A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

So how do you celebrate the beginning of summer? Barbeque's perhaps? A trip to somewhere different maybe? Visit with old friends make new ones? Party like an animal? Go off and do some shooting? Learn a new talent?

How about all of them! Well all except for the learn a new talent bit. Though the picture looks like I knew what I was doing - I really have no skill with the guitar. We cant win them all can we?

Friday was Laser Tag day - though the crowd was smaller - I had been over 2 months since the last time. Yeah sure we ran allot (from 8pm to 1 am!!), we also tried this new weird stuff called TILT which is some weird mix of Red Bull and a malt beverage (like a Smirnoff Ice). Lets just say that it is quite interesting playing Laser Tag, lets say.. slightly buzzed! Big Props to Ray for coming out.

Saturday was a rather lame - I went to see the "Taste of Rockville" If it wasnt that I saw a Dodge Charger decked out as a kick ass cop car, it was kind of lame - luckily the company was better. Later that evening went to a PJ party.... sadly this was no where near as good as the old D Street house PJ party from 3 years ago. At least I got to catch up with old friends and got to know some new ones better.

Summer really got into the swing of things with Joel & Melissa's traditional Memorial Day Birthday BBQ. What makes it truly kick off the summer? I say it is VOLLEYBALL!!! yeah I got the first game in - can never get enough of it, which is kind of sad that I don't like playing on indoor courts. But something new and different was a ROCK CLIMBING wall. OMG this was off the HOOK! And yes I went up twice! I would have gone up more but the park rangers pulled the wall down (we later found out they were wrong & Joel HAD gotten the permits). I will say that rock wall was tough, my fingers still kind of hurt.

The BBQ wrapped up as a storm loomed, later I learned it was a massive Super Cell system - the kind that creates tornadoes in an instant... No weather service warned anyone, luckily (yet again this weekend) nothing happened. That was effectively what I termed lazy memorial day weekend vs grueling fun memorial day! More to come on that.....

Who needs a Wine festival??

Who needs a wine festival anyways?? Just go out and spend a day at a winery! Even better when you turn it into a picnic! 10 seemed to be the number for this weekend - thats how many went on my hike to OLD RAG Mountain, and that is how many were on Sunday's trip out to Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg, VA.

With a much later start than the day before (thank goodness!) and making my first ever stop at Wegman's ever, this vineyard has a great summer wine that I have always loved (though I was commented by a certain person - that their disdain for MD & VA wines has increased after tasting it, hey everyone has different tastes!).

Well let me start with Wegmans because I will just have to take another trip there. It was overwhelming and fantastically stocked with anything you would want - good stuff too! Like WOW! due to the short time we were there (and the chaos of the girls in trying to decide what went where) my memory gets fuzzy... so lets move on.

Chrysalis is a perfect picnic spot - they provide you with a massive gas grill (you must share space with others). As long as you get there early enough it is well worth it. In my opinion their premier wine is the Sarah's Patio Red & White - they are great summer wines, served cold (both of them) and perfect for sangria. Yes - despite my good friends findings - I will pimp this wine.

Overall it was a very chill day - food, friends, sunshine, and Yusef brought along a cool Cohiba Cigar for me. Oh man I was in heaven with that thing.... well it didn't hurt that Emilie fed me raspberries - roman style either!! The management was worried about our behavior - ok Yusef's behavior really, for a while and got close to kicking us out of this family environment.... as usual - he is a bad influence.

But a Sunday drive in the country was awesome (two days in a row!) and was capped off by Jon & Darrens night time showing of TOP SECRET on their lawn. I always forget how insanely funny that movie is. It appeals to my warped sense of humor and totally tangential way of thinking.....

The man who went up the Mountain .....

I Finally Hiked OLD RAG MOUNTAIN !! Yes after how many years of wanting to do a real hike in the mountains I finally did do it. It all stems from my first trip ever to some real mountains way back in like 97 to the Smokey Mountains. Back then I was in much better shape, and went with a group that I would have hoped that at least one or two wanted to do a decent hike. It ended up that not even once did they intend on going. I took a few short hikes in the forest next to the forest we were in, but there were no marked trails to do.


