Thrifty DC: Art Museum Day

One of the great things about living in the DC metro area is the abundant number of ways to entertain yourself for relatively low cost. It's so easy to focus on the more expensive restaurants or the must-see show, but the area has so much more to offer. I don't know about you, but I'm at my most creative when I'm feeling a bit skint. So, while I'm encouraging myself to save and shifting from the indulgent winter to simple summer pleasures, I thought I'd share a weekend (Saturday or Sunday) expedition each week that won't set you (or me) back more than $20*. I plan out some of these to-dos for myself, so why not share it with others.

I was psyched to learn that this Saturday is Art Museum Day, aka the day that the few museums in DC that charge will open their doors for free! That just might be tempting enough to get me to go into DC on a weekend during tourist season.

How would I spend $20 and while away a Saturday?

10:00AM     Corcoran Gallery of Art                             free

One of my favorite museums but one I don't get to very often. I'm looking forward to seeing David Levinthal's War Games exhibit.

11:30AM     Todd Gray's Muse                                       $4.00

Grab the pea and potato samosas at the cafe as I fight my way back outside.

12:15PM     National Museum of Women in the Arts       free

I've actually never been to this museum, and it's just far enough off the well-tread tourist paths that it might not be overrun.


*Let's keep it real. I'm not going to the trouble of adding in transportation costs.

My story as told by water, part IV

As light ebbed from the cobalt evening sky, I thought not about the damp bangs, pasted to my forehead by the humid, post-storm air, or the inky darkness that began to envelope us. Instead, my attention was solely focused on the gentle whir of the cast net as it sailed through the air, its splash as it met its mark on the Choptank River and the notion that this might be one of the coolest, weirdest Friday nights I’ve had in a while.

I try not to talk about work a lot on here, but every now and then I'm just so thankful or blown away by an experience that I can't stop myself. Friday was one of those experiences. Spring is spawning season for migratory fish, and once the water starts to warm up a bit, herring, shad and other migratory fish begin to make their way up rivers along the coast looking for a little loving. 

When the guys from Maryland DNR asked if I wanted to come help collect herring eggs [to grow baby (technically fry) herring to stock other rivers], how could I say no?

Standing along the banks of the Choptank, we cast about on the hunt for the elusive female herring whose eggs were ripe. The window can be incredibly narrow; also, it was really hard to type the word 'ripe'. We fished this 25-foot section of the river for more than three hours and only found two females who were ready to get down. The male herring were plentiful.

What came next was far more ritualistic (even spiritual) than the laboratory exercise I imagined. I kept thinking I'd be taught some kind of fertility chant (I wasn't). Seated on nearby rocks and lit by headlights on the state truck, both roe and sperm were milked from the few herring collected and combined in a stainless steel vessel. One of the guys stirred this strange mixture with a turkey feather while river water and a special powder were added. This process continued until only the fertilized eggs remained in the river water. These were moved to their new nursery (aka a sealed plastic bag and cooler-type contraption) and immediately driven by a third member of the team to their temporary home at one of the state hatcheries.

As I watched the truck speed away, I couldn’t help but feel even more alive, maybe even a bit more womanly (yes, a little odd). I silently bid these new little herring farewell and promised to keep fighting to make their new home in the Patapsco River as hospitable as possible.

Behind the Bookshelf: Interview with a bookseller, Marie Hviding

When I transitioned to non-profit work, I took a job at my local Barnes & Noble to earn some extra money. For five years, I spent my evenings and weekends selling books (and sometimes coffee). While my romantic fantasy of working in a bookstore might not have meshed with the reality of working for a corporate giant, I wouldn't trade those years for anything. My reading tastes expanded, learned the joys of the Advance Reader Copy, and met some of my best friends. Book people, for the most part, really are the best.

Want some of that insider bookseller knowledge? I've lined up interviews with some of my favorite current and former booksellers and can't wait to share them with you over the coming weeks. I'm kicking off this series with Marie Ann Hviding (above). Marie lives in Boston and just finished a degree in Library and Information Science (you know, just to complement her degree in literature). She blogs over at BatGirl. I hope you enjoy her interview as much as I do!

