Running with the Horses

Wait - didn't we cover this subject before? Well never mind that (ok actually mind it if you wish - I don't mind) since this is the what is now becoming a tradition to enjoy the Gold Cup Affair whether its International of the Virginia version.



Luckily I went back on my winning streak taking home yet more of Dave's $2 Bills and a few of his specially procured presidential coins (John Adams & Thomas Jefferson). I did not realize that the coins will have a different president on each run that is minted (2 or 3 per year?) Kind of neat similar to the State quarters that the mint did. Question is - do guys really want a junk load of change jingling in their pockets? SO the Jury is still out whether we transition to those $1 coins .... I figure at some point the demand will be for those good old Jefferson $2 bills as the dollar gets weaker.

12 days , 12 things ....

So how many people actually know WHEN the 12 days of christmas are ? NO not before the "big day" but actually after. And of course there is always that song "th 12 days of Christmas" blah blah......

Well this year I actually decided for some strange odd reason, that I would keep track of what I "got" during those 12 days. Though by this point the initial bits are fuzzy in my mind - Here it goes:

Day One: One Great Xmas Day brunch thanks to Stefanie & her amazing Mom!

Day Two: Found out Sally had a blown head gasket, apparently a common problem with Subaru's from 1998-2002

Day Three: A Happy Hour with 3 Margaritas! (you're kidding me on the day AFTER Christmas? - well why not - it makes the work day seem easier)

Day Four: I found the approximate repair bill for Sally would be a 4 figure number ($2,000 !!!) . On the lucky side I found a Pro shop a few days later who can slash 40% off that price - the catch is He cant do it until early February)

Day Five: Off To Mutton Top!

Day Six: At least 6 of us went chopping wood! (See the theme) plus it released alot of stress doing it.

Day Seven: Seven Bottle Rockets! (Goodbye to 2007!)

Day Eight: Head wound free since January 2nd 2008!

What you may say? well some may recall an particualr biking accident circa Nov 2006. Well I went all of 2007 without hitting my head REALLY hard on anything - but 2 hours into 2008 - Lo and Behold - I get into an argument with a door latch and I loose - big time. Luckily I have freinds who know how to bandage me up, even if it is a little overenthusiastic!

Day Nine: Fuzziness sets in, a boring nine hour workday....

Day Ten: Played a Great Game of Imperial! (yes I am a geek)

Day Eleven: Saw 11 Shooting Stars (I stopped counting after that)

Day Twelve: A Twelfth Night celebration

This was the capstone of the 12 days - A good dinner where I tried to recreate my Paella recipe from late September. And though it was different - it was nevertheless tasty! Even better that it was shared with good friends (right).

It was all to celebrate - even if it wasnt per the standard method- Three Kings day, also known as The Epiphany. For my family this was the official end of the holidays. The tree came down the weekend after this, there would sometimes be a parade on this day also. But the family wold get together and we would have a good meal together - though it was often times at a restaurant. I remember my grandparents ordering Paella on this occasion more than a few times. SO thus was my impetus to have a dinner with my family of friends. And its perfect timing. Since the holidays are soooo full - one can never throw a holiday party anymore - so throw a small afffair for some afterwards - BRILLIANT!

In the immortal Hannibal Smith's word : "I love it when a plan comes together"

So three Huzzahs! for my wonderfull 2nd family who came out for a great evening (which is what counts)

So on that note I this time leave myself a few thing to remember for the next time I cook Paella

1. It always takes longer than I remember to cook - 45 - 60 min to cut & prep, alot the same amount of time for cooking

2. The Sofrito is the key to the color, dont scimp on the tomatoes, they need juicy pulp (out of season tomatoes dont work as well)

3. As I needed to be reminded - the Mussels are good if they close (if they stay open before they are cooked its bad, if they dont open when cooked they are bad)

4. Clams are not as vital, Scallops do a better substitute

5. Hoard up on Spanish Chorizo - its harder to find than I thought - and the dish misses something when not used

6. Big burner is better than 2 small burners of a regular stove - and a bigger P.I.T.A

7. Seafood is cheap at the DC Waterfront! Take advantage of it - especially cheap Mussels!

8. It always helps to have an amazing sous chef! (how could I forget that point!)

Thats all for now, i'll add if I remember more.

