Metal teeth can chew, can they?

Since the inception of this page back in November, I have posted, on average, once every three days. These past two weeks I have failed to post anything at all, and not for wont of internet access or appropriate fodder. But job interviews, birthday parties, assorted illnesses and general sloth have kept me silent for a fortnight, and I have finally caved in and decided to shout anew into the great abyss.

The good news is that the most recent round of interviews managed to turn up an actual job, which I will be beginning just after Easter. As my mother pointed out, this is a liturgically appropriate schedule. More importantly, having a job will allow me to afford to buy things occasionally and to move to Washington, D.C. for good -- and just in time for the Nationals home opener.

Meanwhile, this past weekend I was among the proud few who feted Halfzie's twenty-second. I'm sure he will provide more detailed reports of the weekend's activities in due time, but my favorite episode was certainly the Saturday afternoon outing to Ikea. A few months back I read about the stampede that occurred at the openning of an Ikea store in Saudi Arabia, caused by the offer of a free sofa for the first visitors. That panic became understandable, especially after having seen the place now for the first time since I was about seven years old. Even if flimsy furniture and mass-produced bachelor pad art aren't your speed, who could object to a 2-dollar shrimp sandwich -- let alone a free couch or two?

Finally, this: after so many years on this earth, one might think I would know better than to get my hopes up at the first sign of Spring, but the same thing happens every year. The temperature hits 60 degrees in early March, I begin thinking of barbecues and jacket-free perambulation, and the very next day Mother Nature snows on my parade. It will be in the 30s for the foreseeable future in New York, with sporadic snow and rain to spice things up. To make matters worse, things aren't much better in D.C., where an extra three degrees of heat and a slightly more bearable wind-chill will do little to lift my spirits. But April is just around the corner, I suppose, and the BBQ will be roaring in no time.