I didn’t get to see Judy today. She had to cancel, but we rescheduled for Tuesday lunch. So excited to have that friend connection back in a daily kind of way, as opposed to only seeing her when I’m in town. Especially because I was living in Portland, I haven’t made my way to the east coast since I left the first time around. I called her today to reschedule, and her slight NE Texas drawl mixed with her “world accent” from having lived in so many different countries just delighted me. Tuesday can’t come fast enough. I am hoping there will be lots of “Steve and Judy” stories, especially since Steve died recently of ALS and I did not get to go to his funeral.
I don’t have anything I really want to talk about, I just want to listen. I want to linger over lunch in the way that old friends do, taking our time because it’s been too long. The last meal we had was takeout from Mediterranee (sp?), and Steve’s favorite drink, the Kir Royale (Creme de Cassis & champagne). We talked and talked and talked, and then Steve took us all on a drive, complete with more knowledge than a textbook about DC. Listening to him talk “makes the mummies dance.” You cannot imagine the treasure that DC has lost now that he’s gone. I wish I were closer physically to Judy because she is at least an hour and a half away by public transit, but I live in Maryland for a reason. Mostly that reason is Hayat & Mike. I am not sure I will ever move out at this rate- too happy to be a part of the whole famn damily to want to strike out on my own.
Speaking of striking out on her own, my roommate Courtney has gotten some big shot court reporter job and needs to find housing in two weeks, because the job is an hour and a half away from here by car. I am so happy for her, but sad to be losing my one Whovian roommate. I am wondering if I can convert Nasim. Farsi is her first language, but The Doctor seems to transcend verbal language. The Doctor can say more in one raised eyebrow than most people say in a lifetime.
The first time I told Courtney I was a Whovian, she asked me the same follow-up question the world over…. “who’s your Doctor?” I said, “Matt Smith.” She said, “that is the wrong answer.” Noooo, bitch. No. I’m glad you like Tennent and you are entitled to your opinion, but that’s my motherfuckin’ badass out there. The youngest Doctor ever to have been cast, everyone said he couldn’t do it, and I wept all the way through “Vincent and the Doctor” and sat in sheer awe of “Nightmare in Silver.” I haven’t watched much Capaldi, which is frightening to me, but I just haven’t had the time. As you can see, I’ve been a bit busy lately…. and, like all regenerations, it’s taking me a bit of time to get used to this one. Matt Smith and I clicked immediately because I loved the Amelia Pond storyline from the beginning. The Girl Who Waited is possibly my favorite companion of all time, and don’t even get me started on The Doctor and River Song. I don’t want to sob onto my touchpad.
My aunt just called and said that she wanted to get together because she’s in town. SO EXCITED. It’s been since last Thanksgiving that we’ve seen each other. She suggested meeting at the monuments, which sounds amazing. We just need to pick one. My favorite is Jefferson, but I haven’t been to Lincoln in a long time, and I’ve never seen MLK.
There are so many new things in DC that I haven’t done, and that’s going to be my focus for the next few months. I’ve been to the Newseum, but not since they’ve completely redone it (Best Life Moment: Seeing Helen Thomas’s White House Press Pass). I haven’t been to the Spy Museum or the Holocaust Museum, either. So there are lots of choices, but how do you narrow it down? As I was telling my friend Yahyah, you could live here and explore this city your whole life and never see everything.
Yahyah is the husband of my former youth director at St. Mark’s, Andrea. They live out in Gaithersburg in a palatial house with trees all around and a Zen-like calm inside. I am sad that I am just now getting here and they are leaving in July, but they’ll be back. Andrea has a two year contract to teach English in Abu Dhabi, and Yahyah will follow. Depending on whether they like it there, they’ll decide to renew Andrea’s contract or not. I am hoping that they don’t like it because Yahyah makes the best lamb and couscous in the world, and after dinner, Moroccan mint tea with mint grown in the neighbor’s yard. Yahyah is from Casablanca. I asked him if there was really a bar called Rick’s Cafe. I don’t think he got the reference, but I thought it was hilarious. Or maybe it was that he didn’t hear me. I was eating pretty loud. It’s been a while since I had an outstanding meal, so I think I ate more than everyone else combined, kind of like that scene in Coneheads where they’re at Subway and Connie inhales a footlong……
When I first got here, I’d dropped down to 117 pounds, but now I’m putting a little back on and it is not unwelcome. I was starting to look like an eight-year-old. Now I feel healthier and stronger, mostly because bacon.
This morning my dad took Andrea, Yahyah, and me to Old Ebbitt Grill for breakfast and I had enough bacon that I think I ate an entire pig by myself. When the waiter came to take my plate, I thanked him profusely for being heavy handed with the bacon, an excellent side for strawberry French toast with cinnamon butter.
Let’s just get one thing straight. The best place in town for French toast is my house, after being a brunch cook for so long at Biddy McGraw’s. However, if you can’t go there, the SECOND best place is Old Ebbitt Grill. They gave me four whole slices of bread and I still ate the entire thing. I think I was just happy. Not a care in the world except how am I going to eat MORE bacon? It felt like home there- I asked for Earl Grey and they gave me Stash, which is Portland’s best brand, even though Tazo is better known because Starbucks.
OEG was built in 1856, and it looks like it. The woodwork is outstanding. I could look at it all day. Do you realize that I have eaten at the same restaurant as Abraham Lincoln?
I mean, he wasn’t there TODAY, but…………
Stories That Are All True 