The Two Hundred and Sixty Third...

Number Two Hundred and Sixty Three:

Dots Back Inn, Lunch, Corned Beef Hash

I managed to cut the grass before the brief rain storm, plus we went to Southern States to get some bird feed. Lisa asked if there was anything to eat out in the West End that sounded good, I couldn't really think of any, especially at 10:30 in the morning. Best bet is to head to familiar territory and Dots. We sat at the bar, flanked on either side by people we see at Yoga fairly often. Seek and Find is pretty easy this time.

The Two Hundred and Sixty Second...

Number Two Hundred and Sixty Two:

Erin, Lunch, Rice Salad, Beef & Broccoli Salad

Spent the day at Lisa's folks' place, a delightful little 19th century house called Erin. We were expecting a larger group of people but Lisa'a brother and his family couldn't make it due to stomach illness. That left Lisa and I with her folks, to birdwatch on the back porch with a nice cross breeze and enjoy a lot of salady food for lunch....and cake! A kind of belated celebration of Lisa's birthday. It was great to get out of town to chill in the country, despite all the assholery of those Tea Party signs on the way there. One remedy: don't even bother reading the illogical catchphrase, just flick the sign the bird as you drive by, very helpful!

The Two Hundred and Sixty First...

Number Two Hundred and Sixty One:

Lunch, Cookout, Burger

Hope had a dental appointment, looks like she needs her wisdom teeth out. Jeez, I hope that's not expensive.... anyway, she wanted a burger and so we went to Cookout. EVERYBODY on frickin Planet Richmond talks about how great this place is, blah blah and blah de blah. So OK, we didn't get the BBQ, we got burgers, should be the best in town, right? MEH. I say AGAIN, MEH. I mean they were fine and all that, but no where near a caliber of what people are saying about it. Tastes like a Five Guys rip off 'cept longer line in your car WASTING gas. MEH. And yeah, snarfed it down in the car on the way home.

The Two Hundred and Sixtieth...

Number Two Hundred and Sixty:

Home, 1 cherry tomato

So tonight, went to WRIR to co-host the Volunteer Orientation for the station. A great turn out with a good crowd very much interested in the station. Lindsey, my cohort in presenting, and I kicked butt, then went to the Camel below for dinner, Paul G. joining us as well. Noell told us there was some free folk show at the Firehouse Theatre so popped in there to see the last few songs of Homemade Knives. Quite and evening, so much so that I forgot to take a napstache. Se we'll have to settle for a cherry tomato at home!

The Two Hundred and Fifty Ninth...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty Nine:

Home, Breakfast, eggs

I know! My posts are so boring these past few days! Hey, cut me some slack, Beth Brown and I have practically finished the Richmond Macabre book and it should be out soon!

The Two Hundred and Fifty Eighth...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty Eight:

Home, Breakfast, eggs

TOMATOES!!!!!!!

One of the great things about growing your own cherry style tomatoes is that they just lay around everywhere all the time when in season. Kind of like that candy bowl your grandma might have had around the house, except healthier! Just so great to walk by and pop one in your mouth at random!

The Two Hundred and Fifty Seventh...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty Seven:

Dots Back Inn, Dinner, Meatloaf

After an invigorating yoga class, what better way to load back up on carbs than go to Dots for their Monday meatloaf! I've never had it before, it usually is sold out by the time I get over there, so we lucked out this time. Tasty!

The Two Hundred and Fifty Sixth...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty Six:

Home, Dinner, BLT, Rice Salad

You know what is great on a hot day besides bourbon and ginger in this glass?

BLTs for dinner with a nice rice salad that Lisa put together from a recipe from her sister-in-law. I know! You want the recipe! This is the full recipe you can quarter it to suit your need like Lisa did this evening, but it keeps well too!

Clear Garlic Vinaigrette

1 1/4 Cup salad oil

1/2 Cup white wine vinegar

1 1/2 teas. salt

1 1/2 teas. pepper

1 Tab. minced garlic

1/2 teas. dried basil

1/2 teas. dried oregano

1/4 Cup minced parsley

Rice Salad

6 Cups cooked rice (starts with 2 Cups of rice raw) a little less if you are not adding shrimp

1/2 cooked peeled shrimp, cut in thirds (Optional)

2 Cups finely chopped red bell peppers (or green)

3/4 Cup finely chopped red onions

1 Cup quartered cooked marinated artichoke hearts (Optional)

1/4 Cup small capers, drained.

1/3 Cup minced dill

1/3 Cup minced parsley

1/4 Cup golden raisins

1/4 cup dark raisins

Mixed greens (Optional)

Clear Garlic Vinaigrette

Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.

