i've had multiple obama sitings this week. first it was on tuesday. i was leaving work, and i heard this voice in the air. i know that sounds odd. but i heard something over a loud speaker. i got about two blocks from my office towards home when i thought i should turn around to see not only where the voice was coming from, but whose voice it was. i recognize that i sound a little crazy right about now. but as i got closer to the voice, i realized that it was none other than Barack Obama who was giving a speech in the parking lot on 11th and New York Avenue. how cool is that? at least one thousand folks were standing around in the parking lot- clapping, cheering. only in DC can you stumble upon something like that. i will post some pictures later, but here's a snippet of that speech. he was simply amazing. a great speaker, inspirational... and i don't even agree with all of his politics.

then yesterday, driving down M street, i looked over and saw two big black suburbans. at first, i guessed that it was Adrian Fenty in his cavalry of cars. but upon closer inspection, i realized in the backseat of one of the cars was none other than barack obama. we stared, he gave a slight smile of acknowledgment.

so... Obama... i've gotta say, i'm intrigued. he has the ability to fire people up, spark change. and i can't help but to be a little impressed.

i love the new york times. it is my home page for every web browser i use - at home, at work, mobile devices. i read it religiously and check in multiple times a day. and now that the times is going to stop charging for select content, i love the paper even more. i have been blessed to have access to the select content through a work account, but now everyone can return to reading friedman, krugman and dowd for free. other websites and services i'm digging at the moment: google reader and pandora.

saturday afternoon, i found myself in reston, VA for the starbucks coffee festival. we were able to catch a cooking demo and tasting with marcus samuelson of aquavit in NYC. check out the eats - an ethiopian inspired beef stirfry/couscous/injera and a chocolate pancake/pineapple salad/coffee ice cream:





later in the evening, dinner at my sister's. delicious as usual. i was also able to witness my little neph zooming up some stairs. he's getting so big. other weekend stuff: willie colon, temperance hall, eastern market, SE asian film festival, duke ellington jazz festival, korean in annandale. it was too much this weekend- too much activity, not enough laziness.

my goodness. it's been quite a while since i blogged. summer has come to an end and i'm settling back into a fall routine. slacks, sweaters... and i'm sweating as a result because it's still hot and muggy out. i'm itching to put a coat on though.

that's it.

i'm looking forward to the weekend. willie colon. starbucks coffee festival including trying to see marcus samuelson. dinner @ my sister's. a friend's birthday celebration. perhaps some rock climbing. general laziness although the roster of events already seems to be quite full.

lately, i've been on a fish kick. it's meaty enough to feel fulfilled, but light enough to feel like you've had a healthy meal. last night, we ventured to hook in georgetown... and it was delicious. the restaurant has a great ambiance - you step inside and feel miles away from the hustle and bustle of M street. if you are able to dine on the first floor, one of the more charming features of the restaurant is their open kitchen- you can see the chefs working their magic from the dining room.  it is a little distracting to watch the wait staff running in and out of the kitchen - but it's also nice to know that because they are essentially on display, there's no goofing around. they mean business.

as for the food, you can start off with crudo, their version of sashimi... we had the snapper, wahoo and mackeral. of the three, the snapper was the most delicious. since it was our first time there, we also went with a few salads- ours were these amazing concoctions of tomato, goat cheese and fresh greens. for my entree dish, i had the bluefish... it was a healthy serving of fish which i was not able to finish garnished with a side of basil walnut pesto. i appreciated that they threw the garnishments and sauces over to the side. the lure of fish at hook is that they don't dress up the fish too much - it is prepared to bring out the essence of the fish itself. $90 bill at the end of the night. a little pricey, but i'd recommend giving it a shot. i'd go back again for sure.

i finally was able to pinpoint it the other night. "it," we'll call it,
because i don't want to call it an issue per se. it's just a precarious
situation i've found myself in, one i never have experienced before.
and i'm not quite sure if it's a good or bad thing, or what to do
differently if anything at all because maybe it's nothing that i need
to do except to be myself. but what's new, what "it" is, is that i'm
not wearing the pants in this situation. as silly as that sounds, it is
something new.

i'm not the dominant one. i'm not the more successful
one. i'm not the more educated one. i'm not necessarily the one calling
all the shots and doing things exactly as i want and on my own terms.
he hasn't yet uttered the words, "why would you be with someone like
me? you have a lot going for you..." which i've heard before. i'd like
to think that i've met a match, an equal... but i can't help but to
fear just slightly that we may not be equals and that there is an
imbalance of sorts just not in my favor. not that's he's not done
anything to make me feel inferior or less... it's just that this is quite different from anything else i've experienced. and i'm just not used to not
being top dog. not that i need or want that necessarily. i think, or rather, i hope. i would like to believe i'm not that hungry or desperate for power.

perhaps this is be what an adult relationship is like.

6.37 miles but only about half of it was spent running. i think i do not like running with others- it messes with my pace. it does force me to run faster though, and sometimes, it's nice
to be pushed. and on the topic of being pushed, it's nice to know that there is a level of care and
concern, so much so that it is important for me to simply articulate when and what
it is that is bothering me. i'm used to complacency towards me clamming up
when i really should be letting it out.
 

i'm going to bed with a bit of a clearer head. here was the route:

now might be the time where i get myself into a bit of trouble. i'm in
unchartered waters. i don't know how i'm supposed to act. i don't know
what is happening. it is what it is, i love saying that and it just is what it is... and i'd like to leave it organic as i have but doing just that has caused me to land
in a situation where all of a sudden the stakes are seemingly a bit
higher than preferred, expected or desired as i have invested quite a bit of time and energy in a single
direction. it still is what it is, i'm still going to go with the flow
but doing so has caused me to let my guard down and be completely open.
and now, now i'm having a bit of a freak-out because i don't know what
the heck i'm doing. i kind of want to just put my guard up and be careful as it feels like things have the potential to spiral
out of control if they haven't yet already. i don't feel like i'm in
control. things are no longer on my terms. feelings are involved, i
have feelings about this all - and that means the possibility of my
feelings getting hurt actually exists. not that i expect for that to happen of
course... i have decided to put trust in the situation and trust in
him... but you never know. there are no sure things.


ugh. this is a shitty way to feel for sure. i need to get running. i
need to clear my head and make sense of this nuttiness i feel.

anyhow, the weekend recap: jazz in the garden, modern, five, taqueria distrito federal, foot reflexology @ tysons, miso cafe in annandale, rajaji in woodley park, cafe saint ex, han sung oak in annandale, and lots of other shenanigans which i cannot recall. my weekends have been interesting to say the least.   

i do love eating at zaytinya quite a bit... but i love it even more now for what may be the tastiest dessert i've had in a while, the Greek Yogurt & Apricots. it was amazing. muscat soaked apricots, vanilla yogurt cream, apricot espuma and pistachios. it was a delightful combination of cream and fruit - a simple concept, but done so exquisitely that i practically was licking clean the dish in which it was served. and to boot, it was presented well. a thin layer of apricots at the bottom, a thick layer of stark white cream in the middle, and then the muscat soaked apricots on top. divine.

another new place for food in libation in DC that i went to recently is proof. it is a wine bar but they've started serving lunch, so we tried it out the other day. the lamb burger and salmon croque-monsieur are both delicious but the nice surprises were in their sides- their chickpea fries and corn soup. both had a really great consistency and kick.

lastly, i'm finding that more and more, i need dessert to cleanse my palate after eating.