a trio of sunrise shots

By some random chance, I happened to wake up just in time to catch the tail end of sunrise. I snuck outside, snapped these shots, and went back to bed. These shots go from left to right, taken just seconds from each other:

A misty morning:



The sunrise:


Purple mountains:

This was a little vista from our hike through Newport State Park, just up on the northern tip of the peninsula. Really beautiful. Gorgeous expanse of water on one side bordered by dense forest.

travels in the midwest

It's official. My camera's dead. :-( So after this entry, this blog is officially on hiatus till I get a new one. Hopefully it won't be too long. It was only meant to last the summer anyway, though!

So here's the start of my last string of pictures. These are all from a couple of days spent in Door County, Wisconsin. Beautiful countryside. Green Bay on the west side, Lake Michigan on the east.

This was our cabin. It was a crappy cabin, but it had a spectacular view.

shaker art

This is what greeted me on table 2 when I came in to set up the the cafe this morning. Apparently, Ed had a slow night...

sadness

Pictures are gonna get fewer and farther between. It seems my camera is dying. A slow and pitiful death. It will only take one or two pictures with a pair of batteries. If it turns on at all. So yeah - I'll take 'em when I can, but I don't think a new camera is in my immediate future, so we may have to put this blog on hold for a little bit.

*Tear*..

you said it!

This is a page from my page-a-day calendar. It's not from today, but it's statement is applicable to today. You probably can't read it from the photo, so let me recreate it for you. This, apparently, was a sign that was sitting on every table in a Chinese restaurant in New York:
WARNING: Tips for waitress not privilege off customer, and it not opshinul to do! Is custimmary and IS THE LAW for leave tips, otherwise is possibul to face prosecution by law! Please be responsivele, leave tip and no go jail. Have a nice day!

Hey Mr. Tambourine Man

Today the No. 9 Lounge hosted Bobby Thompson & Eddie H. Bobby played the guitar and Eddie was a one man percussion kit. As such, he got creative with his instruments. Note the tambourine strapped to his shoe...

too much cuteness

I visited a house tonight that a friend of mine is housesitting. The house itself is pretty spectacular in and of itself, but I felt weird posting pictures of the interior of someone's house when I don't really know them. So here instead are pictures of two of the sweetest and cutest pooches a family could hope for. :-)

Meet Rosie:


And Petey:

sanctuary...

...is a yoga studio.

This is the yoga studio in my building. Open 24 hours. Bliss.

stupid stubborn camera.

My camera wasn't working today. I couldn't even get it to turn on. Not even with brand new batteries!! :-(

So let's see what I can pull from the summer archives...

Oh! Here's a magnificent tree I ran across in early June (June 6th to be precise). I think it's pretty breathtaking.

up on the roof

My new apartment complex has a rooftop deck. It's spectacular at night.



To the left, you can see the Washington Monument. On the horizon, just left of center, is the dome of the Capitol Building. The low lying wall of a building on the center left side is the Pentagon.

DC's awesome. :-)

another double day

I worked all day. There wasn't much worth photographing today. So I will feature another photo snapped in my cubicle yesterday. It's a Dilbert strip I found when we were cleaning out tons of crap in the Global Unit. I enjoy it. So I kept it. I know it's blurry, but I think it's still legible.

flashing back

So this may just look like a simple ordinary sandwich to you. And so it may be to you. But to me, this sandwich represented a return from years of foregoing a childhood favorite. This was probably the first PB&J I had made or eaten in...I don't even know how many years. 10? It was much more satisfying than I had expected it to be.

(And for the curious and astute observer, the glitteriness behind and beneath the sandwich is a sheet of metallic and sparkly smiley face stickers. I am using them to track my progress through the dozens of reports I'm poring through at work. For every African country I get through, a smiley face goes on the map. Woohoo!)

a storm's a-brewin'

They called for crazy storms today. This is what the sky looked like by about 1:30pm:



(Ironically, all we got was your average rain. Nothing huge at all.)

(Also, click on the picture to enlarge it and get a better representation of the sky's color...I don't think this small picture quite captures it. It really was pretty remarkable.)

what gentlemen..?

What happens when a groom-to-be and his best man try to decide who's gonna pay the check...

happy birthday, evening star!

Today was the 10th anniversary of the Evening Star Cafe. Technically these pictures were taken in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. I'll have a picture from Monday night proper when Amanda sends me the one she took, but for now, these'll just have to count as overlap.

This was our upstairs bar at 1:30am Monday night.


(Usually, this bar is closed by midnight. This is what happens when you provide free food and a semi-open bar for your devoted regulars.)

