Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

It’s summer in DC, it’s hot, it’s humid, it’s time to mosey.

That does not mean walking at my normal “get out of my way before I barrel you over like the speed bump that you are” pace, it means getting back to my southern roots and walking at a measured pace designed not to leave you drenched when you get to your destination.

And by heavens, it works.

I managed not to be soaked by the time I got to work this morning. Tomorrow may be another story as I have a run planned in the morning and that tends to make me a tad more prone to sweating on the walk. But at least for one day I was not a total victim of the weather. Thursday should be really fun, what with my normal 7 miler to do.

In wretched news, the YWCA, where I swim, is closing their pool as of the end of August. Evidently it’s too big a financial drain on them, so they’re dumping it. As a result, I will be dumping them. I’ve written to the manager (with a CC to the overall email addy) asking how to cancel the membership. Which means I now have to find a new gym. Grrr. I’ll miss the towel service, but what a pain in the ass. Looks like I may be moving to the (not so hot) gym around the corner after all.

Assassins was really well done. Small space, big voices (mostly – Lee Harvey Oswald was a little weak), and really, really well staged. The curtain, a flag, dropped and the assassins and other cast members were sitting in an exact duplicate of the seat set up that we were in. Great commentary on who was where and what not. From there, it went really well. Good music, good show. Won’t be playing much longer, but I recommend it if you can get to it.

Was good to see L again. He’s been up in Maine or otherwise busy for most of the summer. Had fun catching up.

Legs are surprisingly well this evening, post-run. Sucking down water like there’s no tomorrow, though, and the piss at the resturant was pretty darned dark (dehydration, anyone?), but should get back to balance this evening before bed.

Ran this morning. Two big lessons: 1. I need to be more consistent in my training; and 2. I need to run earlier in the morning.

‘Twas a trifle warm out there today. Because I was going for longer than my nice little Thursday morning 7 miler I decided to leave the District and head down the Mount Vernon Trail. Was quite nice, a good trail, well maintained and fairly busy. Only complaint I had was that they need more trees (for shade) but less vegetation (which blocked the nice breeze off the river). Otherwise it was a pretty good run. Did two hours, and out and back with a little side detour in East Potomac Park (found out where the driveway off Buckeye Drive goes now!).

Did a load of cold wash just now. Need to do more laundry, but no time. L is picking me up to go see Assassins at Signature Theater this evening, with an early dinner beforehand.

Put away the ‘toys’ from where they were, out in the open, to not quite so out-in-the-open. Sorted them by purpose (restraint, penetration, etc.) and put them away accordingly. Even managed to hang up a couple of pieces of art – no longer will I have to worry about smacking the Japanese prints I’m keeping for my parents as they are now hanging in the front hall. The mirror’s up near the front hall, my first cross-stich is up in the bathroom hallway, and there are still books all over the floor in front of the bookshelf. Bit by bit.

I helped a friend clean/declutter today. Never again will I complain about having too much stuff.

Oh.
My.
God.

We spent three hours and barely made a dent in the one room I tackled (the bedroom). Only got to surfaces, no drawers, though the ones I saw needed it, badly. Cleared off two pieces, a dresser and the bedside table. Got most of the desk done before we had to leave. I’ve not seen that much dust in forever.

Dear heavens what a mess.

The dining room table was the pantry. The refrigerator was stuffed to the gills. Tiles were loose in the kitchen. Three different coffee makers. I made him toss out a couple boxes of things still in the box out on the side porch. He’ll get a huge break on his taxes when he donates all this crap, but man what a mess. the living room had dry cleaning laid out on the couch. There were no surfaces on which to sit, they were all covered in tchachkes or clothes or whatever. Expired medications. Old bills. Catalogs. Magazines never removed from the plastic wrap. Printer paper that was so wrinkled as to be useless. Clutter, clutter, clutter.

Never filth, just clutter. But far too much of it.

I may go back later to help, but only with the assistance of another person, I think. Definitely at least a three person job, two of whom need to be uninvolved emotionally with the clutter. Ugh.

I have a set of pages I read on a regular basis, every evening, and I added my LJ friends list and the page I use to write on my web site, which now prods me to write, ready or not. A purposeful thing, meant to force my fingers to get moving.

I managed a great feat today – I unpacked the last two boxes of books. Most of them are on bookshelves now. Most of them. I discovered that I need more bookshelves to fit them all, even with having dumped as many as I did when I moved. A bunch of paperbacks are now crammed onto some shelves in multiple layers. I’d prefer they be visible now, but in time they will be.

But now I’m completely moved in. Everything might not have a ‘permanent’ home yet, but it’s all out and mostly put away. Even managed to hang another piece of art. Slowly it’s become home.

Work continues. Ran 7 miles this morning. Should be doing more, but that’s a good amount for a school day.

