Finally, I went to new wineries!

Late harvest grapes at Breaux Vineyards.

Yeah, I was stuck in a rut. I had been hitting up the wineries down Hwy 9 far too long without venturing elsewhere. Granted, Breaux Vineyards is still my favorite spot to visit, I have a new set of runners-up!

This past weekend Dawn and I made our way out to BFE (read: Haymarket) to grab her some shoes for her Halloween costume from her friend Jax. Since we were already down Hwy. 15 I figured we might as well hit up a couple of wineries around the area.  As such we first

Nearly the entire flight at LaGrange was dellectible.

headed to LaGrange Vineyards near Haymarket. Being Halloween there were decorations out and the entire staff was dressed in costume to celebrate the day. The grounds are very nice and the house where the tastings are done has a very nice setup inside. We decided to have the full flight to taste and we were both surprised to find that Dawn’s palette is FINALLY coming around to something other than ice wine! The most intriguing selection was by far the Port-style Snort which will definitely find its way into my wine rack soon! The knowledge and hospitality of the staff during the tasting was what really set this place firmly behind Breaux as me second favorite vineyard in NOVA.

Next we decided to forgo Quattro Goombas in lieu of Chrysalis and we were not disappointed. Though it was a windy day they still had several tasting stations setup outside. The weather was gorgeous so I didn’t mind, but the wind was really borderline for doing such. Eventually we began the tasting and I was again impressed by the quality of the

The patio wines are something you can enjoy with anyone in the afternoon.

wines here. They’re very proud of their use of the Norton grape, the only indigenous wine grape in VA. It’s actually refreshing to see them take some local pride in this and also that they offer some wines that aren’t at the normal boutique prices. Overall I enjoyed the tasting, especially the two patio wines are not only refreshing, but very well priced for anyone to enjoy.

If you’re planning on heading out for a couple of new wineries then I definitely suggest putting these two on your list! These are two places you will definitely not regret visiting!

Lookin’ Down My Nose At All Of You!

Headed to the island.

Ahhh….what a vacation. I’ve finally returned from a nice vacation on Martha’s Vineyard in the small township of Oak Bluffs. I was invited months ago by my roommate and decided I really couldn’t pass at the chance. I mean, what guy wouldn’t want to stay in a house with six women? And one bathroom… Thank God for alcohol!

We headed north Wednesday evening towards RI for the night. The drive wasn’t too bad as I was able to see NYC and such for the first time, listen to “Washington Washington” on the George Washington bridge, and sniff out the big issue to even traveling through NJ. We finally arrived around 1:30AM. After crashing on the couch for a few hours we picked up two stragglers and headed towards MA to catch a ferry to the Vineyard.

The seats up top were nice and breezy!

After a 45min ride across the choppy waters we finally arrived at Oak Bluffs. We ended up in this nice little house that’s both across the street from a small market and two doors down from a BBQ joint…yeah…it was calling my name… But first things first! Champagne toast with all of my new friends, then wine, then more wine, and finally a chaser of wine. That evening we headed out to the Offshore Ale Co. for dinner and drinks. I’m definitely glad we were vacationing off-season because this place isn’t huge and I could just see waiting 2 hours or better any other time of the summer.

I love burgers...

The food? Excellent. I had my first ACTUAL New England Clam Chowder and it was outstanding. I also grabbed a burger here since it was voted best of the island for 3-4 years running. Although it’s no Ray’s, it’s pretty damn good. The fries are excellent as well, you know the kind with the little bits of batter and such. Mmm…Delicious. Of course, I also had both the Offshore Ale Amber Ale & their Stout, both of which were tasty. The Stout was a bit strange though as it’s 10% ABV and fairly sweet.  After that we started a weekend love-story with the Lampost and had a few drinks on a dead night. Finally, feeling the lack of sleep hitting hard, I headed back to the house and crashed out. The night was…eventful enough for me at the time.

Christian made it all the way through Atlas Shrugged waiting on the bathroom.

