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Back to gerritt.net DON'T JINGLE A KEY FOR USC August 29, 2004. 6:31 PM Yes, Virginia Tech lost last night to USC, the #1 team in the country, in this year's college football season opener. But don't even think for a second that we didn't put up a good fight, taking a 10-7 lead into the locker room at halftime and putting up a great defense that held the USC offense during crucial plays. Just like Hokie football, though, things fell apart toward the end as Tech scrambled to keep up with the high-powered USC offense and allowed two unanswered touchdowns in the second half. It was such an exciting game to attend, though, with the energy and noise from 91,000 fans echoing in our ears the whole way home. The Hokies showed up and made us proud, despite the loss, and there's no denying what the support of a hometown crowd will do to help your team play their best. My friends and I spent the day tailgating before the game, and were excited to see our feisty Hokies show up and play hard against such a great team. Hokie football pumps me up. FEDEX DAY August 27, 2004. 8:31 PM Two things about Federal Express in today's journal: Firstly, the Virginia Tech Hokies are ready to start the college football season off tomorrow against reigning national champions University of Southern California. USC has had its share of off-season distractions, some linked to run-ins with the law and others to talentes scumbags trying to drop out of college early and join the National Football League. These things, however, are not enough for the press to shy away from giving them a 17-point predicted win over the Hokies tomorrow night. I am going to the game, along with 91,000 of my closest friends since the teams agreed to play in the Black Coaches Association Classic at FedEx field near DC. Entering my first football season as an alumni, I'm more than excited to watch my Hokies and follow their inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. I went to the Post Office today to pick up a package (turned out to be my yearbook) and was, as usual, not at all surprised when I spent ten minutes in a line without moving. It seems there are so many things a post office does, not to mention that everyone seems to have special requests, that it takes each cashier a long time to get it all done. The people working the post office are consistently friendly, I suppose because the federal government pays them better and provides better benefits then any other government agency. This, of course, is because they are the one and only federal agency who makes a profit each year. Today I saw a mother and a young girl mailing a huge computer box and making sure the cashier stamped 'fragile' on each side about a thousand times, six Asian men all mailing about two letters apiece overseas, a middle-aged lady recently moved here impatiently clutching a filled-out Change of Address form, and the real kicker was the Latin-American woman in a FedEx uniform mailing an enourmous 26-pound box to Brazil. I am still wondering why she couldn't just mail it for free through her own company, but I guess FedEx just doesn't treat their employees as well as the USPS does. PARKING ALLOTMENTS August 24, 2004. 10:05 PM Pictures from last weekend are now at the bottom of the Summer 04 Photo Journal. Tonight, I'm taping the Daily Show to see Jon Stewart's interview with John Kerry. I watched him interview Bill Clinton a few weeks ago, and I'm excited to see Kerry's take on the satirical side of news. Scenario: Your apartment complex recently decided there are too many cars per apartment, so they painted numbers on the spots outside of the buildings and assigned each unit a space. Then, they asserted their authority by giving each resident a paper explicitly stating the rights of the tenants to call a towing company to remove anyone's car that is parked in their space. There are ample unmarked guest spaces as well as a large shoulder on the road outside the complex and a school across the street with a large parking lot that sits empty at night. So what do you do if you come home at about 10:00 PM and someone has parked in your spot? Their minivan is still ticking and warm, so it hasn't been there long, but you are forced to either park in someone else's nearby numbered spot or drive down the hill to the guest spots and walk from there, carrying your fully loaded laundry hamper. Now comes the issue: do you call the designated towing company and have them pull their van so you can maintain your dominance over the best spot in the complex? Do you leave a nice but assertive note asking them not to park there anymore? An angry, threatening note? Or do you suck it up, say nothing, and hope it's a one-time deal? Last night I chose the nice but assertive note, and made note of their license plate in case they're a repeat offender. So how about this: what if, after I left them a nice but assertive note the first time, I find them parked in my spot again? Now what should I do? It hasn't happened yet, but I hope for the sake of the owner of the van that I'm in a good mood when it does. WELL ITS A LONG WAY TO RICHMOND August 22, 2004. 9:35 PM The summer wedding tour has come to a close as Rob and Melissa's ceremony brings this year's total to four. This weekend found us in the heart of the confederacy, a plantation-turned-inn near Petersburg, Virginia. The quaint Mayfield Inn bed and breakfast had ample room on its back patio for a stylish outdoor wedding, and the cover of three large tents and a gazebo made sufficient protection from the buckets of rain that dumped on the area before and during the ceremony. I was slated to play guitar for the service, with two friends Bret and Heather on bass guitar and piano respectively, but despite the large tents the prospect of our highly sensitive amps and expensive instruments being rained on was very high and seemingly not worth the risk. The rain, of course, poured and poured from an hour before the wedding until the start of the reception, consuming the one time slot when the music was needed. To