I had another post here but it got long and heady, so here’s something to break the silence …

“Ooooh. You’re SO BAD. And you don’t want to take shit from anyone. Unfortunately for you, you’re going to have to, because your image isn’t so much tough as it is hilarious.”

Late … as in the “late” praxis88. But this is not a posthumous report — yes, I downed these morsels and much more and lived to tell about it. All in all, another weekend slain, carrying on the fun, friends, consumption (and light travel) vibe from the previous post. The weather was beautiful and the days flew by … here’s the recap:

Friday night: Ness and I drove up to B’more to eat at the legendary Mama’s on the Half Shell — pretty much the best seafood restaurant on earth and one of my favorite places. As usual, we threw down and much yumminess was had.

Saturday — Apple Blossom festival! The one and only. Drove out to Stacey’s place and met her and friend Maryann downtown for an evening of festivities including but not limited to … well, the Oreos (the gastronomic equivalent of napalm in the morning) I bought them mainly to take the pictures, but I did manage to eat three.

We also adopted a discarded purple pooch who was left for dead due to a minor flesh wound. Began and ended the evening at Piccadilly’s, eating more hurtful food and enjoying live music.

Sunday — brother Rob invited me out to Philly to watch the Phillies/Giants game . Made a pit stop at my parents’ new place in Delaware, where we got dinner at this amazing roadside BBQ stand/miniature Asian market run by Filipinos. I swear it’s some of the best BBQ in the whole area, and cheap too. In Northern Delaware, where I continue to find diamonds in the rough. Go figure.

Then to Philly to the game. And get this. In the 6th, as I’m waiting in line for a cheesesteak, Barry Bonds comes up to bat and drives no. 713 into the upper deck in center field.

My memory of this is as follows: I’m watching the game on TV monitor in front of the vendor. Barry is taking check swings. All of the sudden the stadium starts this deafening roar. And he’s still taking check swings on the TV.

Delayed telecast. I turn around and see a baseball come out of nowhere and land in the outfield stands about 50 feet away. So … in my mind, it’s not like I “wasn’t there” or “missed it” — I didn’t see contact, but I did see it land — maybe I’m rationalizing, but somehow that abstract memory makes it more interesting.

Anyway I look back and there’s the home run on the TV. Buy my food and return to my brother saying “that better be a damned good cheesesteak” and me saying defensively “I saw the ball.” And yes, it was a great cheesesteak thank you very much.

Monday — had the day off, so I stayed at my folks in Delaware and slept in a bit. Returned to DC after lunch. Delaware pizzerias make an excellent NJ/NY style pie btw, somehow that skill gets lost in translation on I-95 on the way to the District.

I promptly came home and stocked my fridge with a hundred dollars worth of healthy shit. It was a good weekend :-)

Singing along to these words, the chorus to Nada Surf’s "Blankest Year" … all I can think of is Chris the astrologer from Trading Spouses with God Warrior in tow, lighting up another nasty-ass patchouli stick and thinking to himself "K. .. let’s face facts. I’m a New-age hippie. My best friends are slykicks. I only believe in the moon and the gods and the this and the that. I’ve got a gorgyle on one side of the house and some gap-toothed freak givin’ me static on the other. So what now?

"AAAHHH Fuck it! I’m gonna have me a Solstice Party."

That’s the spirit, Chris. As work was winding down Friday and I walked out into a sun-drenched afternoon, I felt much the same way, shedding the papers and presentations and such and heading down to the bar to throw back beers with some of the libs. who were in town for the annual meeting, so nice to converse with them without having to talk shop. After that it was over to Ness’s place for movies, beers and chili … and some amazing meat and cheese appetizers, the leftovers of which I’m still polishing off. Yummy.

Saturday — after sleeping in :-) took the leisurely drive out to Winchester for Stacey’s birthday. Went out for dinner at Cork St. Tavern, followed by drinks at one usual suspect (Coalie Harry’s), E’s workplace ( Piccadilly’s), and a new place (Brubaker’s).  It’s a pleasant, small-town downtown scene, some real characters out and about. It’s a good contrast to the DC vibe and I always enjoy going out there. Finished up the night by polishing off ribs in record time back at Stacey’s.

Sunday — got up early, still hungover and a bit cross-eyed, grabbed a big coffee at the local convenience mart, headed back to DC. Gave a call to Galen, a colleague from Wales who I invited out the Friday night prior. Brought him up to Baltimore where we met Kevin for a nice Orioles game at Camden Yards, followed by yet more drinks at the Brewer’s Art (love this place). Drove Galen back to DC where we got dinner at Banana Cafe, a nice Latin American restaurant on Cap. Hill.

Monday — worked. After work, met up with some friends for beer and pizza in Georgetown for Kevin’s b’day. Got horribly lost navigating through DC, partially due to lack of knowledge of the area, and partially ’cause, uhh well, when you send directions to your cellphone from Yahoo Maps, it’s usually a pretty good idea to plug in 3282 M. St. (AT Wisconsin) instead of 3282 Wisconsin. Doh. That error would have jumped out at me if I knew the streets, or had any inkling of where Georgetown even is or what it looks like … whatever. Anyway it was a fun night, once I got there.

Tuesday — worked. After work — sushi!! Found a fantastic budget-priced sushi joint in south Arlington called Matuba. Texted Shelly to share my excitement over the platter of raw fish sitting in front of me. I compiled my own list of overrated things  (see previous paragraph) while dipping the rolls in wasabi and soy sauce and finished with a nice miso soup.

All in all, a great weekend, lots of peeps, good beer and good food. A nice long party. No reason not to keep a good thing going! A summer solstice party, anyone??