Banging in the New Year

I have realized that I am not as engrossing as some of my other friends in writing, especially when one has a gift of gab, and often find myself slow on posting up stuff. So here I am with suddenly a zillion things to ramble about, 3-4 days later sharing my New Years celebration.

My good friend Jamie and her beau organized yet another amazing cabin trip like the Tulip Tree cabin or Myron Glaser. This time we went to much ballyhooed Mutton Top Cabin which was very near Morris Cabin. Needless to say despite shoving 9 people and 7 "dogs" into the cabin, it was a phenomenal and novel way to spend New Years eve. Avoid large crowds, avoid drunk drivers, and still be with some (sadly not all) of your great friends.

The days were spent chopping wood, chillin by the fire (some went hiking), spending time with firends - the night cooking, playing games, and ... chillin by the fire. We ate well too... so much for roughing it.

A few rebellious cabin-goers defied the no dress up pact (darn that was smart of them) and thus Jon & Alexandra promptly got declared King & Queen of the ball (oddly King didnt get to be King). Its hard to just put a narrative to the weekend, but here are a few cherished memories:

An AMAZING Sunset over the cabin & Valley

Wacthing the cold front moving over us, a thick line of clouds passing over and revealing brilliant stars overhead.

Waking up in the morning looking into the valley with just the hill tops visible as a blanket of low clouds/fog cover everything else - breathtaking!

Chopping the big 20 foot log of a tree and hauling another 25 foot fallen from the tangled vines & brambles for the bonfire.

Who would ever think you could have Pho at a rustic cabin! Thanks to Linny, we did, and made my stomach very happy.

Regretting a cool waterfall hike, yet I wouldnt have had my Tree experience if I had gone.

Hanging around the bonfire with Glog, Icewine & shooting off cheesy bottle rockets!
Stars Stars Stars!

Playing Bag of Nouns on Team Short Bus (since we were apparently soooo horrible we could be compared to ... well....). Bag O nouns is played by each player on a team writing 5 nouns on 5 slips of paper. Then in alternating order each team needs to guess as many words drawn from a bag/hat etc, which need to be guessed by the teams in 3 consecutives rounds via Taboo like fashion first, then bu using only one word, and the third round only in charades. Some interesting words people came up with:


Va-jay-jay, female pee funnel, Darren Biggs, Rickets, Buffalo Nickel, 3 different states, Jalopy, F-1 Racing, Quattro (think "Menage a Trois" +1, but in Latin), Grape Ape, and various other sundry & mundane words, of which I should seriously challenge!

Seriously this was a good way to cap off the Good Times in 07, and a Bang up way to ring in the New year (more on that later!)

Thankfully it's.............

Why do we need a holiday to be thankful for things? Why not do it all the time. Well I guess we forget to appreciate so we seperate this day aside. Thanksgiving is becoming one of my favorite holidays because it is the last sanctitude away from commercialization. Sure it started off rather differently, but over the decades, it has become something better.

Examples of victims are: Halloween, Easter, Mothers Day, July 4th, Presidents Day, and the ever infamous Christmas. Thanksgiving is one of the **BIG** truly American Holiday. By "American" I don’t mean citizens versus non-citizens, immigrants versus non-immigrants, blacks vs. whites, vegetarians versus meat-eaters, doves versus hawks, Republicans versus Democrats, Native-Americans versus Non-Native Americans, or rich versus poor. I’m not talking about any of the myriad things that divide us as a nation. I’m talking about all of us – the 300 odd million of us that make up America.

