a fun weekend time, for a change

After a string of less than exciting weekends (at least two), I had a fun time last night sharing space with Alex' girlfriend, Bex, and her friends who were all in town for a Kesher (Reform Judaism) convention. I met them last evening at the Korean War Memorial, which I hadn't seen, and we walked back past the Washington Monument, where we met up with a few more, and to the White House. Bex' old friend Adam met us there and walked us to Bertucci's, introducing us to the buildings, government functions, and business districts on the way.

We ended up chatting another half hour or so, waiting for a table to open up for the seven of us. Apparently there was a group of sorority girls who were done eating but still chatting away, but they left soon enough. Bex and I shared a Marguerita pizza and the waitress did a fantastic job with my "water, no ice, no straw, with lemon" beverage order! Conversation was fun around the table as was the food. I had a chocolate torta for dessert and was filled and happy. We sat and hung out a while longer while we also waited for the waitress to return for our payments.

Together we headed to the Foggy Bottom station where we said our goodbyes to Adam. Continued the wishes to Ali and Nate, who were headed to a hotel room near the airport. The opportunity for this get-together sprung out of this group being stuck in D.C. because their flights were canceled due to snow. Ali kindly shared how warm her ass was, compared to the rest of her body, after having slipped on ice and fallen on it a few hours before.

Then, Bex, Chase, Fish, and I were on our way to Metro Center, where we all missed our respective Red Line trains moments before rising to the platform. So, upon such discovery, I walked my normal fast pace to an escalator to spend another 17 minutes with them. Meanwhile, they were busy staring at the status sign, wondering why it was blank, and then soon seeing that 18 minutes also awaited them—so busy they were, that they returned to center and started wondering what became of me…. And a moment later, there I was at their side, expressing my boredom at spending another 18 minutes alone, which I compared to waiting for matzah to bake. So we had another good conversation about I can't remember what before I raced back to my platform to wait for my train, and an otherwise uneventful ride and walk home.

Work has been quite busy lately with GreenDC Week planning galore. The biggest news of the moment is that we will be participating fully in African American Family Celebration at the National Zoo on April 17, 2006, the kick-off "Think Green D.C.! Day" of GreenDC Week. And we will be doing a press conference to start it all. The first round of speaker scheduling inquiries are out and we await responses from most of them, including the Clintons, Gore, and several other senators and congressmen.

Also, I've drafted a new layout for the GreenList, our weekly environmental news distribution, so those of you who subscribe to it will have an opportunity to comment on the new look when you receive it this week. And for those of you who think you should be subscribed, just let me know. Or, as it's now blogged (as linked above), you can find it online or spoon-fed, too.

If You Had Me Alone

As instructed by Tanya…

If you had me alone, locked up in your house for twenty-four hours, and I had to do whatever you wanted me to, what would you do with me? I'll screen the comments (no one but me will see them) so feel free to write whatever you want.

Then re-post this in your journal or blog. You might be surprised with the responses you get. They could make you laugh or even smile.