And this is what happens when people try to dance on a bar that is 2 feet from the ceiling:

dead batteries :-(

My camera batteries died today. I'll have pictures when someone sends me theirs.

pittsburgh town

Today was my friend's bridal shower and bachelorette party in Pittsburgh. Good times. This is the bachelorette crew by the waterfront:


This was my martini flight with dinner. 3 mini martinis for $7 - a guavatini (sooooo yummy!), a cosmo, and a chocolate martini (mmm...dessert...).

letting my hair hang down

This is how I showed up looking at the cafe for work today. Apparently, it was a really big deal for me to have my hair down. The regulars couldn't quite get over it. It was like I was teaching high school again. "Ms. Hampton, how come you never wear your hair down?" "Ms. Hampton, why do you always wear glasses?" Geez. You'd think I'd gotten a complete makeover or something.

the life of a cafe host

I hosted tonight. This is the screen I stare at when I do that. Slightly blurry. It wasn't my first pick of picture for the night, but hey, there ya go. Take it or leave it.

Now this picture was taken a month (maybe even 2?) ago, but it's the same band that played in the same place tonight. That band being Brother Shamus, and that place being the No. 9 Lounge (aka the upstairs bar of the cafe).

a free lunch!

There is such thing as a free lunch and this picture proves it. There was a global education conference in the Peace Corps building today. There were leftover lunches. I helped myself to a Corner Bakery feast of tomato and mozzerella sandwich, potato chips, apple and chocolate chip cookie. Mmmm...
(And for the astutely observant, that bar table is in fact a backgammon table. We have a number of gamed themed bar tables at the cafe. And most of the game pieces for them if you wanna play.)

working late

This is what time I got home from bartending Monday night. Though technically, this is Tuesday morning. So it's going to count for both days. Ha. (P.S. My shift started at 4:00pm. And that shift was directly preceded by some 9-3 interning. It was a long day.)

watermelon martinis!!

Tonight, one of our bartenders had a stroke of genius and pureed up some watermelon and worked it into a martini. It was dangerously delicious. He served it with a twist. This lemon is testament to how much twisting had been done.

sunshiney day

It was a beautiful day. These were beautiful flowers. That is all. :-)

you missed out

So of course, on the most eventful Friday night in months, I leave my camera at home for the first time in weeks. Which is a shame. There may have ended up being some very vodka-ful pictures of me and my friends. As it is, all I could do was go back to the final stop of our bar-hopping extravaganza the next morning.



This my friend Evan's complex. It's about 3 blocks from the cafe (where he also works). I was very drunk here. Much fun was had.

hamlet? that is the question

I went to see a play tonight entitled "Hamlet? That is the Question." It was performed as part of the second annual Capital Fringe Festival. At the Woolly Mammoth Theater. Here:

This is the inside of the theater. It was a very industrial interior.



It was an excellent performance. Throughly enjoyable.

creepy bar guys

OK, so this photo came out a little blurry. It's a picture of a webpage. On the DC craigslist's "missed connections" page. The title reads "Bailey who no longer has a car." The location cited was my apartment building. The message reads "Enjoyed our time at the bar last night. As attracted as I was entertained. Care to repeat?" My former roommate stumbled across it and sent me the link.
I have no doubt who posted it. And no. I do not care to repeat. :-P

i suck

OK, so I missed a couple of days in the string of things here. Things have busy here. And even this picture is pretty unimpressive. Apparently there was a softball tournament down the street from me today. The picture doesn't really capture it well, but the juxtaposition of all the team colors and jerseys looked kinda fun. Oh well.

beautiful day for a boat

Today was spectacular. Clear skies, low humidity and a high in the low '80s. Not surprisingly, we spotted dozens of boats enjoying the Potomac today. The pictures doesn't quite do it justice, but I was in a moving car. And it sure beats a picture of my new dining room table (which is pretty...just not this pretty.)

purple peas?

I spotted these on my walk to work today. Surpising, no?

gonzo's nose and the 22-oz. beer

Checked out Pentagon Row's Thursday night band tonight. Gonzo's Nose - a very fun and talented '80s and '90s cover band. Decided to sit down at Champp's and have a beer. They serve big beers.

presents!