Admittedly there are a few holidays that are not fully invaded, like Veterans Day (unlike its cousin Memorial Day), yet it is the harbinger of that aformentioned Christmas shopping frenzy of black friday and the chaos that ensues. We are also often forced to the altar of the food gods for this holiday, but it isnt that bad giving our money for a Traditional Harvest feast to the farmers of america, if it wasnt for those twin evils of High fructose corn syrup and Hydrogenated vegetable oils. But yet I digress.......

For 364 days each year we may focus on other priorities in our lives. We are simply asked to reflect on the things that we’re grateful for. We don’t have to drink green beer, send gifts, carve pumpkins, buy cars, or shoot off fireworks.

We are asked, simply, to be thankful. And to this I wish to just say to all my friends, family, loved ones for bieng you - through arguements and disagreements, Good Times and rough, sour patches or overenthusiam, complaints and compliments; I am glad for those in my life. And if I don't say it enough, or sometimes forget to stay in touch - then know it is in my heart; Thank You ... all of you, for everything.

I hope your Thanksgiving is one of just that.

Mountains, Meadows & Morlocks

Spent a cool fall weekend at the Myron Glaser Cabin near Paris,VA for Kevin L.'s birthday. (above left is the composition of "Javin" ; Right is our Hike group @ Sky Meadows)

A first on this particular trip due to the hike in while raining and packing everything on me for the 2 miles from the car to the cabin. I don't think I had hiked anything like that since I was a Boy Scout. Even then, I don't think I carried as much as I did this time, or in such an awkward fashion compared to the rest of the group who had proper packs.


Eventually the rain stopped and we finally emerged into true sunny fall weather for a great hike to Sky Meadows along the old Appalachian Trail. It's kinda of strange in that I would have never guessed 4 years ago that I wold have enjoyed the mountains so much. But in a way I see it as a replacement for the beach, since the beach is always better! This trip was particularly cool in the sense that wildlife was actually spotted by my own eyes: 2 Deer, 1 Bald eagle, at least 2 hawks/falcons of some type - one extremely low-flying over us as we ate lunch at Sky Meadows, and various turkey Vultures headed to South Florida most probably (pic of them on the Miami Courthouse) . This was in addition to the various uncounted songbirds heard in the forest.

The view was kind of neat at sky meadows - but pretty spectacular was the pseudo impromptu game of Frisbee at the top of what is effectively a plateau with a view of the Paris, V.A. farmlands.


Overall a better way to spend a pre-Halloween weekend eschewing the costumes and parties for this year..... Either way it seems as if some phantom figures (or ghosts) showed up anyway, leaving strange images on my camera. Only discovered 2 days later when downloading them, I finally figured out why my batteries were so low!



The following week I re-did Old Rag Mountain. It was even more amazing than in the spring with all the foilage in perfection! Although I didnt also do the rock scramble on the way down due to starting off rough with what I believe was a pain in either the Tibal Posterior or Flexor Digitorum Longus Tendon(s). Either way is seriuosly hampered me to almost a crawl for about 30 minutes before the pain was bareable. Despite it I worked through it and was well enough later on, but still wasnt up to the scramble down. Next time I do Old Rag- although I will miss some amazing foilage on the fire road back- I will do the scramble down! I am glad I stuck it out because the colors were AMAZING!

From OLD RAG fall ...

Of Horses, Steeples and Ferry's

Another year now comes with the coming of the International Gold Cup Steeplechase at the Plains in Loudon County, VA. Along with the spring cousin, the Virginia Gold Cup, these are great day of fun at the horse races with the gang. Our amazing coordinator Jeff once again needs a big congratulatory applause for this the 4th year. Bookie duties were handed back to Alexandra (since last time she was missing). Big difference though was that this year was the first time I lost money on betting on the horses (albeit only $4). Of note though was one of my friends and his comments on women chewing gum. He calls it "bovine", unless of course its some trashy girl...

So lots of fun was had by all, otherwise I leave you all to some helpful advice from Jon on the horses, and the more eloquent AB.

