Q4 2010 - The Bottom Line

Hello Dear Readers,

By now, I am certain that at least half of you already concluded that I have given up... but no. For the past couple of months I kept contemplating that I will sit down and actually write the October update, but it seems like my life, somewhere between working, dancing, and traveling did not permit much time to sit down and write. Maybe it's all just excuses, and my priorities have been on my immediate surroundings.

Livin' the Life. So to begin with, in order to actually script the last three months of 2010 I had to go through my photos and itineraries - to get a sense of where and when I was physically located. Most of October was spent in the normal Dallas routine - the grind during the week, Salsa Monday & Tuesdays, a weekend outing or two, maybe a movie, going out dancing, church on Sunday. The classics it seems. Nothing particularly eventful. I did come across a very pleasant venue in October - Times Ten Cellars. It was a wine lounge with a winery inside, and regular weekly live music events. I was there on a Sunday evening with a Dallas friend, Nikki. Immensely enjoyable. The kind of jazz that is very different from the NOLA sound - much cleaner and more precise, maybe a little less organic if anything, but still very much worthwhile. At one point, I got inspired by a particularly suave gentlemen wearing all black, Senor Frank Obregon - as he later introduced himself, and I ended up inviting Nikki for something of a salsa derived two-step, that seemed to match to the beat so well that we even got applause. Although, as I learned later, it was nothing like two-step.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF75Oj0ztfQ

Woodstock in Texas? Towards the end of the month, on October 22, the biggest Russian music event of the south was commencing. KSP - Клуб Самодеетельной Песни. In short, it is basically a massive annual outdoor concert with Russian guitarists/vocalists, set in a campground on an Indian reservation just north of Houston, TX. It started with myself and Nadia, a Dallas friend, making plans to go there, since neither one of us has ever been. Then it expanded to Nadia's sister and a couple of their friends. And then I picked up a friend from Houston, Mariana, and her sister. To top it off, my mother and brother just happened to be in Houston that weekend too - quite a party by now. Tents, campfire, authentic Uzbek shashlik (as prepared by Mariana) naturally I had to be the one grillin'... and wine was flowing aplenty. Note to self - always count distinct glasses, when pouring wine. Refills make you lose track... and stumble into a tree... or break someone's lamp... or fall asleep half way inside a tent... fortunately all ended without serious injuries, only a MASSIVE hangover and slight embarrassment. Cherry on top - soon after I was escorted to my tent, I was awaken by some sort of moisture on my feet (which were not completely inside of the tent) and later water dripping on my face. Apparently there was a grand rainstorm in the night, and my tent was leaking. Overall great times though.

Back toJet Settin'. And then at the very end of October I flew to New Orleans for the weekend. As always it's quite a blast - family, friends, Frenchmen St. - good times. Just enough manual labor and outings to recharge. I got to see my crew (the boys) and Laura and Alesin, an old friend from NOLA. The manual labor this time around was a pretty massive project of putting down floor in the attic. As an excuse to use power tools, and co-incidentally hang out, Laura kindly offered to help - aided in transportation of and meticulously cut some sizable sheets of wood. About 70% of the job was finished by the end of the weekend. Success! I must add, it was also the Halloween weekend, and in New Orleans, it's kind of a big deal. Frenchmen street is where the madness ensues.

Patrick as Pedro, found his companion, Kip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pwa58uPUpU

November to Remember. Upon returning to Dallas, I resumed the weekly grind, and also making an active effort to explore the city further. I also came to a conclusion that I need to take reign over my work hours, and made it a policy to always leave by 7, forcing myself to increase efficiency during the day. For the most part, I was able to adhere to my new self-imposed policy. Overall, workload was not bad, since most projects were winding down towards the end of the year.

City of Contrast. A couple of interesting but intensely contrasting venues I got to see: House of Blues - The Foundation Room in Dallas and Art Six Coffehouse in Denton, TX. Both are technically music venues. I found out about them through a friend. The HOB is typically where medium-big stars often perform, and the Foundation Room was a highly exclusive lounge inside of the HOB, which only permits people that are fee-paying members, that are "on the list". Quite pretentious, yes - Very Dallas. However, thanks to a Dallas friend Nancy, I got on "the list". Being on the list is an awfully amusing feeling of empowerment. Now, I was able to get additional people on the list, since I was already on it. With little luck enticing my coworkers to go to a Wednesday night event last minute, I only ended up convincing a particularly outgoing coworker of mine - Ryan, who was quite excited about also being "on the list". Ryan got there earlier and was particularly happy about the fact that he really WAS on the list, and the huge bouncer guy gave him the nod of approval. I, unfortunately missed out on that enjoyment, and walked straight in... because it seemed like the bouncer took a break? Overall it was enjoyable, but after a couple of attempts to get the crowd moving and sort of failing, we decided to roll out. We later attempted getting into the Candle Room - another "Dallas-Type" exclusive venue with a list... on a Wednesday night. And we really failed on this one. Despite having a female coworker on the inside, the bouncer was still not giving in. Particularly displeasing, but not really surprising.

Flyer for the event:

Stereotypical Dallas Skyline, House of Blues in foreground

Other Side of Town. Roughly 45 minutes to the North West is the town of Denton, effectively a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. My Dallas friend Bob lives in that area, and he invited me to check out some Karyna Cruz, a local musician, at some coffee shop called Art Six. Now, some might ask, why the heck would I drive way out to the outskirts of the DFW, on a Friday night! Well, because I like to try new things. This seemed like an interesting alternative to the usual bar/club Dallas scene. The music was quite eclectic & extremely positive (if not cheesily positive), but I enjoyed it. It wasn't the manliest music for two guys to listen to, but thankfully, Bob brought his female neighbor along. That however, was only half of the night. The other half, Bob suggested we go to La Milpa, some hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, which apparently has salsa dancing on Friday nights. Upon arrival at the venue, which was conveniently located right by the interstate, adjacent to some motel, we see a huge "MARIACHI TONIGHT" sign. Well needless to say, I am a bit concerned that salsa got mariachi'd out. Fortunately, that was only the dinner music, and they were in transition - literally, half of the place was still in restaurant mode, the other half already had people in a dusky area in front of the bar, with the DJ playing music at half the volume. Quite an amusing sight - people dining in the background, and dancing in the front. Shortly, they converted it all the way into "club" mode, and the party was on. Excellent experience. I swore that I have to come back to La Milpa again. Yes - to Denton on a Friday night.

