A Hot Time in Conroe

Late one night, when the teasips were in bed,
Old Sul Ross took a lantern in the shed.
The Aggie kicked it over, he winked and then he said,
“There’ll be a hot time in Austin tonight.”
--one of several Texas A&M fight songs (I think)

Took a drive down to Conroe, TX, on Saturday. Stopped at one of the finest rest stops in Oklahoma to partake of a turkey sandwich and some low fat Cape Cod chips. A longer drive than expected (13 hours), but only because we underestimated the travel time. The traffic was relatively light, and the weather was mostly clear. We had stocked in plenty of Pepsi, Diet Coke, and snacky foods, so the extra car time was not a hardship. We were on our way to meet Smitawich and Rossawich and to attend the nuptials of JPB and Doctor Fiancee on Sunday. We got in about 8:30pm, and immediately went to meet the couple of honor at a local for some drinks. At 1:30, after some shotgunned cans of Lone Star Light and a few broken chairs, Monkey and I were abed, sleeping off the road weariness (and the beer).

The morning brought ominous skies over the lake, which was problematic, since the wedding was to be held on a paddlewheel riverboat in the lake. But that wasn't until 7pm, so, Smitawich, Rossawich, Monkey, and I proceeded to IHOP for some breakfast and then to the Grand Theatre for a matinee of XMen III: The Last Stand. Not the best breakfast, nor movie, but entertaining nonetheless.

Back at the "resort," we watched a little NCAA softball, then prepared for the wedding. Smitawich's pants were a bit tight, I forgot my belt, but, all in all, we looked good. Monkey was especially smashing in her green dress, which matched my shirt. The prom-like ensemble (matching shirt with dress) was especially fitting for what we had deemed "High School Wedding Weekend". This moniker was arrived at after the beer episode of the night before (i.e., shotgunning cans of cheap beer that we brought to the bar ourselves (don't ask me how we got away with that), as well as the fact that someone (not in our small party, but connected with the wedding) peed off a fifteenth story balcony the prior evening. These two events, coupled with the "Senior Week" feel of the "resort" (four in a room, screaming kids, drunken spats involving security (witnessed, not engaged in)) led us to the name for the weekend's festivities.

The wedding was a blast. The ceremony, presided over by a friend of the groom's, was short and meaningful. The food was good, the tres leches groom's cake was great, the DJ was an interesting blend of musician and disc spinner (he sang and played sax and clarinet to some karaoke tracks), and the power outage was a minor, temporary inconvenience that gave everyone the opportunity to sing the continuation of the song that was playing when the lights went out. The weather held off and actually cleared up as the sun went down, and the general ambience of the riverboat was unique. Some of the pics of the boat itself didn't turn out due to the high humidity--the camera lens was just too fogged up. But here we have Rossawich, Smitawich, MerMaid, Fiddler Crab, Monkey and I enjoying the grub inside on the First Deck.

The post-wedding party was skipped by all but Smitawich. We were pretty partied out, and Monk and I had a long drive ahead of us Monday. That was a small adventure in itself. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

I'd Rather Be...

On the way home from a humid softball game (Deadliners 15, Big D0gs 5), I had a thought. Or a memory. In conjunction with the last "question" of the previous survey/tag ("Four places I would rather be right now"), I was reminded of some words that were written on a piece of art I once saw at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The piece was a four inch tall, six foot by six foot "cube" of polished stainless steel and around the four inch edge were the words: "It is enough to image the place where I am to be somewhere else." I thought that was a fitting possible repsonse to the question. I also like the sentiment of the thought. I liked it then (I saw it at least ten years ago, and it stuck with me), and I like it now.

Peace.

Four Things

Life goes on. A pretty exhausting couple of days at work, but the end is in sight, and, as tiring as it is, I have been treated to some amazing student work. It's been a real affirmation that I am doing some things right. Hooray for me.

Timmy Ocean tagged me today. Rather than ship out an email, I thought I'd just post my responses here. Play along in the "comments" section, if you like.

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. house painter, Eagle Painting
2. sales associate, Macy's
3. Jack of all trades, from accounts payable to zen provider, Baltimore Quality Meats/Belvedere Caterers
4. teacher, Columbia Public Schools

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Raising Arizona
2. Joe Versus the Volcano
3. The Maltese Falcon
4. Cool Hand Luke
(BONUS RESPONSES)
5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
6. Jaws

Four places you have lived:
1. Columbia, MO
2. Columbia, MD
3. Perry Hall, MD
4. Baltimore, MD

TV shows you love to watch:
1. Lost
2. NCAA basketball
3. Cardinals baseball
4. House
(BONUS RESPONSE)
5. Homicide (I STILL miss it)

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Bar Harbor, ME
2. Eastern Kansas (RV birding trip)
3. Bethany Beach, DE
4. Ocean City, MD

Four of my favorite foods:
1. crabcakes
2. stuffed flounder
3. chili
4. kielbasa and sauerkraut

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. on a sailboat in the South Pacific
2. on an island in the South Pacific
3. at a raw bar in Cross Street Market
4. on a plane on my way to the South Pacific

A Little Bit of Perspective

Sometimes things go so wrong that the world just closes up on you. You get so stuck in a place full of obligations and assholes, full of deadlines and dumbasses, full of bad breaks and workloads that you can't see anything beyond yourself. All you can think about is how bad you've got it, how hard it is for you. You're so tired, so burnt out, you can't think you can wake up the next day and face it all over again. Then something happens to make you realize that things just aren't so bad as they seem.

My partner teacher was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on Friday. She was in to work this morning, but left before first hour began. She packed up her stuff, preparing for the end of the year, talked to several people personally about what she was about to go through, and left. She most likely will not be back before the school year is over. There was this tremendously ominous feeling of...well, it's painful and difficult to say...those of you who are intuitive might know where I'm going with that thought, but I'll be damned if I'll write it down. A few people, well-meaning people, mentioned to me today how tough it would be for me these last days of school, dealing with two block classes, final exams, and such without Partner Teacher around. This is true. It will be a hassle. It will be a lot of extra work. But, Jesus, compared to what she's going through, what do I have to complain about? And that's what I told them.

Her prognosis is unclear at the present, but some news today gives all of us who care about her hope that she will recover quickly and well. It was certainly a hard and emotional day for me, but I guess today especially was a huge reminder that whining about how hard you have it is usually nothing but narcissistic bullshit, and, compared to people with real, serious problems, it's just bad form.

Mowing the Lawn is Better Than Nothing

Cashier toothpick stuck in the ground
Tiny lawnmower to mow me down
I could get lost in a lunchbox
Lie low in the mittens in the lost and found.
--Soul Coughing, "Down to This"

A better weekend than last, this time around. For some reason, last weekend was just a wash. I felt like I did nothing (pretty much because I did nothing), the weather was dreary, my allergies were a pain, and I was beat all weekend. This weekend was productive and warm and mostly sunny. Friday night was fun; Saturday was full of errands, lawn mowing, reading, and a trip to a mediocre out of town restaurant; and today was a busy day of birding, cleaning, pizza and appointment TV viewing/fellowship.

Tomorrow begins the last full week of school. Exams start on Friday and finish on the 31st. Memorial Day weekend brings a drive down to a wedding in Conroe, Texas, which means I'll miss the airshow again this year. And after school is out, the Monkey and I are headed to Maine!

I'll try to post pics of the dryer later this week!

Peace.