Rice Salad

Combine all the salad ingredients. Toss with the dressing and let marinate several hours. Serve on a bed of greens, or enjoy as a side dish.

Yum!

The Two Hundred and Fifty Fifth...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty Five:

Home, Dinner, Steak

Really called "some stuff on a plate" by Lisa, I grilled some flank when I could between the lightning, thunder and rain. Throw some tortilla chips, or pita, homemade salsa with our tomatoes, some cuke salad and it's a meal! Dull grey photo for the clouds outside that are sweating but not necessarily bringing lots of rain.

The Two Hundred and Fifty Fourth...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty Four:

Home, Dinner, Pizza

We watched the crazy film "Exit through the Gift Shop", a thought provoking documentary that makes you wonder what "art" really is, or how different people interpret what art is. L.A. is fucking crazy...

The Two Hundred and Fifty Third...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty Three:

The Camel, Dinner, Greek pizza

Since becoming a member of the Board of Directors for WRIR 97.3, I have started a nice little tradition before the board meetings; going to the Camel for dinner. The food is tasty, the beer good, and I like sitting at the bar shooting the shit with the bartender. Pretty much being the creature of habit, I get the same thing every time. This time I did change my routine from people watching the Green Drinks Business group that has a function most every time I'm there to putting the last bit of editing red ink I can muster on the Richmond Macabre Anthology. Nearly there, people!

Anyway, the bartender, Georgia, thought the 'stache was funny, but I didn't bother explaining why I did it because one of the people from the Green Drinks Business group was giving a speech at that moment.

The Two Hundred and Fifty Second...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty Two:

Home, Dinner, Spaghetti

Band practice was cancelled tonight, which turned out okay because it gave Hope and I the excuse to watch the fantastic documentary on WWII, The World at War. I remember watching this when I was around her age when it was on PBS and was totally haunted / fascinated by it. A thorough series on the War that still holds up today as one of the best on the subject.

The Two Hundred and Fifty First...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty One:

Tastebuds, Dinner, Bacon wrapped shrimp with Hanover tomatoes, cucumbers, lavender potato salad and blue cheese vinaigrette

The double dinner date wound up being wonderfully sporadic today. Our neighborhood friends Judd & Brian asked us over to show them how to set up an Evite, then suggested dinner afterward. We couldn't resist! After walking over to their house and helping Brian set things up, he has a book on Lewis Ginter being released in a week, we headed over to Tastebuds for some more fine food and conversation! And yes, I did have that awesome shrimp dish again and yes, it was delicious! A really great evening! I do look rather doofy in this picture, but then most every napstache is!

The Two Hundred and Fiftieth...

Number Two Hundred and Fifty:

Home, Dinner, Chicken tomato pita awesomeness

I think my ratio of doofy dumb shit happening today to totally freaking awesome stuff happening today is about 8:1. So screw the 8 bad things, the GOOD things that happened were awesome. Noah Scalin has been working on and excited about doing the cover for our Richmond Macabre, which looks completely what the three of us were digging! Kick ass! IN TUNE! So there is that, which is all I really need to get through today, hell, the week. The other good stuff today though? Great yoga class and a tasty homemade dinner; some sort of tomato from the garden salsa that Lisa made, and me grilling some chicken, onions and green peppers. Freaking good!

So 8:1, who cares, the good kicked the bad in the pants and sent it home to momma!

The Two Hundred and Forty Ninth...

Number Two Hundred and Forty Nine:

Home, Lunch, Tuna Fish sandwich

Loving the mild summer day with sandwiches on the patio! Lisa and I are having a debate on whether it is appropriate to put cheese on a tuna fish sandwich. She says no, it's weird. I say yes, look at a tuna melt, for example. It all comes to preference, I suppose (but I'm still right! ha!).

The Two Hundred and Forty Eighth...

Number Two Hundred and Forty Eight:

Tarrant's, Lunch, Cuban with Pork

After visiting Anna and her wonderful event at Gallery 5, we hit Tarrant's for a lunch. It is Lisa's Birthday today! Happy Birthday Lisa!

The Two Hundred and Forty Seventh..

Number Two Hundred and Forty Seven:

Avalon, Dinner, Skillet Seared Beef Teres Major

One of Lisa's Alma Mater pals from Mount Holyoke College, documentary filmmaker Sonali Gulati, screened her touching and wonderful new film at VMFA called "i am". A nearly full house viewed this great documentary "a film that chronicles the journey of an Indian lesbian filmmaker who returned to Dehli, 11 years later, to re-open what was once home, and finally confronts the loss of her mother to whom she never came out to." It was an interesting study to me on the human condition, how being gay, no matter what your culture, deals with a lot of the same issues and conditions and fights around the world. Engaging, emotional and entertaining. Well done!

