kayaking
enjoy the freedom of being able to hit the potomac at my leisure and enjoying the company of friends out there too.

blue bend
lots of fun with the boys at camp. crawdad racing on the creek and splashing around the swimming hole can't be beat.

out-of-towners
had a nice extended visit from cousins. fun being the tour guide and taking in the sites with fresh perspectives. went to the changing of the guard at arlington for the first time since I sat behind charlie d. in sixth grade. we even had a fun daytrip to ocean city.

summer movies
taking in a lot of movies lately. some on TV and DVD ("intensity" - ok, a little boring and obviously made-for-tv; "I'm not there" - great, really enjoyed the music turned way up; "the quiet" - a weird one I hadn't heard of; "brainscan" - time travel back to the mid-90s; "6IXTYNIN9" - fun thai movie on sundance) and others at the freer gallery on friday nights ("triangle" - an interesting collaboration of directors, would've been nice to know exactly when the next one took over; "radio star" - quite an experience with korean movie star sung-kee ahn in the house) and others still in theaters ("dark knight" - fun, I'm still convinced heath ledger is alive).

CAPS 2008
the competition is being dominated by rockfarmer. new rules for 09 have already been pitched. an interesting experience for sure.

olympics
couldn't get enough of the olympics, from my opening ceremonies party to the end. except for beach volleyball. it was always on. loved the dramatic finishes of phelps and torres. and the ladies cycling near the great wall in the rain. and all the diving and gymnastics. the big picture

tribute
not sure the difference between a cover band and tribute band, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the ten band at the state theatre - they're a pearl jam tribute band and as hunger strike (with the keyboardist standing in as the lead singer) they rocked out on other sounds of seattle like soundgarden and temple of the dog.

good eats
have mastered the grit salsa recipe with tomatoes from my garden. can't get enough of the stuff. also tried two new restaurants - pietanza and famous dave's bbq. both delicious. dave's doesn't hold a candle to urban bbq though. had a gifted treat from hello cupcake too. seems there's a serious cupcake war going on across dc. bring on the butter-icing spoils.

reading/listening
"riding the iron rooster"
"another roadside attraction"
"confederacy of dunces"
"monkey wrench gang"
"blindness"
"killing yourself to live"

looking forward
more trips to greenbrier county, j-lab luncheon, mom's birthday weekend, mushroom fair, corn mazes, halloween in st. albans, "burn after reading"