Before that, the most I had done in the mountains had been to as a child and back in '05 El Yunque Carribean National Forest located in Puerto Rico (happens to be the ONLY Rain Forest in the US National Park System). El Yunque has all these various small waterfalls that I just find amazing. What is really interesting is the way the cloud cover just rolls around it. It can be clear as a lighthouse lens one moment - then swirled over in a mist cloud the next. I remember as a child in Puerto Rico (mainly over the summers I spent there), how I would look out the windows of my Abuela Mercedes' condo; on one side the aqua blue ocean as far as th eye cold see to the north. To the South, we would see the cloud covered mountains. This on an island that you can drive cross-wise in 2 hours. Always we would look to the mountains for the coming rain that would cut our stay on the beach a bit shorter and send us inside, and on occasion, not even care - we had sand castles to protect!!

Well anyways, as usual I digressed (and will again for sure), not that it matters - I did mention that I rambled right?

So for this hike to avoid the crowds most of us awoke somewhere around the 5:30am, give or take - and met at a Starbucks. Settled into three cars and made our way to the trailhead by 8:30am. For me the hike seemed good for the first part - somehow thinking that I could keep up with Kevin & Jeffrey, even if for a short while. Well after 30 minutes that prospect was quickly fading - still not bad for me. I started to slow so that Alexandra passed me next...

Most of the hike I did mostly alone. Got to stop at a small stream going up the mountain where I refreshed myself. Took a few pics, and settled in to a good pace until I ran into Scott who was taking pictures of ... well everything. In a way I didn't mind doing a good portion alone - especially the switchbacks and all. It just really lets you concentrate on your little world, the here and now, only the breeze and birds making noise. Now it was useful to have Scott at this part - just having the extra person for the beginning of a rock scramble is re-assuring. Having only ever done the rock scramble at the Billy Goat Trail by Great Falls this was totally different!

With 8ft drops straight down (wasn't so bad once you figured out there was a tiny ledge about 3 ft down), and a 3 foot jump from one boulder to another of which I worried way too much about since I was alone at that point, and worried about my knee at that point. In the end after 5 minutes of trying to find a different path around, I just shrugged and jumped.... rather easily in hindsight. The other big hurdle was a crevisse which was extremely difficult to get up to get up as there were no foot or hand holds. I caught up to AB at this difficult point (but she had some stored up energy and took off like a bat out of hell after she got up that part) and this was probably the closest point to actually hurting myself here when my foot started slipping, but somehow I just grabbed hold of something readjusted my foot and pushed off just enough to be able to wedge myself somehow, then reach for something a little bit higher where I was able to pull myself up. In retrospect - I was lucky.

But there were so many cool rock formations. Round boulders balanced precariously, triangle shaped caves, cool steps that apparently were similar to some on the Inca trail (according to Carmel), and this amazing massive boulder that just overhung somehow from the rest. The vistas were like nothing I have ever seen before. But as I kept being amazed, I would go just a bit higher, and see one even better, until finally I reached the summit (3,291 ft. !!) and was TRULY surprised at the view, and AMAZED that I had completed this hike up (going down is always easy for me).


Jeffrey had warned me that it could get cold at the top, and he was correct (Darn him again!!). Yet despite a thinner layer than the others already there (Jeff, Kevin, AB) , I enjoyed being at the very summit for about a good 20 minutes before we looked for a sheltered spot for lunch as the others trickled in. In a humorous twist on the hike, I had lost my visor early somewhere on the hike, and I wasn't worried - it was a cheapy hat bought going to Assateague last year with Carmel & W. Dana since I had forgotten one. Yet ironically (or not??) it was Carmel who found it on the trail! When she reached us, I didn't even notice that she had it on!