Friday started off with a great breakfast cooked by several of the girls, and it was delicious! Next up? Lunch. Obviously. We made the walk down to the shore after a bit of a break and to the rooftop patio of Nancy’s. An overpriced burger and beer later we were really on our way, off to the bus stop to check out some other part of the island. Of course, this was never really straight because I was in a group with six women and one other guy. Needless to say, Christian and I decided we’d go it alone and grab mopeds for the day…except the price of two mopeds is the same as a convertible…hrmm…So we cruised around the island in style the rest of the day.

There are some gorgeous views on the island.

That evening I was the man in charge and took my place at the grill. I grilled up some Conecuh Sausage (I had to introduce these yanks to some REAL food) while the women took care of the mac & cheese and corn. After some grub we headed back to the Lampost for drinks, dancing, and debauchery. A good time was had by most, and eventually I again decided the night was ripe for a bit of sleep.

Now, Saturday. Ahhh… Saturday… God how I love Saturdays in the fall. Why? FOOTBAW!!! But, hold up now, I’m in the middle of nowhere and my team is playing only on ESPN Gameplan…crap. Never fear though, i was out of the house quick and in town visiting every single restaurant with a bar and TV that was open. Where did this lead me? Lampost. Thank God for the Lampost! After several misses, I hit it big here and

The Crew

had the game on just in time to see Alabama score their first TD. Beer in hand, happiness abound, I invited all of the roommates down for Alabama Slammers on the house. After 6 beers (Offshore Ale’s IPA) and an Alabama Slammer later, I was off with a smile on my face (we kicked ass) and off with Hawkes to another bar for food and (as added entertainment) harassment of a Tennessee fan bartender. It was a tasty little meal, a decent beer (Green Monsta), but harassing a UT fan always wins my favor.

After a bit of a nap, it was time for food and the last night on the town. I headed next door to grab some of the BBQ at Smoke’n Bones. After ordering my overpriced fare to go I decided to read up on the proprietor.

I roomed with insane people.

It seems the Pit Boss is actually from Florida, so there was some hope that maybe these ribs wouldn’t be terrible. I grabbed the Memphis-style ribs and fries. The ribs were surprisingly good. Better than DC has to offer. There was a lot of smoke to the meat, it was seasoned ok, and the sauce provided had a nice flavor as well. Hell, the most surprising thing was how good the bite was. I honestly was impressed with the degree of tenderness. Not falling apart, but easily “bitten” off the bone. I really only had two major issues: 1.) They didn’t remove the membrane. 2.) The smoke was there, but it wasn’t good. I think they need to alter the types of wood they use to smoke and it’d vastly improve the flavor.

The womens are fun to go out with.

Afterward, the womens had decided we were all going to karaoke. Grrrreeeeeaaaaatttttt… The guy with stage fright issues just LOVES this idea. Nonetheless, the prescription to being a better public speaker is always to put yourself out there, so I started with pregaming. After vodka shots we make out way to the bar (Seaside? I forgot.) where I began pounding the beer. Why? So I could sing. The women thought this was an EXCELLENT idea and I was soon in line to sing. All in all, I really had no issue getting up to sing. (I really wasn’t drunk for the first song, I’m just much better in front of audiences after years of putting myself out there. Go me, right? Sure, whatever, I kept drinking anyway because you just can’t sing Soul music sober. I think that’s a rule somewhere.)

Headed home, awaiting the boat.

Sunday wasn’t exactly my favorite day to see. I wasn’t hungover, as I never am, but we still had to pack, clean, ride a ferry, and then drive 8 hours home. Exciting. Not. Especially after traffic, detours, and arriving VERY late Sunday night. It was definitely nice to sleep in my own bed though.

Needless to say, I’m ready to head back to MV for another vacay. It was relaxing, and fun. The island was akin to going home for me. I grew up on a similar island, except we had

It'll be nice to see these sights again...

condominiums and bridges. Otherwise we have the same year-round population, tourist season, and jobs dependent on good seasons. It was a nice time and I’d highly recommend it to anyone…in season…because I don’t want anyone else where when I visit.

Flights, Friends, Freaks, and Football!

