My favorite soldier

We are very proud of him.

500 Days of Summer

Some thoughts...

1. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
2. Summer Finn's trademark blue ribbon (it brings our her eyes).
3. The jumbled time line. (I didn't like it at first but all the jumps came together in the end)
4. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his dance to You Make My Dreams (Hall & Oates) the morning after.
5. How Amber and I were surrounded by couples. 500 Days is the perfect date movie...hopeful yet realistic. Some parts are cheesy and a little too earnest but Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel are good at being cheesy and earnest so it works.
6. The soundtrack. Because of Ben Gibbard's liaison with Deschanel, I expected Postal Service or Death Cab to contribute. However, I wasn't disappointed by the roster. (She & Him, Temper Trap, The Smiths, Regina Spektor, Hall & Oates, Carla Bruni, etc.)

Behind the Counter

Counter Café is a long, skinny restaurant on the northwest corner of S. Lamar and 6th street. The interior is dark and cramped. The breakfast counter, where customers eat and watch the short-order cooks cook, take up most of the room and leaves only a narrow walking space between the bar stools and the row of two-tops hugging the west wall. It has a small staff, too small to accommodate the large volume of customers. While the food is above average, the service is slow and sub-par. After requesting a biscuit after we’d already given our order, (I forgot I needed a carb-sponge to soak up the egg yolk), she asked me if there was “possibly anything else I could want.” This is a common question in the hospitality industry. However, the question conveyed annoyance instead of a desire to please. Couldn’t I see that she was too busy to fetch forgotten food requests? This is true. She was busy. Regardless, as a waitress, it’s her job to wait on me. It’s not her job to teach me the polite way of ordering. She made me feel so bad that I poured my own coffee refill instead of troubling her for one.

The blueberry pancakes are the only reason I would come back. Fluffy and riddled with ripe fruit--they forced me to overeat. (Shocking, I know). My brunch companion was very disappointed with her Counter Eggs Benedict because the yolks were completely done. They looked like slimy marbles sitting on top of a biscuit. Blech.

The next time I crave blueberry pancakes, I’ll order from Counter Café, but I’ll get them to go.