2002-07-06
Slow Saturday, posted at 3:14 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Wow, not a lot is going on. At all. It's nice, I guess.The day has been lazy. My good friends Nick and Randy just got a new place in Federal Hill, and they moved in yesterday. Teri and I went over there at around 9pm to hang out with them on their rooftop deck. We came bearing gifts of pizza and beer, and hung out on the roof, enjoying the refreshingly cool evening. I haven't felt like drinking since I started running like a madman, so I just enjoyed Pepsi One. 'Twas nice.
Nick and I made plans to make it up early to go to The Book Thing, this amazing place that gives away free books every weekend. There's absolutely no catch, and I take about 30-40 books every weekend. Nick was the one who told me about the place, but I think I've surpassed him in being an aficionado of the place. I go every Saturday, and usually Sunday as well to see if anything new has been brought in.
Last weekend, I was interviewed by a reporter there. Here's what the 15-minute conversation was boiled down to in last Sunday's article in the paper: (Epiphany), 24, an English teacher at (a school in the city), picked up journalist Russell Baker's Baltimore-laced memoir, Growing Up, and said, "He went to the high school where I teach." Of The Book Thing, (Epiphany) said, "I moved from Michigan a year ago and this is my favorite thing in Baltimore."
Anyhow, Nick and I made plans last night to get there right when it opened. We decided to meet each other at The Paper Moon Diner for breakfast at 8:30 and then head over there.
The thing is, we didn't leave his place until midnight, and upon returning, I learned via e-mail that Jeff Weaver had been traded to the Yankees. Weaver is probably the best player on my beloved, anemic Tigers. I was expecting a trade eventually, but it was still a shocker. I'm not so sure the trade was a good one - it seems like we should have gotten more. Anyhow, I spent about two hours pouring over statistics of the players traded, posting on Internet forums, and developing an opinion of the deal. It's not conclusive yet, though, because the Tigers also acquired a player to be named later, and we don't know who he is yet.
The point of that last part of the story was the relate why I ended up staying up until 2:30am despite not having much sleep the night before, it being the 4th of July and met having to teach the next morning bright and early. I woke up at 7:30 after my five hours of sleep, and drowsily moseyed on over to the Paper Moon. As usual, I called my friend Marcia to see if she wanted to join me to the Book Thing. She always says she wants to go, but never has made it there, and I have to drive by her place on the way.
To my surprise, there was an answer when I called. Her British husband answered the phone. I told him about the Book Thing and about breakfast at Paper Moon. He said he'd try to get her up.
I arrived at the restaurant on time, and Nick came a few minutes later. Much to our surprise, Brenden and Marcia strolled into the restaurant at 9am. Marcia commented that she didn't think she'd ever been up before noon on a Saturday morning in any of her 42 years. What a character she is. How odd it is that one of my best friends here is almost my mother's age. As usual when the four of us get together, we had some great conversation.
Our conversation started with discussing the upcoming trip that Nick and I are taking to NYC. We're leaving on Monday for a conference to get us trained in the International Baccalaureate program (sort of an international version of AP, from what I understand), he in Math and me in English. Marcia attended the same conference in NYC years ago, and had a blast. I'm looking forward to it. Our conference ends at 3pm every day, so we'll have the evenings to tool around the city. We have few confirmed plans, but I hope to see my first Broadway show (my - and Nick's - pick is Topdog/Underdog, starring Mos Def and the recent winner of the Pulitzer) and check out Greenwich Village. Shakespeare in the Park starring Julia Childs and Jimmy Smits sounds interesting, too. The city is so overwhelming, I'm not sure where to start. Nick and I are roommates for the week, though, and we should have a blast no matter what we decide to do.
After talking about NYC, our conversation veered to literature. Marcia's favorite Baldwin book is Giovanni's Room, which I'm currently reading. Everyone else was intrigued by the premise - that of a man in love both with a woman and another man. Written in 1959 by a Black man that most of my students love. I had no idea he was gay, but he is.
Afterwards, the conversation veered to love, then death. Yes, this is over breakfast. I related the story about how yesterday, I had a message from the American Red Cross in my mailbox at school, saying to call immediately. It freaked me out. Never before has the Red Cross called me in my many years of giving blood. All I could think of was it was something bad. I couldn't call immediately, and by the time the morning was over, I had worked myself into a state where I was convinced that I had HIV and would have to decide if I was going to teach in the last few months of my life. After school, I braced myself for the phone call. They said that because I was "O Positive," they really wanted me to donate again really soon.
Oy. At least I told it in somewhat a comical manner. Yes, this is still over breakfast.
We finally made it over to the book thing. It was busy as hell, and I felt claustrophobic. The best find I got was Salinger's Nine Stories, an archaic copy of JFK's Profiles in Courage and a novel by Ntozake Shange (I didn't even know she wrote novels). I got 27 books, well below my usual par.
The rest of the day has consisted of a lot of sitting around, a bit of alphabetizing CDs (I'm finally getting around to doing this after living in the house for nine months - I've got 1200 or so, so it's a big job), and watching the nationally televized Tigers game. I'm also dogsitting for a friend at school, so I've had to fend off the advances of a little puppy through most of the afternoon. I tried taking a nap, but he wouldn't stop licking my face, so I had to lock him in his cage.
The rest of the day? We've got softball practice this afternoon at 7 and I plan on heading out afterwards. Otherwise, life is slow and sweet.