Dragon*Con: Where geek women are not afraid to show copious amounts of skin.

Holy mother of God, what a weekend! I decided to go balls to the wall and take a 5-day Labor Day weekend. Hells to the yes! I definitely did my best to make the most of every moment I had free, and still slept in.

It all started Thursday when I woke up at 3AM to catch a 6AM flight out of DCA. Dear Airtran, please never move my flight to 6AM again. Nonetheless, everything was on time and I made it to ATL by 8AM. There I met up with my very good friend Allison and we headed back to her place before swinging by Dreamland for some outstanding ribs and white bread. Mmmm… It wasn’t the original, but still damn good compared to DC-area BBQ.

Next up was some hanging out before we headed out to Taco Mac to open up the 2009 College Football Season with the viewing of South Carolina vs NC State. It wasn’t the most exciting game, but it was great to finally see football on TV again. Later on my good friend Daniel showed up and we made headway on both the beer list and football by watching Boise St. vs Oregon. I eventually made it back to the house and hit the sack hard.

Malleteers just hanging out on random street corners is not unsual behavior.

Friday I MARTA’d into the city to grab grub with Dave from Mallet, but I ended up late and met up with him after his Farscape session. That’s right. Farscape. Wondering WTF? Dave and 100,000 of our friends were at Dragon*Con. I ended up meeting up with Dave and several other Malleteers to hang out the rest of the day, but not after taking several photos of some excellent and not-so-excellent outfits, but that’s another blog entry. We ended up grabbing grub at some 24hr dive that served up rolly chairs and a penis-shaped sandwich. I called it a night and MARTA’d back home after that.

Alabama vs Virginia Tech 2009 Baby!

Ahhh, then Saturday rolled around. GAMEDAY. I headed into the city late and missed the Dragon*Con parade, but I was able to get a few more photos before David arrived to head toward the Dome.

I chatted with Laura Croft while awaiting David's arrival & charging my iPhone.

Once he arrived we made our way to Centennial Park and found all of nothing happening there since the concert had yet to start. We then decided to find a bar that had both beer and televisions. Somehow we ended up down a side-street at Sidebar. We started knocking back a few beers while watching football but then we realized something quite strange. 1.) We were outnumbered by castrated turkeys a good 5:1. 2.) This was a Florida Gators bar. Sonofabitch. There was no way in hell I could stay after both of those realizations, much less one.

Do not get int he face of and shove a rival fan or you will get hit. Twice. In the face.

From there we headed back out and made our way to the CNN Center for some huge, cold draft beer with Daniel and his friend. After a couple of those we made yet another trek on down to Matt’s tailgate across from the Dome. They grilled me up a tasty deerburger before David and I finally made out way into the Dome about and hour prior to kickoff. Our seats were five rows from the top of the upper deck on the 15yd line. No complaints here, we had an AWESOME time inside. Alabama’s band AND football team took care of business. That’s just how we roll. I was exhausted by the time I hit the couch around 1AM, and I had lost most of my voice as well.

We were SARDINES on the way home from the game.

Finally, Sunday rolled around. Not a moment too soon because this weekend was killin’ me. It was time for a vacation during my vacation. Allison and I decided to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. It was a fun experience since she has no bread machine for the dough, no rolling pin, no bread hook, and no experience baking. Nonetheless, we both prevailed and ended up with some extremely tasty rolls! It was find to also spend the day hanging out with her all day. I do miss my good friends being close by these days. Nonetheless, the evening rolled around and I was due back to the airport for my 10PM flight. I made it back into my cozy bed around midnight and was quite glad to be there. Of course, I could have made it faster if we didn’t have to park the plane in BFE at IAD and use those godforsaken shuttles back to to baggage claim. Since it was a late flight we had to wait for the entire crew to load up before leaving. Of course, things could have gone much quicker if these IDIOTS didn’t stop to sit in the first seat on the shuttle and park their baby carriages right in front of them so no one can get by. Not to mention the others that just HAD to roll their small suitcases behind them no matter how crowded the aisle was. I’ll be damned if they could pick the thing up and just carry it in order to navigate easily. What in God’s name is so difficult about that?