What are you currently reading? Thoughts on it?

At the moment, I'm reading Stephen King's "The Wind Through the Keyhole". It's an extra novel inserted into his Dark Tower series. In theory, I'm annoyed. I waited for King to finish off this series before tackling it, because he was so erratic in publishing the series. I loved it and thought that he took some huge risks, did some crazy things, and threw in a gigantic meta element which totally blew me away, but he also gave it a definitive ending. I admire when an author has the courage to finish a work and walk away, so I was annoyed that he felt the need to go back. All of that being said, I'm really liking it. It's Stephen King, so it moves fast, and his Dark Tower writing has this hybrid vibe that blends the epic quest with King's folksy, familiar, "I'm just a guy telling you a tale" voice.

What books are you most looking forward to this year?

I've been very out of the publishing loop for the last two years, but there are several books that were either just released, or are due out by the end of 2013 that I can't wait to get my hands on:

• Margaret Atwood's next book: Everything Atwood writes is awe-inspiring and makes me feel lucky to live in a world where she writes books and I get to read them but "Oryx and Crake" and "The Year of the Flood" were completely unhinged, gut-wrenching genius, that left me emotionally drained and I can't wait to see how else she intends to destroy me. 
• "The 5th Wave" by Rick Yancey: I find post-apocalyptic fiction irresistible and this one has been getting tons of buzz and intriguing reviews. 
• "Benediction" by Kent Haruf: His novel "Plainsong" is one of the most beautiful and moving novels I have ever read and this returns us to the town of Holt, Colorado. Time spent here is always time that gives me hope for mankind. 
• Finally, I won't lie, I can't wait to read Dan Brown's "Inferno". I know people love to bust on "The DaVinci Code", but really, I thought it was a lot of fun, and throw Dante and Florence into the mix? I certainly can't resist that. 

Did you set any reading goals for 2013? If so, what are they?

Reading Goals? Mostly I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to read for the sheer joy of it. I always try to keep my reading well-rounded, so I'll be looking for something fast and fun, followed by something big and epic that I can get lost in, and then maybe follow that with something challenging to spark my brain. My usual reaction when I finish a book is to read something very different next. Also, I keep thinking that I'm ready to tackle David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest". Maybe this year I'll actually do it.

What three characters would you invite to the bar for a drink?

I'm going to cheat and invite 4 characters for an evening of drinks, because I couldn't bear to uninvite one of them once I got them all in my head: Gus McCrae from "Lonesome Dove" , Eleanor of Aquitaine from Sharon Kay Penman's historical novels, Ford Prefect from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", and Hermione Granger from "Harry Potter". It's an odd mix but I think one which would be interesting and provide an evening of cleverness and fun.

If you could convince any two authors to write a book together, who would it be? Why?

I've got nothing for you with the two authors. I can't seem to wrap my head around the concept of what kind of Frankenstein's Monster I would want to create with that kind of power. The only time I've seen it work successfully in my opinion, was Peter Straub and Stephen King's collaboration on a couple novels. I think they were successful because their styles are pretty similar, but I don't think the result was anything that either one couldn't have achieved on their own. Perhaps something where the reader was getting two sides to a story from a male and female point of view. That presupposes that men cannot write women and women cannot write men and I think that's a limiting way to look at things, but for the sake of argument, let's have Henning Mankell and Elizabeth George put Kurt Wallander and Barbara Havers together to solve a mystery. Both are solid writers with well-established characters who could hold their own ground and ideally not be absorbed by the other.

What's the most annoying book you see flying off the shelves?

Annoying book flying off the shelves? I don't know about that. I try not to judge things I haven't read, so usually it's more a matter of confusion. I just don't get the appeal of some titles because they don't interest me. I do worry about the popularity of books that seem to be about nothing more than pretty girls acquiring ... stuff (boys, clothes, money), but I hesitate to judge without really reading them. I worry that we are setting up our young women for lives of mental poverty.

If you could give people one piece of advice to prep them for entering a bookstore, what would it be?

