Kung Pao Wow

Quite a week...

Firstly: Purchased a new, heretofore untried brand of shampoo. My head reeked of Fruity Cartoon Goodness all day, resulting in adolescent-insecurity flashbacks and other mental strangeness at work. Perhaps I'm too square, man, but one should NOT be conscious of the smell of one's own head. Bad shampoo. I should've known, based on the COLOR of the stuff -- the viscous fluid was practically neon, like a distillate of cotton candy and volcanic fireballs. Never again the fruity head.

Then came the ultimate train-wreck of deadlines at the Place of Work. Not a fun story. You shall NOT read it here. You wouldn't want to, anyway.

Then came a prematurely aborted visit from friend and ally Perky Pat... Cheers to PP, and happy trails. Hope you got a chance to do some major financial damage at Crooked Beat before leaving town...

Then came Saturday, and the sudden desire to drown my sorrows in a plate of kung pao shrimp. Szechuan Gallery may not be the best Chinese restaurant in town, but it's been my favorite for ages. After lunch, I wandered 7th street in a happy, satiated daze. I finally took a really good look at the Arch. Luckily, the camera was within arm's reach.

Scores of painted dragons stare down from the Chinatown Gateway Arch, as though trying to crawl from the Gallery Place metro to the drugstore while avoiding the traffic on H Street. The dragons seemed to approve of my lunch, and choice of venue (sorry, Tony Cheng, but great food beats overwhelming ambiance)... next time, it'll be the broccoli w/hot & spicy garlic sauce.