Art Six

La Milpa!

Back to Jettin'. Come end of November, I was sitting on my regular 8pm Southwest flight en route to NOLA for the Thanksgiving break. As always, family and friends, and this time a couple of extra relatives - Aunt Olga and her mother, Tatiana Viktorovna. As the official expert on NOLA venues, naturally I was tasked with showing them around town. It was slightly odd, but still fun to be on Frenchmen St. with relatives. They seemed to enjoy it a good bit, especially Debauche, the "Russian Mafia" band based out of NOLA - quite an unusual sight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvSTql5WltI

My aunt was also very impressed with Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" as performed by New Orleans' own -Brass-a-holics at Vasso - a must see. Note the transition and the use of the trombone as the vocal, and then the madness of the saxophone that follows it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEphCu4oWDI

Back to Training. At the end of the weekend, I was on a plane again, this time to Richmond, VA. In short, this was certainly the most outgoing of the ADP weeks. Starting Monday night, I was already out, hitting the bar scene with my friend Ryan. It was something of an "anthropological experiment" as I referred to it. Without going into detail, I will just say that we caused a bit of commotion. Starting Tuesday, I was already organizing something - getting people together for dinner. Mainly the McLean folks provided us company. We also discovered that quite a few of us are fans of jazz music. Later that evening, quick research procured a few live shows that evening, one of which was at the Tobacco Company - the same place we went to during ADP Week 1. Excellent as last time. Music was solo guitarist of pretty high technical skill. We then proceeded to Cafe Diem, a venue very reminiscent of New Orleans. A 5-piece band Rattlemouth was performing. One distinct difference I recall about this jazz band was that they had 2 saxophones - one regular and one that was about twice as large as a normal one. Me and Xinyi even ended up dancing to one song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ZZvBWy4YA

Madness Ensued. After jazz, the plan was to catch up with the rowdier half of our peers, a portion of whom were either at a trashy place called Bandito's (Karaoke night) and the other

portion was at some equally trashy place downtown (Cha Chas?). On the way downtown, we stopped at Balliceaux, another lounge, a particularly nice one, with a 12 piece jazz band, Fight the Big Bull. We listened to a couple of songs, and it was awesome. Then the five of us, Nan, Ryan, Xinyi, and Michelle proceeded on downtown, having very low expectations. We arrived at the venue rather late, as almost everyone in there looked pretty buzzed. It was like college all over again - I.E. The Boot on a Saturday night. We shortly departed.

Club Richmond? And the last night we were in town - Thursday night, some Richmond coworkers apparently had arranged for a party at Blackfinn's, a chain restaurant/bar. (As it turns out there is one right by my house). I wasn't quite sure what to expect, because apparently we were on some list once again. To be precise, we had to drop someone's name, and that would get us specials. I was pleased with the turnout, as there was some McLean as well as Richmond. It began with just sitting and standing around, talking, drinks in hand, and slowly progressed to the dance floor. Overall, it was good. With assistance of a few of my VA coworkers, we were instrumental in getting several circles going through the course of the night. However, I was yet again disappointed in Plano folks, as majority bailed very early, and most of Richmond people who were less enthused than their McLean counterparts.

Capital City. In almost a predictable fashion, I was en route to DC immediately after training. I arrived to with Nan towards 8pm or so, and the plan was to get some McLean party people out, and check out Eighteenth Street Lounge. Sadly everyone bailed, but nothing could hold down me and my man Nan, not even wet & freezing weather. (Miracle I didn't get sick). That evening, I introduced Nan to whiskey and cognac (Laphroaig and Pierre Ferrand, I believe). He wasn't impressed, but I certainly was, seeing how quick my compadre was on his feet. Shortly, there was a solid circle going, even a couple of B-Boys! Much like last time I was at ESL, I walked out of the venue with a couple of business cards. Only in DC.

Chief Ike's Epicenter of Social Life. Most of Saturday I spent catching up with Ireal and Stephanie. In the evening, the plan was to go to Adams Morgan for Ana's (Stephanie's friend) birthday. The venue of choice was some particularly amusing place called Chief Ike's Mambo Room. The closes comparison I can think of would be Mimi's In the Marigny on a Saturday night, only the DJ wasn't quite as amazing as DJ Soul Sista. The gathering was the usual suspects (Stephanie's friends) and some friends of friends. A few McLean fellas also were there, which was a bit odd - first time I had a meshing of personal friends and coworkers. However, all went well. Much fun was had by all... so much fun that apparently I left a running tab at the club... and I had a flight in roughly 15 hours from when we left the club. I woke up and somehow remembered that I did not have my credit card on me - slight panic moment since it was already 6 hours until departure. I was in luck, because by day, Chief Ike'sis cafe/pub, which was conveniently open on Sunday afternoon. I was able to recover the card, and to my surprise, there wasn't an absurd "convenience fee" - just a 20% tip, which was fair.

Grand Finale. On the plane, I was still in a mild daze from last night. When I landed in Dallas, I had this odd feeling, that this isn't where I departed from 12 days ago. As luck would have it, I landed in DFW, but flew out of Love Field, an airport about 20 minutes away. It would have not been a problem, except for the fact that I drove to the airport in my own car. So I ended up catching a cab to the other airport to retrieve my car - so much for saving on cab fare. That concluded my ever-eventful trip.

December to Remember. The energy and the vibe of the trip carried right into December. First, I had a visit from Patrick and an old friend, Alesin. Then had a first full-out "clubbing" experience in Dallas. Next was the holiday break in NOLA - first official vacation. While in NOLA, I also took a trip to Baton Rouge to check out the club scene there as well. The year closed out with a traditional family gathering, and the night inevitably spilled over into January 1 with a bang.

Unexpected Visit. The weekend following my jet-set 12 days Patrick and Alesin, decided to drive from NOLA for a visit, on quite a short notice. Naturally, I did not object. The weekend, however, also consisted of a corporate holiday party, which added to the excitement. To me personally, this was something new, even though to most people a corporate party is nothing to get wound up over. Much in Patrick's fashion of arriving deep into the night, they arrived towards 2am. Conveniently, I was coming back from La Joya, a very fine dancing venue in Arlington.

