Sábado Gigante

Saturday awoke to a foggy morning.  Mike and I dragged Ed out of bed to go pick up our farm share, only to remember just as we arrived at the Greendome that it wasn't our distribution week.  Oops.  But it was a nice morning so we meandered down to the farmer's market, to the baker, and to the candle stick maker.

No, its not this month's cover of "Gay Weekly," its just Mike and Ed at Dead Turtle Beach!

Later, we broke fast and headed over to McCarren Park for Mike's championship softball game.  It was super muddy and wet out, but the teams persisted.  It was a fierce battle with lots of blood shed and testosterone billowing around.

Mike bounding over home plate after single-handedly winning the game

The 2008 McCarren Saturday Softball League CHAMPIONS of the WORLD

Upon returning home, Ed delighted Jeremy and Meeks by presenting them each with one of his sketchbooks.  

Mmm! Just before we feasted on Ed's award-winning white bean chili

The Coal Man Cometh

Hark! It is he, the coal man.  A darling friend of Mike's.  Ed came to visit us for the second time, this time sans Erica.  I had to work late, but ended up meeting the gang out for some refreshing oat sodas at McSorely's.  After drinking our fill, we headed home to watch the debate.  It was a grand ol' time.  We laughed, we sang.  We braided each other's hair and tried out new and exciting swear words.

Mike models his lovely locks

Late in the evening, we proceeded outside for some fresh air and corncob pipes

We became intoxicated with the night air.  And beer. 

Later, we quietly practice the ancient art of Moboxo

As the night winds down, Ed initiates the love making

Washington D.C. is where I want to be

Work trips are always hit or miss and I recently had the opportunity to attend a conference in D.C.  The conference itself was....ehhh.  Well, lets say it had its good parts and its mind-numbingly boring parts.  And apparently global warming has not yet reached the Washington Renaissance Hotel, because the place was like a meat locker.  Around the second afternoon, Fran and I decided that the afternoon sessions did not offer much so we skedaddled on outside to thaw out and re-energize.

Parading around the lawn to delight the snipers

Mmm! Remember Lemon Chill's? Yeah - well they taste just as good in our nation's capital as they did in Sandusky, Ohio.  

Chinatown D.C. ain't got nuttin' on Chinatown N.Y.

Back at the conference - Senator Wyden trying to trick us into thinking he did his homework and....*sigh*... failing miserably.  

Dead Turtle Beach

A couple of months ago - actually, the night Meeks and I returned from Alaska, we happened to stumble upon a section of the Williamsburg riverfront which had recently been opened to the public.  Some sort of industrial wasteland that had been cleaned up (for the most part) and turned into a park on the East River.  So, we meandered on down to the water and walked around for a bit.  At some point, my foot stumbled against something and I looked down only to discover a dead turtle, bloated and kinda bloody around the head and neck region.  It was pretty grody.

Anywhoo, we returned to Dead Turtle Beach a couple of nights ago for an after-dinner digestive walk and enjoyed a rather lovely sunset.

Mayor Meeks on his namesake street

Un Cumpleaños Para Miguelito

Mike celebrated his big 33rd last weekend, and on a whim we decided to throw a small, intimate kegger.  We actually had a pretty nice turnout considering Mike didn't send the invite until 7 days before (and then he forgot to put semi-colons between the names so they didn't actually send the first night and had to be resent the next night).  And then there was the issue with the keg.  The issue being, of course, that there was no keg.   See, after telling us we had to reserve the keg, the beer store wouldn't let us actually make that reservation on the grounds that they had soooo many kegs.  But then, when we went to pick up one of the multitude of kegs they claimed to have, they were miraculously out of 'em.  So Mike and Tim, being the bright young things that they are, decided to instead buy a keg's worth of beer in cans.  It was magical.

Party People

God save the Queen!

This picture makes me laugh 

Sam Francesca

Baby Tiff clutching Papa Sausage Fingers' sausage fingers

The Cleanup

The cleanup was actually the funnest part of the night! No, not really.  In all seriousness, I don't recall much of the cleanup.  I do remember that the floor was covered in beer, and we decided that it might be in our best interests to mop.  So we mopped.  Or rather, Mike mopped.  I remember at some point he mentioned that the mop appeared to be scratching the floor, which I immediately denounced as balderdash.  So, he finished up and we went to sleep.  

