Czars, Sam and Angela and Griswolds

Sunday was a tremendously beautiful day that started off with me in a tremendously bad mood.

We were on our way to Jay and Stacey Czars place for brunch, which I've gathered is a regular thing over at their home on Sundays, and were running late. Get the baby out the door. Grab a contribution to the brunch. (Stacey said not to worry too much, but I never cared for arriving empty handed.) Wow, it's 10 minutes 'till we're supposed to be there and the place is 15 minutes away. Art show in the way - SR 561 is blocked off. Alternate route and I'm so friggin mad! And why? It's a gorgeous, warm, sunny Sunday and I'm eating with friends, riding with other friends, and taking it easy the whole day long. What's the mad crazy rush?

It was all me. Nobody else was that kind of rushed. What is that neurotic node in my brain? It's a mystery, I told Beck, which all the great mysteries are. Internal, I mean.

Jay and Stacey have a lovely home, a large apartment with natural light aplenty, overlooking the Ohio River. Panoramic, big picture views. Four video monitors at one desk for video work, internet and whatever else Jay works on. (I bet Stacey has a laptop and a separate work area, but I didn't ask.

They cooked food like pros. Wow. Fine dining including Jay's gently assembled alcoholic drinks that you can down on a Sunday morning without feeling like a wino, Stacey's crepes (I think. Whatever they were, they were awesome.) and nice company. It was a real pleasure to reconnect with our old friends and introduce them to the baby. We also met Joy, a chemist who works on the Blues Fest, Jan, who is Jay Kalagayan's fiance, and Sara, who digs Sarah Vowell. (Sorry for these limited biographies. They were cool folks and more than these collections of words can express.) Good conversation on Ira Glass' recent visit on Writer's weekend and how the best question for Glass came from a homeless woman down at Inktank.

Sam and Angela and I ride 20 miles on the Miami trail (a rails to trails run) from south of Milford up to Branch Hill Road in Loveland. I'm practicing for the 100 miles to Columbus.

Beck and I spent the eveining with the Griswolds and their super kids. Relaxed and fun evening. Everyone had that same, wow I'm tired and hardly ready for the new week vibe. Sara G. verbalized this and was our overworked representative. Jeremiah is working on a stack of cool, post modern fiction (or at least one book) and we shared some parenting discussion over drinks.

Beck and I slept at 9:30 and here I am, 2am, up again. Trying to make the best of it. I think I might have one friend, Mark Flannigan, who I could call this late, but I don't know. Is it too late, Mark?

- Steve