Wednesday Morning

Check out Beto's illustration in this morning’s Style and Soul page (section D) in the Philadelphia Inquirer! http://www.philly.com/inquirer/image/20090429_Insatiable_APP-etite.html

Shadfest

Saturday was Shad Fest http://www.fishtownshadfest.org/

Sunday, we built frames for Beto’s upcoming show. The show will be a mix of old work as well as some newer pieces. http://www.betoalvarez.com/

Opening night:
First Friday!
Friday, April 1, 2009
Atlantis: the lost bar
2442 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA‎
(215) 739-4929‎


That evening, as Beto hammered, sanded and painted, I grilled up some Lamburgers.
They were absolutely delicious.

Lamburgers:

16 oz. package of ground lamb
1/3 chopped onion
2 cloves chopped/minced garlic
One tablespoon sugar
1 egg
Small handful of fresh cut chives from the garden
¼ cup strawberry vinegarett dressing
¼ cut ketchup
Random spices/steak rub from the cabinet
Splash of Worchestershire sauce
Sea salt
(mix all ingredients)

Gilled them, meted provolone on top.

Demetri Martin tonight!

We think we might get a show chicken for the backyard. We are looking at quiet varieties that don’t fly. We could get a little dog hutch for it to live in. There is a hatchery that will ship a day old baby chick right to your local post office. I grew up having chickens and am quite fond of them. Certain varieties make great pets, not to mention having fresh, organic eggs.
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/category/standard_breed_chicks.html

Tonight, Beto Prince and I are going to see Demetri Martin (young, stand-up comedian from NYC with a new series on Comedy Central) at the Tower Theatre. Can’t Wait! http://www.demetrimartin.com/

Wednesday

Practiced driving yesterday. Beto took me out in his Jetta. The car has a manual transmission, it felt very easy to use, didn't even stall once.

Went to the Lost Bar, took measurements for Beto's upcoming gallery show. Can't wait!

Went to whole foods, picked up several delicious cheeses. Stopped picked up some French wine. I made a brown rice mushroom-garlic risotto. We finished our second game of chess last night. Thus far I am undefeated! We have been playing quite a bit of chess. Great fun, we are evenly matched.

Oh and I cut my hair!

Tomatoes, Potatoes, Peppers and Poppies

This weekend Beto and I spent a good deal of time in the garden, planting, trimming, tilling and raking. We planted red poppies, Mexican sunflowers, wild flowers, oregano and potatoes (all from seed, with the exception of the potatoes, which we buried directly into the ground). Inside the house, I started a nursery with peppers, spring onions, and tomatoes.

The backyard does not get full sun and has what I imagine is probably very acidic soil because of the three large ever green trees bordering the fence. I have found a flower that I think will work well with these conditions. Lilly of the Valley acts as a nice ground cover, spreading quickly, that thrives in the aforementioned conditions. It bears tiny little white or pink flowers and a wonderful scent.

This morning I saw the mange squirrel that Beto has been talking about for weeks. Overnight, the rabid squirrel had dug holes all over the yard, including the small plot that I had planted potatoes. The squirrel is crazy and looks like bad news for the garden.

Carmel Valley

San Francisco

Sanoma Valley

Sonoma is beautiful. Wine tastings are $5 a flight. The Bed and Breakfast we are staying at is wonderful. There is a young woman named Joy that does the cooking in the morning. She makes a gourmet breakfast with fresh produce picked from the garden out front. The place is just picture perfect, in fact Victoria Secret and LL Bean are among the catalogues that have used the premises for catalogue shoot. We found the place on Lonely Planet.com.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

If you do go to wine country, know that while both Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley are beautiful and have great wine, Napa tends to cater more towards the tourists, sometimes having busloads of people come through, with higher priced wine tastings, where as Sonoma tends to more a little more laid back and less expensive.

Redwood Forrest

Portland

Portland

Rainy drive to Portland

Burnside Skatepark

Stopped on Highway 101