Return to Pirates
Aug. 7th, 2007 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morrigirlYesterday was my dear, darling brother Michael's 36th birthday. I took the day off from work and took him to go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He drew comparisons between the movie and Empire Strikes Back throughout the film. We both walked out having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, though Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is still my favorite. Of all the films I think that one is the most exciting and the easiest to follow.
Michael got two present from me this year. I got him a black Battlestar Galactica t-shirt that just says "Frack Me" across the front. And Mom and I gave him a joint present - two tickets to see The Police at Madison Square Garden on Halloween. Michael was in shock when he saw those. All he could say was, "No way! NO WAY!" He just couldn't believe it. He didn't even care that the seats were total shit. He was so happy he made the three of us engage in a group hug. Twice.
And speaking of unexpected gifts, something really cool and completely unrelated to my brother happened to me yesterday. Last week I found a Verizon cellphone on one of the benches at the Allerton Avenue 2 stop. I went searching for the VCard only to discover that the owner hadn't bothered to fill it out. (I filled my own out in full immediately afterward.) So, not really wanting to call everybody on the contact list, I asked Greg if he knew the proper etiquette for returning a lost cellphone. He said "Take it to a Verizon store. They'll be able to track down the owner there."
So, before I went down to see Mike, that's exactly what we did. As luck would have it there is a Verizon store one black from the Allerton Ave. subway station. Greg drove me over, I explained the situation to the salesman, and he was able to locate the owner by tracking the serial number on the phone's battery. Pretty cool, huh? So, he called the owner at their home phone number and left a message saying that their phone had been found and it could be retrieved at the store. And the salesman gave me a free phone case for be a good samaritan :-)
This weekend saw me down in Washington DC for the first time in about three years. Friday through Sunday Greg and I were down there for his cousin Kathleen's wedding.
It was a lovely affair. The bride was adorable. She was shaking and crying before she even started down the aisle. Her gown was a bit too busy for my tastes, but she wore it well. I took two rolls of film which were developed yesterday and I gotta tell you, the bride and groom look fabulous in each and every picture, even the bad ones where the lighting sucks and my finger is in front of the lens. They were both so happy it was physically impossible to take an awful picture of them.
Though neither Greg nor I are dancers, I made him dance to two songs with me -"September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire and "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles. His mother made him dance to "I Will Survive" with her because she said that song was popular when she was pregnant with him. They made some really good choices when it came to the music. They started out the night playing nothing but classic motown, music that is really danceable and everyone can enjoy. Then they slowly transitioned into 70's funk, then 80's New Wave, and early 90's pop. By the end of the night, after all the old people had pooped out and gone home, they finally reached contemporary rap and r&b and the young people, who were still partying it up, got to dance to songs they were familiar with. It worked out really well. All in all it was a rollicking good time and I'm glad we went.
Sunday morning before heading back north, Greg and I had breakfast with Katie Stalter and Jeremiah Stapleton. As luck would have it, they live in Adams Morgan, the neighborhood directly north of Dupont Circle where we were staying, so they knew the area and were able to suggest a place for us to eat. We ate at this restaurant on Connecticut Ave. called Luna Grill. It was so great to see the two of them again. The last time we were together in person was at my college graduation four years ago. Katie got her masters in international relations in June and is just finishing up a summer internship. She plans to start submitting resumes pretty soon. Jeremiah is working at a fine rug and textiles company. He says he really loves his job and he ain't leaving any time soon. Oh, and Jeremiah has lost weight since the last time I saw him. He was never ever fat by any definition of the word. He was just, I dunno, broader, beefier. Now he's all indie-music skinny. He looks great.
To keep myself occupied on the drive back I counted out of state license plates. By the time we reached New York we'd seen thirty different states plus DC. Of course we saw all the new england and mid-atlantic states, but we also saw some really crazy shit like Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona. We also saw Ontario and Quebec. But the real coup de gras was Hawaii. The whole trip, both driving down and coming back, Greg kept saying how he'd never seen a Hawaii license plate and probably never would. And then a truck with a Hawaii plate cut in front of us. I also kept a running tally of where all the worst divers on the road were from. If my sample is to be believed it's a tie between New York and Pennsylvania. I don't think either of us were surprised.
