The day can be summed up in one word: short.
There are so many fun and wonderful things to do, and so little time. It's inevitable that we must make choices, including ignoring our ability to choose, that determine our fate.
My evening activities consisted of a combination of things.
I went down to the Veloway, one of the top ten places in the US, for the regular Wednesday night skate. Unlike New York City, which gathers perhaps a hundred skaters for the weekly jaunt through the streets, ours is a bit more reserved, fielding twenty or so skaters of various skill levels. I arrived early at the Veloway, as our evening daylight hours are steadily decreasing, and wanted to get in a few laps before everyone else. This is especially because I'm going to be competing in the Long Beach Inline Marathon on October 16th.
While I may have legged out 16+ miles, it really wasn't very productive; in fact, I was struggling so much that on the last lap, one in which our goal was to keep everyone together, Cooper was providing a lot of assistance. I'm guessing the reason for this was due to eating a late lunch, or some very tight spandex shorts that weren't allowing the lactic acid to free itself from my legs; perhaps both. Alas, there's always tomorrow :)
After skating, we usually all grab dinner together, but I opted instead to check out the weekly Wednesday night Poetry Slam event at Ego's. It's actually something I've wanted to check out for a while now, and the chance to go as part of a group, called MEETinAustin, was all the impetus I needed.
Turned out that the event was really cool, and the people who were meeting there were friendly and sociable. I met Natasha, Jen, Richard, Mario, Catherine, and Nathan. But for as much as I enjoy meeting new people, the poetry slam was totally wicked. The skill levels and preparation of the performers varied, but it was obvious that a good number of them were quite experienced. After a few rounds of voting (and drinks), three performers remained. The final recitations were even more impressive, and I can't wait to go back. ...in fact, I look forward to preparing a few pieces of my own. :)
Being on a roll, I decided to give my friend and former housemate, T*, a ring. Back in the day, he got me hooked on a show called 'The Practice', but that dissolved into a show led by James Spader, 'Boston Legal', which happens to be my most favoritestwonderfulest show in the whole world, which itself is rather strange because I don't even own a TV.
So I head over to his place, stopping off for a sandwich at Jimmy John's (any place that calls a sandwich 'The Vegetarian' is all right by me). When I get there, we chat for a while, and then start the show. It's another great episode with a stunning performance by James Spader. He gets guest star Heather Locklier off from a murder charge, curiously leaving us to wonder if she actually did it.
I think that's one of the things I love about the show, that it spends so much time in the grey, where things are not clearly right or wrong. ...not to mention wishing I were as skillful as the idealist Alan Shore, who I'm convinced is a well-written INFJ.
It's getting late, and a conference call awaits me in the morning. Time for bed.
Goodnight.
Ahem..."I don't even own a TV." I...I can't even type! This just simply blows my mind.
I mean, it's really a GOOD thing--and I've known people who also don't believe in TV :-) and I would love to be one of them. But I have to have one to at least watch a movie/rental/DVD.
Oh wait...you can do all that on your laptop. Do you also watch television shows on your computer?
Posted by: B.M. Gainer at October 6, 2005 10:47 AM