After some enlightenment, it was time for some nourishment! Avalon definitely seemed the way to go, and sure enough it was. Our pal Stephen was working, who came by to chat with us while we ate, just to say hi, and the other waitperson, the blonde woman, who is also very nice, waited on us while we watched the first seating of people leave. Good stuff on a Friday night!

The Two Hundred and Forty Sixth...

Number Two Hundred and Forty Six:

Famous Dave's, Lunch, Ribs

After a week of heat on the Bookmobile, some cooler temperature today was quite nice!

The Two Hundred and Forty Fifth...

Number Two Hundred and Forty Five:

Trak's, Lunch, Gyro

Really feeling the delicious taste of their gyro today, so we did it! They also have a lot of wild shit decorating the place!

The Two Hundred and Forty Fourth...

Number Two Hundred and Forty Four:

Home, Dinner, Fajitas

Dinner tonight sponsored by appointments running late, the sudden thought of a massive rewrite of my short story, and Lisa patiently waiting for Hope and I to get home to start dinner! Yum!

The Two Hundred and Forty Third...

Number Two Hundred and Forty Three:

Balliceaux Restaurant, Dinner, Burger

Another fine habit that Lisa and I have gotten into has been the Secretly Ya'll... storytellers that happens every once and a while at Balliceaux. We usually have Gina hold down a table for us while we finish yoga, but she was at the beach this week and we wound up standing for a bit. We got to see Beth Brown do her fun tale about a moonshiner relative then a few others before we decide to go to the restaurant bar in the front for burgers. Intermission broke and we chatted a while with Beth, her pal Jeff, and Paul Ginder, before grabbing a beer and finding a crowded booth to sit at and watch the second half. The second part is the out of the hat portion, which can sometimes be more interesting because these are not practiced tellers, but random people spilling out tales, with often hilarious results. A terrific event for RVA!!!

The Two Hundred and Forty Second...

Number Two Hundred and Forty Two:

Perly's Delicatessen, Lunch, Chicken Salad Sandwich

Lisa and I went to Dutch Gap for some bird watching, particularly to see the Least Bittern, which we heard abundantly but never actually saw. Summer bird watching is vastly difficult at times due to plant and tree growth, but we still managed to get a few good ones like a Green Heron and the Yellow Billed Cuckoo. Dutch Gap is a great spot that I fear will take a developmental turn for a joggers/dog walkers paradise now that some apartments and other development is happening nearby.

:-/

After the birding was some Perly's! A great RVA spot if you show up at the right time, otherwise you will battle hungover hipsters that perch in booths like mourning doves!

The Two Hundred and Forty First...

Number Two Hundred and Forty One:

Home, Dessert, Bev's Homemade Ice Cream

So many missed opportunities for a Napstache today....but I think it worked out well. I first was thinking that while in Carytown today I would do a 'stache at Cafe Ole, but left my camera in the car. Then I had this great vision of having Beth Brown and Noah Scalin BOTH doing a 'stache with me (maybe) while we met to talk about which stories were going to be in our upcoming Richmond Macabre anthology (with Noah doing the cover), but I forgot to suggest this and take the picture because it was in my computer bag, as opposed to where I usually keep it; in my pocket. Then after Djing at WRIR, Lisa and I went to Mekong, where we hung out at the bar a while after dinner, I left my camera at home in the computer bag. Note to self: to insure Napkin Moustache, just keep the damn camera in your pocket. Lisa came up with a brilliant suggestion as we were leaving Mekong; let's go pick up some Bev's to take home where you can do the picture! Yes! This picture might be the most recent picture to post 'stache! Instantstache!

The Two Hundred and Fortieth...

Number Two Hundred and Forty:

Home, Breakfast, Bagel

More tomato wackiness at 5AM before my radio show. You know how a nice bagel from Ellwood Thompson's goes with some cream cheese and a slice of tomato? Well, I go one step further and use cherry tomatoes! Lisa thinks it is a lot of trouble to cut them all up, I think it's fun bite sized! Aw yeah!

Oh, and band video!

The Two Hundred and Thirty Ninth...

Number Two Hundred and Thirty Nine:

Home, Breakfast, Omelet

Lisa also cut up a melon, which I kind of mixed with a few of our cherry tomatoes from the garden. I know! Madness!

Insert Ghostbusters quote: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

It sounds weird but is actually pretty good!

The Two Hundred and Thirty Eighth...

