A Week Of Non-Blog

I guess I have things to say. After a week away from Urf! there seem to be people who want to know what we’re all up to. So I ask myself, What are we up to? Well, beginning with Tuesday of last week, we’ve welcomed someone new to our circle of friends, I saw the fourth installment of Die Hard, I jogged through the Evergreen neighborhood with StephChockleyblog, JP turned six, Pops turned … older than six, the country turned 231, I ran my best time ever in the Firecracker 5K, ate homemade mojito ice cream and nearly wiped out my whole family (except JP) with undercooked chicken, took The Quartet to see the Fantastic Four movie, began watching HBO’s Rome series, ate Mexican with friends and Italian with family, witnessed an iPhone, found it necessary to learn about breath-holding spells thanks to GK, began Michael Chabon’s new book, drank some wine, tried to counsel C on the proper way to light fireworks, pictured my own mother cringing as my 9-year-old lit the fuse on those fireworks, smoked a new cigar with Uncle Toby on his deck, made a little love, did a little dance, mistakenly introduced The Quartet to Hong Kong Phooey, had inappropriate conversations in front of in-laws from Michigan, listened to my first podcast, E-mailed Brooklyn Dan, cheered JP as he rode his new bike, read a friend’s newest short story, and planned a trip to Las Vegas next year with The Admiral. And, probably, a little more.

How to best sum up this week? I believe the young lady working the register at Buster's Liquor did so after the Firecracker 5K. I was wearing the T-shirt from the race and she pointed to it and said, "Is that from today?" "Yes it is," I answered, "I just ran it." She lowered her eyelids halfway and said, "That's awesome."

Awesome, indeed.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled program …