The next morning, we were surprised to awaken to a filthy, beer-covered floor - despite both having a distinct recollection of mopping.  I quickly proceeded to seek out the mop in order to see if it was wet (and thus verify those misty water-colored memories) only to find that yes, Mike had indeed mopped.  However, the mop was...missing the mop head.

Disgusto

Ugh, I was sitting here at my desk this morning – Fran is out so I have the office all to myself – and all of a sudden I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye and I look down and there’s a giant cockroach walking towards my sandaled foot! I screamed and jumped out of my chair and it ran underneath a file cabinet. I was totally freaked out and I ran to get Lazar but he couldn’t find it so he left (I still can’t believe he left me with it) and I was just sitting here, like, incapacitated with fear. I couldn’t work because I kept thinking it was going to come out and climb up my pant leg or get in my gym shoes or something so I started looking for it but it wouldn’t come out and I was just kind of sitting in the middle of the room staring at the corner when our handyman Rhett came by and I pulled a Scarlett O’Hara move and was like “Rhett! Oh Rhett! Save me!” and he came in and I told him what happened and he brought me a glue trap to put under my desk (ick). So, he was kind of crouched down putting down the glue trap when the giant cockroach ran out and scurried OVER HIS HAND and onto the trap! I took off screaming down the hall and when I came back he was holding the glue trap in his hand with the beast stuck right on top kind of chuckling at me and then he takes the trap and slowly folds it in half and presses it and I just heard this soft crunch. My eyes teared up and I just gagged and gagged and gagged. It was the single sickest moment of my life.

'Ave 'Ino: A Moonlight Stroll

Left work late today and hightailed it to the gym. After sweaty-time and running errands time, I wasn't quite ready to jump on the subway so I decided to walk home instead.

Enjoying the view of the full moon over the housing projects

Peeking over the top

Looks like someone fell asleep at the switch

Spying on Tiffany...

Good 'ol Ortiz Fun(eral) Home

The Return of the Queen

Well, after a much too long hiatus in the G.B./California/Hong Kong, our dear sweet friend Stephen has returned to the loving arms of this filthy whore we call a 'city.'   Alas, his visit will be short-lived as work ultimately beckons, but for the time being he is crashing on a half-inflated mattress on Tiffany's floor.  We love Stephen.  He should just, like, quit his job and live here for REAL.

Tiffa and Stephen

Summer is OVER. (Part II)

Mexico

Late in the summer, Arianne's parents decided to throw a party in Monterrey, Mexico for their 35th anniversary. Being as how it fell over Labor Day weekend, Arianne had the opportunity to fly down for a few days and visit with her mother's side of the family who she hadn't seen in about 8 years or so and tour the countryside. It was a grand ol' time!

Mi Abuelita

Real de Catorce, a small mining town waaaay up in the mountains...

Navigating the steep streets

Mexico is karaoke!

El Cerro de la Silla from my abuelita's terrace

Summer is OVER.

Well friends, it has been a good summer here in Slagletown.  Clearly, it has been so good, that Arianne has been much to busy to keep up with the hectic demands of the  Slagletown blog.  So, as the days get shorter and the summer slowly crawls to an end, what better to fill our blog with than a recap of the goings-on of Summer 2008.

Minnesota

The summer started out on a sad note with the passing of Grandpa Slagle.  Yet, where there are Slagles, there will inevitably be good times.  Grandpa Slagle's funeral brought us all together in Minnesota for the weekend just as the weather was warming up.

 How many Slagles does it take to plant a tree?

Alaska

The end of June brought Mike and I to the eve of our Big Vacation - ALASKA! We had had Alaska on the brain ever since my mother had uttered those fateful words in Chicago last October - "Goodbye, Alaska!"...intended of course for Scotty and Jen, in town from Alaska for Mike's show at Madron Gallery...but we didn't care.  We knew those words had some sort of meaning for us too, so we planned a trip.  And, oh boy, what a trip.  It was EPIC.

Darn newfangled cameras.

Grizzlies galore! 

One of many, many moose.

And stupid me totally forgot to take the opportunity to cry wolf for REAL.

Sweet little Denali sled dog pups with tails a wagging and teeth like daggers.

Mike and a delicious fish (lake char)

The view across Mordor.

Paddling the Tangle Lakes along the Delta River

Scotty and Jen

Mike and Luke

Read this and weep

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