So evidently I’m a cheap date. Well, maybe not that cheap. At tonight’s CitizenGulf DC fundraiser for recovering the gulf from the BP oil spill, I and several others auctioned off one date with ourselves to the highest bidder.

I sold for $45, to the always amazing @jillfoster. We’re planning a “morning date” for next week–despite the fact that she’s married! Of course it’s not a real date, but I offered to hang out and help her with her blog and any other personal technological projects that have been put on the back burner lately–I’m looking forward to it!

The event was a blast. When @andinarvaez contacted me earlier in the week to ask me to auction myself off, I wasn’t entirely sure what to think, but it couldn’t have been more fun. While obviously I wasn’t looking for a real date–this crowd isn’t exactly my target market, ya know–I’m thrilled to be able to hang out with such a brilliant professional like Jill!

In other news, I’m exhausted! The beginning of classes have hit hard. The classes themselves aren’t that difficult, but it’s just a lot to balance, and I’m sure I’ll adjust as the summer goes on. But more on that later… for now, I’m grabbing some shut-eye.

So the original plan was to wake up at 4 a.m., begin biking at 5 a.m., kayak from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., and then get brunch at 10:30 a.m. with a @dcprincessq. Didn’t quite work out like that, but it’s been a fantastic morning already. Ended up “sleeping in” until 4:45, skipped kayaking because I was taking photos (below), and now am getting brunch with @ptklein and @laurenkrizel. Anyway, lots of fun photos from my “photo ride” below. Can you tell where I went?

At 10 a.m. on Friday, July 30, five prominent DMV Twitter users embarked on the adventure of a lifetime. Twamping.

You read that right. Twitter + Camping.

Now, “what stays in the woods stays in the woods” (inside joke) but I did want to give a quick overview of the trip and some of the lessons learned.

The explorers included myself (@alexpriest), @sisarina, @charswann, @swannrmonavie, @aishajcreative, and @baileycuddles. We boarded two tightly packed vehicles with enough food to feed an army, chairs for everyone including the pup, and tents to sleep 14 people (no kidding). The journey began.

After a super-fun, totally rockin’ car-ride, completely with the noxious scents of darling @baileycuddles (he was definitely feeling whatever he ate the night before–we all suffered), we arrived at our campsite, selected by @sisarina. It was perfect. We managed to be the only ones in our entire neck of the woods–literally–and it was, to say the least, a picturesque spot.

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There’s really not all that much I have to say tonight. In general, I try to restrain from posting entries that don’t have a focus, or an idea really pushing them forward. To me, I feel like writing about my everyday life is–while not necessarily mundane–just a repeat of what you can see on Twitter (@alexpriest) and Facebook.

That said, I felt the need to say something about just how amazing it is to bike in the rain.

So how amazing is it? Really, really amazing.

My love affair with biking in the rain began in Copenhagen and well, it started out as a love/hate relationship. Sure, it felt kind of nice in September 2009, but as soon as it started getting colder (ya know, like the third week of September…) it wasn’t quite as nice. And sometimes it just wasn’t convenient to get all wet whenever I needed to be somewhere and, well, look decent.

But I soon got over that. After biking in Copenhagen for a few weeks, you get used to the rain and the clouds and biking in the dark on winding city streets. You get used to wearing water-resistant clothing and drying out quickly (even using bathroom hand dryers, if absolutely necessary!). And you get used to everyone else being soggy and out of breath from pedaling through the storm, too. It’s just part of life.

Once I got past that, I started to realize just how beautiful a city can be in a rain storm. It’s not always about the sun, or blue skies, or being able to see miles and miles. Sometimes it’s nice to just appreciate the calm and the overwhelming monotony of the rain, drowning out traffic noise, voices, trains, planes, you name it. Sometimes it’s nice to bike along and get absolutely soaked, like I did today, and just enjoy it. You learn to let go and get over it, realizing that there are so many worse conditions to be in than soggy.

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Finally. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Well, some of you, maybe.

I took some time this afternoon to upload a bunch of photos from the past few months that I had put on the backburner. My favorite is below (WALLY!), but check below the cut for full slideshows of the others, or view them on Flickr:

• 2010 Yale Graduation — Photos from my brother-in-laws graduation at Yale back in May.
• Virginia Summer 2010 — Photos from my trip to Virginia last week over the 4th of July holiday.
• Chispa DC July — Photos from Thursday nights Chispa event. Not as many fun photos as last time, but still lots-o-fun.
• Walter Cronkat — Photos of everyone’s favorite kitty (WALLY!). Keep your eyes on this set, I’ll continue to update it as I accumulate more and more kitty photos.

Speaking of kitty photos…

Check below the cut for more fun slideshows:

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