Without many scheduled events, Kristanne and I spent the greater part of today working on our break-dance moves, popping and locking all the live long day. Things were going a little bit slowly, to be honest. I had my Spaceman down, but Kristanne was having a tough time sliding into her headspin. Thankfully, the solution was as close as the nearest video store. Blockbuster had not one but two copies of the classic, "Breakin' 2," in stock, featuring the classic steps of break-dancing legend Boogaloo Shrimp. We rented that and bought a copy of Brian Bosworth's action psychodrama, "Stone Cold" that some fool had marked on sale for $3.95. Superficial readings of this dark tale see only a stock cop flick. You have to pay attention to the nuances, the throwaway lines, the subtle visual cues that tell you you're in the presence of a master. We're taking both movies down to the Northampton Bowling Alley for the retro 80's night. Should be a hoot.
Break-dancing can only last you so long, though, and then you've got to come up with something else to do. That's why the Fresh Prince is no longer rapping, "Parents Just Don't Understand" down at the local skating rink -- he's smart. Not like, say, Foghat, who are still touring the country playing sadder and sadder venues half-filled with increasingly stoned fans. I am told, however, that they now do a jazz-inflected version of "Slow Ride" that is not to be missed. Hope you like their new direction.
Kristanne, Calvin, and Rosalie opted for wedding dress shopping. This was Calvin and Rosalie's last full day in DC before they flew back to San Francisco to stay with Vince and Jen, whom you met in our San Francisco episodes. Those are the happy shoppers there at the top, sliding on out the door to go see Yolanda at her wedding dress boutique. Yolanda's big suggestion was for a Halloween wedding -- "everyone will be in costume! It will be wonderful!" Upon further inspection, it turned out that Yolanda just happened to sell costumes in addition to wedding dresses. Nice try, Yolanda, but no sale. We're wise to your tricks.
Me, I was just looking forward to an uninterrupted afternoon of work. Some of you have written in, wondering just when I find the time for work, given the somewhat slam-bang pace of this Odyssey. "Plus," they add, "you never write about the time you spend working." Well, there's a reason for that -- what I do isn't terribly interesting. Nevertheless, the Extreme Telecommuting has been taking place, just slightly behind the scenes. Today, we put it up front in the limelight. Today, we say, "No more will technical writing reside in the shadows! Let it shine! Let it rise like a beacon to the rest of the world, proclaiming the software manual's nobility for all to see!" Yup. That's what we say. So, uh, anyway...today I wrote some help files. These help files describe how to install and operate a Windows 95-based network management console. They contained a particularly inspiring section on configuring a TCP/IP stack for optimum network performance. Hard-hitting stuff, let me tell you. If you'd like a copy, just drop me an email and I'll see what I can do. If you act fast, I'll think about including an award-winning chapter I wrote on deploying LAN Emulation technology on top of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks. Stirring stuff. That one will hit you right where you live -- you're durn skippy. |
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Eventually, the shopping was finished, the work was done, and dinner was ready. We spent a wonderful evening eating barbecued chicken and sitting around the table, looking at Chuck and Lisa's wedding albums, and just generally having some good ole conversation. Y'know I hate to be Mr. Family Values -- as a democrat, I think I'm supposed to hate families and love Murphy Brown -- but there is really a heck of a lot to be said in favor of sitting around a dinner table talking with people. There's no substitute for spending time with folks to bring them together, and it doesn't hurt to be eating while you're doing it.
With that saccharine thought in your head, we'll take our leave of one another for today. See you next time on the Odyssey as we spend our last day in Boston.
Total Miles for 7/23 = 0