Number Two Hundred and Thirty Eight:

Tastebuds American Bistro, Dinner, Bacon wrapped shrimp with Hanover tomatoes, cucumbers, lavender potato salad and blue cheese vinaigrette

So I was sitting around the house, after not having band practice, and the baseball game being cancelled, wondering what to do for dinner. Then, the writer-guy in me decide that I wanted to go to a bar, sit and read the last of the submissions for Richmond Macabre before my meeting with Beth on Saturday, as well as Noah about possibly doing the cover.

My first thought as I biked was Dots, but that tends to get crowded and loud, perhaps too much for trying to read. Then my other choices were The Mill and Tastebuds. Now I like them both, but I really like the vibe at Tastebuds for this intention and sure enough, bar space was available. Had a great meal, recommended by Andrew, the owner, who swayed me away from the tasty enough Chicken Marsala for the shrimp, which was delicious! As I read and ate, Tim Kaine came in for dinner, I was SO TEMPTED to ask to do a Napstache with him, but I chickened out. I mean really, HOW would you even try to explain that to him? You can't, not without some kind of diagram and web access.

On the way home a weird creature crossed the street ahead of me, it was a raccoon!

The Two Hundred and Thirty Seventh...

Number Two Hundred and Thirty Seven:

Home, Dinner, Burger

Another quiet evening at home. I cooked burgers on the grill and Lisa made a nice salad with our garden tomatoes and cucumbers. Oh, and tater tots!

The Two Hundred and Thirty Sixth...

Number Two Hundred Thirty Six:

Luray, Part 3

Home, Dinner, Fajitas

The final day of our trip sent us back to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive, which is always worth the money, but we really lucked out today, being that it was the Fourth of July and Free! YAY America! The Civilian Conservation Corps built this place. The C.C.C. is something I am a BIG fan of and should be re instituted to give people jobs, as well as teach them skills as well as better our country. Anyway, I digress...

Hawksbill Mountain peak.

We hiked up to the highest point in the Park, Hawksbill Mountain. It is a fairly easy hike with a superb 360 degree view of the area; breathtaking. We spent a good half hour up there before heading back down for more Skyline Driving, and ending up at Horton Vineyards for some tasting and bottles of wine. All through this I totally forgot to take a napstache! So we'll have to settle for my goofy fajita stache!

The Two Hundred and Thirty Fifth...

Number Two Hundred and Thirty Five:

Luray, Part 2

Artisans Grill, Lunch, Burger

The next day, we woke up bright and early for Luray Caverns because we know better than to wait any later than being on the first tour. The first tour gives you no one in front of you to have to hear or see when looking at the grand views of this spectacular cavern.

Luray Caverns, VA

I had never been before two years ago, when we last came, so I worked on more interesting photos rather than the stand by this and get a shot, stand by this and get a shot, stand by this and get a shot --which most people seemed to be more preoccupied with rather than really enjoying the sites. Digitize it for later.... we saw a lot of people doing this. As we left the gift shop, which the end of the tour naturally dumps you into, we noticed the line starting to form as we were leaving. Yup, early is the way to go here!

Art Gallery in Luray.

After the morning, we headed from the hotel to the gentrified but tasty spot Artisans Grill. Empty in the background, but filled up quick, we were riding the early bird wave the whole day. Then we walked around the town, took in their neat little Art Gallery and headed back to the Hotel for some more relaxation. Sweet!

The Two Hundred and Thirty Fourth...

Number Two Hundred and Thirty Four:

Luray, Part 1

Sky Meadow State Park, Snack, Goldfish

Our second trip in two weeks! This time not camping, but a trip to Mimslyn Inn, which we managed a package deal a few years ago and scored the same again due to the goof that the Virginia is For Lovers website did, which was still having the deal up two years later. Before heading to Luray though, we wanted to knock out a state park on our list.

Mount Bleak Farm House

Sky Meadow is basically an old farm house property from the 19th century, with some beautiful views and pretty good trails, ending for us with the above view of a small town call Paris. After a good solid hike, we heading toward Luray, stopping a local restaurant called The Apple House for some OK BBQ and awesome apple donuts!

The Two Hundred and Thirty Third...

Number Two Hundred and Thirty Three:

Home, Dinner, B.L.T.

See, the thing about growing your own tomatoes along with everyone else on the planet you know, is that you have an abundance. I am OK with that right now, allows more BLT action! Side note: I was nearly tempted to have one for breakfast this morning. Just saying....

Oh, side side note: Again, I will be not posting over the next few days, but YES, I will be doing a Napstache a day and posted much like the camping trip last week! Stay Tuned!