The problem with procrastination is that when you are done procrastinating and are ready to get the work done, other people, who were unaware you were procrastinating, may no longer be in.

Drat!

(It’s okay. It will work out. It always does. … Which may be why I never learn.)

This weekend, I only left the house to do three things. The rest of the time, I slept in, read, listened to a mariachi band outside our window, watched baseball, and dozed to the sound of the rain.

On Friday, Rudi, Sweetpea, some other friends, and I headed up to the Carter Barron Amphitheatre to see the Shakespeare Free for Fall production of Love’s Labors Lost. The local library had been totally uncooperative on Wednesday in loaning me a copy of the play to cram in last minute, so I went into it cold, but it’s not a complicated story. The production places the story at a 1960s ashram (don’t you love it when your brain can recall words like this?) and made several of the main characters a Beatles-like band, and it worked … mostly. I think they may have taken the production a little too seriously, so they (and, likewise, the audience) had less fun than they did with Pericles last summer.

Saturday night, Rudi and I headed over to the Black Cat to see the show I’d bought tickets for him for his birthday. Rudi likes to stream Virgin Radio and thus often becomes enamored of bands that aren’t yet famous over here. I knew that he’d discovered the Pipettes over the winter, so I grabbed tickets to the show when they were announced.

This was our first club show since the Indoor Clean Air Act took effect, and the difference was noticeable. Plus, the show was an all ages show, so the sound may have been turned down more than the previous shows we’ve seen there. I’m pleased to say that the Pipettes, a throw-back yet mod British girl trio, were a lot of fun, if occasionally a bit sharp in their vocals. But the surprise of the evening was the second opening act, Smoosh, a teen-sister duo from Seattle. They were excellent — and the obvious hit of the night. The 13-year-old drummer, in particular, kicked some serious ass! They sort of reminded me of Hanson — particularly when their tiny, ten-year-old sister joined in on bass — except with better songs.

Sunday morning we braved a steady downpour to hit the farmers’ market. We’d returned from Connecticut last weekend to discover our greens had dissolved, so we were eager to replace them and to pick up some more strawberries. (Shortcake this week!) We also came away with sugar snap peas, the first beans of the season, fava beans, broccoli, and spring onions. I’m eager to see if Rudi can figure out how to replicate this delicious fava bean spread we had at Two Amy’s last month. It was delicious!

We’re heading north this evening to see my folks and to attend my cousin’s wedding. Posting will be limited, but hopefully you’ll all be away doing fun things, too, so you won’t notice.

Have a great weekend!

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. My brother was in town for a day-and-a-half this week. He had lots to do, but we still managed to squeeze in lunch for just the two of us and dinner with him and his college friends/hosts on Tuesday.

2. Tuesday morning, the flowers I bought at the farmers’ market were in full bloom and utterly perfect. In my blue vase, I had placed a single pink peony and a stem of blue baptisia as well as a couple of stems of baptisia leaves. I forgot to take a photo, but I won’t forget its beauty.

3. On Monday when I arrived in the bowels of the Dupont Circle Metro station all alone on the opposite platform sat a dolly with a load of billboards. The billboard that was up was one for an art exhibition. The one showing on the dolly read, “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.” Then a man came by, did up the strap on the dolly, and rode away with the billboards on the next train.

Paula tagged me with a meme:

The rules
1: Each player states 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2: People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3: At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
4: Don’t forget to leave them a comment to tell them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

1. I do not like soggy cereal. Because of this, I’ve eaten my cereal dry since kindergarten.
2. I have a running dialogue going through my head almost all the time. Rudi says he can tell when I’m writing things I find amusing because I smile as I type. I also hold fights in my head, which I’ve been told is unfair to the other person participating in them.
3. I once went to a WIC office pretending to be a new single mom to do research for a paper. I once went to the mall pretending to be deaf just to gauge people’s reactions.
4. I do not like the taste of mint candy, gum, or toothpaste, but I like it paired with chocolate, particularly in my grandmother’s mint sticks and in mint chocolate chip ice cream.
5. I learned to whistle from listening to the wind blow through the trees at my grandparents’ house.
6. It wasn’t until college that I could tell my right hand from my left without instinctively having to raise one over my heart as if to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
7. I don’t like the taste of alcohol, so don’t drink it.
8. My senior year of high school, during a visit to the D.C. area, I was approached in a suburban mall by a man who asked if I wanted to star in “adult movies.”

I’m not tagging anyone, but if you’d like to play along, I invite you to do so either on your own blog or in the comments.

I did this

and this

and this.

Oh, and I went to the farmers’ market, played wiffle ball, gardened, baked bread and muffins, knit, read, cleaned, and did laundry. But the picnic was definitely the most fun part.