confusion

Crazy German weekend. I went out to Arlington on Saturday to watch the Germany v. Latvia Euro Cup game [ euro2004.com ] with Thilo. The game was a disaster, 0-0 draw, poor showing by Germany. But a few Guinness made it better.

Afterwards we headed back to Thilo’s apartment. Drank too much wine and talked about random things. The thing that came up in the end was the possibility of renting a house out in Arlington—near Clarendon (and by association Whitlow’s) [ whitlows.com ]. I like living in the city, but a little more space and a roommate I know would be nice. Added bonus would be the 15 minutes off the commute. We’ll see, have to find a place and decide soon.

While Thilo and I where discussing this my phone rang. It was another German—R█████ [ confusion.cc ] whom I met in London. He was on his way from Baltimore to my place.

So back on the Metro and back to DC. I made it just after R█████ and his Girlie Danielle showed up. We headed out and had dinner at Thaiphoon. Really good to see R█████ and catch up on on all the stuff going on over the pond. Lots of good conversation at dinner and after that back to drinking and watching movies. Stayed up way to late.

So I spent all day Saturday drinking and then got up Sunday to tromp around DC all day. We only saw a few museums but mostly just walked around. We did meet two interesting people.

In front of the National Gallery we met a woman who was a recently retired Foreign Service worker. She was interesting—totally insane—but interesting. Talking to her she never committed to a single thing. Evasive as hell about everything. I guess that’s what it takes to talk to world leaders without bold faced lying.

Inside the gallery we where looking at a Jackson Pollock [ nga.gov ] when the security guard asked us if “we saw the insect” in the painting. Um, given how crazy a Jackson Pollock painting is we all had to say “no.” So he pointed out the small “s” shaped smear in the upper right quadrant that ended in the painted body of a insect of some kind. Can’t tell if it was a cockroach or a fly, but it’s fully fully part of the painting now.

We talked with the security guard for about 30 minutes. Found out that he was in the military for a long time—served as an MP in Germany. He guarded Elvis during ‘the King’s’ tour of duty, and worked Check Point Charlie for several years. He was really cool to talk to. Made more interesting that I was with a German who could add context and even more color to the stories. The juxtaposition of Rob—a well educated punk who grew up in the last days of the Wall and this well spoken ex-military guard who worked in the shadow of the wall, it was surreal.

All in all a good weekend, but man am I tired. I need to call Rob but am too tired tonight.

Well my bitching at Sherman about his “I’ll leave when I find a place” stance seems to have had an effect. He will be paying rent through the end of August. So I need a roomie for the first of September? Any takers?

Imagine standing in a crowded commuter train station at rush hour waiting for your train. Looking around you see an unusually high number of people on the platform wearing headphones. Lost in their own world. Nothing unusual about people listening to music on their commute, but there are so many of them today. Then, at precisely 6:58pm they all start to dance. At this point you would probably begin to question your sanity but it’s not a joke and it is real [ news.independent.co.uk ].

I went to C’ville for my sisters graduation. I was down there for three days and I don’t know anyone there anymore. I know of one person who lives there, I’ve only met them once but due to the lovely power of the Internet (and them having a website) I can stalk them online. I tried to make contact with them to have something to do on Saturday night. Nothing came of it. But on Saturday afternoon while I was out with my mother I bumped into two people from my past.

It’s been years since I even saw them. They were, quite possibly, my two best friends at the end of high school. After high school some stuff happened and I ended up loosing contact with all my high school friends. Bad blood. And these two—their love and my friendship—was at the heart of the conflict.

I stopped and said hello to them. I got the cold shoulder from one. He talked but never looked at me after I said hello. We only talked for a few minutes. They have two kids now and they did not even introduce me to them. I would like to talk to them, to find out what happened, what I did that started the bad blood. I’ve always wanted to find out.

We all had to get going, but as I turned to leave he said they should get my number. So she took it down. I asked what they were going to do for the night and she said she was going to head down to the club. I said to give me a call and I’d join them. I did not take their number because I’m not sure if they really want to hear from me, so I decided to await their call.

The phone never rang.

This afternoon on my way back to the District I stopped along 29 North and walked through the headstones till I came to Joe’s grave [ confusion.cc ]. There is a little square of granite, flush to the ground that has his name on it. I did not really stop to think why I was there. I didn’t stay long. But it was a beautiful evening, the sun going down, the birds singing. Peace. Rest in Peace.

Seeing them, and the disappointment of not getting the call caused me to do a lot of thinking. A lot of memories returned to the forefront of my thoughts. Memories not forgotten but put away long ago. I have a lot of questions that I would have liked to get answered. Let the water flow under the bridge and put right whatever I can that is still wrong. But the ball is in their court.

They know my number. The choice is theirs.