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Vice Four, Virtue Zero
One of the highlights of Virginia’s great Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, is its tapestry hall. This particular 16th century Flemish tapestry is a fragment depicting the seven vices and was originally “balanced” by a similar work showing the seven virtues. Nowhere in the gallery, though, could I find the seven virtues. Little surprise, really. Who wants their vices diluted with virtues? And yet, not all of the vices are shown, either. Extravagance and Envy are missing, which is understandable because they’re pretty lame vices. But probably the best vice, Gluttony, is somehow missing too (although Sloth, represented here by a lazy monkey runs a close second). Perhaps gluttony warranted its own tapestry or maybe it was simply too big to fit on this one. Some mysteries may never be solved.
Copy Cat
The University of Virginia in Charlottesville is another Jefferson inspiration and further proof that the man was one of those ridiculous overachievers put on this earth to make the rest of us look bad. Not only did he found the first secular university in the country, he designed UVA’s great rotunda (in addition to designing Monticello, essentially creating the Library of Congress as we know it today, drafting the Declaration of Independence, and being the nation’s 3rd President). Unfortunately for him, though, he modeled the rotunda after a far older and more impressive building, the Pantheon in Rome. So by comparison, Jefferson is really kind of a loser after all . . . now don’t we all feel better?
Continental Divide
By snafu or serendipity, we ended up dining at Continental Divide in Charlottesville. My lovely editor, Lisa, at National Geographic Books knows the town well (go Cavaliers). She recommended that we try Continental Divide, but, it turns out, she had actually meant to suggest we go to another, more upscale restaurant called C&O located on the Downtown Mall.
Given the choice, we most likely would have opted for Continental Divide. It reminded us of some of our favorite places in Hoboken—casual atmosphere, tasty Southwestern-style food, interesting beer list, and excellent margaritas. It was soft-shell tacos all around, pork for Brian and beef for me. (I was sold as soon as I read the word “brisket.”)
Continental Divide’s cheeky motto is “Too Small, Too Crowded, Too Loud, Too Bad.” We followed the first two pieces of advice from a poster on Yelp.com: “Do as the locals do, go early, go on Tuesday and go often.” He was spot on, as there was no wait for a table. Add to it all a clandestine location—the restaurant name isn’t anywhere to be found, just a neon sign demanding “Get in Here”—and it was a C’ville highlight. Thanks, Lisa!
Happy Political Ad Freedom Day
Congratulations to everyone who survived another campaign cycle. After enduring consistently deceitful political ads though 8 different states and more congressional districts than I can count, I can confidently proclaim that whoever wins today, we are all completely screwed.
Virginia Is For Lovers
. . . of vanity plates. I wonder if there is something in the water here that makes people swoon for personalized license plates because just about every fourth car has one.
Everywhere Once 