  Just got back from a Salsa Fundraiser... a salsa judging contest where we got the chance to taste about 20 different salsas from 10 different restaurants around the Detroit area and name our favorites. My $25 went to the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project and in return, I had plenty of chips, all the salsa variety I could handle, music, dancing and Corona. My hot salsa winner was the #4 sauce made by Tio's, which is just down the street from me in Ann Arbor. It's been a long-time favorite of mine and in my opinion it kicked the ass of the competition. The mild salsa winner was a surprise... a green tomatillo sauce with roasted jalapenos that gave it a tremendous depth of flavor. It was also surprisingly warm for a mild sauce. It's from urlLink Agave , a restaurant in Detroit. Never been... so I can't say much about it. What I can say about the experience is how many restaurants make a mediocre-- or worse-- salsa. Frankly, Pace Picante Sauce has more aroma, texture and appeal than a few of the restaurant-made salsas.
That was the dissapointing part. Other than that, an enjoyable evening with my friend Doug and his mom. I need to cram a few more of the evenings in over the next few weeks before he relocates to Colorado to take a new position with his urlLink company . I have a couple days of research and writing to do for a TV client next week, so I've taken some time off from my real job to get that done. It occurred to me yesterday that even though I can't do my DC trip as planned, because my presence (as "the ex") will threaten C's new boyfriend, or something like that-- I shouldn't just sit home working on the project. So I haven't decided what I'll do for sure yet, but I'll go to either DC, Chicago or Toronto for 4 days next week. Get a hotel with high speed internet access, find a Starbucks with wireless... and work at the hotel or elsewhere for 8 hours each day on Thursday and Friday, enjoy quiet evenings out... and then have the weekend to cap it off. So much better than beaching myself in Ann Arbor. Right now, I'm leaning toward DC. Taking a trip like this is normally something I'd call frivolous but I think it would be relaxing and I make a lot of money that I haven't used much for fun lately.
Chicago and Toronto are easy drives-- equidistant-- from where I live... and I already have a ticket to fly to DC. I was going to write something else, too... but I'm too tired to do it. My eyes have been about to close since 2pm today... and with my lymph nodes already painfully swollen and my roommate downstairs with a fever, I need to get my rest! 