Cruisin' Dallas. In the earlier half of the day, me and Alesin went touring the Galleria, in hopes of getting on the massive ice rink... but the holiday spirit obviously took over North Dallas, such that the line stretched all around the rink. We ended up shopping for a dress that Alesin could wear, since she kindly volunteered to be my last minute date for the party later that evening. We then met up with Patrick for lunch, when he declared that he MUST go to the Souther Methodist University library. My hunch was that it was more than just books - SMU is famed for having an abundance of affluent and attractive females. In the mean time, I played tour-guide for Alesin around Dallas.

Living in the Moment. The evening plan was to go to the party, which was held at Addison Conference Center, quite literally, just around the corner from my apartment. The theme for the event was "Black & White". The assumption was black tie on white button down for the gentlemen. I decided to get creative.

Me & Alesin before the event

Big head, might you ask? Why of course! My ego that evening seems to have expanded beyond all bounds. It was quite flattering to be escorted by a pretty lady in a black dress, chatting with peers, as well as VPs and their wives. The event was sort of casino-themed, with at least 300-400 people there, a several food stations, and half dozen bars. There was even a DJ with a sizable dance floor in the middle of the room. Me and Alesin ended up dancing to a couple of songs, and believe it or not, they were the Cupid Shuffle and Stanky Leg. I was quite shocked to hear the latter, in a clearly formal environment.

They even had professional photographers!

After-after party. Immediately after the party, the intent was to gather some co-workers for a going away party for Neel, who recent left the company. The venue selected was just a couple of blocks away, so closer to 11pm, everyone gathered at Zen, a club-esque neighborhood bar. Neel was a fan of the place, so I figured it would be fitting - so I organized the after-party in his honor. Alesin and I picked up Patrick, who was still wrapping up his paper, and headed down to Zen. The goal was to just grab a drink and proceed on downtown, to a nightclub called Zouk, an 80's venue that was having a grand re-opening event, hosted by P-Diddy. However, we ended up sticking around for a bit, because apparently there was much demand for dancing, and the circle began with me and Neel having a dance off. We then proceeded to take turns dancing with a few coworkers, a couple of whom were managers, if I'm not mistaken. In either case, we left shortly after, and Patrick drove the three of us to Zouk. This was yet another "list" venue, and since we got there after midnight, there was not a list anymore, meaning we had to pay full cover, which was a hefty $40 for guys and $30 for girls. This was by far the most I ever paid for club cover. At the venue, Andrei and his lady friend Carolina met up with us, later joined by Nadia, Liza, and Nancy. In short, much dancing was had, and it was fun. P-Diddy made a 10 minute "appearance", effectively concealed behind a wall of bodyguards. I was not impressed, but overall it was much fun.

Weekend Spills Over. The next morning, I somehow still made it to church. Afterwards, we spent the day assisting Andrey with the terrible issue of indecision - specifically regarding furniture - the couch. A trip to Ikea was in order. In an efficient manner, we quickly narrowed down my couch... only it wasn't in stock. Ah well. In the evening we visited Downtown, except a completely different area - the south side. There was a particularly unique venue there, Absinthe Lounge. I'll let the name speak for itself - and this night I was driving, letting Patrick have at it. In short, the night involved swapping places with the best bartender in the world - Jennifer, complaint cards, dancing, flying ice cubes, cigars, The Other Side & Hotel California (with the whole bar singing), and balloons.

Absinthe Lounge

I traded places with the bartender.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R60cslXxNwQ

The Party Don't Stop... The following morning, I do believe I had to go to work. I somehow made it through the day, and as it turned out Patrick and Alesin decided to stay one more night. Monday night we got sushi at a Japanese restaurant/lounge in Addison, Otaru (first time I've ever seen unlimited sushi AND sake!). Then we proceeded to Lower Greenville, checking out Zubar, an interesting lounge with two DJ stands, salsa in the back and old school hip hop in the front. Very peculiar blend. The crowd was definitely NOT what we observed Saturday night - more down to earth, maybe a tad sketchy. I proceeded to give a salsa lesson to Alesin in the middle of the hall between the front and the back room. Good times.

All Good Things Come to an End. So Tuesday, shortly after a lunch in Plano's Taco Diner - an upscale "taqueria", Patrick and Alesin embarked on a trip back to New Orleans. By that point, I started realizing that I have been effectively partying for darn near a month straight. Miraculously, without getting sick once... not even a hangover! Nonetheless, the bulletproof attitude aside, I came to a conclusion that a break was in order. The remainder of the year in Dallas was spent considerably more quietly.

The City One Could Never Leave. I planned to work straight through the Gregorian Christmas (December 25), so that I could make the Julian Christmas (January 7) and spend time with my family in New Orleans (especially since Jan. 7 is also my mother's birthday). Although come Dec. 23, it was getting ever so lonely, since barely anyone was at work, and not many people were going out. I was just working away, and trying to catch up on long-delayed emails and the abandoned blog. However, what really lightened up the mood was La Quenta's family - they invited me over for their Christmas dinner, which was awfully nice of them. I took a whole week off from work, and left December 28 to NOLA.

As of late - home sweet home, Mom's house

I really liked this shot too - just washed mom's car :)

Party City - Baton Rouge! Most of you probably think I am out of my mind for doing this, but I decided to voluntarily drive to Baton Rouge to check out the scene. Needless to say my expectations were low. However, Alesin, as a means of returning the favor, decided to share the joys and excitement of the capital city. En route to Baton Rouge, I stopped by at a Subway in Sorrento to grab a bite before the outing and ended up having quite an amusing conversation with the kid working there. Here is a small excerpt he kindly shared with me: "See when you go clubbing in Baton Rouge, you have to remember that some places you go to chill and some places you go to fight. But sometimes it all gets mixed up. " The kid made me smile - Only in Louisiana =) In BR, I met up with Alesin and a couple of her friends. We were supposed to go to some Fred's Bar, an equivalent ofThe Boot for LSU, as I understand. I cannot say I was enthused. However, because it was closed, we re-routed downtown. The first half of the evening was spent at Puncher's bar, apparently a venue dedicated to watching wrestling - they even had bottle specials for the tournaments! Despite my Dallas/New Orleans/Moscow snobism, I ended up thoroughly enjoying my time there, since they had a decent live band, no smoke, and unlimited Abita Amber - all for $10 cover.

