Saturday was his party with his friends, at a nature center in Alexandria (VA), where a naturalist took the kids on a scavenger hunt in the woods; they also made popsicle-stick animals, touched a live snake, and ate a cake decorated with a monster truck blowing a cloud of sugary exhaust as it leapt over a line of beaters. I had a great time; the kids were a riot and did all sorts of five-year-oldy stuff. They were like a football team in a neverending end-zone fun bunch, bouncing around yelling, hooting and hugging.

Of all the gifts he got, by far the coolest was from the girl (he invited three but only one could make it): a futuristic GI Joe mecha-suit toy that shot little missiles and rolled around by its own power. The girl herself was awesome. She growled and chased the other kids around, flipped her eyelids inside-out, and had a general blast.

While I was there we ate at my second-favorite Afghan restaurant, Afghan Restaurant and the best burger joint in the world. And my brother and I went off to Home Depot with a $2500 gift card he won (via online sweepstakes) and bought a nice charcoal grill for his balcony, and a chimney for the coals (yes, now I agree, nothing starts coals better).

Transportation-wise, the weekend kinda sucked. My brother had the oil changed in their Saturn on Wednesday, and it seems the mechanic neglected to tighten a bolt somewhere, and the engine blew on 295 while my s-i-l was driving home from work on Thursday; she got home a few hours late, but didn't miss too much of the lad's birthday celebration. The engine is kaput and it'll cost more than the blue book value of the car to fix it, so they're just gonna pick up the plates and pay AAA or someone to dispose of it, and write a letter to the garage owner and the state's Attorney General.

I accidentally booked my train ticket for the wrong day and had to take a late train to NYC last night; when I got home, there was a note on the door reading, "DUE TO BOILER MAINTENANCE THERE WILL BE NO HOT WATER B/T MIDNIGHT SUNDAY AND NOON MONDAY." Boy, was I looking forward to a hot shower. Oh, well.

There's a Five Guys coming to midtown soon.

I hope it's as good as the original one on Fayette St, in Old Town Alexandria. They're really excellent burgers in a different vein than some; you can't order well-done or rare -- they all come the same way, perfect -- and the fries are great, too. I can't wait 'til great burgers finally arrive; New York deserves a great burger joint.

Plus it'll be at 55 St and 6 Ave, within walking distance from my office. Time to get fat!

Oh, also I had Jones Strawberry Lime soda for the first time. I'm sorry to say that Mountain Dew has been supplanted as my favorite drink in the world.

My brother burped after drinking one. I caught a whiff of it, and said, "Okay, this is weird. I never thought I'd say this, but your belch just smelled great, like a strawberry puff of air. Can you burp again?"

So good.

I'm going to start sending emails on paper.

Now i want a strawberry soda.
when the car is brockin don't come a knockin.

"Who killed the electric car?" I asked.
"GM and Ford," he responded

He knows too much! Time to take that boy on the lam.

nephews (and nieces) are the bestest