Red Hot & Blue

been trying to get into some semblance of shape before I get the tux tailored for the wedding.  when I work out, this is what I think about: eating at red hot & blue over the july 4th holiday down in williamsburg.  it’s a chain restaurant, but like le pain quotidien, it’s one of those quality chains that could really fob itself off as a stand-alone restaurant.  we’ve got one right up here in gaithersburg, md, but I’m disappointed to tell you it’s not as good as the one in williamsburg, va.

which of course begs the question, does barbeque really get better as you go further south?  probably.  north carolina, just wait, I’m coming.

hide your uwa

one of the best things about going to a full-frame is that all of your standard zoom lenses start at 24mm on the wide end, instead of 27mm equivalent on the APS-C sensor.  is it a big difference?  you betcha.  you may never notice until you’re in a small room how much of a difference those 3 millis of focal length matter.  but what happens when 24mm doesn’t cut it?  you have to step into the land of the uwa.

learning from vermeer

everyone has a moment in their life in which they realize they like Vermeer paintings.  for me, it was on a chilly february morning in 1996, after being dragged out of bed at five in the dark morning to go see two-thirds of the world’s Vermeers ensconced at the national gallery.  why do we all like Vermeers?

thank you for smoking

the west coast gets the sun, the midwest gets the bibles, and the south gets the cotton.  what does the mid-atlantic get (other than bizarre june-july heat waves)?  tobacco.  it seems that era is finally drawing to a close, with smoking soon to become something you have to do behind closed doors and shuttered windows in your own home.

Happy Fourth from Williamsburg

I think there are Mennonites that go to the beach more than my family does.  we chose to spend our Fourth up in the hills of Shenandoah and down in the dusty heat of Williamsburg.  not that I’m complaining.  good food, great fireworks, the usual mayhem, and one heck of a quality independence day.