Performance at Puncher's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYDa7F4KPgE

BR Part II. Once it got closer to 11 or so, we progressed outside, just to go half a block down to The Office. It was something of a club, with a spacious wood-clad interior and a balcony, overlooking the great Mississippi. Music was expected - Top 40, but the crowd was decent, with plenty dancing. Good times in BR - I certainly underestimated it.

Wop wop wop! And here are some Baton Rouge kids gettin' their groove on in the middle of the street, after the club closed. Of all songs, doing The Wop. Gotta love Louisiana!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOy0o_-JKzg

Grand Finale - first decade of 21st century. The evening was spent with family, after much preparation, we were done with the food and the presents. As tradition would have it, me and my little brother started crackin some fireworks. What's New Year without them, right? Then the dinner, and of course the presents. It's kinda sad seeing my little brother grow up, since now he is sort of expecting all of this, when in the past he would get so surprised and excited. My mom and I still tried to stick the main present under the tree, and it kinda worked :) The present in question, certainly the most notable one under the tree, was a massive (1/12th scale ish?) RC monster truck - the hobby kind, with adjustable shocks and insanely powerful rear-wheel drive. The thing probably hits 30mph and does wheelies. While officially, the year was already over by this point, the celebration certainly was not.

Deep into the night. After the family celebration, I promptly headed out towards uptown, to meet Patrick, David, and Brian at Sona and Mary's "Stereo Love" party. I got there towards around 1-1:30am, and unsurprisingly, majority of the people there were pretty buzzed. I was certainly the most sober one. Shortly after walking through the house and doing the introductions, I grab the boys and drag them outside, towards my car. I pull out my laptop, connect it to the car stereo, and set it up on the roof of the car so they could all see it - I had a lil somethin for them.

http://vimeo.com/18351171

It was an idea I had come up with in the end of December, as something of a New Year's present to mark off the 5 or so years we've all known each other, and I built it out over a couple of weekends, trying to use as much inside jokes and actual recordings as I could. While they were pretty inebriated during the showing, they still kept up with most of it and were quite amused. New Orleans for me is forever going to be associated with my Crew. Then we were back inside, and madness ensued. Somewhere between Edward Maya and the Top 40 music, David demanded dubstep - and I pulled out youtube. Lots of moves were bust. And later there was even some salsa intervention! It was quite spectacular. We later proceeded to Cafe Du Monde at around 4am. And yes, in New Orleans, that is completely acceptable. In Baton Rouge and Dallas - 2am, everything shuts down. Good times.

Bottom Line. So this very eventful, at times painful, and thoroughly exciting year finally sputtered to a halt. It would be particularly difficult to list out all of the learnings I got out of this year, but the most prominent ones are probably that 1) Spend as much time as you can, but most importantly VALUE that time with ones that are close to you 2) Never give up 3) Be happy with what is NOW. With these wisdoms, I will finally wrap this endless post up. Thank you, my dear readers, for keeping me sane!

Fall: September Issue (Excuse the delay please)

Hello friends and other good people. As you may have started thinking that I gave up on this endeavor, I must dearly disappoint you. I have been accumulating stories, and they now have reached critical mass, that they simply must come out into the internetz.

LABOR day. My beloved mother invited me to visit for Labor Day, a popular US holiday ( ДеньТруда, Ура!). Naturally, I was hoping to take a nice 3 day break from work. No. That's certainly not how my mom pictured it. However, until I really got to work and sweat, there was some fun stuff going on before.

Flying High. I left work at just about 5pm and drove straight to the airport. While there, got me a little shrimp cocktail and beer - I figured I deserved it after such a long week of work. Texas is quite famous for its Shiner Bock beer. Bliss on tap. On the plane, it turned out I'm sitting next to a particularly rowdy bunch of 20-something year-old guys. As the conversations I overheard suggested - they are all employed by a small regional baseball team. Priceless. To make things even more amusing, the middle-aged lade sitting right next to us happened to be employed by Southwest, and out of the bottom of her heart, started passing out drink coupons. I was very pleasantly surprised. So another beer followed. While the flight was only 1hr, they still had some time to pass the drinks out. But somehow, we ended up getting ANOTHER round, before landing. Very amusing flight.

Back to the 70's! As it turns out, after I landed in NOLA, the same night DJ Soul Sista was throwing her birthday party at Airline Skate Center! Yes, the same place I went to in middle school. And one of my favorite DJs was throwing a Roller Disco! The night was looking very promising.

Once I get around to it, I'll put up a video clip from the rink. Girls in leotards, guys in glitter pants, afro-hair. It was spectacular. The rest of the evening was spent at "Lucky Don's shooting pool to DJ Eddy, who was spinnin some seriously rockin' vinyl. To de-glamorize the event, it was a bar owned by my old neighbor, situated conveniently between a Subway and a nail salon, in a strip mall on Airline. Nonetheless, the night was a success.

Next day, my mother concluded that it would be a great use of my presence by getting me to cut down half of the trees in her back yard. Several hours of manual labor followed. The rest of the weekend I ended up having two barbeques and of course a trip to Frenchmen St. On Monday, the labor was wrapping up, and I managed to squeeze a rendez vous with an old co-worker and friend, Kelley M. It's amazing how certain dynamics change once you get out of college. Maybe it's just me getting older.

Working for the weekend - Or weekend during the workweek? The business week zoomed by, simply because it was shorter, and I flew out to DC on Friday, once again for training. Despite the rapid pace, I still fit two salsa outings. The weekend I spent at my friend, Stephanie's, house and we went clubbing with her friends on Saturday night to this neat little venue, called Cafe Citron. It was quite a blast - a mix of latin/house in a compact 3-level venue, with a pretty gritty, but not trashy feel. The next day, I offered to cook shashlik (Russian-style BBQ) for her family, since they have been to hospitable to me on numerous occasions. In return, her father offered me some "Russian Vodka", best vodka the guy at the store claimed to have - the Russian Standard. And it was good indeed. Quite an amusing evening, involving much laughing, and me doing karaoke in Spanish ("Mi Camisa Negra" by Juanes, if my memory serves me right.)

