Waiting in the Park

This whole week I've been dropping my wife off at a coworkers house every morning on my way to work. She and the co-worker then ride to their job together... In the afternoons I get off a little earlier than her so it complicates things.

If I go home before I pick her up it means I've got time to fix a drink, sit on the couch, stretch my legs, watch about 20 minutes of The Daily Show on my Tivo... and then it's time to go pick her up. This is a really crummy option because my body feels like it's time to relax and settle in, but my mind is saying "8 more minutes and you have to leave..."

The other option I've got is to wait in front of my wife's co-worker's apartment building for 45-50 minutes until they get back. This option makes me look and feel like a stalker. Especially since there is a bus stop right there and it looks like I'm hanging around waiting to watch middle school girls get off the bus.

Well yesterday I discovered a third option... one with no draw backs... about 2 miles from the apartment building where I stalk middle school kids --in the middle of miles and miles of concrete and car horns-- I stumbled across a quiet, semi-secluded park!

It runs parallel to a creek and to get there you drive down a winding road covered in shade by huge trees that line the side of the road... the tress --the whole park for that matter-- don't look like they belong anywhere within 30 miles of the city. It was a truly amazing discovery on my part.

I pulled into the shade covered little parking lot where a couple of other drivers had an idea similar to mine; Park the car, roll the windows down, lean the seat back, drift away... I put on my kick-ass noise reducing headphones and let my Mp3 player go to town.

I remembered that I had a Rolling Stone magazine stuffed away in my back seat. I opened it up and started flipping through pages. I've always loved RS not for the music/pop culture info (although that is usually fairly informative) but for the fabulous writing... Well crafted, in depth, and just so damn good it makes you hate whoever wrote it.

Often times I've been sucked into a piece that I thought I had zero interest in, only to find myself pouring over the words again and again. One piece in particular that comes to mind was written a couple years back by Bob Moser.

It was the story of a teen aged transsexual murder victim named Gwen Araujo. The story was well written and that's what pulled me in at first... But what made it stick with me all this time was the fact that it was so damn thought provoking. It made me question and change views on topics that I didn't even realize were up for debate in the court of my mind.

Last month there was a true crime murder story of an Internet porn king... This month has a piece on Hunter S. Thompson that I'm itching to read... and of course a couple other stories that haven't made piqued my interest in the least bit --I've since learned that those articles are always worth reading as well.

I've had a string of very bad luck lately, but I must say that my discovery of the hidden park, and my subsequent re-discovery of Rolling Stone has me starting to feel some hints of optimism... and for the first time this week I'm actually looking forward to the long wait after work.

Randomness

You know you've got some blog issues when you read back over your most recent blogs and almost all of them reference how you've finally returned from long blog break and are looking to make a come back... I've actually got a couple months full of those posts...

I had a major relapse in my battle with jersey addiction. I dropped about $225 bucks in a 2 week span on 3 jerseys and to be honest, the only thing that ended my bender was the fact that I ran out of money... If I didn't have another person to answer to (my wife) I would probably spend every penny I had on throwback jerseys and books. I'd be living in my car sneaking into gas station bathrooms for quick showers in the sink... as I've said many times, marriage isn't for everyone, but it's a good thing for me...

DC United are on fire right now. They've won each of their last six MLS games and are tied for first place in the league right now with New England who they play on Sunday. (technically we've played one less game then they have, making us first)... I'm going to the game with my nephew. This would normally be great news but the Redskins also open their season that same day, so I'm a little bummed out. Thank god for TiVo, although what are the odds of me getting through the entire DC United game without hearing some asshole blurt out the score from the 'Skins game?

In related news, Moe Greene bought tickets for a DC United game in October. That will officially qualify as an "annual" trip now because of our journey last year...

I was reading up on the latest news on my favorite Senator from Idaho, and I found out that his name also came up in a Congressional Page Sex scandal as well! BUT, it's not the one from last year. There was actually ANOTHER Congressional Page Sex Scandal back in 1983!!! As someone who works on Capitol Hill, I see Pages all the time and I just don't get it... There has never been a time when I've caught myself staring longingly at a Page and thought "maybe...", or "man, I'd love to risk everything I've got to get with that kid!" Seriously, they're REALLY young. Most of them are just starting puberty! Why can't our elected officials just stick to 18 yard old interns?

And finally, does anyone have an opinion on Guitar Hero? Moe Greene owns the game and is always trying to sell me on it. I was over at his house the other night and got to watch him play it for a few minutes, but I didn't partake. It looked failry entertaining, but very hard... My opinion is that it's okay at a party when alcohol is at least involved on some level, but it's wrong to actually play the guitar by yourself... any thoughts? I'm willing to listen to arguments.