Next day was another early one as Carmel, Rob, Minah & I headed off to Harpers Ferry for a day of hiking, leaf peeping, and some historical stuff. Got to hike the Maryland Heights trail taking the road less traveled up to the Old Stone Fort. With our warm weather the leaf changes have been disappointing until this trip - finally fall weather is upon us, and this was a great weekend to usher it in.



Notes about Harpers Ferry:

• Don't go expecting a real town - it feels allot like Colonial Williamsburg in many ways, lots of fun to still be had though
• Don't miss the Ice Cream shop in town
• Check out the Cemetery at the highest point in town.
• Explore lock 33 on the C&O Canal. There is nothing that stops you walking on the canal itself
• Jefferson Rock Is climbable - just don't let the park rangers catch you.
• It would suck to be a Civil war soldier - apparently all they did was build rock walls
• Apparently almost any panoramic picture of Harpers Ferry will include that church steeple, theres no way getting around it.
  

Topping off a graet weekend is having my team win two games straight in a row - both Sat & Sun nights. No not the poor Dolphins who can't win this year at all, but the Red Sox. I believe it happens to be what we were wearing - lucky Pirate gear and lucky Dog - Reagan!!!!












With fellow Red Sox fan Mary, and her dog Reagan doing Blue Steel thus intimidating the Indians into loosing

The Sands of Time...........

It all goes by to fast. I spent a week on Carolla, NC (in the Outer Banks) and enjoyed every single bit of it (almost). Great people - good times - sleeping & waking to the sounds of the ocean. It's really hard to describe the week in the short space here , but I have definite highlights:

• As mentioned - an requires rementioning as #1: going to sleep & waking to the sounds of the ocean
• Poker Night!
• Delicious home made Crab cakes
• HOT TUBS!!
• Being able to see Stars again! - lots of them!
• Tennis! - such fun; first time since I was like 11 or 12 yrs old
• Fishing! I finally caught FISH!! and 2 of them (Bluefins) on my first cast!
• Puzzles - Puzzles - Puzzles - and a Puzzle Off contest!
• Rooftop Sunset watchers
• Water Ballons!! FIRE AWAY!!!
• Pirates! (specifically International talk like a Pirate Day - and the associated Fireworks)
  
• Paella!! My grandma would be proud.

It's The Great Paella Charlie Brown!

Tonight I made my first real Paella. I had just bought my paella pan, had the correct rice (Bomba), good Saffron, and Spanish Paprika - along with all the seafood I wanted. Ahhhh seafood... that is a big one.

Mind you it took me 3 hours to find some fresh squid as the guys from Sharky's Charters, Bait & Tackle sent me & Rob down out to Roanoke island to the town of Wanache. There we made stops at Oneal's which brings in the seafood from the trawlers in the "Industrial Seafood Commercial Zone". Well then, after having driven 25 miles (and stopping a 5 other places before hand), the guy tells us they have don't have them - despite the Sharky's guys promising up & down they would. At least Oneal's sent us to Ellsworth's a few blocks away. They had Squid for sure! Well they did, and we found out from this big guy in his late 50's with a classic NC OBX accent and oozed lifelong fisherman. Well we could buy all the squid we wanted as long as it was in 28 pound frozen blocks!!! Sure enough he sent us to back to a local market obviously called Seamart !!!

Ok I got my squid - and the Paella was a first of many. Although I knew how to make Sofrito (the tomato base sauce for many Cuban foods) - I had never actually made it from scratch being lazy all these years. OH how amazing that smell alone was filling the huge kicthen I had the pleasure to cook it in. Even more so was that since it was such a large group I was working TWO Pealla pans. Overall I was pleased with the outcome except that I used a little too much of the Hot Spanish Paprika... use less next time!
(of note the cook always makes better food when supplied with a glass of wine!)

A Day of Laboring

Well summer is unofficially over marked by the weekend where we honor all those (and ourselves if applicable) who do the work. And what do most of us do for this long weekend - we do a LOT of work to enjoy a little time off... is it ironic - not sure... maybe i'll go look up the definition again.

