Week 53

Sometimes 52 weeks just aren't enough to cram everything in. Herewith are some of the things from week-to-week that just couldn't be crammed in the regular posts.

Drank a cup of tea with licorice and slippery elm bark.

Went to bed before Darien -- several times.

Necessity being the mother of invention, had an English muffin for lunch instead of a hummus sandwich.

Went to a VCU basketball game in which VCU won over Hofstra, while my wife lusted after the coach.

Sat in Peter's chair in the dining room to give me a different perspective on life.

Got a Starbucks coffee in the library before 9 AM, without sharing (or telling) Antonia.

Ate with my fingers in an Ethiopian restaurant in Richmond.

Found my coffee frozen in a travel mug left over night in the car after the weather dipped down to 10 degrees.

Lived during the inauguration of the first African-American president of the United States. Had a party at our house to celebrate the occasion and took pictures with Barack.

Wore jeans to work.

Had Antonia pay for my coffee.

Went to Denver for the first time in about 30 years. Ate a Cobb salad for the first time. Used online chat with both Antonia and Darien. They are so hip.

Slept in Cincinnati, even though I didn't intend or want to. Got out before the next snowfall.

Rode my bike to Coturra's with Darien, in partial fulfillment of my Christmas present to her. We went off-map several times.

Went to see the Speckled Bird at the ADA Gallery, which was the first time I saw them perform with Josh playing cello and clarinet. It was also the first time I was in ADA.

Drove a Mitsubishi Galant. I can't really say taking my Mercedes to body shop was a first, since it has been there before. Sigh.

Walked around the block in the first heavy snowfall in about ten years. Stayed home from work because of the snow. Made Darien espresso and served it before she got out of bed, then made her pancakes. What got into me?
 
Had my car hit while parked near VCU. This isn't the first time it has been hit, but it is the first time it has been hit twice in the space of one month. And the first time I have had a car that was hit twice at the same location. It still had the smell of fresh paint from the last time it was hit.

Went to my first non-funeral mass at an African-American Catholic church.

Attended my first my first college basketball tournament game, my first final game in a college tournament, and my first time observing my team winning a college tournament.

Got sick. It was a Saturday and I slept on the couch most of the day with a headache, and didn't make it to the gym all weekend. Being healthy is definitely more fun.

Got serious (and nervous) about backing up all the pictures and music I've been saving. For the first time, I paid for off-site backup. Right after this, I realized I needed to back up my Casimir blog, but leetllama is dead and so is StorCenter. Had to recreate everything.

My first colonoscopy. It was very cleansing experience and I felt like a new man. I put a note on my calendar to get another one in ten years.

First time restaurants in Richmond visited: The Nile, Tarrant's, Bamboo Cafe, The Black Sheep, the Marriott (ok, it was a conference buffet), Firebird's, Maldini's, Gelati Celesti Ice Cream, Water Works, Ellwood's Coffee, Zen Asian Bistro, Sine Irish Pub, Savo, Balliceaux (where the gave us obsolete menus that they had no food for and ended up comping us a few dishes), Mexico Restaurant, Garnett's, Big Daddy's BBQ, and Tastebuds American Bistro.

Visited CNU library while waiting around for Peter's field hockey tournament to continue.

Saw the Wiremen from New York with Paul Watson. It was actually the second time I saw them, but this was the first time when there were two Wiremen rather than just one. Paul played an odd three-stringed instrument from Thailand; it was the first time I had heard one of those, or at least seen one being played. It had a crazy looking neck, capped with a carved head that looked like the prow of some Viking ship.

Visited Antonia and Jonathan in their new log home.

Helped organize the first Ex Libris Users of North America conference in Richmond. Other than too much rain, it turned out well.

Went to the Byrd House Farmer's Market for the first time, only a few days after attending the Forest Hill market. Byrd was smaller, more intimate, and felt like I had walked back into the 60s. On another weekend, I went to another farmer's market, this one at St. Stephen's, where I listened to The Speckled Bird and let children pet the Foo Wu.

Plotted a route to the Lowe's on Forest Hill and rode my bike. I overcame Darien's dark fears of riding anywhere other than a residential street and persuaded her to come with me.

Went to St. James's choir picnic at the Nance's house.

Crawled under the cabin to kung fu some bamboo.

Went to a Pandora meet-up. Got the t-shirt.

Found four pennies at one time in the road.

Drank Wielkopolanka ... Polish mineral water.

Rode a bike in Chicago and saw Darien weave in and out of traffic like a professional messenger. Visited a stunning cathedral in LA. Biked along the shore in Long Beach and dipped my toes in the Pacific. Saw a movie (Harry Potter) on the silver screen for the first time in I don't know how long. Visited the Grammy museum devoted to music (Grammy). Saw art at Gallery Skart and listened to jazz at Table Ten, and drank Icelandic water. Saw the Dodgers play for the first time in forty years. Gawked at a Laker and an actor, even not knowing who they are. Did the California cruise-around-in-a-hot-red-convertible thing.

Saw an $8,000 toilet, with an electric eye powered lid to anticipate your urgent needs.

Walked on a residential green roof.

Heard lots of new music, but forgot to keep a list.

Hiked the Furnace Mountain Trail with Peter and Darien.

Went to an art show at Planet Zero.

Got my release at a CD party that was really an EP party.

Changed a dimmer switch without electrocuting myself, thanks to Darien's watchful eye.

Bought my first low-flow toilet, at only 1.6 gallons per flush. Yowzhaa!

Found a cigarette butt in a candy bar.

Tried to sell something on eBay, without success.

Pulled a thirty-foot fallen tree limb off the roof without puncturing the roof or my head, thanks to Darien's watchful eye.

Listened to Els Biesman play the organ at St. James. This was the first time I had ever heard a classical organist compared to Ornette Coleman.

Sprouted sedum.

Watched VCU women play volleyball.

Wore a buff.

Ate dinner at 5:30 PM, even though we didn't have anything particular to do that evening.

Delayed getting any older for nine days while I waited on the rest of the family to get it together and have a birthday party for me.

Avoided singing karaoke at Mama Zu.

Read my first e-book all the way through.

Skipped Christmas, so I can have two of them in 2010. Delayed gratification can be a wonderful thing.

Witnessed signs, miracles, and wonderments.

I'm pulling the plug and signing off now. Thanks for walking with me.