Posts from April 2001

I was going to post stupid stuff about how I don’t hear from some of my friends and colleagues these days, and then I changed the plan to whining about my life and how confusing it’s been recently, but when it gets right down to it none of this is worthy of complaint.  I’m just sliding through a moderate emotional trough and really should avoid posting until I’ve recovered.  In fact, this post was probably a bad idea, but too late now.  (You’re reading it, after all.)

As for recent events, our friends Jeff and Erin got married over the past weekend.  As all brides and grooms must be (according to federal law), Erin was absolutely beautiful and Jeff looked mildly panic-stricken.  The “rehearsal dinner” was held at our house on Friday night, and it seems a good time was had by all.  We saw some of Kat’s classmates for the first time since graduation, so there was a great deal to talk about.  Jeff broke out the mandolin and serenaded the crowd with such gems as Chinese People Don’t Eat Sushi and other original compositions.  Jeff’s mother was also kind enough to translate the Chinese writing on our many wall hangings and tell us the story behind some of them; thanks to her, we’re now sure that our artwork does not say things like “Simple Sketch I Overcharged Stupid American Tourists To Draw.”  We’d always wondered…

• Tuesday, 24 April 2001 was published on Tuesday, April 24th, 2001.
• It was assigned to the General category.
• There have been no replies.

We had more out-of-town friends staying at the Manor Meyer over the weekend, so I was sort of forced into a socializing/relaxation mode, which felt pretty alien.  No articles were written, no book material was cranked out, there was no class to check on, and no project deadlines were looming.  Weird.  I still checked e-mail, of course, but even on that front it was a slow weekend.  I was actually considering doing something productive like raking the yard, but then a cold rain started falling and I decided to goof off some more.  (Like I need an excuse as obvious as inclement weather when it comes to avoiding yard work.)

• Monday, 16 April 2001 was published on Monday, April 16th, 2001.
• It was assigned to the General category.
• There have been no replies.

I can’t say it any better than Tycho did over at the Penny Arcade this morning:

…when someone tells you that you can do what you’ve always wanted, and not just that, what you’ve always dreamed, and do it as your job, you start wishing that they’re right.  And you wish really, really hard.

Even when the wish seems dead, you fight to keep it alive, because it’s so damned hard to give up.  And you keep hoping that it’s going to work out, somehow, against what seem like all odds.  I hear ya, Tycho.  I can’t restore your wish any more than I could anyone else’s, but I hear ya.

• Monday, 9 April 2001 was published on Monday, April 9th, 2001.
• It was assigned to the Personal category.
• There have been no replies.

So it’s the day after April Fool’s Day, and guess who the joke is on?  Anyone who believed George W. Bush’s environmental campaign promises.  You know, last time I checked Washington, D.C. was a coastal city, so it will be one of the first to feel the effects if sea levels do rise to any significant degree.  Apparently Bush is okay with flooding many of our national landmarks, damaging and perhaps destroying them.  Maybe he’s hoping that the sound of waves breaking against the Capitol building will lull Congress into a relaxed state, thus making them more prone to civility.  It’s so crazy, it just might work.

• Monday, 2 April 2001 was published on Monday, April 2nd, 2001.
• It was assigned to the Politics category.
• There have been no replies.