Year in Concerts

[Got a late start...first show wasn't until May??]

May:  Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven at The State Theater in Falls Church

CVB

Cracker

Johnny :-)

August:  New Order at Merriweather Pavilion

(opening act)

New Order

September:  X and Blondie at the 930 Club

X

Blondie

October:  Evan Dando, Soul Asylum, and Fountains of Wayne at the 930 Club

Evan Dando

Soul Asylum

Fountains of Wayne

November:  Thomas Dolby in Minneapolis

November:  Elton John at the Verizon Center

I also saw my friend's band - The Carter Farm Band - play a few shows at Haydee's Restaurant (right down the street from me)  https://www.facebook.com/TheCarterFarmBand

Tickets already in hand for 2014...Cracker and CVB (yes, again, I think I see them every year!) in January at the 930 Club, and Rocket From The Crypt in April at The Black Cat.

December New Recipe

I'm a little behind on posting some of my new recipes I tried this year (as part of my New Years Resolution).  So here is December...I made an Udon Noodle Salad w/peanut sauce.

The ingredients:

1st - making the sauce:

 2nd - mixing the greens and veggies: 

3 - Udon noodles:

Combining the three:

Mixing together:

 Ready to eat!

Tofurkey Day with the Family...

Hike at Winkler Botanical Preserve

Went on a hike with a veg meetup to an area called Winkler Botanical Preserve, just off 395 near Alexandria, never knew it existed

(when we saw this waterfall from across the lake, I joked that it was just being pumped up there...little did I know it actually was!)

Minneapolis

My program at work has an annual conference every autumn.  This year it was in Minneapolis (in November...who came up with that idea...but I did get to see my first snowfall).

View of downtown from my hotel room.

The reception one night was at an old flour mill.  Great view and great history of the mills.

Early morning run...sunrise over downtown (that is just frost, not snow yet).

Claes Oldenburg sculpture outside the art museum.

Went to see Thomas Dolby's film The Lighthouse, which he provided live music/speaking along with it, and then after a Q&A, he performed a few songs after as well.

Sound effects guy...forget his name..but he's done lots of famous stuff.

He brought local celeb "Doctor" Fink up on stage for a Q&A as well (from Prince's band The Revolution).  Turns out he and his family were sitting right in front of us the whole show!

Snow!  Didn't amount to much, but it flurried pretty good for awhile.

My trip wouldn't be complete w/o a stop at the Mall of America!

At the mall...