Helium and Crock Pots
It was a nice quiet day; my brother and I, for the past several years, have spent nice quiet dinners together on the evening of November 30. The little turd pulled a fast one on me this year.
1995 was a nice, quiet “celebration” (if one could call it that) with Heidi and company. In 1993 I avoided the crowds after dinner and went off to Oldenborg to watch Akira—it was my first “anime.” I can’t really recall what I did on November 30 for much of the late 90s ... it really was not that important.
In 1994 I caused a mild disruption among some college friends. There was a math lecture that afternoon at Harvey Mudd. I did not tell my friends of this, and so it was that considerably later than usual I walked back to South Campus, and on to Frank Dining Hall, where a number of folks from freshman year Mudd-Blaisdell were assembled. I had considered not going to dinner at all.
As scheduled Mike came over this evening around 6:15; we were going to eat at Porta Bella. We sat and chatted for a while; we discussed BSU football, my new harddrive (200GB WD drive put in a USB 2.0/Firewire enclosure), and so on. It was a chill, dry day. Just before Mike arrived I had been on the phone with Andrew. The walk to Porta Bella was not long. He insisted we check out the wine cellar and have a drink first. As we walked into the recently renovated extended space toward the back I saw Sherie and Burke, which was not too surprising. I then turned and saw Wes and Ivana, and then Matt Greenberg, Jim Steakley, Nancy Kaiser, Sabine Gross, and Di and Thyra, and then my dad and step-mother (all the way in from Idaho).
Sherie was pressing the shutter and the flash was going off.
Somehow I had become the unwilling participant in a twilight zone episode of Candid Camera.
Yeah, I’d been caught. Two beers later, though, that didn’t matter. Most folks only stopped by for a bit before heading off to other engagements. We went upstairs for dinner, where Rachel and Dave joined us.
A new desk chair, crock pot, and three helium-filled balloons tethered by a tiny stuffed bear in a miniature coffee mug now complement my already full bachelor pad.
February 18, 2008 is not that far off ...
—November 30 2004