Cara’s birthday in Washington D.C.

Cara is so good at finding fantastic places to stay.  She found us the top story of a cute house in the best neighborhood in DC, just east of the Mall in Lincoln Park, an area full of cute tight houses of various flavors.  Ours was the second story of a fully appointed house – we had a stocked fridge and bikes to ride and everything else you could want.  Bike riding was definitely a highlight, we biked all around the Smithsonian and Capitol and White House (with middle fingers out) and African Museum and all the incredible sights packed together.

We saw a magic dual in “parlour” style at The Mayflower, a famous Hotel, and ate at Iron Gate, a romantic little swanky restaurant with an outdoor patio covered in lights and vines that made a custom vegan gourmet meal that was divine – i’ve never eaten chickpeas in the shell before, wonderfully steamed and spiced.

Weekends are ALWAYS so perfect with you, baby.  This one was somehow even better.

Chicago and Perfect Weather

Didn’t think they went together did you? They sure as climate change did this weekend. Cara and I biked and walked all over the balmified windy city, doing yoga betwixt the skyscrapers on 100o F astroturf, getting my feet analyzed at Fleet Sports (and Cara’s new favorite footwear!), to Sweetgreens, through the Chicago Cubs fans exiting on a high (chanting “USA USA” suck it Trump), on to pure-lefty palsy-frisbee… Also: devouring Nepalese food and playing Roblox with Christian, and getting 100% down with Johnny Lang at the House of Blues. Whoo!

7.5 Happiness, Anomalisa, Weiner-dog, 9.0 A Single Man

A batch of films with similarly dark hearts, exploring human cruelty and selfishnesh even  in the most benign circumstances.  Perhaps people these days exposed to reality television and Internet trolls and every other bit of information from birth find this “real”.  I find that I seek aspiration over cynicism.  As a group, they were a bit much for me.  On the other hand, when you have to wait for it, the glimmers of hope shine through that much more brightly.  And I guess that’s the point.  Just make sure you’re in the mood.

Update: there is somberness aplenty in Tom Ford’s “A Single Man”, but the light shines through.  It is a masterpiece.  How did the actors know to put faith in Tom Ford?  The cinematography, the soundtrack, the tension, the ambience… masterful.

The smallest things were the best.  And not just the pristine sets.  [spoiler title=’spoiler details’ style=’default’ collapse_link=’true’]The disappeared second dog that no one else even knew about, while he was told not to attend the funeral.  The boy finding his photo, taking his gun, knowing he wasn’t doing well… [/spoiler]  It’s all in the details.

Tar River Life

Dork sighting….

Cara manages to find the coolest places! The Tar River runs around the Rocky Mount area, a short 30 minute drive from downtown Raleigh. Tar River Life provides tubing and kayaking rentals, we had the best day of the most perfect weather kayaking down the slow-moving beautiful river, past all the college kids in tubes – including the manditory complementary tube for the beer cooler. Another perfect trip.

Gibson Debt

I learned to touch type on my Atari 800 by typing in William Gibson’s Neuromancer. I owe him a debt that really can’t be overstated. He made what I do exciting and empowering.  My late night brain-won’t-sleep thought…