Are you bumming out because you weren’t able to make it to Dupont for today’s gelato giveaway? Perhaps a free chili dog might calm your nerves.

Happy National Chili Dog Day! No, seriously. (July 29 also marks National Lasagna Day and National Rain Day, in case you were curious.) But what’s in it for you? As per tradition, noted local chili purveyor Hard Times Cafe will celebrate Chili Dog Day by giving out free chili dogs with any purchase at all of their locations — except Nationals Park, natch. Enjoy your tasty treat today; tomorrow honors much more boring stuff:…

FRIDAY: >> If your faux pas have lately been spiraling out of control, head over tout suite to Politics & Prose. This evening at 7 p.m. Judith Martin, aka Miss Manners, will be talking about “Miss Manner’s Guide to Excruciatingly Exact Behavior,” her newly updated book about modern-day etiquette. >> The Dulles Expo Center gets busy today with the weekend-long Sugarloaf Craft Festival. You can buy everything from well-engineered teddy bears to wood art. Check…

If you’re sitting at your desk at work, a little bored and waiting for the weekend, we recommend surfing on over to the washingtonpost.com MP3 page, where in honor of their 4th birthday, they’ve picked out their top 20 downloads of the year. Otherwise, check out our suggestions for weekend fun below. FRIDAY: >> Vienna, Va. duo the Brindley Brothers, who also own local coffee house Jammin’ Java, bring their catchy hooks and layered harmonies…

From DCist contributor Catherine Andrews: The results are in: The Post’s 2004 Best Bets Readers’ Choice Awards were decided today. And the winners are … (drumroll, please): Pretty much all the same places that won last year! But that’s OK — by and large, DCist approves of the victors (though we’ll never understand why Starbucks consistently comes in the top three of Best Coffee Shop; same with Borders for Best Bookstore. Isn’t this supposed to…

D.C. may not be on the cutting edge of many things, but when we find something good in this swamp of a city, by god, we’re going to hold onto it and claim it vociferously as our own. That’s why it’s important to show your D.C. pride and cast your votes in the Post’s Annual Reader’s Choice Best Bets contest, which ends tomorrow at noon. Swear that Ozio’s has a better happy hour than…