Happy hour with co-workers tonight, then back home for some grilled food with a couple I helped set up (rather, they knew each other and I pushed them together – forcefully). Was nice and quiet. Just got done checking LJ for the night, and the other journals I read. Chatting with a couple friends, then will get off to bed. If up early enough I’ll go for a ride. I have a practice tri, a sprint, coming up in a couple weeks and I’m very much not ready for it. Running, yes, but not the other two events. I mean, I’ll swim just fine, but after that, feh.

Life’s a mess, as always. The air thing seems to be fixed now, I’ve killed off the last head cold from that craptacular little adventure, and I’m running again.

I had a visitor over the weekend, a boy (in the BDSM sense) who is perhaps relocating to DC. Had a very fun time with him, despite the head cold. Played tourist, played period, though not as much as either of us would have liked (again, the head cold). Mildly disappointed at that, betrayed by my body. But a fun time with him, nonetheless.

Otherwise I’ve been feeling even more anti-social than my usual wont, killing off the shows on my TiVo, catching up on the DS games I’ve been neglecting, pulling down the books I’ve not yet read and starting in on some of them.

In a surprisingly good mood this evening. The quickie recap of the post-work scene:

Biked to my hair cut. On the way nearly got run over by an SUV who cut over with no turn signal into the bike lane, right into my path. I let him, and most of the block, know how displeased I was at him, yelling louder when he opened his window to apologize. I was not in the mood to be gracious and my heart rate was still too high.

Was early for the haircut, so went over to the vegan bakery close by, got some sweets, biked back over to actually get the haircut. Changed into a new shirt, out of the damp bike jersey. While leaving the place my back tire popped. Was meeting a young gentleman for dinner, but had time, so I went ahead and replaced the tube. But it wasn’t blowing up, and the time had come, so I walked it over to the corner, flagged him down (a fellow cyclist), and we went to dinner across the street.

Dinner was nice, good conversation, cute guy. Stopped by the liquor store to get some bourbon finally (been out since the 4th! the horror!). Walked to the U Street Metro (from 17th and R), metroed home, then discovered that the replacement tube (my last one) also had a hole in it, right across from the stem. Went to unpack my bag, felt something damp, had a mini panic attack thinking I’d crushed the liquor, but was relieved to discover it was only the damp bike jersey.

So, munching on a pecan cookie, chatting online, not drinking any of the bourbon (I want to run tomorrow), and generally enjoying the evening, despite the biking stuff.

I want to write, but I’m drawing a blank.

Got a nice compliment from a lovely fella the other day. Just wrote him back to thank him this morning, my usual tardy self when it comes to follow up. Also been missing on emails to a few other folks.

Even though I rearranged the bedroom I’m still, somehow, getting air blowing past my face. I’m just going to have to crank the AC to get the temps really low and then turn it off to sleep. Or perhaps redirect the air at the windows or something. I just can’t take the dry sinuses any more, and I really, really want to breathe without chemical help again. Grrr. Major design flaw of the unit, as far as I’m concerned.

Did a massage exchange last night, which was nice. Very chatty guy, which was sometimes fun, sometimes distracting. But overall it was a good experience.

Have a visitor coming in for the weekend, getting here late tomorrow evening. Going to do some touristy things, which is always fun with folks who don’t live here. I enjoy playing tour guide in my chosen city, so this’ll be a nice break from the norm.

Dear random cyclist,

Thank you for your attempted entry into the 2006 Darwin Awards, however we wish to note that your entry, “idiot on bicycle in traffic with headphones,” is far too common an occurance to rate a mention in this contest. Good luck on your continuing attempts to remove yourself from the gene pool, and let us know if you pick something more original.

Sincerely,

Darwin

—–
Dear 95% of the runners I saw out this morning,

Cotton?!?! WTF? Go get some real clothing that doesn’t weigh 10 gazillion pounds when it gets wet because you’re sweating like mad in this heat. It’s worth it. Trust me.

Sincerely,

Someone who got overheated just looking at you
—-
Dear Fish Market,

I realize you specialize in dead things, but do you have to smell like a charnal house first thing in the morning? Please at least spray down the parking lot. Thanks.

Sincerely,

A disgusted runner
—-
Dear Mother Nature,

Would a breeze have killed you this morning? Thanks for nothing.

Sincerely,

Overheated in DC
—-
Dear Designers of the DC Waterfront,

Would some more trees, and less concrete, have killed you? I know you wanted magnificent vistas, but damn is all that concrete miserably warm in the summer. Same for L’Enfant Promenade, more trees, less concrete. Idiots.

Sincerely,

A disgusted fan of midcentury architecture
—-
Dear DC City Planners,

Yes, the Waterfront and Promenade are historic, but c’mon, let’s get with the times. Modern Organic would be so much nicer, and make the areas so much more appealing. More trees, less concrete. Thanks.

Sincerely,

An annoyed resident