The candies are from Mexico. The bracelet is from Columbia. Thanks, Jill!!

bushisms

A quote from our "beloved" president.

disclaimer

A sample of what I got to taste tonight:

The menu in detail:
Course 1
Food: Melon carpaccio with micro greens, crisp serrano ham and oyster shooter
Wine: Gato, Vihno Verde

Course 2
Food: Grilled cod with crab bacalao and sorrel froth
Wine: 2005 Castello D'Alba Branco White Reserva

Course 3
Food: Applewood bacon-wrapped monkfish with fricassee of tomatoes and sausage
Wine: 2003 Casa da Alorna Colheita Seleccoionada AND 2004 Adega Coop. de Borba Touriga Nacional

Course 4
Food: Walnut-crusted duck breast with foie gras "dirty rice" and sherry emulsion
Wine: 2003 Esporao Reserva (my favorite!!!) AND 2003 Casa de Santar Reserva

Course 5
Food: "Grilled cheese sandwich" (grilled lemon pound cake slices with ricotta filling)
Wine: Adega Coop. de Favaios Moscatel do Doura (17% alcohol!)

my bar

This is a shot of the bar I'll be tending starting next week. Of course, the bar stools will be down then. :-P

and again

I tried to take a picture of a website today, but couldn't quite get that to work out. So instead, I'm going to copy here an e-mail related to the website that I sent out to some peeps today. I know it's not really a photo per se...but you're just going to have to get over that now, aren't you? :-P

So I went to vote-smart.org this morning to look up some info on some candidates and to get an overview of just how many were running.

Right now, there are 116 people who have announced their candidacy for president and they range from Hilary Clinton to John McCain to Ole' Savior (a 58-year-old single man in Minnesota who affiliates with the Democrat/Farmer/Labor party, who is a writer and artisit, and whose political experience includes running for president in '04 and several congressional seats over the course of the '80s and '90s) to Jackson Kirk Grimes (Director/CEO of the United Facist Union, an actor and member of SAG, who got his GED at age 40 and whose political experience includes running for president in '04 and being an Storm Trooper from '67-75 in the Facist Freedom Front). Did you know that Mr. Grimes even portrayed Adolf Hitler in a Star Trek episode?? What a nice way to combine his passion for acting and facism!! P.S. - He's based out of Maryland. ;-)

Then we have 19 candidates listed as "potential". These include Al Gore, Ralph Nader, Mark Warner...and Mary J. Ruwart of the Libertarian party. She's a professor of surgery at St. Louis University and her political experience includes a run for the Senate in '04 and an appointment to the Kalamazoo Public Safetey Task Force from '84-'86. She is also a board member of the Fully Informed Jury Association, and has been since 1994.

Finally, there are 4 candidates listed as "withdrawn". These include Evan Bayh, John Kerry and William Hobart Blakely (a Republican candidate from Ranlo, NC whose professional experience includes mailroom worker, dishwasher, cook, busboy...and owner of International Fishing Services from 1992-present and whose political experience includes running for City Council of Stanley, NC (1985), Mayor of Ranlo, NC ('93, and 2001) and U.S. President (2004)).

Ladies and gentlemen - I present to you American democracy at its finest. And I'm not even sure I mean that sarcastically.

18 hours

Is how long I spent either at a job or in commute today. Which did not leave me with so many photo ops. So here is a DC metro station for you. Specifically, this one is Farragut West. The Peace Corps offices are about 3 blocks from here.

aaaaaaah....

This is where I spent a few hours of my afternoon before work today. It is also the view from my apartment window.

ring ring

So you can't really read it (figured it was best not to post a legible phone number for everyone to see on the Internet), but this is a phone number. It calls my friend Chris. On his cellphone. In Niger. I used it today. :-)

day o' me

Today I actually had a little time for myself. I worked in the morning, but my afternoon was free which provided me sometime to take care of a little shopping and indulge in the first hour of yoga I've tried in many, many months. :-)

Monday, Monday

It had ups, it had downs. I could post a picture of the down or I could post a picture of the up. I think the up makes for a prettier picture. This was a fantastic lunch I had in Richmond today at the Strawberry Street Cafe. Chicken salad stuffed in a Hanover tomato served with a super-scrumptious black bean and corn salsa. Faaaaaanfreakintastic. :-)

baby's first rental car

It was a Ford Focus. I have no idea what year. Pretty easy driving. It's good.

my bad, #2

Oops. This is the second day I have forgotten to take a picture this summer. But yesterday was so cool, I think it warrants a second picture. So here's what the embassy of Zambia looks like. In case you were wondering.

Which I'm sure you weren't. :-P

Zambia fever!

I attended an event at the Zambian embassy this afternoon in honor of these fine youth who won a competition with their innovative business plans that range from fashion designing to sausage-making to computer recycling. Pretty cool stuff. And hey - they're looking for start-up investors if anyone's interested!!

P.S. I'm all about visiting Zambia now. Who's with me?

move in, phase 2

So it may not look like much progress, but hey, it's something. Hopefully much more will happen this weekend.

independence day!

What better way to celebrate the 4th in DC than going to watch the Nationals win a home game?? :-)