UrbanSkies

Ketchup

This is my "catch up" blog entry.

Quick story. In 4th grade TAG Math class, our teacher would occasionally have a "ketchup" day, where she would get out a bottle of ketchup, and we would "catch up" to where we're suppose to be in the lesson plan. One day, I smartly replied back, "Can we have a 'Lettuce Day'..."let us" do no work day?" The class liked the idea, and my teacher liked my brilliant display of pun mastery, but not enough to release us to our own imaginations. Dumb story, but it's now written for posterity.

Other than the new job, here's the other happenings in the urban skies:

The director of our department passed away last week. He had cancer for almost a year, and finally died from complications. He was the guy who first hired me full-time to a post-collegiate job. His patience, fairness, and level-headedness in times of stress were all qualities that made him a dream to work with. They are all qualities that I strive to better in myself. In fact, I'm spoiled that I started with such a great boss, because he has been the benchmark to which all other supervisors have been measured. Beyond work, he was the friend everyone wanted. Always smiling and joking, he made others feel better just by being around them. He had an open door policy, where anyone could talk to him about anything. His funeral was Saturday morning, and I miss him already.

Saturday night, I went over to Jennifer and Mark's for some BBQ time. Being around 3 other hetero couples reminds me of the differences between us. I hate focusing on differences, but sometimes it's easy to feel out a bit, even among close friends. Their first-born, Jacob, is such a beautiful bouncing baby. He walks around and says a couple of words. I can't wait to see him grow up.

Afterwards, I went out with Anant and Chase to have a couple of drinks at 1920's Club. One new waiter in particular caught our collective eye. Afterwards, Evan joined us for a walk around the state capital. Our quartet broke apart shortly thereafter. It was a nice relaxing evening.

Sunday, I stayed at home, did laundry, and watched 8 episodes of "The West Wing: Season 2" on DVD. Sometimes, it's nice to do nothing for a day.

Monday, I accepted the new job. Tuesday, I moved to my new office. I received an anonymous box of 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies later in the day. The cryptic message enclosed was "You deserve some cookies today!" Checking the usual avenues for cookie gift giving turned up no leads. So, Anonymous Cookie Giver, thank you for the generous gift that touches this boy's heart (and tummy).

A week ago was Justin's birthday. We ate at Buca di Bepo which as you may recall did not bode well for my car last time I ate there. I'm happy to report that no car damage resulted of my dining at this establishment this time around. Justin's mother gave me a LiveStrong bracelet from the Lance Armstrong Foundation (pictured below).

My gift to Justin was the first season of "The West Wing" on DVD. This past Monday, I went over to his place for some lasagna (Absolutely Divine!), and he had already seen about half of the episodes. I think Justin is half-Italian, as he prepares some of the best lasagna and spaghetti known to Mankind. Yummy! In fact, I'm about to head home to have some leftovers he gave me.

Speaking of delicious food...tomorrow, there is a large group of us eating at West Lynn Cafe, a vegetarian eatery popular in Austin. Lynn, a good friend here at work, received an invitation for her and 10 friends to eat a free meal. As you well know, I must eat some sort of meat item at each meal, so I'm not sure how well I'll survive. I've eaten at vegetarian places before, but it's a couple of centuries between visits. Hopefully, there will be some french fries or onion rings I can munch on while everyone eats tofu goodness. Can you pass the ketchup?

Posted by Ben at July 22, 2004 06:16 PM