In which I eat bagels

Baltimore is a pretty good food town, but it has some shortcomings. No bahn mi -- the Vietnamese sandwiches that I discovered in NYC. No really good Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese restaurants. There are a few that are acceptable but the nearest good Chinese and Vietnamese places are in Columbia.

It is a myth that all pizza is better in New York. There is good pizza in New York, but there is good pizza in a lot of places. New Yorkers' belief that there is no good pizza outside of New York is based on tautology: if it's not from New York, it can't be good. This belief has nothing to do with taste. It's a sort of geographic animism.

However, I am saddened to report that the bagels in New York are generally better than the ones in Baltimore. There are acceptable bagel places in Baltimore -- Greg's in Belvedere Square comes to mind -- but a David's Bagel from Manhattan, kept in my freezer and thawed when needed, tastes better than a new, fresh bagel from Greg's. Sorry.

On the plus side, Baltimore's crabs are better (if you know where to look -- avoid the touristy places), its produce is better, the farmer's market is better, its microbrews are better. And you can't buy scrapple in New York. Or Berger cookies. (Or the Otterbein cookies, which frankly I prefer, although Berger cookies get all the press.)

WANTED: someone to talk me into going to the rockabilly show at Fletcher's on Sunday night. Ten bucks, a lot of good bands. But I am too frickin' old and broken-down to party late on a Sunday night nowadays.

This band will be there, and they are very good.

I keep telling myself I deserve it, I have earned it. I wrote two major appellate briefs this week and on Saturday I will finally finish painting the second floor of the Moneypit. But frankly, this just means that on Sunday night I will be that much more inclined to sit on my ass and drink beer.

Which I could do at Fletcher's, and hear some good music...

All of this exercising is supposed to be giving me MORE energy. Maybe it's incipient daddyhood.