I’ve been struggling a bit lately with coming up with things to blog about. On a whim, I asked a good friend to throw out random words/ideas so that I could have something to focus on. That turned out to be quite a process. This genuinely intelligent being insisted that he couldn’t come up with anything (note: i mention his intelligence because there are some people i know that i would genuinely believe didn’t have a single thing on their minds, but i know that that is not the case in this instance). Now I think that where i went wrong is by telling him what i needed it for… it’s funny how when we put boundaries and limits on ourselves our minds shut down.
If i asked a little kid outside playing to say some random words I’m sure I’d get my fill, easy… but as we get older we learn to look at things more critically. We’re told there’s a time and a place for certain behaviors. We’re told we need to conform… and that’s what my friend did… he sat there with a number of thoughts going thru his mind, but he wanted to conform his response to what he thought would be an “acceptable” topic to blog about.
I recognize this practice as a necessary evil, but it also saddens me a bit. While i don’t think that we need to shout out every single thought that passes thru our minds, i think it would be nice to feel free to just spout out nonsense for the sake of itself sometimes.
After a LOT of coaxing, i got him to look around and tell me five things that surrounded him: cd case, stapler, phone, palm pre, speaker… poor stapler. He seems out of place, right? I feel like all the other items are so technology driven… while the stapler.. i dunno… it just seems functional but not flashy.
Sure his stapler could be decked out in Swarovski crystals, but even still… it would still just be that clunky office supply that everyone has on their desk… completely functional, but not much else. When i tried to lump the other stuff together i came up with “technology”… i mean, i suppose they fit there, but really i feel like they can also all be used to disseminate information. Then of course my mind started wandering to how much info we send/receive everyday. How much of it is junk we can do without and how much we really *need*.
I’ve been told that i’d probably be a happier person if i could unplug… and there’s probably a lot of truth to that. I am a slave to my phone. If it beeps, vibrates, alerts, whatever, I need to know what it is immediately… usually it’s a sale at Old Navy or a bill is due… shit i don’t really need to know while i’m enjoying time with friends… but it’s hard for me to just turn it off. That makes me sad too. I remember talking on the phone for hours in high school.. now i struggle to make small talk.. but sit me at a keyboard and i’ll ramble on for hours. I’m not really sure when that switch happened for me. It helps for keeping in touch with folks who live all across the country, but really, what i would love to get back to is some good old-fashioned one-on-one undistracted convos.
I think imma go post this on facebook, twitter, myspace, friendster, gchat, aim, 200 messageboards, and blackplanet and see what people think…
Writer’s Block vs. Technology
Well to be fair, it did NOT die… the issue is that the first place I went to is just too good and I haven’t been anywhere else yet. Between the bartenders, the food, and the mojitos, Meze is just perfect so i haven’t wanted to go anywhere else.
Sadly, this is quickly turning into a typical DC summer. Hot… Humid and Gross. It’s this time of year that makes me remember why I love San Francisco so much. It was 97º here today… and 66º in SF… i don’t really think i need to say anything more.
Saying that I’m busy right now is such an understatement. I have so much going on and so much more that I’m trying to do, but I know it will all work itself out if i’m patient… the only problem is the fact that i completely lack patience 🙂
So Thursday we headed back to Mezè for another mojito happy hour. I must say I was a bit disappointed this time around. I decided to start at the top of the menu this time and ordered a basil mojito (note: there is a new menu and basil and basil ginger are two new mojitos). Sadly, they were out of basil. I was extremely disappointed about that. I tried not to let my disappointment show too much because I still had tons of mojitos to choose from. For my first one I went with the blackberry mojito. It was ok. I mean it was a delicious drink, but i know it won’t be one of my favorites. The berries were fresh and it was well made, but the flavors didn’t really do it for me.
I should mention that Abe, Janel, and Kenan also joined me and BJ today which made things a little more festive and also resulted in deteriorated picture quality as i was much more concerned with socializing. I don’t really remember what everyone had, but I’m pretty sure that everyone enjoyed them.
My second drink was a strawberry mojito. I don’t think it’s any secret that I love strawberries, but i couldn’t really get my mind around a strawberry mojito. I figured it would taste like strawberry lime-aid plus rum… I wasn’t even close. I don’t know if it was the freshness of the strawberries or the quantity used, but it was FULL of strawberry taste. There were hints of lime, and the rum to balance out the two, but it was absolutely delicious. I think that if i had to rank them now it’d go: ginger, strawberry, blackberry (note, i wouldn’t include the original in a ranking of flavored mojitos).