Well at the top we had our lunch, took photos, and rested a bit before being invaded by all those on the trail behind us: Church groups, young Marines contingent, the "Hansen boys", etc.... it got noisy where there was silence. So we packed it up and started on our way down. Most of it was easy (well for me) and there were no spectacular vistas going down the fire road (a few day shelters only). I did for the first time in sooo many years held a Centipede in my hands! (thanks AB!!) . As children we are fearless - we pick up anything, play with it and so forth. But at some point you are told - be careful of this and that - and you stop doing what was fun - sure it was risky, but it was fun. So picking up this centipede from AB, and letting it crawl on my hands was like a re-awakening of another part of me (combined with the hike) , that is ingrained upon us as kids - don't do this - don't do that. Why not do this- why not do that?? We are ingrained and slowly convinced to agree with society's rules of do's & dont's - we stick to our imagined worlds that has been created for us by others, and breaking free to experience life on our own is a challenge.

Our lives are our experiences. As of late I started thinking to myself this motto of :
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Chocolate in one hand, a MOJITO in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO what a ride!"

Of course I modify the phrase to include a mojito instead of a martini or such. But it was about a few days ago, that my friend Eric from Philly found (and I just read it a day or two ago) a much deeper way of saying it:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

This statement was from a man who was a sickly child, yet went on to become a bold and brash President that transformed our country: Teddy Roosevelt. Ultimately that is what this hike presents to me. A milestone in experiencing things that I had forgotten to experience, touch things I was afraid to touch, do things that a year ago I couldn't do. And for that, I am grateful to my friends (& family), because as always - it is from them that you get your encouragement, your motivation, your inspiration and ultimately your achievements.

Thanks to all who came on the trip - pushed me to do more than I thought I could, and just have a fun time doing it all (Jeff, Kevin, Alexandra, Diana, Jaime, Carmel, Scott, Mary and Rob).

Oh & I almost forgot - Burgers n Things - the best roadside food near Sperryville, VA - well especially since we were starved!

For more pictures from the hike click here !

Inuagural Grillfest!

So last Saturday was this years official start of the "Grill season" with Jon & Darren's first shindig.

What can be said that it was also the first croquet game of the season. As usual we paired off but missing a few familiar faces: Lee who has now missed a full year, Pete - who is on his honeymoon, Chris is still in the Gambia, Bill just showed up too late to play. So I picked Mark as my partner again. Lets just say Mark & I have good synergy at this game. We dont argue each others strategies... the game goes faster, we win... very simple. That strategy has worked the last 3 out of 4 times. Winners will be winners.

We did figure out WHY the games last so long - Darren sets up the field! Mark & I did it this time and we completed the game in RECORD time... The only bad part was that I felt jipped - we could have played TWO games that day!

The BBQ was great I got to see the peeps I hadn't seen in a while. As usual our host ensured hight quality stuff by enforcing a new rule: No Store bought Potato Salad in those HUGE tubs. Somehow one tub still managed to sneak past quality control and sat unopened the whole night. I do believe that somewhere someone did devise a marketing plan for all those people who go to BBQ's that are either cheap, or too damm pressed for time to think of what they are buying (most often its both). A POX on them I say...

Well the pic above is Carmel showing off her legs (not on purpose I believe) and grabbing her charcoaled chicken sausages from the grill... I will admit one of the heartiest laughs I had all day was Jeff trying to be his ol' slick self, tossed a huge bag of TP across the street and it totally fell apart! It was the funniest thing - unfortunately I only caught the remnants of Jon rushing to help pick up the much needed TP rolls before oncoming traffic. I like the shot as there seems to be this one roll of floating TP by the tree, which Jeff threw and was getting off the street to avoid getting run over. Precious!