Be open to possibility. Don't be afraid to try something new. Don't be afraid to read something that nobody else is reading. Don't be afraid to be attracted to a book just based on it's cover. BUT, take some time before you commit to a book. Read a few paragraphs, in fact read the first couple of pages. Don't blindly follow others, decide for yourself whether a book is right for you or not.

Another First Friday in Richmond

1. Happy hour at Penny Lane Pub
2. Dinner at Sticky Rice (the original is the best)
3. Galleries along Broad Street for Art Walk

That's what she read...take 2

This is my friend, Ravena. She reads a lot. She also can't help but vamp for the camera.

Back in October 2011, Ravena and I tried to combine a book club with book review podcasting. The combination of trying to figure out how to host audio and a series of less than impressive books (because who wants to hear 3-4 negative podcasts in a row) led me to shelve the idea. Now, thanks to SoundCloud, we're giving the podcast idea another go and revamping the format. Instead of reading the same book and doing a more in-depth review, we're going to focus on a general discussion of our current reads, any interesting publishing news we've heard, and chats about upcoming titles we're excited about.

Listen to our most recent podcast on your computer or via the SoundCloud app and let us know what you think! This was kind of a spur-of-the-moment recording, so things should only get better from here. :-)

Keep your eyes peeled later this week for another new book-related feature.

Charting my coffee trail

Beach in Santa Barbara

You know I've got a caffeine problem when I'd rather talk to you about all the coffee shops I visited than the beaches I saw (not that they weren't spectacular). Let's list this one out!

1. Starbucks (a couple along the way)
2. Urban Coffee Lounge, Kirkland, WA. Love, love, loved this place. I'm so jealous that Terra essentially lives right above it. I would marry both the salted maple and the honey cinnamon lattes. They also have a fantastic looking selection of baked goods (including vegan and gluten-free offerings) and breakfast sandwiches (get the lumberjack).
3. Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Portland, OR. Routinely on best coffee lists. I'd been here before and knew my stimulant needs would be solidly met.
4. The Human Bean, Grants Pass, OR. I wasn't impressed with the coffee, but it was inexpensive and got the job done. It was one of many coffee kiosks along the highways we drove. Such a fan of how they seemed to thrive along the west coast.
5. Java Hut, Crescent City, CA.
6. Pour Girls Coffee, Laytonville, CA. Solid coffee. Cute marketing.
7. Peet's Coffee & Tea, Palo Alto, CA. Good latte. A guy I used to work with always had coffee shipped from Peet's. It was fun to finally visit and give it a try myself.
8. The Cow's End Cafe, Marina Del Rey, CA. We thought we were in Venice. Oops. I couldn't really enjoy this cup because of how windy it was.
9. Silverlake Coffee Co., Los Angeles, CA. This cup tasted amazing. Perhaps this can be somewhat attributed to the fact it had been a couple of days since I'd had a cup.


Beach at Carmel-by-the-Sea

Top 10 eats of the epic west coast roadtrip

Food tourism is a fun way for me (and most of my peeps) to explore new places when traveling and definitely part of my pre-trip research. That said, none of the places below (well, Voodoo I'd been to before) were on my list*. Instead, they were a combination of recommendations and kismet. These were definitely the best meals of the trip (because don't be fooled into thinking there weren't sad stops at places like Quiznos in the middle of nowhere Nevada and Arby's in the middle of nowhere Oregon and Lara bars and grapes from our bag of snacks).

If you're ever in Portland, find a way to try Tasty n Sons. Though small, it's a welcoming restaurant full of comfortable decor, great lighting and friendly waitstaff.  They recommend ordering family style and sharing, and I have to say that everything we tried was indeed tasty. Best asparagus I've ever had. If you really want to keep the fun going, head downtown to Ground Kontrol and play some classic arcade games. First Awakenings and BurGR also led the pack. I'm still thinking about the amazing english muffins and scramble (below) that I couldn't finish.