So despite not having to work to make plans to do nothing, I planned on labouring into my new digs. Yes people I now officially *live* in the District after moving about a bunch of the burbs in this city. So I spent a good portion of a whole week packing, moving, unpacking, re-organizing, etc... its more tiring than one would think. Taking a break Friday night I went to my friend Ali's Bday party intent to see what all the hubub about 1223 was.... well we had fun because the people - the club is over-hyped (2 out of 5) - for those that know it its a barely upscale Club Five .

(With Rebecca, Ali (the Bday girl), and Char Ann)
Not to make the weekend a total loss, I did 2 very last minute things. The most important was resuming my sereis of hikes about the area. Not having done any since the Amazing White Oak Canyon/ Cedar Run hike, I found it an easy re-introduction to get acclimated once again. Lots of ups and downs, on this one but with some nice views looking back from the foothills back to the flatter eastern approaches of what I believe is Loudon County. It was actually neat that this hike crosses state boundaries. Of an unusual nature was all the quartz strewn around the trail (I wanted to call it marble). Lots of shade from th trees also.

At the top was an strange feature - it looked like the area had been struck by lightning and part of it had burned. Apparently it is also frequented by rock climbers - I believe some day Jon might actually do this cliff face now that we discovered it, not that I see myself doing it though, that type of rock climbing is tough on my knees.



After the nice drive back, and a short nap - I headed to my friend Diana's little shindig of a BBQ. It was typical Diana BBQ - we go cause we know what to expect - friends - food - catching up - and interesting conversations like Abby's trivia on the ability to nail Jello to a wall (cant bedone under normal circumstances), or her collaboration of Eric's statement a few months ago that Graham Crackers (along with oatmeal and of course Corn Flakes) were all made purposefully bland to limit mens "excitability". Oh yeah - that's my type of conversation - weird and random.

Labor Day itself though meant a bit of labor (organizing/packing/unpacking again) but most importantly - The Return of Croquet ! And this time my first female partner, none other than Diana! Despite a strong start, eventually Jon (partnered with Matt) caught up to us on a good run and demolished our chances at wining. Actually it was quite closely contested, but Darren effectively gave the game away when he left his ball within easy striking distance of Jon's ball on the last wicket. Game set and match.

This informal group that gathered though brought a smorgasboard of amazing food - rather different from Jon & Darrens standard Big BBQ's. Mary brought cayenne pepper bacon encrusted shrimp, bangers (not sausages according to Jeff), Key Lime bars by Alexandra, Ann's amazing black bean dip, etc, etc.... Considering that no one planned anything, it was amazing. I brought some picadillo I had made and was overwhelemed at how everyone raved over the simplest of cuban dishes. I mean I didnt even make black beans to go with it. Anyway here is a decent recipe. A bit of a difference is I used diced tomatoes from a can (i'm a bit lazier) and use white cooking wine also.

Random Musings... again

SO I got a little older . My birthday shares dates with William Jefferson Clinton (boo or cheer appropriately as you wish), along with National Aviation Day, and what apparently I thought was Penguin Awareness Day, but alas, I cant find the culprit website that told me that. Well nevertheless I had a penguin birthday cake.

Thanks to all the well wishers, to Megan & Stefanie (with me in the pic) for not one but TWO delicious cakes and to Carmel for taking some great photos !

Things happen way too fast

So I know I am SO far behind here, I must apologize - Since July I have just found myself lacking time to do much on here. Since then a few highlights have been:

• Seen the Decemberists with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (amazing!)

These guys are great! I hopefully introduced a few fans (and one snob) to this amazing group. Maybe its a bit highbrow for some, but the lyrics (of which **I** Need a dictionary for some words) are smart and often tell neat stories. You know how music was often used in olden days to keep history.

• Took an incredible beach camping trip where I got to go in the water with bioluminescence!