The Week of a Socialite. The coming week was training in McLean - the location of Capital One's headquarters. The layout was similar to last time - executive speakers, skill training (i.e. presentation CapOne style and valuation), but this time we also had a real assignment, a case study. The week also contained ample amount of social interaction. Cocktails were served after training on Monday. Afterwards, me and several co-workers, all Virginia-based, ended up going to a tapas restaurant in Georgetown called Bodega. Quite a win. Tuesday - CapOne took us on a quick bus tour around DC and brought us for cocktails and appetizers atop Old Ebbitt Grill, a super fancy restaurant that overlooks the White House. Stellar view, especially at sunset. That, however was only the beginning.

The Wild Side of Training. After a very pleasant hour atop the Old Ebbitt Grill, which was spent enjoying the company of several fine lady co-workers, consuming hor d'hourves, and topping it all off with fine chardonnay, someone from the Virginia office suggested the W. W as in the W hotel, downtown DC, which just so happened to be across the street. The festivities proceeded with a considerably smaller group, accompanied by oysters, tuna tataki, mojitos, and inevitably, shots of Patron. All of that certainly provided for quite a dinner meal. And this was only the beginning.

Intermission, 9pm - the shuttle bus that initially brought us there, was now going to take us back. But wait - there was a second bus, and it wasn't going back to the hotel. This one was headed to the Mad Hatter, a pub near Dupont Circle. To my great dissapointment, several of the lady companions from the W got on the first bus. Now I have vague recollections of the trip, except for the fact that it was quite fun. Mad Hatter, in my opinion, was a pretty mediocre bar. The herd that actually arrived with us was quite buzzed by that point, and they only proceeded further. At that point, several female co-workers were not so much interested in standing around and drinking, but actually dancing. Ballroom to the rescue! I was very interested in trying to get the crowd out to Cafe Citron, and I was successful.

Grand Finale. Citron was kind of empty, but there is nothing stopping these guys. So a couple of lively VA folks and myself formed a circle and it was off. While I cannot recall exactly what the music was, I was certainly pulling my typical club-salsa maneuvers. Towards the end of the show, I somehow ended up chatting with a circle of girls towards the back of the club, and as it just so happened, one of them was Russian! So the conversation flips the language and we end up chatting the typical, how/where/when conversation. A mild ego deflation: I mentioned that I'm an analyst... at Capital One... and it was pretty obvious the lady was not impressed. Conveniently timed, my female companions were pulling me away, as the shuttle bus was about to depart.

After-party. The ride back to McLean was about 30 mins, and I vividly recall the broad range of caricatures I was surrounded by. There were people still trying to dance in the aisle between seats ( I think I may have been one of them) , some people trying to score some digits, and others slowly falling asleep. Back at the hotel, it just so happened that I had 2 other co-workers staying right next to my room, so we actually chatted for a bit before knocking out. And all this before 1am.

All in all, I must say it felt like I was a kid in camp, except now I had spending capacity and I was legally able to drink.

Re-cooperating. Wednesday was considerably quieter, just training, and dinner with some of my Indian co-workers, finished off with hookah at a particularly shady cafe, not far from the hotel. Thursday, however was a different story.

Work hard, play hard. Training was getting pretty tedious by now, and I had some worries that I could not get my work email, due to technical differences between the offices. However, all was fine on the home front. I spent a large portion of the day chatting and cracking jokes with a particularly boisterous VA co-worker, Andrea. I also co-incidentally ended up sitting in the middle of the party planning committee, I.E. I was sitting next to 2 McLean girls, Shania and Xinyi , who were quite knowledgeable about the DC club scene. Between the 4 of us, it was concluded that we were now due for a house music venue, so Club Lima was chosen. Yet again, not far from the Dupont Circle.

Logistical nightmare and handstands. We decided to take Andrea's car half way to the metro, and then catch the last train back at midnight. It turned out to be considerably more difficult due to traffic, directions, longer walking distances than expected, and later difficulties getting into the club. In the interim, we went to once again the Mad Hatter, and Cafe Citron, both of which were pretty dead. People started losing steam. However, come 11pm, we actually made it in time, and got to get our groove on pretty good. I distinctly recall us literally bringing the happening to the club. Our sheer numbers were enough to get the floor moving. A circle and the whole nine yards. It also helped that one of the girls at the club whipped out glow-rings and was doing some serious raving. Naturally, I had to join in, and we ended up having several dance-offs. During the pinnacle of one of my performances, I think I may have been under enough influence of euphoria and alcohol, that I decided that doing a handstand would be the right thing to do. Success. Sadly we had to run pretty soon, since we had to make the last train. A lengthy trip back was concluded by us arriving at the scene of the crime, or so it seemed. Fire trucks and people everywhere! As it turns out, the fire alarm was set off right before we got back, which was a bit after 1am. Quite an experience. While packing, I think there was yet ANOTHER fire alarm (but not on my floor) at around 2am. I decided not to leave... and lived to tell the story :)

For old times sake. The remainder of the week was spent with my friend Laura and her family. I know Laura from way back in my high school days, but we actually went to the same middle school too. I haven't ever met with her outside of New Orleans, and I haven't seen her family in a very long time. It was going to be quite an interesting experience.

Crashing the scene. The weekend was spent walking around the woods, lounging in a hot tub, crashing a birthday party, attending a particularly unique Greek Orthodox Church, and watching a couple of movies. A particularly pleasant way to close the week out. As the header implies, I would like to expand a bit on this party-crashing experience. I had great aspirations to make it out to the 18th Street Lounge. Quite an exotic venue, playing an incredible selection of lounge/chill music, very 19th century ambiance, dim lighting, and furniture to match. It also happens to be the headquarters for Eighteenth Street Label, the label of Thievery Corporation. On our way to the ESL, me and Laura end up dancing all up and down the streets of DC, from the subway, to the intersections near Dupont. When we got to ESL, there was nowhere to sit, but there was one couch next to a lady sitting on a chair next to it (as though she was holding it). We asked politely if she did not mind us sitting there, and she did not object. After getting our wine, I figured maybe we should try and be friendly to the kind lady. So we start up a conversation, and before long, we end up getting surrounded by her late-arriving friends, who were apparently there to celebrate a birthday party. At that point, it became kind of obvious that we were the uninvited guests, but nobody objected our presence. Majority of the patrons of this group were of a foreign background, which provided for some interesting interactions. A very random but pleasant outing.

