Tourist in my own city

Another eventful weekend at the Baltimore Chronicles. C went away to points north for the weekend, so Friday night it was just me and the dog and Thai takeout (which I did not share with the dog). She woke me up on Saturday with cute little barks and jumps that translated roughly to "okay, up! time for my walk! i've let you sleep long enough!"

Sarah and I had prearranged to hook up for a bank errand (mine), breakfast, and then to revise an assignment for my Tuesday night class. That took longer than I expected, but we still managed to catch a matinee of the new Fame movie. Really, it was much better than reviews led me to believe.

Then on to the Hawaiian Fusion restaurant for dinner. I hadn't been there in at leaast 4 years, but the entree I had so long ago impacted me so deeply that I ordered it again. Braised short ribs with a deep and abiding cabernet.

Because I was on doggie duty, S stayed at my place on Saturday night. It was cool to be hosting her for once.

Sunday morning we watched the Fame TV show in reruns. S found some new-to-me channel amongst those in my cable suite lineup called "Centric" that was showing back-to-back episodes. Boy, talk about aging badly. The 80s was such a cheesy decade--the first 5 years, especially.

After babygirl's afternoon walk, Sarah and I headed back to the movie theatre to see "Love Happens," which was fine. I had moments of impatience with it for reasons that I couldn't even really decipher. I always root for Jennifer Aniston. I think that's her charm, the charm of all those actresses who excel at romantic comedies: Renee Zellwegger, Sandra Bullock... you want them to have what they want within that tight little construct. "Love" is not a rom com, per se, but it's definitely a film that will appeal more to women than to men.

Deciding that some local adventure was in order, and because Poe is on the brain in this city right now b/c it's his bicentennial birth year (I think that's the reason), we decided to do something Poe-esque. We got a map of the city and wended our way west to his gravesite. There were hours of daylight left, so it was decidedly not creepy. Fresh flowers adorned the monument.

Pushing our luck somewhat, we went a little farther to the decidedly bad neighborhood that surrounds what was his very narrow, 3-story house. We didn't get out of the car, for sure. S took a quick photo and we peeled out.

We finished up at the City cafe before parting ways. I came home afterward to give the dog her evening walk. By the time the little princess and I returned from our jaunt, Crystal was back home.

Lining Up Ducks

I had Jury Duty today and owing to a number that was fairly high in the range of jurors who reported, I got no trial action. Fine with me. I watched most of two movies I've seen several times (The Devil Wears Prada and Last Holiday) and got 15 bucks for my trouble.

We were released at about 3:45 because no afternoon misdemeanors were being heard. I took advantage of those extra afternoon hours and went grocery shopping. I am hosting a brunch on Saturday morning, dinner with my family on Sunday, and tomorrow night I'm seeing A, so I pretty much had to deal with my marketing obligations tonight, one way or the other.

The cabbie who spirited me home was interested in my wares. Our banter was pretty good. I halfheartedly considered that perhaps I should have agreed to meet him for a Guinness (man after my own heart), but then I realized that I am wary of such things with good reason. I told him if he was meant to see me again, he would.

Cornball, I know.

On other fronts, things with my new university are shaping up well. I'm just where I need to be in terms of applying for aid and all that. I'm just waiting for the second of those two letters to arrive so I can take relevant next steps (advisor procurement, ID cards, all that). I've got some time. The first day of class is 9/2.