tuesday? again?

okay fine, a quick weekend (+ monday) recap:

at the world cup
argentina won, cecilia very happy
- not that anybody was surprised. even though they were only 9th in the world rankings going into the tournament, they're highly favored to give brazil a run for their money. this is good for me, mostly because cecilia is crazy about argentina. and you know what they say about crazy superfan girlfriends when their team wins? well, it's all true. when she found out that the final is going to be held on argentina's version of independence day (july 9th), she predicted that the entire country would simply implode in a burst of nationalism like nothing the world had ever seen.

usa embarrassed by czech republic, dan drinks heavily
- on the other hand, it didn't take long for most people to realize that the world rankings have no bearing whatsoever on the cup. we were ranked 5th out of the world going into monday's travesty. what kind of experts would rank us ahead of argentina, you ask? mythical ones, that's who. after some investigative reporting (mostly crying into my coffee and grumbling hungover anti-czech epithets) i've uncovered that the world rankings were in fact drafted by tiny, glittering pixies with mystical ink that raises the hopes of all who read it.

in other news
dan 2, dc parking laws 0!
- in a fit of pique, the dc dmv decided not to let cecilia renew my visitor's permit. instead, they used their bureaucratic superpowers to force me to undertake a dangerous quest: the search for the unzoned block! you see, dc's streets are zoned resident only, block by block. so in order to park legally, one would have to register oneself and one's car in dc and obtain a residential permit. now, dc residents are allowed to apply for visitor's passes, but then the guy was mean to cecilia and told her she was in violation of dc code (if they only knew). so, long story short, she told me to check the street that goes through the park, arguing that, since there are no residents on that block, then nobody could petition to have it zoned residents-only. lo and behold, she's a genius, and bureaucracy is thwarted again!

take pride in your nuts
- went to the dc pride week street festival on sunday after watching mexico savage iran and saying something snarky about the west winning out after all (conveniently ignoring mexico's impending flirtation with oh-so-trendy latin american populism. conformists). anyway, never having been to a pride event before, i was somewhat surprised to find that it resembles a cross between a crappy job fair and college orientation, but with fewer free keychains and more svelte young men looking for donations to human rights campaign. needless to say, the high point (like at most events ending in 'fair') was the cinnamon roasted nuts!

and i thought it was just american politicians who were monosyllabic
- on monday afternoon, i left work early to go to a resume-writing workshop, even though i was told that my resume was "awesome" when i got down to this malarial swamp of a city. i guess the greatness of my resume is moot anyway, because i went to a bar to watch the usa game instead. two beers and a large cup of dejection later, i made my way to the department of the interior (thanks to my infallible department-of-the-interior sense!) to listen to his excellency, ambassador sen of india give a little speech. a very little speech! this guy made the president look gregarious, loquacious even. seriously, i know you're a bigshot ambassador, representing over a billion people, but would it kill you to prepare a few index cards first? apparently it would. good luck with the nuclear non-proliferation.