Lounging & Old Town. After the very eventful evening, we decided to take it a bit slower on Saturday. I enjoyed pleasant company of Laura's family at her sister's BBQ. On Sunday, her family was kind enough to offer me a ride to a nearby orthodox church, St. Katherines Greek Orthodox Church. It was quite a unique church, mainly due to its architecture. It was basically a dome. Afterwards, we spent most of the afternoon walking around Old Town in Alexandria, VA - a particularly quaint little area of greater DC. Many picture were taken. And later much sangria was had. Along with a bit of tapas and hookah on the side. Then came the flight, and back to the real world.

Back to the grind. It seems like I now have a "standard" work week. Monday & Tuesday hold at least one salsa class. Friday usually has some salsa outing. One notable piece was that I ended up catching a random dinner with a coworker, Chris. He flies in for a couple of days per week and is new to Dallas. I suggested a dinner place and next thing I know, I'm having Mexican food with a senior director, talking about secondary markets.

Spontaneous Road Trip. On a fine Saturday morning, lazily, I wake up and reach for my iPhone, only to find a text from my NYC friend Lina. Apparently Lina and my DC-based friend Gosha were both going to visit Gosha's family in Houston. The message implied that I should drive to Houston that same day. And I did. It was wonderful being surrounded by over a dozen Russian speakers and being able to just relax, dine, drink, I ended up grilling a good bit, and later much fun was had on the diving board. Fortunately, nobody was injured. And all that was only Saturday. Sunday brought more adventures. Gosha and his family family, Lina, and I went up to Lake Conroe and set sail on a boat/jet ski trip for a couple of hours. I haven't had that much fun in a while.

When DDR skills pay off. September closed out with a pretty amusing event at work. We had a quarterly "fun day" where the company basically rents out a venue like laser tag, or in this case Whirly Ball, and has a departmental day of interaction in a completely casual environment. Beer was served at lunch. On a Tuesday. And the day closed out with a DDR competition against the VP. Success.

Anyhow, I apologize for having dragged this one out so far. I will try to keep my updates more up to date and more consolidated. Also, one of these days I swore to update all my back messages with photos. It will happen, I promise!

Back to it!

Weeks 6-8: In Motion

First, I would like to apologize for not posting in so long. I was sort of expecting that I will have less and less time to keep up with the blog, but I'm still trying. Work has been picking up. Numerous training sessions, new deadlines, ad-hoc requests… a little stress. However, I must say one thing: dancing is good. After the boys left, I was back in my groove. Every Tuesday I would go to Sandunga, my new favorite salsa studio. Wednesdays I started going to another studio, United Dance Academy. Staying busy certainly helps keep mind off negative things.

I discovered a few new venues: Pearl, a jazz/live music lounge with an impressive 2 floor setup, where ground floor is the bar and stage, while upstairs houses a gallery and pool tables; and Absinthe Lounge – a really shady but classy looking lounge in the basement of an eclectic loft building somewhere on the outskirts of downtown. Sandunga was also a completely different venue on a Friday night – they hosted a social, BYOB kind of gig with a good DJ. It was awesome. Other than that I also got to go to the Galleria again, but this time I went ice skating! One of these weekends, LaQuenta had a friend visit from New Orleans, so we ended up at Dave and Busters, sort of a Chuck E Cheese for people of 21+ age category. It was my first time, and it was quite fun.

Foreign Origin: It seems like I had much luck confusing people with my speech. A particularly memorable note – an elegant Latina I danced with asked me if I was Puerto Rican and told me that I sound like Marc Anthony. Another particularly amusing instance was when a middle-aged waiter took me for an Aussie/Briton. First time for both. Win! On the same note, I had another girl at UDA dance studio ask me directly: “Are you Jewish?”. It must be the dark hair and a foreign name…

That is all for now – Week of August 29 will be closing in the next posting, since the week ends with me arriving in NOLA.

Long Time - No Post

Exploring Dallas. Week 3

This was the first full week of work. While it was somewhat scary and exciting at the same time, all in all, I ended up being a pretty good balance. I worked a lot – main task being, preparation of a monthly report about the mortgage market. Outside of that, I got to network with coworkers, go out with friends, and explore Dallas. Mid-week I ended up going to a roller rink, trivia night at a bar, and I landed the tail end of the Asian Film Fesitval of Dallas, thanks to Vlad from New Orleans. Moreover, I finally have a bed… but no mattress still. The weekend still retained much of the momentum from past weeks – party on Friday, going out uptown, Saturday and Sunday I spent catching up with my two friends from HS, Mike and La Quenta. Sunday I also went to an Orthodox church, which inevitably had a large Russian parish.

Work Hard – Play Hard. Week 4.

In some sense, I am already getting into a routine. Work pace was picking up, and on Monday I left work at a ridiculous hour – 9:30pm. Granted, it was largely by choice – I ended up chatting with a senior guy on my floor, who shared some very interesting insights about the most complicated part of the office culture – the year end review.

Random Networking. Mid-week I ended up going to this Art Institute of Dallas networking event, predominantly to keep LQ company. After enjoying a Kobe beef burger at the Gordon Biersch restaurant, I proceeded to chat up a storm with all of these graphic designers and the likes. Quite thrilling actually.

Dance Deprivation. In addition to the late hours at work (which were actually more like 8:30am-6pm most days) I ended up going salsa dancing 3 times this week. Certainly a welcome change. I realized how badly I missed it. In the end, I even made a new friend out of the experience. Also quite a thrill.

On Sunday I went to another Orthodox church, and yet again, dozens of Russian speakers – certainly good to have. The weekend closed with an incredible outing to the arcade with La Quenta, during which we really brought back some old school memories – DDR! Yes, Dance Dance Revolution. I felt like a kid all over again. It was pretty incredible. This was further followed by an outing to the movies with LQ and some older co-workers to see “The Other Guys” – hilarious movie.

The Boys Are Back in Town. Week 5.

