There is something I’ve learned about blogging while on the road – you’re never going to fit everything in and if you put it off until you think can, the post will putter away into oblivion. That’s what happened to me at the Internet & Society Conference in Cambridge last year; so many amazing people, conversations, moments, and funny moments that I didn’t know where to even start. And so I didn’t.
It’s 9 p.m., drinking my second mug of java, just took my requisite pre-post shit (“where’re the matches at”), and now I’m determined to get something in cyberspace while Abo’s pretending to cite a paper and his lady Anne Mack is out with the girlfriends. When Anne Mack and company get back out to town we go, which means I’m just gonna press publish and finish this whenever I can.
Thursday 1 a.m. – Home
Booger and I are rappin in the kitchen. I ask her what she’s going to do over the weekend. She says get her life in order. Says she needs a couple days to step outside the routine and figure out where she wants to go. I relate to this, but don’t share. Time to pack.
Thursday 5:05 a.m. – Home
Second alarm goes on … or is it goes off? Allah bless the second alarm – somehow I had turned off the first alarm without realizing it, clever sunuvabitch that I am. But my alarm clock is more persistent than my subconscious sleep seeking and I stumble into the bathroom to splash cold water on my face.
Thursday 6:25 a.m. – San Diego Airport
Last thing Allah, but I also ask you to bless Jet Blu. These guys are great. No lines. No problems. No delays. No big deal. Now I know that you don’t even need to check in if you’re going carry on. Just print out your email and let them scan the bar code at the gate. Tangentially: that night Abo, Anne Mack, and I argue over whether you can get away with gassing at 35,000 feet above. I say absolutely, the seats soak it in, the circulation is brilliant, you’ve got no idea where the odor is coming from, and it’s noisy as all hell. I consistently break wind on flights and I’ve never once been caught. Abo and Anne Mack dissented.
Thursday 4:45 p.m. – Georgetown Law School
Getting from Dulles Airport into the city is not painful, but it is not painless, and it’ll cost you about $11 after the $8 shuttle and $3 trip on the metro. The three hours of sleep is weighing on my eyelids as the subway rolls into Union Station. I look for the
Interruption
Three quick things before I forget them. First, to quote kevin: “the recent modern future.” Poor guy tries to sound smart. Second thing – Abo and I had a giant bet (three beers) on where the Gypsies originated from. Not only did I say India, but I specified Northern India. Abogado said Romania. Let’s look at what wikipedia says:
They are a traditionally nomadic people who originated in northern India, but currently live worldwide, chiefly in Europe. Most Roma speak some form of Romany, a language closely related to the modern Indo-European languages of Europe, northern India and Pakistan [1], but usually speak the dominant language of a region they live in as well. Modern anthropology has related Romany to Punjabi and Pothohari spoken in northern India and Pakistan.
There is no connection between the names of the Roma or their language and the city of Rome (Roma in Latin, Italian, and Romanian), the Roman Empire, Romania, the Romanian people or the Romanian language .
Now that’s ambiguous isn’t it? Third thing is that Anne Mack, without any doubt, coined the greatest adjective for Abogado over the weekend: “metrostressful.” Brilliant. I don’t know how she thought of that, but it’s so true. The guy hears something remotely sounding like a subway and he starts freaking out. Now, I don’t know how this happened to my dear once-sedatedly-mellow friend … maybe it’s the pace of capitol life … but if you want to see him run, just hiss like a metro car.
Hasta Manana
OK, so I said I’d press publish when the girls came, but I lied. I just saw a girl that I hadn’t seen since 1993. Amazing. For now I leave you with two westsides from last night’s Thievery Corporation concert. More to come.
