I made a few phone calls, trying to fill the seat. We have a donor who provided the bus free of charge (I'm not sure who), so I was working the phones and the email trying to find someone to go with me. Steve was tempted, but he declined; big work week, so he was looking forward to spending the weekend staring at the ceiling.
But, I will not be travelling alone. Amelia, Steve's 20-year-old daughter, is coming with me. I think it's her first time in Washington. The only road trip I've ever taken with her has been to Mineral, but I've been with her and her dad locally for several events, such as the Isaiah 58 rally at the State House and the Ramadan trip to the mosque. I'm sure she's enthusiastic about the trip.
During some idle time at the computer, I went on Google Maps and calculated how much I will have traveled between Friday night and Sunday morning, when Amelia and I return to Columbus. The total will be 1372 miles. There was the trip to and from North Olmsted last week, and last night Pat and I went to the Winchester Tavern in Lakewood to see Allan Holdsworth in concert--the third time I've seen him. (What amazed me about that little junket was how comparatively early we were headed back to Columbus. The concert began at 9 p.m., and there was no opening band. The show was over by 10:30. Pat and I stopped to get gas and pick up some burgers before we left Cleveland. I think my clock radio said 1:15 when I came back to my bedroom/study.)
Before I promise an illustrated blog entry upon my return, I need to conduct an experiment here. Sunday night, after coming home from North Olmsted, I tried to load some additional pictures from the Con. Blogger.com was not cooperating, and I understand from other bloggers they were experiencing the same thing. (The problem is not in your set!) So, I am going to try and load a picture below:
Susie and her friend Harriet back up their friend
Florida (at microphone) during the talent show at North
Olmsted last Saturday night. They were insurance against
stage fright or chickening out.
Houston, all systems are go and all lights are green! This is the picture I tried to post Sunday without any success. Now I know that the malfunction with Blogger.com and loading pictures has been repaired, so I'm taking the Kodak EasyShare with me to document the march.
My fellow bibliophile and collector of arcane knowledge Robert Nedelkoff is meeting us for lunch at 1:45 at Tonic at Quigley's Pharmacy, a restaurant and bar located on G St., NW in Foggy Bottom. It's always good to see him; this will be our third in-person meeting, and I believe I will meet his wife Rene this time. I have never heard of this eating establishment. The building hasn't been a pharmacy for years, but the name is too normal for a Washington, D.C. pharmacy. Two chains (since defunct) in Washington had names that always brought a chuckle to me. One was Drug Fair, which was absorbed by Walgreen last year. (Drug Fair could also have been the name for Lafayette Park after dark.) The other was Peoples Drug, which always made me think it was a huge methadone clinic.
Right now, I just glanced at my watch. It's 11:08 p.m., and Steve and Amelia will be coming around to pick me up soon. I'm packing light--camera, diary, the latest New Yorker, and a copy of On the Road (my equivalent of carrying a St. Christopher's medal, I suppose). Just like the New Jersey trip, I will handwrite the blog in a pocket date book (scrambling around my desk to find one), and then post backdated entries in here, assuming Blogger.com's ability to load pictures doesn't crash while I'm gone.
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