(Near) Halloween Ramble
There never seems to be enough time.
It’s been so long since I posted that the blog went blank. Sad.
I was writing an entry about the Ireland trip, but it seems too long and boring so I’ll edit it before I inflict it upon you. In the meantime I’ll digress to give you an update on what’s been going on since my return.
Back in da city
It didn’t take long for that relaxed vacation feeling to drain away. Work was right here waiting for me. Within 24 hours it was like I never left. (But we do have the recorded evidence to prove it really happened: 450 digital pics, two hours of video, and three rolls of old fashioned, analog film. This is probably the most well documented vacation I’ve ever taken.)
We returned on a Monday (Columbus Day) so I had a short workweek. Not too horrible.
Shrewsbury, MA
The first weekend back we went to visit our Godson Colin D. and his new sister Lia up in Massachusetts. Fantastic trip. Due to a bizarre accident of scheduling, a bunch of old friends ended up at the D. household on the same weekend: Truk and Katherine from Memphis, Larry from NYC, Aaron from D.C., even Clea from… wherever Clea lives these days. (St. Louis, Italy, Paris, and Frankfurt were all mentioned. She carries multiple cell phones. She’s a hoot.)
We played various forms of “zoo” with Colin (he just turned three and he’s *really* into animals), watched Lia sleep, ate sandwiches, went to a pumpkin patch (a freakishly wholesome scene), and played Texas Hold Em’ while wearing funny hats (you had to be there).
The weirdest thing about the trip was the fact that I stayed up later, and drank more beer in this decent, proper, child-filled, wonderland than I have in the last year in NYC. I think that because this group sees each other so infrequently we’re reluctant to “waste” time sleeping. We want to stretch out the evening and pack in as much fun as we can stand. A similar thing happens when I visit my family in Arkansas. Many a night my brother and I find ourselves sitting up at 3am talking or watching bad TV together—neither of us wanting to be the first one to turn in. It’s not a competition (like at a Jr. High School sleepover) but more of a shared desire to just hangout for as long as we can. Prolong the visit. Make every hour count. I don’t mind it one bit, actually.
Work Interlude
The following week work started bearing down full force.
Dan the Man
On the weekend of Oct. 23rd my good friend Dan came down from Detroit. If you don’t know Dan… well… no description I could provide in a single blog entry would do him justice. (He’s what some might call “a character.”) If you do know Dan, you’ll be happy to know that he’s doing well and working for the feds. Believe it or not, our man Dan is now an honest to God government agent. He’s an arbitrator/case worker (not sure of the exact title) for the National Labor Relations Board. He’s also playing a lot poker.
It was great to see Dan, but I fear I wasn’t the greatest host. I dragged him to three movies in three days—Tarnation (Bizarre. Experimental. Sad. Very Good.), I [little heart symbol] Huckabees (Bizarre. Hollywood-experimental. Funny. Very Good.), Team America: World Police (Original. Stupid. Funny-but-not-as-funny-as-you-hope. Gross. Rental.)—and forced him to stay up late (see above). But I think he had fun. I know I did.
Oh, and if you do know Dan, you should encourage him to start a blog. Things just… happen to this guy. Like… every day. Car accidents. Bizarre encounters with strange people. Getting lost in a rain forest. Crazy things. He should be writing it all down.
(On an unhappy note, I’m sad to report that Dan’s brother, Andrew, has had a relapse. After undergoing surgery and chemotherapy last year his cancer has returned. He’s in great spirits, though. (You can see for yourself at www.AndrewsRide.com.) He recently rode in the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Ride for the Roses in Austin, TX. He’s already started raising money for next year’s ride. You can make a donation at his web site.)
Last Week Was a Long Week
- Monday – Morning in NYC. Afternoon in Stanford, CT. Home by 7pm.
- Tuesday – All day in NYC. Home by 10pm
- Wednesday – Up at 6am. 8:30am flight to Tampa. Meeting from noon-4pm. Taco Bell in Hotel room. Work from 6-11pm. Insomniac cable TV watching until 1am.
- Thursday – Woken at 6:15am by alarm in adjacent room. 8am to noon meeting. 2pm flight to NYC. Land at 5pm. At video game night at Larry’s by 7pm. Grand Theft Auto: San Andres until 11pm. Home by midnight.
- Friday – Up at 7am. All day meeting(s) in Stamford starting at 9am. Home by 6pm. Sushi at 7pm. Falling asleep at Sushi restaurant by 8pm. In bed by 9:30pm.
Ahhh…. sleeping late. I got a solid thirteen hours on Friday night.
Saturday was spent playing squash and hanging out with my neglected (and patient) wife.
Bronx Zoo
This Sunday we went to the Bronx Zoo. It was “Zoo Boo!” day (i.e. Halloween) so all the kids (and a lot of parents) were wearing costumes. Spider Man was very popular. One little boy, no more than eight or nine, was dressed as a pimp—suit, leopard pattern hat, and a cane. Hysterical.
As always I was most impressed by the Gorillas. There is a family of about a dozen Western Lowland Gorillas. The viewing area is behind large Plexiglas windows so you can be inches from these guys (and gals) as they eat, play, look at the humans, spit out their food, and occasionally touch the glass from their side. They are so human- it’s uncanny. It’s thrilling to watch them. Watching the young ones play (less than a year old) was like watching Colin play. Go to the zoo.
Halloween in My Hood
Halloween in the East Village is nothing like Halloween back in Jacksonville, Arkansas. Since everyone lives in locked apartment buildings (there are few doormen in our neighborhood) the kids go around to the local businesses to trick or treat. They hit the bodegas, laundromats, print shops, coffee shops, bars, restaurants—anything on the street that’s open to the public—and ask for candy. (And they get it!) It’s different (very different) than going door-to-door in suburbia, but it’s nice. The whole neighborhood gets involved. People talk to strangers on the street. Shop owners dress up and stand outside with bowls of candy. I’d say fifty percent of the people on the street at 7pm were in costume.
I [little heart symbol] NY.
Happy (belated) Halloween.
November 3rd, 2004 at 5:08 pm
You ARE a busy guy. Sounds like in your case, for the most part, it is a good thing (as long as it continues to involve friends and travel).
RE: your ‘Team America’ evaluation, after second thought, I agree with you. It is definitely a rental. I actually wrote that on the other site, but then edited it out. We hadn’t seen a funny movie in awhile plus I was in a goofy stupid mood that week.
Glad you got your site working again – we do the same thing when I go home to visit (staying up late), except it usually involves really bad karaoke and keeping Jen’s baby awake as long as he can stand it because he’s so darned cute.