This was yet another week packed with work – my report was actually due on Friday. First deadline… seemingly successful. Tuesday, I went to another studio for salsa lessons, this time by my self. Wednesday night – saw the coolest concept ever, a sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt. You grab whatever you like and they charge you $2 per plate. So effectively you can get a quarter/half of a roll or single piece of sushi pretty easily. Quality of food was decent, but service was great. I don’t know what is it with me and theatrical girls, but something just clicks.

The weekend was quite epic. Patrick and Aaron came in at 4:45am on Saturday, unbelievably unprepared in terms of packing, but in good spirits. We spent most of Saturday dining out, driving around Dallas, and catching the Dallas street car for fun. Come night time – we hit first Greenvile, in hopes of landing a spot at one of the most intense sushi restaurants without a reservation… and to my great surprise, we got in! Of course we did have to wait 45mins, but that’s quite alright – we got to explore Greenville, the club/bar row in Dallas (reminded me of Bourbon a bit) and ended up at a really killer hookah lounge, Kush. Mike joined us. So by the time we got to Teppo, the Japanese restaurant, we were starving. Bad combination since it was a particularly expensive restaurant (as we learned once we got the check). We enjoyed ample amounts of exotic Japanese dishes, in my case I was all over the sashimi and with great difficulty refused the yaki-tori (since Saturday was the first day of the Dormition of the Theotokos fast)… and we coupled it with 2 bottles of sake. Then we headed out to Deep Ellum – effectively the French Quarter of Dallas. Very sketchy looking area, biker bars and country/blues lounges all over. After realizing that it was already past midnight, and Dallas closes at 2am… we learned that many venues are already winding down. Therefore, we just picked what sounded good – no cover and live music. CC Cross was the artist – a solo vocalist with a guitar. I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Sunday, after going to Church, me and the boys got lunch. This time – econo $8.99 mongolian grill at Ghengis Grill. I still feel a little guilty eating there… but price point does not get better than that. You can effectively get 3lbs of meat/seafood with noodles for that price. Nothing can match. We were all still in mild shock after the $400 bill from Teppo last night. Shortly the boys rolled back to NOLA.

Later that evening, I realized that I have an aching for DDR again – so I met up with LQ for dinner and another awesome DDR session at the local arcade complex.

That would be all for now - more to come later and I'll be sure to include more pictures next time!! Thank you for reading =)

//A

Week 2: Virginia

Week 2

I am writing this while sitting at the Samuel Adams bar/restaurant in the Richmond International Airport, finishing off a draft Sam Adams Summer Ale (which was exceptional, BTW) pondering over the burger I just finished off, listening to miscellaneous Russian pop and euro music in my headphones. After having gone through this pretty wild week, I must say life is good… for the most part. Eventful, if anything.

I flew out on Sunday, barely made my flight from DFW (Dallas Fort-Worth) to RIC (Richmond, Virginia.) The accommodations were Hotel Sierra in Short Pump mall – one of the biggest outside malls in the country. Snazzy contemporary-looking setup, with basically all the furniture I want for my apartment. I actually decided since I had all of this time on my hands (I arrived at 7pm), it would be cool to just explore. Most places were closed by then, with the exception of a few restaurants. Having grabbed a steak sandwich from Firebird’s and ate at the hotel. Further I decided that a work out is in order – first one in a month or two. Eating and drinking without much physical activity is not a good layout.

Virginia. On Monday we were expected to meet in the lobby after a pretty nice breakfast bar to get on a shuttle to Capital One headquarters. The lounge area was full of ADP kids, some familiar, some not. There was a group from McLean, VA staying there as well. The day was basically focused on HR, culture, history, etc… Good overview, but a bit overkill. Afterwards came the cocktails. Funny part – they gave out 2 drink tickets per person, since apparently the class before us was a little rowdy. There we got to hang with a bunch of McLean & Richmond, as well as some associates and managers. I hovered all around with my classy glass of chardonnay. Later was the dinner. In a mildly forced fashion, I sat with one of the senior guys at a table, surrounded by several Virginia ADPs. The evening closed with a miserable experience at a nearby bar. The ADP crowd headed out to Bar Louie’s, just outside the hotel. Apparently in VA, a temporary driver’s license is considered a “fake”. So is a Green Card. My attempt at getting a beer was an utter fail. Throughout the course of the night, I sipped water and spewed out nasty comments about the bartender and the bar in general. In the process, I ran into Nataliya, the only other Eastern European in the bunch. We chatted for a while, and then I headed out. The night closed out with me going to a gym with my buddy Ryan and pumping iron. I felt very accomplished.

Tuesday. More speakers, divisional overview, etc… Only thing I recall was that our crowd ended up at Applebees of all places. Fail. This time I had my passport, so I succeeded in getting a beer. There were some talks of going out downtown, but that never worked out. I actually knocked out way early, at about 10pm.

Wednesday. Capital One Economics – effectively, now I can explain exactly how a credit card company makes money. It wasn’t too bad, but the overlap was starting to get annoying. Lots of similar information all over. After work me and Ryan ended up going shopping with a couple of cute McLean girls… and man it’s been a while since I’ve acted so ridiculous at the mall. The night took us to the Fan district of Richmond. That is effectively where the college kids hang. We hung out at this absurdly crowded but interesting college/yuppie bar called 3 Monkeys Bar, which was pretty good for what it was. There were the usual suspects, mixed with a variety of Richmond and McLean based ADPs. Afterwards, I ended up driving the car, since Jacob and was already done by that point, and after getting lost 5 times in a 10 block square, we made it to the next venue – Banditos Burrito Lounge. Wow, Virginia, really? It was basically a college dump where they hosted karaoke. Hardly a pleasant venue, but a bunch of our peers seemed to be thrilled. We promptly departed, with me driving back to the hotel.

Competition. Thursday was the day of the case competition. Recalling the interview, I was expecting something similar to that. Actually it turned out to be a paper/computer based version of Markstrat (a marketing simulation game). While it felt a bit flawed, it was still a good experience. My team placed last, but I was more than happy with our strategy and results. I think we got a star for effort. The night was a spontaneous decision, based on a recommendation of a fellow ADP from McLean on Tobacco Company. It was a particularly fancy restaurant with a beautiful lounge on the first floor, and two levels of dining rooms above. Instrumental guitar jazz was in the air.

