Thursday Night Dinners at Don's

Most every Thursday night, at least during the summer, Kate's uncle Don hosts a big group dinner over at his house. The rules change from week to week. Sometimes everyone brings a dish. Sometimes Don just gets hot dogs and hamburgers. It's loose, which is great. We've attended three dinners this summer I think, and it's a tradition we're getting attached to.

It's just a good group of people. An amalgam of many different social circles, brought together with Don as the glue. Kate, and now I, have known some of the people for years, just from random gatherings at Don's. But some are new, and there's probably at least one new person each week. Thursday Night Dinners are a great opportunity to get out of the house, socialize, and take a well-deserved dip in the pool.

Thanks for having us, Don.

Ramble on a Life Worth Living

It's hard getting back into the groove of things after a week of pure adventure with my lady friends. It was one hell of a week, a week I will never forget. Back to blog entries, making dinner, tending the garden, cleaning the house, and biggest of all figuring out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life, or least the next few years of my life. I'm not set on any of my plans yet, and I really need to do some more soul searching this week. I want to be happy, we all do, I want to wake up and be happy to get to work. I know I'm asking for a lot, but truly I want my work to make a difference, to want to work with people, make some money, and do all this in a environmentally friendly environment. I want my work to have substance, a worthwhile purpose. But I don't want it to be extremely stressful and give me an ulcer, which I've been close to getting with production work.

A lot to ask for I know! Why must most of us work in unhappy environments just to come home miserable and then proceed to crash on the couch with no energy to live outside of your day job?! I will never be satisfied with that sort of life style. I need time to figure myself out, I know I've already had five months, but all the alleys I've been down have not truly been satisfying. Give me a little more time to rationalize my thoughts and take in and research all the possible employment opportunities in the world.

Dinner and a Movie

It's the classic date. Great conversation over what hopefully turns out to be delicious food, followed by a chance to sit close in a dark room and enjoy a shared experience. What an excellent way to spend an evening. If you're suffering from a small case of the blues, nothing is a better tonic. Kate and I spend most date nights this way.

First we have dinner at Amer's Cafe, a great little Mediterranean spot right off of the Beltway on Belair Rd. They've got this Tandoori Chicken Pasta dish with walnuts that is perfection on a plate. Their stuffed grape leaves are excellent, too. Top it off with belly dancer performances and occasional comically poor service from old greek waitresses that forget you and the rest of the world exist, and we generally have a great experience.

From there it's on to the four dollar theater right next door. We'd reserved all day yesterday for family, but things ended sooner than we thought they might so we went and saw Gran Torino. I was a little leery at first, but it turned out to be a real moving film. I'm not sure why I'm never excited to see Clint Eastwood act. He always turns in a tremendous performance, and yet I never remember that when faced with the prospect of watching something new. But hopefully last night will cement in my leaking boat of a brain the fact that Clint is worth the time.

We change things up sometimes, heading to the Charles or White Marsh for a movie, but something about the Amer's / Beltway 6 combination pulls us back most times.