At any rate, I decided to take it easy today. Look forward to another post on Dragon*Con later on.

Sweet Home Fourth of July

Random candid of my cousin Amanda. When I get bored, I just shoot.

Wow, what a week! I decided to take a bit of vacay and head down south for the Fourth. I was going to hit up Airtran, but at the last moment my good friend Dawn had her plans canceled and we decided to make it a road trip instead! After pushing my flight to credit we loaded up her SUV and made some headway on Wednesday evening. We scored a sweet hotel room at the Marriott in Chattanooga on Priceline at less than a 1/3 of the advertised price…I shit you not.

The next day we made our way down to Montgomery for a little lunch at Sinclair’s with my best friend Annie. Not only did she treat us to a killer burger, but also gave us a tour of her mother’s gorgeous antebellum house that’s being remodeled (I plan on shooting it when done! Oh hells yes!) and me a bag full of venison! Tough to top that! The last little stop on the way was in Loxley where we grabbed strawberry milkshakes at Burris Farm Market. They are phenomenal! We finally hit up the beach around 6:30PM and made good with the folks before heading down to catch a glimpse of the sand and waves at night on Florida Pointe.

Friday was spent running around all of tarnation. We hit up the store since I was cooking later that evening and eventually made it up to Oysterella’s on the Causeway. We dined in for lunch with my Mom overlooking the U.S.S. Alabama.  The food was average for a similar sort of restaurant, and thus nothing to write home about. From there it was a haul back to the beach, stopping both to pick up Dawn a houndstooth U. of  Alabama hat and to pick up 5lbs of royal reds from Blalock’s Seafood. It was definitely a welcome feast when I steamed those up later that evening. Mmm… Prior to that though, I had to introduce Dawn to Dippin’ Dots (how has anyone not had them!?) and grab a beach dress for her at some local beach shop. All went well, dinner was delicious, and we ended the night by going to see the Orange Beach fireworks. Sadly, they were cut to around half the normal length, but they were nice nonetheless.

Beginning of the finale.

The Fourth came along the next day and we headed for a morning on the beach. It was gorgeous weather and hot as tarnation! Nonetheless, we had a great time walking up and down the beach, wading into the waves, and getting the powder white sand EVERYWHERE. From there we headed home for the huge party my family puts on every year. With over 30 friends and relatives over, we had a huge meal of steaks, ribs, burgers, and all of the essential side-dishes.

Sunday we decided to start the trip back to VA. We headed out early and started the trip with a delicious brunch at Spot of Tea in Mobile with a close friend of mine. The bananas foster french toast was outstanding! Paired with the strawberry sweet tea out on the patio, it all made for a great start to the day. We continued on our trip up the back-roads of Alabama, making our way through 43, 5, 25, and 69 right into God’s Country: Tuscaloosa, AL.

I gave Dawn a nice crash course in the glory that is Alabama’s campus, pointing out the important spots (including the current home of the Mallet Assembly. MUA bitches!). After chillin’ again with my best friend for a bit we all headed over to Dreamland for the best damned ribs anywhere. I treated everyone to a couple racks of ribs and delicious banana pudding. Mmm… Sadly, all good must end and we headed towards B-ham for the night to stay at my bro’s.

Sadly, this was the end of the fun for the most part. Monday was spent driving the final twelve hours to NoVa. Tuesday was spent recovering from the vacation, and Wednesday was a full day of work. Exciting, right? Exactly. So, I’m back up north and back to discovering good food, good fun, and good people. I cannot wait to fire up the grill and throw on some venison and sausage! Looking forward to making y’all jealous soon!

More images on my flickr: Family & Fireworks

Artomatic is a MUST SEE event in DC!

The rubber duckie reminds me of one of my best friends, Marmar...Miss her.

I know, a normal post title. Lame? Maybe, but it took something amazing to convince me to do so. Artomatic is a local DC art show that’s in its 10th year and showcasing the work of over 1600 visual & performing artists. Needless to say, this is nine floors of awesome.