Michael got two present from me this year. I got him a black Battlestar Galactica t-shirt that just says "Frack Me" across the front. And Mom and I gave him a joint present - two tickets to see The Police at Madison Square Garden on Halloween. Michael was in shock when he saw those. All he could say was, "No way! NO WAY!" He just couldn't believe it. He didn't even care that the seats were total shit. He was so happy he made the three of us engage in a group hug. Twice.
And speaking of unexpected gifts, something really cool and completely unrelated to my brother happened to me yesterday. Last week I found a Verizon cellphone on one of the benches at the Allerton Avenue 2 stop. I went searching for the VCard only to discover that the owner hadn't bothered to fill it out. (I filled my own out in full immediately afterward.) So, not really wanting to call everybody on the contact list, I asked Greg if he knew the proper etiquette for returning a lost cellphone. He said "Take it to a Verizon store. They'll be able to track down the owner there."
So, before I went down to see Mike, that's exactly what we did. As luck would have it there is a Verizon store one black from the Allerton Ave. subway station. Greg drove me over, I explained the situation to the salesman, and he was able to locate the owner by tracking the serial number on the phone's battery. Pretty cool, huh? So, he called the owner at their home phone number and left a message saying that their phone had been found and it could be retrieved at the store. And the salesman gave me a free phone case for be a good samaritan :-)
This weekend saw me down in Washington DC for the first time in about three years. Friday through Sunday Greg and I were down there for his cousin Kathleen's wedding.
It was a lovely affair. The bride was adorable. She was shaking and crying before she even started down the aisle. Her gown was a bit too busy for my tastes, but she wore it well. I took two rolls of film which were developed yesterday and I gotta tell you, the bride and groom look fabulous in each and every picture, even the bad ones where the lighting sucks and my finger is in front of the lens. They were both so happy it was physically impossible to take an awful picture of them.
Though neither Greg nor I are dancers, I made him dance to two songs with me -"September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire and "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles. His mother made him dance to "I Will Survive" with her because she said that song was popular when she was pregnant with him. They made some really good choices when it came to the music. They started out the night playing nothing but classic motown, music that is really danceable and everyone can enjoy. Then they slowly transitioned into 70's funk, then 80's New Wave, and early 90's pop. By the end of the night, after all the old people had pooped out and gone home, they finally reached contemporary rap and r&b and the young people, who were still partying it up, got to dance to songs they were familiar with. It worked out really well. All in all it was a rollicking good time and I'm glad we went.
Sunday morning before heading back north, Greg and I had breakfast with Katie Stalter and Jeremiah Stapleton. As luck would have it, they live in Adams Morgan, the neighborhood directly north of Dupont Circle where we were staying, so they knew the area and were able to suggest a place for us to eat. We ate at this restaurant on Connecticut Ave. called Luna Grill. It was so great to see the two of them again. The last time we were together in person was at my college graduation four years ago. Katie got her masters in international relations in June and is just finishing up a summer internship. She plans to start submitting resumes pretty soon. Jeremiah is working at a fine rug and textiles company. He says he really loves his job and he ain't leaving any time soon. Oh, and Jeremiah has lost weight since the last time I saw him. He was never ever fat by any definition of the word. He was just, I dunno, broader, beefier. Now he's all indie-music skinny. He looks great.
To keep myself occupied on the drive back I counted out of state license plates. By the time we reached New York we'd seen thirty different states plus DC. Of course we saw all the new england and mid-atlantic states, but we also saw some really crazy shit like Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona. We also saw Ontario and Quebec. But the real coup de gras was Hawaii. The whole trip, both driving down and coming back, Greg kept saying how he'd never seen a Hawaii license plate and probably never would. And then a truck with a Hawaii plate cut in front of us. I also kept a running tally of where all the worst divers on the road were from. If my sample is to be believed it's a tie between New York and Pennsylvania. I don't think either of us were surprised.
