Posted 4 years, 5 months ago in the early evening by oso
There is something I’ve learned about blogging while on the road – you’re never going to fit everything in and if you put it off until you think can, the post will putter away into oblivion. That’s what happened to me at the Internet & Society Conference in Cambridge last year; so many amazing people, conversations, moments, and funny moments that I didn’t know where to even start. And so I didn’t.
It’s 9 p.m., drinking my second mug of java, just took my requisite pre-post shit (“where’re the matches at”), and now I’m determined to get something in cyberspace while Abo’s pretending to cite a paper and his lady Anne Mack is out with the girlfriends. When Anne Mack and company get back out to town we go, which means I’m just gonna press publish and finish this whenever I can.
Thursday 1 a.m. – Home
Booger and I are rappin in the kitchen. I ask her what she’s going to do over the weekend. She says get her life in order. Says she needs a couple days to step outside the routine and figure out where she wants to go. I relate to this, but don’t share. Time to pack.
Thursday 5:05 a.m. – Home
Second alarm goes on … or is it goes off? Allah bless the second alarm – somehow I had turned off the first alarm without realizing it, clever sunuvabitch that I am. But my alarm clock is more persistent than my subconscious sleep seeking and I stumble into the bathroom to splash cold water on my face.
Thursday 6:25 a.m. – San Diego Airport
Last thing Allah, but I also ask you to bless Jet Blu. These guys are great. No lines. No problems. No delays. No big deal. Now I know that you don’t even need to check in if you’re going carry on. Just print out your email and let them scan the bar code at the gate. Tangentially: that night Abo, Anne Mack, and I argue over whether you can get away with gassing at 35,000 feet above. I say absolutely, the seats soak it in, the circulation is brilliant, you’ve got no idea where the odor is coming from, and it’s noisy as all hell. I consistently break wind on flights and I’ve never once been caught. Abo and Anne Mack dissented.
Thursday 4:45 p.m. – Georgetown Law School
Getting from Dulles Airport into the city is not painful, but it is not painless, and it’ll cost you about $11 after the $8 shuttle and $3 trip on the metro. The three hours of sleep is weighing on my eyelids as the subway rolls into Union Station. I look for the
Interruption
Three quick things before I forget them. First, to quote kevin: “the recent modern future.” Poor guy tries to sound smart. Second thing – Abo and I had a giant bet (three beers) on where the Gypsies originated from. Not only did I say India, but I specified Northern India. Abogado said Romania. Let’s look at what wikipedia says:
They are a traditionally nomadic people who originated in northern India, but currently live worldwide, chiefly in Europe. Most Roma speak some form of Romany, a language closely related to the modern Indo-European languages of Europe, northern India and Pakistan [1], but usually speak the dominant language of a region they live in as well. Modern anthropology has related Romany to Punjabi and Pothohari spoken in northern India and Pakistan.
There is no connection between the names of the Roma or their language and the city of Rome (Roma in Latin, Italian, and Romanian), the Roman Empire, Romania, the Romanian people or the Romanian language .
Now that’s ambiguous isn’t it? Third thing is that Anne Mack, without any doubt, coined the greatest adjective for Abogado over the weekend: “metrostressful.” Brilliant. I don’t know how she thought of that, but it’s so true. The guy hears something remotely sounding like a subway and he starts freaking out. Now, I don’t know how this happened to my dear once-sedatedly-mellow friend … maybe it’s the pace of capitol life … but if you want to see him run, just hiss like a metro car.
Hasta Manana
OK, so I said I’d press publish when the girls came, but I lied. I just saw a girl that I hadn’t seen since 1993. Amazing. For now I leave you with two westsides from last night’s Thievery Corporation concert. More to come.
I can refute the gassing at high altitudes thing. I know a guy who did his thing on his trip back from D.F. and the gaseous scent nearly freaked out the entire flight staff…folks were allegedly throwing up. I’m glad I wasn’t in that flight.
I see a recurring pattern with the whole faltulence thing. Go with it
Amen on the putting writing off. I still have notes from my two weeks in Canada that have yet to congeal into anything coherent.
I think the whole cabin pressure thing makes you more likely to encounter episodes of flatulence aboard flights. It’s basic physics. If your ears are popping, you better believe that someone aboard is passing gas.
They should just drop those masks when the plane takes off. Using them could be optional. So if you appreciate the aroma like Oso does, you need not use them.
As for Gypsies, I always thought the were called Rom because they rom around. Sorry. All the anthropological literature I have encountered says that they do originate from Northern India.
EMC,
Homeboy’s gotta cut down on the frijoles.
Bobbo,
Thanks for the reminder – my fingers have obviously gotten a little rusty. I like those sunglasses. Were they mine?
Xolo,
Just to confirm my notion, I was gassing like a wild man on the flight back and no one even turned a head. As far as the Gypsies go, Abo is still trying to argue that they’re from Romania … pretty shameful. Yesterday, my last day in D.C., I was walking around and got sidetracked in the World Bank bookstore for a couple hours. They had a pamphlet on the “Decade of Roma Inclusion,” which was pretty interesting. Even though few European ethnic minorities get attention here in the U.S., the Gypsies are way down on the list.
The pamphlet, explaining why the program was put into place, cited all sorts of statistics about Romani health standards, average income, average education, and so forth. This was reason enough to justify a program specifically focused on one ethnic group. But here in the US, I’m sure, statistically, you could replace “Romani” with “Hispanic,” “Black,” or “Native American” even though American society would never support an inclusion program focused on a single ethnicity.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Decade of Roma Inclusion accomplishes and what it doesn’t.
Yes. No connection to Romania. None at all.
- from World Bank