I first heard of Artomatic via twitter since a couple of people I follow(ed) actually have displays in the show. I’ve been excited about getting down to see it and I was blown away by the entire thing. I headed straight for Lady Glock’s display to admire her photography. It wasn’t long before I was able to hook up with her and hang out for awhile. She’s a cool cat and a lot of fun to harass/talk to.

From there I decided to venture around as much of the space as I could before they closed (at 1AM no less). Since I only had an hour I didn’t get a chance to study too much, though I was caught several times by many works that were simply amazing. I’ll most definitely be heading back in the coming weeks to take more time exploring all of the unique, interesting, and at times hysterical work.

Me? A geek for liking this?...neeeevveeerrrr...

While many of you might not be huge on seeing art, I think this is a worthwhile trip for anyone to make. There is every type of art imaginable in this show, including a huge peeps diorama collection! How crazy is that? There’s just enough of a variety to entertain anyone at some point and make the trip worth it for everyone.

Oh, and did I mention there’s a Hard Time Cafe & Bar? Yeah, and art show with alcohol. How badass is that?

For kicks, here’s a few artist’s websites that had work I loved:

Lady Glock
Candace Keegan
Matt Dunn

Knitters on skates? Well, not really…

I can’t say my past weekend was terribly boring all considering. I spent Friday night at the Old Dominion Brew Pub watching the Caps with several new friends and had a great time…even though we lost. That’s right, ‘we’! I’ve never really been a fan of any pro sports, but the Washington Capitals seem to fit in well. How?

1.) I wanted to learn about hockey.
2.) They’re local.
3.) Most importantly, they ROCK THE RED!

As you have probably heard by now, the Caps just lost Game 7 and will have to try again next year. At least next year I’ll be able to enjoy the full season with plenty of meetups at the ODB and maybe even a few games in person!

Lots of flying umbrellas in the wind Saturday.

Saturday I had to miss the game for other obligations. I started out grabbing some breakfast at the farmers’ market and relaxing for a bit on my couch. Around lunch I headed down the orange line and ended up in front of the White House shooting photos of CODE:PINK protesters as they protested war all over the globe. There were plenty of women out and they were very kind in allowing me to wander around shooting any and all photos I wanted. These women weren’t nearly as crazy as the IMF protesters from a couple weeks back.

After a nice hot walk around the park, I decided to head back

BAD-ASSED WOMEN!

to the Metro and book it over to Eastern Market to chill at the Starbucks and recharge my phone. Next I headed over to the Nat’l Guard Armory to watch the DC Rollergirls Championship and it rocked! The house was packed and I took a ton of photos, but you’ll have to head over to flickr to check them out.

Sunday was fairly uneventful, but I did mow the jungle of a lawn we have. Holy hell, 10 days of rain make for 18in of grass and a full-to-the-brim trash can of clippings. This week I plan on getting the plants I have repotted, hitting the farmers’ market up again, and who knows what else!

Weenend-o-Wanders Part I (FOOD!)

It was a nice break from work, taking off Thurs-Mon, to have my best friend in town to visit. It was time for another weekend-o-the tourist! Needless to say, we wandered around a bit, but it was somewhat directed. I have a few updated opinions about former subjects, so let us get down to the juicy tidbits…

Ray’s Hellburger – Friday night we rocked out in style and hit up the best damn burger in the region! Once again, they didn’t let down as they keep putting out excellent quality beef patties. Annie, Beje, and I dove in and were extremely satisfied afterwards. I got my usual “Let’s Get It On” and it was like sex in your mouth. Mmm… I almost felt as if I needed a cigarette afterwards…

Ella’s – Friday for lunch we dove into an excellent feast of ‘za! The quality is still supurb and any wait is well worth it here. Annie discovered a new way to skimp and ordered a pizza with arugula on it. Since the arugula it added post-baking, you can eat it off the top like a salad and then dive into your pizza! Excellent call Annie!

