Another 5 Second Post: What I'm Digging On (Presently)

1. Podcasts.

Yup! I'm a talk radio listener. Most of my travel time (car/train/shuttle/walking) is spent on the following: The Nerdist, WTF with Marc Maron, RadioLab, Stuff You Should Know, Stuff Mom Never Told You, the Dinner Party Download, the Pop Culture Happy Hour, How to Do Everything - and of course, NPR staples Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! and This American Life.

BHE and I even had a chance to meet one of our podcast heroes, Mr. Ira Glass. (Apparently, he's originally from Baltimore and came down for a fundraising/speaking gig.)

2. Music.

I don't know about you, but I'm winning Grammy's in my car. In my head anyway. The following are the artists whose work I'm currently butchering while on I95 or 83S...

Adele. (LURVE her! And finally got to see her perform in DC. Good show! Made a bunch of new friends, too.)

April Smith and the Great Picture Show.

 

Fitz and the Tantrums. 

And, of course, The Outdoors.

3. Summer Weddings/Travel

We've had 2 weddings and at least one drive South so far with another 3 weddings upcoming. There are also a few more trips to Chicago, Pittsburgh, and a few locations yet to be determined. 

Now, I won't sugar coat - driving is a pain in the ass. There's only so much of interstate you can admire while your crawling along in traffic while trying to get your dog to just SIT DOWN QUIETLY ALREADY. If you have any upcoming travels I suggest grabbing a copy of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for the drive. It's surprisingly entertaining if you like your drama on the Neil Gaiman side of things. 

Still, the destination is almost always worth it. BHE gets to pal around with some of his buddies from back in the Cub Scout days, which is always worth the mileage. 

At the most recent wedding, these two came back to the hotel with 3 cases of alcohol for us to take home. Craziness...

Summer travel also includes trips to ball games. And while televised baseball is often neck and neck with C-SPAN in terms of entertainment value, nothing encompasses the season like a day at the ball park.

I still can't stand the Phillies, though. 

On one last note, if you're in the B'more area and are looking for a quick thrill this fall, might I recommend the Run for Your Lives 5K in October? It's basically an obstacle course where you dodge "actual" zombies. I haven't made up my mind about it just yet (I may just volunteer instead), but who wouldn't want to take part in an event where the FAQs include questions like:

WILL THE ZOMBIES BE CHASING ME SLOWLY OR QUICKLY? ARE THEY THE WALKING DEAD, OR THE RUNNING DEAD?

If we told you every detail, this wouldn't be fun at all. Our best advice: be prepared to run, duck, dive, and dodge.

I HAVE TRAINED MY DOG/CAT/BIRD/YOUNG CHILD TO DEFEND ME IN CASE OF A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, CAN THEY RACE WITH ME?

No. Only registered participants meeting the age requirements will be allowed to navigate the course. Please do not bring any pets to race or to party; they will be eaten by zombies.

WHAT WILL I WALK AWAY WITH?

• Warwear performance tee
• Racing bib (we know you always wanted one)
• Medals to signify your survival (or zombie transformation)
• Admittance to the Apocalypse Party
• Advanced training for the actual Zombie Apocalypse
• One less appendage

AWESOME.

Dang it!

So, I HAD all these cool photos of our last week, including some awesome Kindereggs that M&M brought back for BHE and I following their trip to Berlin.

AND some photos from the Baltimore celebration of kitsch otherwise known as Honfest.

Instead, the etherverse ate my photos after sending them from my Android. I'd be more upset about it, but I just housed some Spicy Cilantro Chicken from the nearby Hot Mustard, where I foolishly ordered the extra hot. I am now waiting for the heat to burn a hole through my colon and some kind of Alien-like spice monster to burst through.

So as I am now going to hunt down an antacid, I leave you with a quick pic of one of the final scenes from Sunday's final performance of the Baltimore Rock Opera Society's (aka, BROS) presentation of "The Terrible Secret of Lunastus."

Enjoy!

Recovering from Our Time in Dixie

You know, it only takes a good week away from home before you start to really miss the place.

BHE, Donald and I just returned from a long trip down South (read: South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia), where we worked on our tans and attended an extremely beautiful wedding in Asheville. (Congratulations, Tim & Leslie!!)

Now, Maryland is technically below the Mason-Dixie line. But there's the south - and then there's the South. Once you hit southern Virginia, you become distinctly aware that you're crossed over. As evidenced by a van we noticed in the parking lot of our vacation home.

Colons and punctuation, people. Let's remember to use 'em.

That said, we still had a very lovely time. We got to visit my family, where Donald pulled a frozen steak off the counter in my mom's kitchen and had himself a gourmet lunch. BHE and I both acquired fierce tans/sunburns. We bought vacation hats. I didn't touch my straightening iron once. We had BBQ for multiple meals.

Now that's a vacation!

We also engaged in some of the local culture. During the week, BHE and I headed down to Decatur to check out the CDC Museum. Turns out, that was closed while a new exhibit was being installed. Bummer.

Not to worry though as the Fernbank Museum of Natural History is right down the road. And it had a wicked exhibit on Mythological Creatures.

Warning: Boobs and ta-tas ahead.

The Boob I married.

AND it was free hot dog day at the museum! SCORE!

We putzed about the exhibits for a good while rather than strolling outdoors in the 100+ degree heat. Besides, the museum had an interactive floor where you could play with experiments that you probably tried out in your grade school science class.

HBE doing his best weatherman impersonation.

And, of course, there was food. Thanks to a tip from our buddy Pete, we signed up for a Scoutmob account and went on a discounted feeding frenzy in downtown Decatur. The highlight, by far, were the sandwiches at Sawicki's. BHE had a Tri-tip Beef (served with french fries, Primanti's style), while I had the Roasted Pork with pickled red onions and fried lemon slices.

Oh - my mouth is watering at the memory of it.

We also tried some Coco Vino at my parents' house. For those of you unfamiliar with the product, it's a bottle of red wine that's been flavored/mixed/violated with chocolate. The combo sounds promising, but you know they say about good intentions...

Raspberry flavored. Not good. We should have been tipped off by the "governement warning."

We spent some more money on Ninja-shaped cookie cutters and presents for friends and family next door at Heliotrope. Also came with a Scoutmob discount. Woot!

Trying out "the Watson"

We also made our way to the Chateau Elan for a winery tour and tasting. The tour was only $5 and included LOADS of samples. Best. Tour. Ever.

Post sample hijinks.

The wine source.

BHE and I made the decision to come home on Saturday so we could have a day to recover before returning to work. Sunday consisted of pizza, appeasing some bitter cats who had to stay home during the week, a trip to the cinema to check out X-Men First Class (totally worth the hype, btw), and of course, some QT at the dog park.

Like I said, it was just long enough to make us miss home.

While we here at Tattoos & Champagne are done travelling for a few weeks, Jordan over at Oh Happy Day! has pulled out all the stops and is offering 2 lucky people a trip to check out Paris.

Yes, THAT Paris.

To enter, visit Jordan's site and leave a comment after her post about the contest ( http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris). There are chances for additional entries as well, but you'll have to visit her post to find out the details.

Check out her other posts as well. The woman's kind of a mad genius.

Best of luck! And until next time, Enjoy!