The night was wrapped up with a beautiful light show from mother nature, and a U-tube festival, which was to be done outside - but instead we ended up cramming everyone inside. Still everyone suggested fun clips, that were mostly entertaining... Alas my clip was rejected for being too long :(

Take me out to the Ball Game

Let me start with: The Florida Marlins SUCK! Yes my home town team, which are doing decent, got whipped by the lowly Washington DC Nationals. I got to see the first of the three looses in person thanks to Karoline & Kara (pictured with me and Tracy). This was officially my first ballgame of the season and we were lucky to score some nice high nose bleed seats - we did have two seats in a very good location though James, Tracy & I stopped for food and drinks while the others headed straight for the good seats... alas they got kicked out and headed for te nosebleed section. Not being informed of this, the three of us headed for the good seats, despite everything - we stayed there for the whole game. Eventually the rest of the group trickled down between inning as the Marlins just dug a bigger whole getting shut out 6-0. Well at least the seats were good!

There is a simplicity about a baseball game with friends. I wont watch a game on my own. It's actually kind of boring unless you're a stat freak like Stephen (My roomie). What I like is the great weather & going with friends - it's all about the comraderie... peanuts - beer- bad stadium food (does anyone really believe that a new stadium will really have better food?? yeah ! Right...) . If your going to enjoy a game of any type - go see baseball or soccer. The pacing of the game is just right to be able to enjoy the game and your friends.

So after the game we head to Finn McCools in Barracks Row, which Kara was gladly to reclaim as hers now that one of her exes is leaving the city ( he lived in that area). I was surprised to run into Tom and Angela there, who recently got hitched - and I had not had much time to talk to them since sometime before then. Unfortunately this meant that I missed out on the dart throwing... its a shame, throwing sharp objects is FUN!!!

Maybe we should call them The The's

The last two nights were a great night for music. On Wednesday, I went to the Rock and Roll Hotel for the first time since I've been in D.C. Well I guess that can't be too hard since the place is barely a year old, if that. Three of us went to see The Cedars (a local DC band), The Changes (From Chi-town) and The Cinematics (pictured, from Scotland). This outing was initiated by Ray after being emailed in the afternoon saying these guys (all three) are God's next gift to music, well now I am using his style of exaggeration, but thats a different story. I was glad that Dana was also able to come along - so that made it three peeps to see THE Three bands.

Needless to say, I passed by my good buddy's Wayne's row house before hand for "pre-club liquid consumption" and helped grill up some fantastic chicken that Jerry had brought and eat it of course! Along with salmon soft tacos, fresh pineapple, and delicious chips and guacamole -oohhh yeah I was happy.

Let me get back to the RnR Hotel! This place was VERY COOL. I wish I had taken more pictures but the upstairs has all these various "rooms" with couches, that look psuedo vintage, and all decorated with music posters (I would gamble they are high quality prints of them vs the real thing) schedules of different tours, even an ad for the 9:30 club when it was at its original location.

I think one of us mentioned, that these rooms almost looked like make out rooms, especially since the prominent color on the walls was a very RICH RED! Sadly the only pic I took was of the downstairs mens bathroom... Yeah!! This is by far one of the best club bathrooms thus far, and yes its weird that I noticed it, and even weirder that I took a PICTURE of it!!- this rocked!!! I mean look at it! It has:

1. A place to put your beer
2. A Naked trucker women on the walls
3. The thing is CLEAN !!
4. One flush takes care of it all!

So from my untrained musical ear- here is my assessment of the three "The's" as i dubbed them since they all started with well .... "The". First up The Cedars - Good jam group, but they seriously need a lyricist... really dudes, when you only sing for a minute then play for 2 and call that a song... well you all need work. Second - The Changes - A little more cohesiveness would be good, but overall these guys did a good job. The lead vocals were clear and they really changed it up with their instrumentation without compromising their overall sound. Most interesting was the drummer switching to the Xylophone, and the lead singer, Darren (pictured with Dana and me), using maracas on the drums. I am curious to see how hey sound in the studio (i.e. on the CD) - I have a feeling they are a more interesting live band than a studio band.