 I'll subject you to tales of my favorite coffee places later ;-)


Bacon-wrapped dates, asparagus with bacon and egg, polenta with peppers and Italian sausage, and chicken and dumplings at Tasty n Sons in Portland


Voodoo Doughnut in Portland 


Blueberry wheat germ pancake at First Awakenings in Monterey


More brunch at First Awakenings
 

Burgers at The Habit in Santa Barbara
 

Mexican food at Casa Blanca in Santa Barbara
 

Brunch at Five0Four in Hollywood
 

Meatloaf po'boy at The Gumbo Pot at the Los Angeles farmer's market


Gordon Ramsey's BurGR at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas
 

Pancetta & Pear pizza at Brix Wine Cafe in Juanita, WA

*Really bummed I never made it to Delancey in Seattle.

You're my shining star: Las Vegas' Neon Museum

One of the few things on my "must see" list was the Neon Museum (aka boneyard) in Las Vegas. I'll never forget stumbling across photos on Flickr several years ago that someone had taken at the boneyard (back before it was open to the public) and immediately falling in love. Needless to say, I was happier than a little kid at Disney once there.

It was everything I wanted and more--typography, rusted bling and a one-hour tour chock full of Vegas history. If any of those things appeal to you, escape from the strip and seek this museum out. I still get a giddy feeling thinking about the tour.

Rivers and parks of the west

I’m back. Actually, I’ve been back since Monday but was immediately buried in meetings and to-dos. I took photos (nothing fussy, just my iphone), shot video, wrote myself notes on stray pieces of paper, sent postcards and even recorded voice memos to friends back home, but how to process all of this? I'm going to cheat and pretty much copy an email I sent my coworkers when I got back. Given that we're enviro-river people, you'd better believe I started with rivers.

I saw the freaking Snake River (hint…look down)! Maybe this isn’t a big deal to everyone, but as someone who has heard about this river for the past 12 years, it was fairly epic. I may have come close to shedding a tear. Maybe. The photo below was taken outside of Twin Falls, Idaho, and the Snake met us here and there on the drive back through Oregon. There wasn’t a single time I saw it that I wasn’t blown away.



The epic list of rivers I finally got to meet doesn’t end there. I saw (not comprehensive and in no particular order) the Snoqualmie River, Yakima River, Columbia River, Snake River, Rogue River, LA River, South Umpqua River, Umpqua River, Willamette River, Calapooia River, Santiam River, Klamath River, Prairie Creek, Strawberry Creek, Russian River, Eel River, Mad River, and Soquel Creek. For years, I feel like I’ve had a special window into what we do on the west coast because one of the grant programs I manage, reading, scoring and offering advice to places I’d never seen. Each of these rivers represents a place we’ve worked (or considered working) and where what little we’ve been able to do has had an impact. The Eel River (below) was one of my favorites. Its blue-green water wove in and out of our path along the 101 through northern California, and I was lucky enough to get to see one of the removal projects we’ve been working on there for the last several years.



I drove through deserts and mountain ranges, traveling from the most barren climates through peaks where snow was still falling. I saw the following federal lands—Snoqualmie Pass, Snoqualmie National Forest, Umatilla National Forest, Great Basin National Park, Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, Desert National Wildlife Refuge, Mojave National Preserve, Redwood National Park, and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest—and traveled the Pony Express, El Camino, and Oregon trails. 3,589 miles…give or take a few.





Also, lest you think it was all nature and work, I can also say that I played arcade games in Portland, had brunch with a guy who will be on the next season of America’s Next Top Model in LA, attended a proposal in Downtown Disney, and visited a neon sign boneyard outside of Vegas, but more on that later.

A travelin' fool: Seeing the U.S. state by state

I have so much to download from my trip out west and am trying to wrap my brain around how to describe everything I saw and experienced. It was phenomenal and different on so many varied levels. From the people I met (oh, LA) to the different environments I experienced, it all deserves its own time in the limelight.

While I take the time to process everything, I need to freak out a bit about the map above. You guys!!! Look how few states I have left to visit! I'm so lucky we were a family that struck out on big road trips (lightbulb...this shit runs in the family). Many of those southeastern states were seen from the back of a wood-paneled station wagon and a white minivan.

So...who wants to take me to Hawaii?