Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Gone Fishin'

My friend Lee invited me to go fishing last Saturday. An old family friend of his in-laws runs a fishing tour boat in the Chesapeake Bay and offered to take them out for a trip, and I was lucky enough to be invited. While waking up at 4:30 in the morning to meet the boat by 6 AM was slightly intimidating, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Sleep be damned.

The weather was fabulous, and it was also my first opportunity to get to know my new camera, a Nikon D60. Our guide, Sean, was a charming fellow and taught all us rookies the ins and outs. We ended up catching 24 bluefish and one rockfish. Technically, I caught the rockfish, though I can hardly take credit for being the one who happened to be standing next to the "china line" at the time something bit. While we mostly were fishing with rods and reels that were thrown out behind the boat at various lengths, some with heavier weights to bring the lures near the floor of the bay. But the rockfish was caught with a simple line that was just dropped behind the boat and tied around a cleat at the back. It was weighted heavily to keep the lure on the bottom below the back of the boat.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. The rest are here on flickr.

Predawn
Chesapeake Predawn 3

Sunrise
Chesapeake Sunrise 2

Learning to Fish
Learning To Fish 2

Lee Gets A Bite
Got A Bite

Fighting Fish
fighting2

Reeling Him In
Reeling Him In 1

End of the Trip
Rods 2

Good Catch

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Neighborhood Update

I can't even remember when I posted last. I hope there's still someone out there reading this. Ahh, I don't care if there isn't, I don't need your damn validation, I write this for myself! That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Anyway, if you're all still there, here's the run down of life in the 'hood lately.

Crime: One major crime sighting this week, about typical. Walking to the Red Derby one night over the weekend, I saw a a huge brawl around 14th and Otis. There were a half dozen cop cars. As it happened, a friend who is a DC cop had also just showed up and said he'd helped take someone down on his way there. He left when it was under control. But as we were watching the scene, he pointed out a guy on a bike and said, "I bet that guy's got a gun." My obligatory response: how the hell do you know that? "Well, I saw him heading towards the scene, then he turned around and went the other way. Now he's back about 5 minutes later. He went home to get a gun." Damn, Sherlock! That seemed like a pretty big stretch for me, but...

He pulled out his cell phone and called up a friend who was on-duty and working the scene and told him to stop the biker because he probably had a gun. Sho' nuff. Call me impressed.

Punishment: I have not been running consistently AT ALL and am supposed to run the Annapolis 10 miler on Sunday. And, I have a friend's 40th birthday party on Saturday night. I hate bailing on races, but this could be lethal. I'm going to hit the pavement a couple times this week and see how it goes.

Internets: Everyblock DC has opened for business. The site culls all sorts of news, crime reports, and other locally relevant info about your neighborhood. Actually, even as specific as my block. It seems interesting, though I could probably do without the regurgitation of all the service requests people have entered at dc.gov. Kind of a metablog, I'm going to check it out for a while and see if it's worth the time.

House: Ummm.... no comment. That is: I've done jack in two months. Hey, it was a nice summer! There's things to do, places to go...

Entertainment: I already wrote about Commonwealth. Have not been back. I've had a couple-a Pete's Apizza and I remain a Red Rocks fan. It's decent stuff, but Red Rocks... er.. rocks. My only disappointment with Red Rocks is that they've been so damn busy lately, you can never get a seat at the bar any more. So I've not been spending much time there, though I've definitely had a few carryout pizzas. Still the best pizza in town.

Other than that, I don't think any new eateries of particular interest have opened. I anxiously await the arrival of the Meridian Pint, and the wine bar at 11th and Lamont!

Mosquitos: They are horrible.

I think that's all the news that's fit to print. Until next time.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Strange Things Are Afoot

I am aware that I've become a infrequent blogger as of late. This is not for lack of things to blog about. Quite the contrary, I've had so much going on that I'm just too busy to be bothered to share it with all you cretins. Okay, that's not exactly true. It's more like, I could tell you what I've been doing, but then I'd have to kill you. But here are a few little pearls of wisdom that I took away from the weekend's events.

Rock Creek Church & Warder Fire
1. Always carry point and shoot camera. While trudging arount Petworth at 2:30 AM or so on Friday night, between random party on 7th street and the Red Derby to meet my friend and bring her there, couldn't help but notice the massive fire which was devastating a bodega at the corner of Rock Creek Church and Warder Street. Sadly, it seems it was a total loss. I did get the cell phone picture here which should give you a sense of the scale. This must have happened very quickly because when I walked by around 2:00 AM the first time, there was nothing going on.

2. Close Your Eyes Before Eating Bangers and Mash. Went to Commonwealth, the newest addition to Columbia Heights' ever-growing restaurant scene on Sunday with my friend K. I had been craving the sausage & spud, and she ordered some chips. The sausage looked, remarkably, like a dog poo. I was advised (later in the day) by my British friend A. that this is traditional. Perhaps it was the several glasses of wine we'd had by the time I ordered the food, but it was futile to try to stop laughing hysterically when it was placed in front of me. I couldn't find a good picture online, so just trust me. Anyway, it was good, if a bit overpriced at $15 for a, er, snassage on a little pile of mashed potatoes. I like the picnic tables on the patio. But I'd go broke if I tried to eat here very often. The beer prices seemed reasonable, though. We'll see how this place fits in to the Columbia Heights dining lexicon in time.

3. We shall never speak of Saturday again. But the trespasses of that day shall not soon be forgotten. That is all.

Carry on, then.

Monday, August 11, 2008

No Cigarretts

CVS at 14th & Irving in Columbia Heights.

No Ciggaretts

I wonder why they keep all those "cigarretts" around if they haven't sold them since 1990?

What an awesome school system we have...