Finally The Cinematics - These guys just pure jammed! Though typical of brit rock (IMO) where the vocals felt a little drowned out, the bassist more than made up for it & totally rocked the place. Overall they proved why they were the headliners.

Thursday I went to IOTA to see Paul Michel, and Two if by Sea. I like Iota, something about its simplicity. Unfortunately I missed half of Paul Michel's set, what can I say I was distracted by a pretty woman. When we got there we caught the last 2 1/2 songs of the set. From what I heard he was pretty cool - I will have to catch him again. Next up was Alphabetical Order, whom I quickly dubbed Alphabetical DISorder due to their chaotic sound changing the whole rhythm, tempo, sound in one song two or three times. It just sounded as if they didnt know their identity. On the bright side they had 3 decent singers, one of them being the very Tina Fey looking bassist. Finally the much touted Two if by Sea from Bal'mer (Baltimore for you out of towners).

I had heard of these guys from the Six Points Music Fest where I first heard the Roosevelts (this was the weekend before the Morris Cabin trip). I should have stuck around and heard these guys back then. They rocked!! First they were picky about the sound, and stopped the first song, because it didn't sound right - it got fixed, and they were very cool chatting personably with the audience while it got fixed. But once that was done they launched into an even better song that had the audience moving - a rarity for this city where people just.. stand around and listen... IT'S MUSIC PEOPLE !!! MOVE A LITTLE!!!! - yeah - that's my one rant for this post.

Well worth sticking around for!!!

Pho Ball Fun!

Oh that heavenly dish called Pho! This Sunday I participated in my friend Linny's 1st annual Pho-ball fest. We ate appetizers, pho, and waaaaaaaaay too many sugary snacks. Though that I discovered that there existed GIANT POCKY was well worth all the sugar and sodium ingested.

This definitely helped flush out everything from my system from the previous day apparently you can get the Champagne of Beers for just 1.50 at the Hard Times Cafe in Clarendon. Alison was nice enough to buy me 3 of these watery pieces of junk - Hey Big Spender! Of course 3 beers doesn't do a person in... I'll attribute that later on when I went to my neighbors party....

Needless to say I missed the next days Billy Goat hike in Great Falls.

After enjoying Pho - Linny decided it was Pho-ball time, and was joined by here brother, Andrew, Kevin, Randy, Darren& Jon, even Joel. We managed to have a VERY subdued cheering section, so subdued that we forgot they were there. On the field, despite a gimpy knee I managed to not contribute much other than a bunch of chaos to the game, but thats fine - its just going to add to my Crazy Cuban Uncle persona that I apparently need to fill in my family. One of the first catches I got on a kick off, I got a nice scrape to commemorate my first pho-ball event ever... 2 days later... yeah it still hurts.

Though mostly I just ran allot, I generally didn't throw all that well (very rusty) , didnt get passed to all that often - though in the end, when we all put the whole game into the team that would score the next TD, I managed to get that win! (where are the cameras when you need them?) I won the impromptu Pho Ball Trophy for my troubles, and kept my knee in one piece!

I'll definitely say that I was tired that night and took a VERY restful nap.

Since I really don't have pictures to share about Pho-ball, instead I put pics up of the next night's dinner with Dave, Allison & Denise while house sitting for my sister, needless to say - a very nice evening (especially since everything goes better with wine!)

Random Ramblings; as promised

So as I ponder the job market in DC, and the myriad of specifics that all these employers want, I wonder- who the hell is on crack here!!

Example: I got a temp gig to fill out the Tues-Friday vacumm - extra income never hurts. As it turns out - not that I am complaining much - it ends up bieng just allot of sitting around. If it wasnt that I had my job search to keep me busy - I would be bored dead now!

Well maybe just nuts instead of dead, but I am already that, so no big loss there. I am just surprised that someone would pay me MUCH MORE money to sit around and do nothing. I definately have been in the wrong business!

Now back to our regularly scheduled monotony............