At any rate, Mezè is still winning. I am looking forward to finishing off their selection, hopefully by the end of this week and then i can pick a favorite and move on. Either way, I know that with half price mojitos, this will definitely be a favorite spot this summer.
So the first stop on the Mojito Madness tour was Mezè in Adams Morgan. Whenever I throw out the “who has the best mojitos question”, Mezè is one of the first places mentioned. To make things even better, they have a half price mojito happy hour. When I saw the list i knew that i would have to get thru all of them to determine the best one and then i could compare that one to the others in the area.
I figured the best place to start was the Classico. That’s the Classico on the left, BJ had the mango mojito on the right. The Classico was good… really really good. I sat and watched as the bartender muddled the mint and lime and added in the rest of the ingredients… that first sip was heavenly… Now, i should take this time to throw in a disclaimer… since i gave up drinking for Lent all I’ve had was one vodka/cranberry and 2 glasses of wine… So there may have been more at play than just the deliciousness of that particular mojito.
That being said, it really was a good mojito. Not too sweet or too limey or anything that a mojito can be sometimes. It was just really crisp and good. It was so good in fact, that I decided tat I should just go ahead and move on to my second one. I couldn’t resist the ginger mojito. I actually was trying to decide which one i wanted when i saw the bartender pull out the fresh ginger and slice off a piece. I was sold. The ginger mojito was better than the classico. The ginger gave it a somewhat spicy bite but the fresh mint and lime balanced it out.
So far, Mezè is 2 for 2. I’m a little torn at this point. I dunno if i should get all the way thru the Mezè list and then move on or what. Either way I wasn’t able to go to mojito happy hour today. The mojito rules (that i make up as i go along) clearly state that you can’t truly enjoy one if the outside temperature is below 75º. Today was cold and rainy so i passed but hopefully it’ll warm up soon and i can get back to business. In the meantime, please head over to Mezè and let me know what you think.
(thanks to Mike Corones: twitter – @corones for the sensationalist title)
So, it’s no secret that I love my mojitos. I believe i had my first mojito at L’oriol Plaza back in like 2003. I fell i love immediately, and since that time I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect mojito. The ones at L’oriol quickly fell off. Often too limey or too syrupy… it was just wrong. To me, the “perfect” mojito, is not too sweet… There is the distinct taste of mint… refreshing, combined with lime… fresh lime… Just the right sweetness to take that bitter edge off, and a bit of club soda to give it a little bite.
Over the years there have been some standout mojitos… one was in Santa Monica across the street from where my friend Olga used to live. Another was in a bar in Vegas… the MGM Grand i think… but i need a consistently good mojito here in the DC area. Without a doubt the two best mojitos I’ve ever had in DC were at Be Bar and Cubano’s. Be Bar was a gay bar that has since closed (i think) and Cubano’s is more of a restaurant than a bar, so I feel obligated to eat when i’m there, and the idea of just getting a mojito is a bit difficult.
A few years ago, I took matters into my own hands and started making my own mojitos… Honestly, I’m pretty decent, but the thrill of the mojito (for me) is warm spring days, sipping refreshing beverages outside in the warm (not hot) sun. To make things more difficult, I realized that i began to drink mojitos year round. When my friend Tony gave me a mint plant, I was always heading outside to grab a few leaves to make quick mojito. They were tasty, but it stopped being special.
I made the decision last winter, that I would save my mojitos for the spring.. .as a way to celebrate the change of the season (yes, i take the damn drink this seriously) and to make sure it was always special… And so now, here we are… April 2010. The weather has broken… trees and flowers are blooming, and DC is generally awesome right now. As I sat in my office today, I realized that there is no better time than the present to begin my quest for the best mojito in DC. There’s no real stuffy list of criteria. I want fresh ingredients and reasonable prices. Atmosphere is nice, but taste is most important. It can be anywhere inside the beltway… although i really have no desire to go to VA for anything. The plan is to consume as many mojitos (responsibly) as possible. Different flavors, different parts of the city, etc. I’m open to suggestions. The end result that I’m hoping for, is identifying a go-to place where i can consistently enjoy a great mojito without a bunch of extra shit.
I’ll begin to detail my quest tomorrow… but i can tell you that the first spot – Mezè in Adams Morgan, did not disappoint
Gangsta Mittens 
