food on a stick

so, there's an article in the Washington Post about the last days of RED. check out the main photo for the story. yayuhhh. that's me peeking out of the left corner. i don't remember that moment at all. that was last sunday, which was supposed to be the last Underground Soul Solution at RED.


i went to rakkasah this year with my troupe Raqs Sahara. i took a workshop with Aziza, who is an amazing teacher. i felt really REALLY good about our performance on friday night. there's nothing like dancing/working with people who you really like and also that you feel are just fucking GOOD. the women in my troupe just amaze me. i mean i got all proud and gushy watching my troupe mates learning choreography in the Aziza workshop. if i hadn't known them i'd be like "WHO are THOSE chicks?". and i get to dance with them. during our performance, there's a part in Leilet Hob where half of us are on stage and the other half joins us. at that moment when the rest of the girls came out all sultry-like i was like "damnnnnnn, check these girls OUT". i'm just lucky that i found my troupe, or rather, that they found me.

and then...

i took Chiaki to the Coldstone Creamery for the first time. Chiaki is my partner in chowhound-dom. we like to eat. when we're not eating, we like to talk about eating. she was so moved by the Cheesecake Fantasy sundae that she said something like "i am so glad that my mother gave birth to me...so that i could be here...eating this". yes, it's THAT GOOD. RUN your ass to the nearest Coldstone if you haven't been. we were sitting there moaning (not like that) as we ate that sundae. again, just fucking GOOD.

and then, and then...


i wanted to freak gianma out. so, i took him to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. it worked. especially when i suggested that we go get some food. now, gianma has never been to this kind of thing, and he's never had fair/festival food. he ordered a beef gyro. the beef was GRAY...GRAY! he was outraged. then i got us a sausage on a stick. he did not approve. it was hilarious for me. they even had mac and cheese on a stick. that's just crazy.

oh and i went to MIT Media Lab for work. while i was up there i got to hang with my peeps Becca and Larry. to my dismay, Becca wanted me to help cook dinner. i learned to make chicken parmesan baked in pasta. it wasn't too hard to make and was delicious. will i try to make it again here on my own? hmm, let me think...hell no, bitches. hey, did you know that in Italy they don't put chicken in pasta? there's also no 'chicken parmesan'. oh, and if you order a seafood dish and your waiter kindly (but while wincing) offers you grated parmesan that you should say "no"? did ya?

so, last night marked the REAL end of Sunday nights at RED. the place was packed and claiming dance space was difficult, but it seemed like everyone was smiling while they danced. people were snapping photos left and right. trying to take a peice of history home with them. goodbye RED. i'll really miss that place.