What a Weekend.

First up, a shout out to the lovely folks at Starbucks R&D. The new Mocha Mint Chip Frappuccino is incredible. Of course, the barista neglected to mention that aside from tasting like "a blenderized thin mint" it also included a healthy dose of liquid crack. Those damn things are addictive. (Though at 4.00 a pop, I'll stick to dunkin's iced coffee for my crack fix.)

What did I do this Memorial Day weekend? Aside from thanking veterans...

Gave blood on Saturday. I think they should give out buttons that say "I'm not on drugs, if I were, I'd be thinner." As it is, our blood bank doesn't even give out "I gave blood" stickers, which would have gone a loooong way toward explaining the ginormous bruise on my right arm. The nurse tried twice to get my vein, clamped the tubing, and let someone else try twice. Unfortunately, that someone else didn't unclamp the tubing, so instead of allowing blood to flow into the tubing, it flowed into my arm. Hot. Mercifully, they got it on the first try on my left arm. They're not lettin' O+ get away...

Made beer-can chicken on Saturday night. Say what you will, it does make some tasty-ass chicken, especially when made with some "ancient bay" seasoning (which is what old bay turns into when it's been in someone's cupboard for at least a decade.)

Sunday we smoked a giant piece of pork in the smoker. And I learned another important lesson. Jerk paste is like bryllcreme. A little dab'll do ya. The pork was great, but waaaaaaaaay spicy. I also spent a loooot of time in the Hammock Chair, reading. Made it through "Another Thing to Fall" by Laura Lippman (whose Baltimore novels are most awesome indeed), "Thunderstruck" by Erik Larson (who is like a lighter-hearted, more murder-obsessed Simon Winchester), and part of the way through "Bonk" by the inimitable Mary Roach. (If you haven't read "Stiff" go do it now, I can wait.) That was the highlight of the weekend. Sitting outside, reading and napping under the tree.

Hope you had an equally enjoyable weekend. I've got to go try to combat my Starcrack craving.