Not since my trip to Puerto Rico 2 years ago (actually in Vieques) have I seen this. And surprisingly this far north! I always thought it was mostly in the carribean, although at Assateague (The Maryland side of Chincoteague from a few weeks earlier) it was not as bright as in Vieques. I was lucky enough to have a new moon though. Of course hanging out wth great freinds was awesome. More pics are ------> here <------

• Took my real first Kayaking trip on the Rappahanock River, thanks to my awesome friend Megan! Scott took some amazing photos, which is all I have left since I seem to have misplaced mine. Still somehow I was fascinated by the boathouse on the river... I must have taken a WHOLE bunch of them of that alone. Hopefully in late September I get another chance at more photos

There are a few more things but I'll details those seperately.

(at the Rappahanock with Dana, Carmel, me, Bill, Megan & Scott - dont forget to ask about the "Baconator"!!)

Tubing, Rockin, Its All so "Beaching"

WOW what a way to have to catch up on everything!

1) Tubing on the Shenandoah River with Hilary (Visiting from L.A.) , and the peeps on the 4th of July!! Gotta thank Jon for organizing this one! Of note was the awesome spot in front of the Netherlands Carrilion for the fireworks.... next year I am biking down... getting back was insane!

(pics from Darrens awesome waterproof digital Olympus camera , of which I want one, are -->here<-- Pic above is of George, me & Joel)

2) Carbon Leaf Concert - Of course Carbon Leaf Rocks - unexpected was how cool Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers were. Awesome on the stage - later as we listened to the album - is wasn't as high energy.... sad.

3) Day Trip to Chincoteague: Somehow this trip was soooo much fun! was it the company, was it because it was my first trip to the beach? was it Eric falling asleep?? Actually Its ALL of the above!! ... I miss the beach though & just lounging around, the warm feel of the sand and sun, and getting in the water when I please. I highly feel part of the euphoria was my first beach trip with my friends.
(thats Eric & Jon with me at the entrance of Chincoteague Island)

Things of note - even if they don't all make sense to everyone:

• Beware playing Journey or Air Supply on long car trips...
• Eric reads books while listening to Books on tape
• Seaweed necklaces RULE!
• I can still body surf just as good as those dumb body boards
• bring money when biking parks.... I couldn't go up the lighthouse because it cost $4 and I didnt have it on me.
• I had forgotten how funny Eddie Murphy's Delirious was.....
• My camera sucks.. I need a new one
• BEACH TRIPS RULE!!!!
  

Oh yeah I took home 2 lbs of shrimp for cheap!! Oh was that good! Thanks to those on these trips that made them all FUN!!!

more pics of Chincoteague here!

Not A Crabby Time

Well why else would it not be crabby when you eat at the Quarterdeck ??? My amazing friend
Hilary (w/ Ray in pic) came all the way from L.A. just to visit..... well mostly for her sister :) But yet we ate out with some MEETin people and Kara, Karoline, and of course the ever prevalent Ray! (no one else of note really other than "mumbles" who tried stiffing the rest of us on the bill....)

But that was just dinner with an amazing gal!!!! We headed to Dremo's afterwards - yeah that place wont be there long (Spring 08 actually) - We need more High rise condo's after all - forget about the establishments that made the neighborhood cool in the first place..... Anayway it was good to hang out with my peeps (Yusef, Stefanie, Megan, Dana, Liz, Kevin and a surprise showing by Wayne & Annie who had just come in from NYC!!!). Despite wanting to get home early, At Ray's insistence we continued to show Hilary the "historical evening tour"of Court House/ Clarendon area with a visit to Mario's Pizza...... yep.... greasy cheap good pizza...... Ok time to go home-

In a rip off to Rays "Whammies", I give the Quarterdeck two claws out of five... 1 for yummy food, and 1 for atmosphere, but nothing for the slow service (so what if they were filled to capacity) , and apparently cant keep a nice selection of crabs sizes for us... oh yeah beer selection sucks.....

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!)