a bunch of crafty bastards

this weekend, mogo heads relatively south to the washington d.c. area for the annual crafty bastards arts and crafts fair. last year, this was one of our biggest shows and it was a blast. lots of people. breakdancing. fashion show. what more could you want?

all marylanders, virginians, and delawarians are encouraged to attend.

hot doggedy dog

one day, wilhelm and i accidently discovered our shared love of hot dogs. since, we've been on a quest to find the best.



we've hit stands all around the boston area. from natick to dorchester, we've sat in diners and stood in canteen lines to sample goods.

to the mouth-watering $14 version offered up by the butcher shop to the $4 enormous dog with special secret sauce at speed's, we've had 'em all.

but wilhelm found mecca months ago in maine and passed these careful directions on to me.

Flo's Etiquette:
When you enter, make sure the door closes behind you (she hates it when there is a line and people keep it open :)

Don't try to order until spoken to first (lol!) She will acknowledge you by asking "how many dogs do you want?" at the appropriate time (her system is to put a whole batch in- she always remembers who is up)

Give a number of dogs- I would say at least 2, if not 3, per person. Only give a number- she will get back to you about how you want them made.

After she has total count from everyone and has started to steam the dogs she will come back to you and ask how you want them. This is critical: YOU WANT THE FLO DOGS (otherwise known as "special dogs" or "Hot sauce and mayo". It sounds gross but this combo is fantastic (I hate mayo myself but it is essential for this experience). Nothing else is needed and will only detract from perfection. (BTW- it also comes with a sprinkle of celery sauce on top).

Don't be suprised if there is a line.

mainely maine

we paid a visit to dabney's dad and stepmother over the weekend. jack has recently transplanted his life from florida up the coast to maine - close to boston, but still far outside our previously-requested 3-hour donut. hence, the late visit.

besides finding his new spiritual home, jack and his wife have taken on the huge task of building their dream home in the maine woods not far from his beloved sailboat, iota. is that not the cutest name for a boat?

we arrived on saturday afternoon amidst clouds and fog, so an abbreviated tour of acadia national park was all that we could swing before the lights went out. it was so beautiful that even i, the famously reluctant camper that i am, can't wait to return for a week of s'mores, hot dogs, and beer. that's camping, right?





on sunday, i got to go on my long-awaited maiden voyage aboard iota. my first sailing expedition was thwarted by the sheer length of the florida intercoastal that never allowed us to actually set sail. it seemed fitting that maine, the boatbuilding capital of the world, was where i'd finally see iota flap its wings.

but first, we had to get our gear to the dock.



then, blow up the temporary dinghy...



squeeze all four of us onto the tiny dinghy...



and then we were good to go.





i am such a dork that whenever i am on a boat, i try to look nautical.


to our crew, thanks for keeping me safely aboard and sea sick-free.

ilike iphones

in yesterday's post, i failed to mention how exactly i spent my week in missouri...


i was crouched over my new iphone.

yes, all of you out there - the bets are off. it took exactly 82 days for me to succumb to the hype (make that, 82 days + $200 discount + 1 expired verizon wireless contract).

for some people it's sparkling diamonds or fine wines, for others a pair of hot shoes can tickle one's fancy. give me a new electronic toy any day and you'll see my wheels spin in excitement.

having been a user for the last week, i can safely report - the thing ROCKS. sure, i miss receiving pic messages (fyi: from here on out, all such transmissions can be sent to dabney's phone) but other than that one flaw, i love it. having never been a smartphone owner before, i think part of my pleasure stems from the novelty of receiving email from multiple accounts. however, the iphone's genius is its nearly-limitless web capability - no more squinched up mobile-version of the internet. i can read news, blogs, flickr, and not to mention, thumb through people.com's star tracks.

there's been a lot of flack over at&t's edge network. yeah, it's a little slow and sometimes it reminds me of dial-up speed, but i'm banking that it's going to improve over time. however, on a good wi-fi network, the iphone flies!

the digital qwerty keyboard took some getting used to but i am much much faster on it than i ever was on my samsung. text messaging is almost too easy as a result. i just know that i am going to have to upgrade my at&t package in coming months.

all the pictures in yesterday's post were taken on the iphone. not bad, eh? there's no flash, but i have to say that flashes on phones generally stink anyway. they make everything look blue. it's a little hard to take self-portraits, but that's good news for you, dear readers.

but please, don't take this post an an objective review. you see, i am a devout mac-addict and have been for a decade (though it really started in grade school with my apple //c). i live on my powerbook...

i decorate it lovingly.


i ogle its packaging.


i bond with other geeks at macworld conferences.


i also have been known to sleep with an ipod in my ears (relaxation tapes). i listen to the maccast regularly. hell, i bought apple stock when it was $18 a share. recently, i even converted my father to being a mac-user. not surprisingly, he "volunteered" to accompany me to the local apple store in st. louis and promptly walked out with an iphone, too. i blame him for my inherited geekiness.

robo-dad

renegade chicago accompli

we apologize for the long delay in posting our adventures to the midwest and back. it has been a long week of driving, fast food, late shift sing-a-longs, and more driving.

as previously reported, we stopped in st. louis to pop in on my family. to my mom's chagrin, we spent our five days there sprawled out on her cherished antique dining room table with piles of fabric, sewing machine, and multiple laptops (basically lots of scuff and ding-prone items). we spent every break watching dvds with my dad whose newest hobby is copying the disks he rents on a daily basis. he's created his own blockbuster in his basement movie room. every meal - we overate with crazy wife and golfin' groom... 'til i got sick the night before we left.

we had a new tent shipped out to st. louis after last month's catastrophe.  thankfully, in suburban st. louis, there is plenty of space to unfurl a tent and douse it with water to make sure it won't leak.  golfin' groom was nice enough to drill a few holes in the legs for some additional mogo bling to be added later.  

we were blessed with stellar weather the entire time we were out there. and the sun and cool temperatures followed us out to chicago.



this year's renegade craft fair had a new venue joining the do division street festival through the heart of wicker park. for a total of twenty hours over a two-day period, we sat on the corner of division and honore streets under our new mogo tent and amid the bass-pumping bands and djs.

i tried to get a head start on our holiday shopping by knocking one name off our list.  i figure we're just at the beginning of the season.  i'll have many more shows to spend our profits at neighboring tents.

the picture above was our only view of chicago the entire weekend. besides division street and i-55, dabney and i saw absolutely nothing of the city due to rcf's new 12-10 pm hours.  our only nice meal was spent at milk & honey cafe for a quick but delicious brunch before we set up our tent down the street.  each night, we dragged our tired selves to senor tequila, a cheesy (literally, cheesy) mexican place next door to our motel, that served dinner 'til midnight and had delicious margheritas to cap off our evenings thankfully.  

twenty hours is a long time to be at a craft fair so we'd like to thank all the friendly chicagoans who bought stuff and our crafter friends who broke up the monotony of the day with the occasional comment. a special shout-out to the nice guy at the beer tent who took my gray hair as i.d.

station wagon heading due west...

we are busily preparing for another show (as if this week's short, photo-based posts weren't a total dead giveaway).

today, we're taking off for the midwest for the annual renegade craft fair in chicago with a quick pit stop in st. louis for some quality family time.

for more info on rcf, click the image above.

new big buck hunter gear

sailing on lake champlain

some days just lend themselves to gorgeous photos.