Archive for September, 2008

• 09.30.08 Austin Grill discontinues Monday night swing dancing posted in Dancing

  Last night was the last swing dance at Austin Grill. They’ve decided to discontinue swing dancing in lieu of Monday Night Football. Needless to say, I’m very disappointed.

  If you’ve ever been there dancing or ever wanted to, or have been dragged along by me and enjoyed your time there, now is the time to act. Send an email to Bill Duffy. Tell him how much you loved Austin Grill. Tell him how great it was. Tell him how you see the ads for dancing at Austin Grill in the papers ALL the time. Here’s what I said:

  Hi Bill,
  I just wanted to tell you how disappointed I was to hear Austin Grill decided to stop hosting swing dancing on Monday nights. I’ve been at Austin Grill nearly every Monday since March 14, 2005 when it first started and honestly can’t imagine what my life would be like without it. Honestly! I met my girlfriend there the week it started. I’ve made countless friends, including much of the bar staff. It is literally THE BEST reason to live in Baltimore. It was a wonderful and unique venue, the staff there has been incredibly supportive and friendly, and your food is awesome. I speak for many of my family and friends — Austin Grill will not be the same without it and we will all terribly miss this event.

  Unfortunately, the decision has been made. Unless someones mind is changed, there is no more dancing at Austin Grill. We’re looking for other venues. We want one with a big floor, a parking lot, and a safe neighborhood.

  And most unfortunately, this isn’t a good time for Dorry, Sommer, Emily, or me, or anyone who might actually be able to help rescue it.

• 09.10.08 A better text input for touch-screen devices posted in Technology

  I would be very excited to see something like this supported on my iPhone:

  In fact, I’ve thought multiple times how instead of an “unlock code” on my iPhone (to prevent people spying on my mail, etc. if I were to lose it) I could just have some type of swipe or gesture that would unlock it for me. Swiping: Wave of the finger future. Pun intended.

• 09.05.08 Folly Beach vacation posted in Vacations

  I left for Folly Beach, SC last Friday morning for an extended Labor Day weekend. I met Emily and her two girlfriends plus their husbands, the girls whom had already been there for three days without the guys. The group of six has been together before but only for a wedding, and being that two of the group were the ones getting married we didn’t get to hang out very much.

  We had a blast. I’m pretty sure the combination of alcohol + good food + company was just about perfect. The beach was amazing: sunny, warm, and windy.

  When you do a vacation like that, you have to do it right. Pancakes and sausage for breakfast. Skip the lunch. Big dinners: filet mignon kabobs, homemade pizzas, homemade biscuits, etc. And even a fancy dinner in downtown Charlestown. We know how to eat and we know how to eat right, baby!

  Best thing of all: I didn’t bring along my computer. I had everything completely wrapped up here at work. And nothing catastrophic happened! For realz.

  [Update: I uploaded the pictures to PicasaWeb. I'd have deleted some of these but I figure people who were at the vacation would like to see copies, even if they are bad.]