Pollo Factory – This place is just a given. It never waivers from a standard of excellence. Any place that can deliver white meat as moist as this place is golden in my book. The pollo is always seasoned and roasted to perfection! Kudos on a job well done!

Coastal Flats – This was my first weekend to check this place out. It’s owned by Great American Restaurants and they have a thing with creating great food and atmosphere. I only went because my roommates work there, and I’m very picky when it comes to any type of seafood restaurant. The bar service is superb, but I’m also a bit biased since one of my roommates was my bartender. I did have a few issues here: 1.) The food service to the bar is lackluster. The servers mix up orders, forget bread, and basically kill the bartenders’ chances at good tips on a regular basis (all this from observing for a few hours). I don’t know how their serving system works, but it’s obviously broken here. 2.) My “firecracker shrimp” came out looking and tasting delicious…mostly.You see, these shrimp are butterflied prior to frying. Doing so serves several purposes, one of which is the allow for the removal of the shrimp’s shit-tube. Of course if it’s not removed, as was the case with half of mine, it’s on glorious display (front and center) and actually accentuated by the butterflying.Being raised on the Gulf Coast it didn’t really bother me, per-se, but if I’m paying someone this much to cook my food then they need to prepare it properly.

Eastern Market – Once again, this place delivers on EXCELLENT quality steaks. We grilled up several Sunday and then we promptly devoured them! Here’s my quick suggestion on a great meal:
Steak ==> Rub (salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper (black and cayenne)), grill medium rare, top with whole-seed mustard, top again with a load of fresh parm., broil to melt cheese, serve.
Mexicorn ==> Roast (sweet queen) corn, cut off cob, add lime juice, salt, cayenne pepper, and butter to taste.
Twice-baked taters ==> Bake, cut out oval in top, scoop out, mix insides with sour cream, milk, salt, pepper, cheese, put back in taters, cover with cheddar, bake until cheese melts.
Grilled onion ==> Cut (sweet) onion halves in thick foil, add lots of butter, throw on grill before you cook, remove when done cooking.
Hennepin Belgian Ale from Ommegang Brewery (Whole Foods, Harris Teeter)

Four Provinces of Ireland – This is my favorite place to grab a brew locally. The 4P’s is a laid-back, local pub with some great bartenders and an atmosphere you can enjoy just hanging out in. There’s nothing like relaxing here with a black & tan while munching on a bit of bar food. Did I mention they win the Taste of Falls Church nearly every year? Yeah, the food’s not too shabby…

Finally, The Original Pancake House — This place is a bit pricey for breakfast, but why not eat there for lunch? The blueberry pancakes are excellent and you MUST MUST MUST order the breakfast sausage and bacon on the side for your party. You will definitely not regret it. Also: fresh squeezed OJ & grapefruit juice ftw!

Part II still to come!

Southern Hospitality. Assholes. Happy medium?

It seems that while many here think themselves Southerners, they are not. I have heard many a claim on the Mason-Dixon line delineating the North from the South (yes, I disagree with wikipedia), but that’s a load of horse manure. While DC isn’t a bastion of assholery that NYC or Chicago can be, it definitely isn’t near the warm and hospitable South as experienced in Alabama, Georgia, North Florida, and Tennessee (Note: The further south you travel in Florida the further “north” you really are). As such I’ve decided to help people figure out where the South ends and what you can expect from the middle-folk.

From St. Augustine, FL. Far enough south to be north...

1.) Mason-Dixon Line: Traditionally, many people claim the South to be states that are below the famed Mason-Dixon Line. This line was surveyed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to settle a border dispute in the old British colonies. As such, this basically puts every state below Pennsylvania in the South. This line begs the question as to whether or not you just stretch it clear across the US. One can assume you would since it was once used to mark the line between slave and free states, but that would leave parts of Indiana and Ohio in the South, while relegating some of West Virginia to the North. And where does it end? California? Texas? This just seems to not quite fit the current South.

