It’s nice to come home after a long day’s work and relax, which for me is sitting on my bed with my laptop and telling you all about it. I share an office with one other person, which really cuts down on the ADHD spazz factor. When you can hear everyone in the entire building talking at once, it leads to one of two things. Trying to keep up with every conversation in the room, or complete isolation with headphones and white noise. I have done both, and this is much better.
It also feels really good that this is the right fit, and I landed on my feet solidly. It wasn’t a bad decision to move to DC, and now I am certain of it. It’s not that I was wavering before. It’s just that I didn’t know how long it would take me to get a job, get settled, make those kinds of roots. I knew it was a bad decision to move home 15 years ago, but after Sept. 11th and my divorce from Kathleen, I was wiped out in terms of both fear within and without.
I had a fun memory on the way home… fun and tragic, that is. The radio announcer mentioned that they were giving away Wizards tickets, and I told the Uber driver my Wizards story. My tale of woe with the Wizards is that Kathleen and I went to a game courtesy of XOM. I was taking pictures all over the place and my camera battery died. Not ONE MINUTE LATER, Michael fuckin’ Jordan walks in, dressed to the nines with his unique spiffiness. I was so mad that every time someone brought up the Wizards in conversation, I’d just get this look on my face… the one that says, “oh, if only…..” The Uber driver was like, “what happened to your phone?” I said, “this was 15 years ago. I didn’t have a camera phone!” Oh, that aged me right then.
I also thought of Randy and Kristen, because I couldn’t not. They were my rocks during my time at XOM, and I miss them not living close more than anyone else that I met back then. There are so many funny stories from that era which I will absolutely not share with you under penalty of accidental death and dismemberment… mostly because they’re not my stories to tell. The ones that are mine to tell really aren’t that funny. It was a weird time in my life, but one that shaped me. Obviously, or I never would have thought of moving back. It’s so funny that most of the people I’ve talked to are thinking about moving somewhere else, and I am the one saying, “are you sure? You’ll regret it. I sure did.” I think I am more myself here. I am a native Texan, but my heart bleeds for DC when I’m not here. Even in Portland, when my DC stories would come up I’d just get this look on my face…. the one that says, “oh, if only…….” Dana and I like to pretend that we were both in the same theater at the same time when Wallace Acton was Hamlet at the Shakespeare theater.
Wallace Acton. I wonder what he’s up to now. Dana and I agree that he was the best Hamlet ever. I wonder if the night we were talking about Hamlet was the same night we came up with Omelet, Prince of Henmark, with Yolkphelia and Shellonius. We should have taken it on the road. One day I’m going to have to write out the stories I remember from all the years Dana and I doubled each other over in laughter. Our conversations were always like tennis matches, and I miss it so fucking much.
It’s a good thing we didn’t know each other back then, though. Kathleen and Dana, to my mind, would not have gotten along. I remember flying across the country to take Kathleen to meet Diane and Susan, and Kathleen and Susan getting into a fight because Special K was such a picky eater. That would have been a dealbreaker for Dana right there.
I know Dana. We’ve met. 😛
As I move into my own future, it’s amazing to be able to let go of anger and just remember the good times I’ve had and the great things to which I am looking forward to creating. 2015 is one of those years that I’m just glad to be almost done with, you know?
I’m sure you do.
Stories That Are All True 