fill in, the DJ played the songs off of a CD, and the wedding went wonderfully anyway. So the gig was a wash, as they say, and much to our disappointment. I did get to play wiffle ball in the hotel pool, and the wedding, reception, and presentation of it all was great fun. Petersburg is living history, it seems around every corner are buildings dating back to the revolutionary and civil war eras, including the headquarters for Gen. Robert E. Lee. (I wasn't kidding when I called it the heart of the confederacy.) Some of the historic downtown district was sadly destroyed by tornadoes ten years ago, but the historical significance of the city is not lost. Many of the formerly upper-class neighborhoods outside of the downtown area have turned into slums as the industrial strength of the city dwindles away, and large, fancy houses built in the early 1900s are now abandoned and wasting away. I recall a year and a half ago when I found myself in Petersburg on a mission trip during Tour 2003, and how it seemed like there was so much more work left even though our group was leaving. It was very rewarding to drive through again and see how the city has changed since then, and I wonder if our work really made any difference. Pictures to come soon in the SPJ. HIT ME! August 19, 2004. 5:55 PM I'm famous! My website is now featured on such prominent search tools as @USA! I'm listed first in the Virginia Society and Culture section, although I'm afraid anyone interested in Virginia is highly disappointed now that I'm living in and writing about Maryland. I will, however, be traveling to a suburb of the capitol of the great commonwealth of Virginia this weekend. I'm playing guitar in a wedding in the Hopewell-Petersburg area. I'm sure anyone from there will be mad about me identifying it as a suburb of Richmond, but since I've been from "The Baltimore-Washington Metro Area" all my life, you Petersburgers will just have to deal with it. The set list for the wedding? I'm glad you asked. Mostly the usual stuff: "Canon in D", "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring", "I Will Be Here" by Stephen Curtis Chapman. Bret and I will be playing the prelude thingy, so we'll be able to rock out a little bit while everyone is getting seated. "I love weddings! Drinks all around!" INCONCIEVABLE! August 17, 2004. 11:11 PM Allow me to explain the beauty of living in the suburbs: there is always stuff going on. A lot of times, this stuff is free, I guess maybe to offset the high costs of living here. Tonight, and all this week, Strathmore Hall performing arts center is hosting a free outdoor film festival featuring many of my favorite classic movies shown on a big screen. Lots of local businesses set up food stands whose proceeds go to children's charity funds. Naturally, I couldn't miss tonight's feature: The Princess Bride. Melanie and I met up with Brian (from school/work) and some of his friends for an evening out under the, um, lightning. No storm thankfully, but lots of bright flashes overhead really added to the mood of the movie and the night sky. Overall we paid $4 to park at the Metro station and a few dollars for some pizza. Champion of free stuff: me. MAKE IT A HURRICANE BEFORE I GO INSANE August 15, 2004. 10:11 PM How do you react to an oncoming hurricane? This latest one, Charley, did some severe category-4 damage to the western part of southern Florida before it dissipated and brought four inches of rain to this area. So, what is your stand on a hurricane churning up toward you? Yesterday, as the rain began falling here in Maryland, I walked into a K-Mart (lousy store) and saw a small gathering of people in the vestibule between the automatic doors looking amazed and staring up. This group, rudely blocking my entrance to the store, was fascinated by a small brown sparrow that was trapped in the vestibule enclosure. Each time the bird would flutter toward a window in search of an escape, the group would ooh and aah as if they'd never seen a bird, but none made any comment about or attempt to release the creature. This, of course, is my way of insulting the clientele of my local Kmart, which by the way was out of the lightbulb I needed for my car. But I digress. After entering the store, on a temporary shelf facing the entrance was a fresh stock of flashlights, bottled water, and other small necessities for disaster survival. I stared blankly for a minute, thinking maybe all of these items were on sale or clearance or something before it occurred to me that people were buying them thinking this hurricane was threatening our area's water and power infrastructure. At my next stop, Safeway, the bottled water, milk, and bread aisles were wiped almost entirely clear. This, too, I assumed was because of the hurricane and not because it was a Saturday. It is strange how differently we react to the news of a big storm. I had some friends over to my place that night, even some who drove in the rain, and hardly a word was said about the downgraded tropical depression Charley that hovered overhead. In fact, last year some of us were even outside at a football game during the wind and rain of hurricane Isabel as it crossed southern Virginia (coincidentally this occurred on Talk Like A Pirate Day). I guess its the indestructibleness of youth that keeps us from worrying about being stranded or without power or water. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER August 12, 2004. 10:01 PM Here's a fun tidbit: Can you name the two Johnny Depp films that are placed right next to each other on the shelf at Blockbuster? The answer in a moment. I think I may have a colony of super-ants living under my kitchen, just like the entire city of Melbourne, Australia. This can't be true. Ants are way too tiny to be able to build such a huge home, and how long until these creatures, living in such a massive mutant population, turn against humankind and push us out of Australia? I'd hate to lose a continent like that. Need a hint? Not only did Johnny Depp star in both, but both were directed by none other than Tim Burton. They're found on the comedy shelf, filed under 'E'. If you said 'Edward Scissorhands' and 'Ed Wood', you're today's luck winner! O CANADA August 10, 2004. 