2.) Confederate States of America: Sure, we’d all like it to be this easy, right? Just mark down all the states from the CSA as the South and be done, but are they? I’ve already established that the southern part of Florida is the North, not to mention Texas is definitely mid-west. They’re…different…and arrogant. Then, one could also count all of Virginia in the South, but further along I will argue that Northern Virginia (NOVA) is indeed part of the North now.

By this method the South would include South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, & Tennessee. Then there’s the question of the states with dual governments such as Kentucky & Missouri and places claimed by the C.S.A. such as: Indian Territory, New Mexico, & Arizona. Finally, one would also need to consider the border states of Delaware, Maryland, & West Virginia. Holy crap! Talk about a mess!  I think that’s just too much of a hassle and far too antiquated a method for such a demarcation.

Mmm....southern fast food.

3.) Pork BBQ & Sweet Tea: This is my preferred method for delineation. Basically it works like this: To be a part of the South the area in question must produce both of these or one in total excellence. This gets rid of NOVA, MD, WV, most of KY, MO, TX, and southern FL. God knows DC isn’t in the south according to this method. There is hardly any decent pork BBQ in this entire region, much less good. Most non-southern inspired restaurant chains also do not carry sweet tea, and if they do it’s that God-foresaken Lipton Lemon CRAP that only WISHES it could be considered sweet tea. I thank God every day for places like Chick Fil A where I can grab some decent sweet tea on the run or a REAL southern chicken sandwich (screw you McDonald’s!).

Now, since we’ve established this isn’t the South, I must say it’s not the typical North either. People in DC & NOVA aren’t complete assholes,  just somewhat. Here’s what you can expect when you come here in comparison to what you’re acustomed to.

-People will not waive when you let them over in front of you while driving.
-Some people will hold doors, most won’t (the people who do are probably tourists anyway).
-You must be semi-aggressive to merge.
-Everyone wears their hats indoors.
-Most people don’t wait to start eating until everyone is served.
-Don’t expect a ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ terribly often.
-You will get strange looks when trying to make small-talk with the cashier.
-People will not acknowledge you when you walk past.
-The person that you think it making random friendly conversation with you is actually on their bluetooth headset. They now think you’re crazy.

This is just life. Sure, people aren’t as nice here, but they could be much worse. Overall, I’m loving the DC region. It has its pitfalls, but overall it’s a winner IMHO. Now, time to go make some sweet tea…

I love Saturday markets!

I could stare at this selection all day...

There’s no better way to spend one of the first gorgeous weekends in the spring than to head out to the farmer’s market. Saturday Beje and I hit up both the Falls Church Farmer’s Market and Eastern Market. The first was fun in that we were able to introduce my roommates and they were hilarious. It was almost like watching two kids in a candy store! With all of the excellent fruit samples, crab cake, and fresh mushrooms they were caught up in a whirlwind of delicious sights and tastes. (Yeah, R has a thing for mushrooms, but her fiance J is excited as hell for the umpteen thousands varieties of apples…and it’s not even peak season.) After a bit of ‘Bucks we headed back home to drop them off so they could head to work and Beje could drag me out to DC (yeah, drag….riiiight…heh… ).

I remember catching these when I was little!

We wound up having a tasty lunch with some of her friends (possible later post) and then headed down to the National Museum of the American Indian (upcoming post…possible rant…) before hopping over to Eastern Market. Mmm… I just love walking through and checking out the amazing cuts of beef, lamb, pork, seafood, etc.

I mean, come on! I grew up catching croaker off the pier in my hometown down on the bay. You just don’t see this on the menu anywhere, but I always loved catching them. Hell, they were about the only fish that made any noise! (Hence the name…)

Doesn't this make your mouth water?

On top of that, they serve up all kinds of old fashioned cuts of pork, with some you just don’t see ANYWHERE else. I can’t even get the Amish guy at the Falls Church market to sell me a raw pork belly! Here you can get that, brains, extra thick fat back, etc. Then move on down a both and you’ve got numerous kinds of fresh pasta and sauces. Across, numerous kinds of cheese, and further down a baker and organic poultry where they even sell the feet! You just have to love this place, especially since you can flip this all around, run to the other end and when you’re done salivating over the fresh seafood, you can turn around and get in line for some excellent soul food. There is just no other place like this in the region and no better way to start or end a day in DC…carrying home two excellent steaks to throw on the grill…damn that was a good day.

