whiz wit

more thoughts on john, and martin, and why i care, later. i need a break.

i've recently discovered that not only is philly full of opinions on what makes a good steak, and where to get the best steak, but also that there is a proper steak-ordering lingo.

down at geno's (9th and passayunk in south philly), you can tell the locals from the tourists by the way they order their steak. first of all, to a local never calls it a philly cheesesteak (or, horror of horrors, a "steak and cheese"). and rarely even a cheesesteak. 'round here, it's just a steak. when ordering a steak, you have many options: you can get cheese (swiss, provolone, or cheese whiz), onions, mushrooms, peppers, ketchup... at geno's, peppers and ketchup are applied by the customer, after receiving his or her steak. do not try to order either of those at the counter. if you want a plain steak, you order "steak." if you want onions, you order a "steak wit." if you want cheese, the type of cheese takes the place of the word 'steak,' so you might get a "whiz," or even a "whiz wit." if you want mushrooms, that goes before the steak part of the order. so you might get "mushroom steak," or "mushroom steak wit," or "mushroom swiss wit." me, i'm a "provolone extra wit" girl.

fyi.

p.s. i got a new (2 new?) piercings this evening at my fav piercing shop, infinite. an industrial in my left ear. that makes 13 holes (twelve piercings) that weren't there when i was born. click here for a photo of my hardware-laden left ear.