The décor was something of an early 20^th century feel, showcasing a massive “Adams Family” elevator in the middle of the restaurant. After enjoying a gorgeous New York Strip with a cherry reduction and a Red Diamond cabernet sauvignon, we decided to go to the rumored “club”, which was supposedly located in the SAME building. The hostess directed us outside and down into the basement. And to my amazement, there was an actual top-40 night club with lasers and everything right there! Moreover, there was a blackjack table (seemed unusual), but what made it particularly incredible was the fact that it was for CHARITY! They even issued a receipt for the $5 buy-in. The crowd was a mix-bag of college kids, yuppies, and a healthy amount of a well-dressed older crowd, spread across the whole cultural spectrum. Cupid Shuffle was a pure win. Later me and JoAnna decided to pull a little random Top-40 salsa to Modjo, of all things. The night closed with a miserable attempt to get into a couple of other bars with our Plano crowd. A couple other ADPs had some ID issues and were denied.

Ropes! Friday was the Challenge Discovery (CD) team building day. CD was an outdoor sport activity type of place with a variety of climbing locales, tight rope setups, etc… My team, unsurprisingly a mix of Plano, Richmond and McLean, was pretty heavily weighted on girls – we had maybe 5 or so out of 14 people. Some groups had none… In either case, we started with a criss-cross tight rope where 4 people had to get to the opposite side at the same time. I loved it. A couple of our team mates didn’t do very well though. Then was the incredible 15FT wall, over which we all had to get across. It was concluded that I was the best fit to go last (since the person on top would have to pull me up). In the process I got to throw at least 10 people up. The end was spectacular, however. I got my running start, and very much in a Spiderman fashion, nearly ran up the wall, latched onto John’s wrists and got up. Massive win for the team. Nobody fell or got hurt. Then was a pretty mild activity where we had to lower a tent pole with nothing but 14 index fingers, without anyone losing contact with the pole. Pure precision. We finally got it after a dozen attempts. Last was the best part. A 50ft tower, built of 3 pillars in a pyramid fashion, with rock-climbing attachments all over, and a platform up top. Our goal was to climb up 4 people at once, with the aid of another team, and push 2 humongous exercise balls up to the top. That was an incredibly difficult task, but we succeeded a couple of times, even though we never quite got them on top of the actual platform. Wow that was plenty of adrenaline. CD experience closed with a 4-way tug of war. We were directly opposite a team with nothing but guys, several of which looked to be of the football/baseball player variety. And I am proud to say that we held up incredibly well, all thanks to a strategy of synchronizing our pull attempts, rather than applying static pressure on the rope.

The Drive. Thanks to Dhruv, a McLean based ADP, I got a ride to DC. Despite the ridiculously cramped headroom of the Scion TC back seat, we had a pretty good road trip. With us was Justin from Plano and Dave who was also in McLean. Oddly enough, both Dhruv and Dave happened to be dating Russian girls. I found that particularly amusing.

DC. Once I got in, I quickly hopped on the rail and headed towards Stephanie, my good friend from RPI. In Wheaton we linked up with several of her friends for dinner and hit the club later. We got on the list at Tuscany West – an upscale Latin club downtown DC. It felt pretty awesome to be able to do salsa again.

Russian Saturday. The next day I met up with my dear NYC friends, Elina, Alla and Gosha. We went to eat lunch at a marvelous Uzbek restaurant, Café Assorti. I had okroshka, a unique Russian cold soup, pirojki, and manti, Uzbek dumplings, following with kompot, a classic fruit drink. We were later joined by the one and only Alexander Zolotov.

Heat. Despite the absurd triple digit temperature, we still ended up going on a tour of DC hosted by Alex. The tour effectively ended with the National Harbor. Here is a picture of me standing on top of a huge silver man stuck in sand... he is biting my leg off?

A spectacular development just outside of DC, with a massive resort hotel and plenty of mixed-use buildings.

Clubbing, part 2. Saturday night took us to Slaviya, on thanks to the suggestion of Alex. It was a Serbian/Bulgarian restaurant, with a very modern, club-like décor. Soft lounge beats filled the atmosphere. The heart of the meal was a Wine Kebap – closest thing I can think of is like a crawfish etouffee, but with beef and more of a red bell pepper type feel rather than tomato base. I was impressed. Towards 11pm, our area started getting roped off, and tables nearby were carried to the back. Soon, powerful house beats started kickin. And the club was on. I was thrilled with the transformation. Alex knew the owner, the DJ, his wife… and at least a dozen more people in the place. It was kind of nice to get grandfathered into VIP. The party was organized by a certain Troika Party, a DC based entertainment group. Alla kept trying to get me on the dance floor, since they were departing soon, but I was locked up a bit on the fact that it was still pretty early, and the club was a bit bright and hardly full. After a little while I worked up the courage, and we turned out to be the only people on the dance floor. However, in a little while, girls started edging closer to the dance floor, and before we knew it, the crowd was bouncing. Win.

Lumbar. So sitting in this airplane seat, finishing up this post, I am coming to a conclusion that airplanes really should at least try to add some comfort to these seats. There is absolutely 0 lumbar support. But that’s beside the point.

Return. Sunday morning, I woke up at a pretty early hour of 8am. Stephanie’s family was going to church, and out of respect mixed with curiosity, I decided to join them, despite it being a Catholic service. After the service, we headed out to Richmond. I am particularly grateful to her, since driving me to an airport 150 miles away is not exactly fun. The reason for the inconvenience is my obnoxious tendency to try to “wing it”. When I booked my flight, I was under the impression that Richmond and DC are right next to each other. Fail. Before I flew out, I assumed I can get a $50/day rental and just go to DC and back. Well little did I know that a one way rental would cost close to $200! Fail 2. So I tried to change my flight on Saturday, and was pretty unsuccessful, since a flight out of DC would be close to $400. Well to be precise, I ended up dropping my reservation by accident, panicking, but still reinstating it. After 2 hours of stress, I was back where I started. Fail 3. Boy, is it good to have friends that are willing to help out when you just fail all over.

So in the end, I concluded that in the future, it would probably help to plan a bit more in advance. Tomorrow is going to be crazy – my first day without much of a program. I have to learn new software and start completing projects soon. My first deadline – July 30! Despite it all, thanks to Vladimir Z., a Dallas veteran, I got connected to a certain international loop here in Dallas, and will be going to an indie movie opening event on July 29. Quite excited.