Tourist Photography or “How to not take craptacular photos”

Ok, so being a photographer in my off time (it’s a great destresser) in a tourist trap (second only to NYC in the US prolly) I get to see countless people taking HORRIFIC photographs. This will only increase exponentially when I hit up the inauguration next week. There will be over one million people here taking terrible photos of President-elect Obama getting sworn in. God help my sanity… Nonetheless, hopefully this will help a few of you get a couple of good photos while you’re in town.

Usually when I’m out and about and see tourists photographing other it’s so obvious from their technique that I don’t even need to see the photo to know it’s going to turn out bad. It’ll be one of the tons your kids will see once in a blue moon as they go through the heaps of photos that will inevitably be left to them when you die. They won’t be printed, framed, or even cared for because they’ll look like every other touristy photo ever taken. I’ll try to keep this obvious and simple so that though you may not be Ansel Adams, you won’t be stuck with a photo of your family as a tiny spec next to only half of the leaning tower of Pis… oh wait, that’s the Washington Monument.

People don't need to look into the lense or pose.

1.) Your flash does not matter at 30ft.
Hell, it doesn’t matter at 10ft. When you’re taking a flash photo of someone ot something, be within 3-7ft of the object. Built in flashes just aren’t that powerful and are useless further away. If anything they could either make your photo ok strange with the ground in front of you lit up brighter, or fool your camera into compensating for the natural lighting incorrectly. This means DO NOT STAND WITH AN ACRE BETWEEN YOURSELF AND YOUR KIDS AT SUNSET AND TAKE THEIR PHOTO. It also means that using flash to light up a huge scene is ludicrous. Some things you just can’t take a photo of at night w/o a tripod.
A small piece of me dies inside every time I see someone take a photo of the Washington Monument…at night….with a flash….from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial….half a mile away…

2.) Use your feet, not your zoom.
Walking up to what you’re shooting instead of using zoom will provide you with a much nicer looking photo. Zoom will kill the depth of your photo (literally) and you’ll lose some of the drama. (By the way, if Obama looks like a small dot in your viewfinder he’ll also look like a small dot in your print.)

3.) Use a delay with your tripod at night.
Many people are getting better cameras and learning how to use the very customizable options that come along with them. As such, people are experimenting more. When you use a long exposure be sure to se the camera to a delay timer. Just using a 1-2s delay will kill camera shake from your pressing the shutter. This is important for having a sharper image in the end result.

4.) Rule of Thirds.

Social Dissent in DC

This is an easy concept and very important. This can be violated in amazing photography, but for a beginner it can help improve what would normally be a crap image. No need for me to explain it, they do a great job here.

5.) Large objects should usually be far away.
Want your photo next to the Washington Monument…don’t stand next to it… Get far enough away to a where your subject and the monument are similar sizes. Also, unless you’re doing the “I’m leaning on the monument” photo from a distance, it’s probably good if your subject is leaning on a tree or looking somewhat natural with the monument as the scenery. (Sitting or leaning on a tree is also a good idea.) Just one other thing: Don’t let objects stick out of their heads (No trees, light poles, monuments, etc.).

6.) Respect the monuments and memorials.
Seriously people, have a little respect. Not to say you should enjoy your time being a tourist, but there are times for laughter and carrying on loudly, and there are places for solemn observance. Be respectful, make your parents and grandparents proud of you for once in your life (yeah, they never forgave you for dating that person back in high school and doing that thing that brought all of the embarrassment and shame to your family for generations to come…good time to try to make up for that a small bit).

7.) Don’t just rely on me. There are plenty of great tidbits to be picked up all around the web: Just try here, here, here, here, and here.

(You should note that this post isn’t so much an attempt to be the cure-all to your amateur photography woes, but more of an encouragement for you to improve your awareness in your travels via my tips and more-so via my links. Good luck! Happy shooting!)