11:18 PM Oh yeah. The Barenaked Ladies, a mainstream folk-rock group, was at Merriweather tonight and totally rocked. This being my second BNL show I wasn't too surprised at their talent, humor, energy, and wit, but every song was different from the last time I saw them three years ago. They're really amazing and entertaining performers, definitely up near the top of my favorite bands. If you ever get the chance, go see them. You won't be let down. The only downside to the night? Fellow Canadian Alanis Morrisete opened as a co-headliner, so we had to sit through her set before BNL came out. So speaking of Donald Trump and Atlantic City, it seems his casinos are losing money. So much money in fact that they've restructured their finances and filed for bankruptcy. HA HA HA! In your face, comb-over man! UNDER THE BOARDWALK August 8, 2004. 10:08 PM Tonight I can pull out the list of "Places I Want to See" and put a big ol' check mark next to 'Atlantic City'. On the same list under 'Want to Visit Again' I can place a big ol' X. I've seen it, I went into every casino on the boardwalk, I played blackjack, video poker, and slots, and I got to see all the streets named after Monopoly spaces. (Or is it the other way around?) For the young not-so-wealthy-yets like myself, AC is not really a very friendly place. Finding few restaurants, shops, or bars worth exploring, and not willing to gamble away more than a few dollars, we found ourselves outside of the norm and frankly a bit bored. There was tons of stuff to look at, and you can walk through and watch the players in the casinos, but little else was of interest on the boardwalk. Basically, it is a sub-par beach town with tons of fancy and expensive casino-hotels that attract wealthy gamers, but the rest of the city is trashy and poor. Even the beach is not great, with piers, renovations, and new 'beach bars' clogging the shell-filled sand. Were it not for the company and the wonderful weather I would've called the weekend a loss, but positive energy always overcomes boring nightlife and weird people, and we had a great time exploring the sights. The highlight, in my book, was leaving the town behind and riding the ferry from Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE on the trip home. I think I would go back, though, if someone handed me a thousand dollars and told me to go gamble with it. I would probably lose it all, but I'd have fun doing it. Pictures to come soon in the SPJ. STORMING THE COAST August 5, 2004. 5:08 PM Oh man. If you live in Maryland or the DC area, I'm sure you heard or saw the raging thunderstorm that tore through last night. Me, I was out on a sailboat in the Baltimore harbor when the sky turned dark. We were able to take in sail, button down, and get our raincoats ready before we were hit since we could see it coming, but being on a sailboat we couldn't get to the shelter of our marina before the rain came. After a few minutes of 30-knot wind and lightning, the rain started pelting us so hard that I had to hold my hand in front of my face just to see through the drops. At one point the only visible thing was a cruise ship's well-lit shape on its way out of the inner harbor. Luckily, we had some good eyes on board that spotted some lights on the land to steer towards, and the storm passed in about 15 minutes. The sky after the storm was beautiful, and the air was crisp and mild, like nothing had ever happened. No damages to the vessel or the crew, but we were completely soaked head-to-toe, even through my raincoat. Our only fears were trying to keep a steady heading so we didn't run aground and the risk of lightning. By the time we made it back the sun had come back out and then set behind the city skyline in a fading burst of pink color. And we got a good story to tell once again. What did you do last night? Happy Birthday Melanie! AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN August 3, 2004. 5:08 PM I don't drive fast. Well, except sometimes on the highway or on my way home from work when I'm feeling impatient. But, I am very lucky to have never gotten in an accident since moving to Montgomery County, MD. Not by any fault of mine, mind you, I witness two or three near-hits each day in my route to and from my job. Many people here are reckless, dangerous, but mostly impatient. Some of these people are also ignorant to many traffic laws, like the one that says a traffic light with no power is treated as a four-way stop. I just hope I'm not the next one to be a victim to the ways of the impatient commuter, and I surely hope I never become one myself. I can't wait to see what this place is like when it snows. Maybe I'll buy a helicopter. A MAN OF MANY SHIRTS August 1, 2004. 10:18 PM  This weekend I found myself spending most of my time in the car again, as I sped from Baltimore to Severna Park, twice to Arlington and once to Fredericksburg, VA. On Saturday morning I went sailing on a wonderfully blustery day on the harbor, then changed my clothes to meet Daryl in Baltimore and head to our Dad's for my grandmother's birthday party, then changed my clothes again to go out for some nightlife in Arlington. That's three different sets of clothes that day, it's no wonder why I spend so much money on laundry. Today I picked up Rob at his new place in Arlington, coincidentally right next to the bar where Daryl and I were last night, and we spent two hours in traffic on I-95 before we finally made it to Fredericksburg where some of us were rehearsing music for his wedding. Its been a busy weekend, and once I got to all the places I needed to go it was quite a lot of fun. Oh, and if you're wondering about the photo, this weird guy was riding his giant-wheeled bike through Baltimore on Saturday morning, through red lights and everything. I'm not sure why this type of bike has any appeal at all in the modern world. Does anyone know what these weird one-big-wheel one-really-tiny-wheel bikes are actually called? |