, the ones who read have the edge as they truly are the wiser, more adaptable and understanding children;

3094.  The bulk of vocabulary growth during a child’s lifetime occurs indirectly through language exposure rather than through direct teaching;

3095.  Readers are more intelligent, due to their increased vocabulary and memory skills, along with their ability to spot patterns.  They have higher cognitive functions than the average non-reader and can communicate more thoroughly and effectively;

3096.  It takes roughly 20 minutes to walk up and down the stairs in my building 16 times from the basement (garage) floor to the second floor gate;

3097.  Cirque du Soleil’s “Amaluna” has a rock (opera) vibe to it;

3098.  Cirque du Soleil – where ballet dancers and gymnasts (go to) work when their competitive days are over;

3099.  August 17^th, 2014 was my parents’ 40^th wedding anniversary;

3100.  Absolut Citron with a splash of ginger ale and a lot of limes tastes pretty good.  It’s like alcoholic limeade;