Weekend Upd@te

...except it's Thursday, and Tin@ Fey is in no way involved. Which is a shame, really. 'Cause she's...nevermind. This post is going to be a little more personal than usual, so uh, consider yourself advised...or whatever. As the name of the blog implies, what follows truly are random musings. And with about a dozen various guns behind me, I suppose I can be considered armed for the time being. So here goes:

The trip to Georgia was another exercise in torture survival. The 670 mile trip that usually takes around 10 hours actually took around 14. For those of you scoring at home, that's averaging less than 50 miles per hour. In other words, that's like going 670 miles down S@ndy Creek Rd. (for those of you in Atlanta) or Highway 78 (for those of you in Athens) or the GW Parkway (for those of you in D.C.). You get the drift. Maddeningly slow. It never ceases to amaze me how simply unqualified so many drivers are. You would think there'd be like, some sort of test that people had to pass in order to operate a vehicle. I was able to enter some weird zen-like state, however, so it didn't bother me too much.

I have this strange condition where I don't really get homesick until I actually go back home. But once I do, the homesickness comes all at once and with compounded interest. That moment was last night somewhere around exit 106 off of I-85, between Highway 316 and Ple@sant Hi|| Rd.

I'm not entirely sure what it is, but something about suburban Atlanta is strangely comforting to me. I suppose it could be because it's where I lived for the first 22 years of my life, but even so. I wouldn't say I'm so much drawn to Georgia as much as it's the one place (or at least one of the few) that I feel comfortable. I got the sensation that I could completely uproot from D.C., and reestablish myself there (here?) and not particularly regret it. I obviously have no plans to do so anytime soon (at least until the Bush administration) but it was a new feeling, and one that I'm ok with. Anyway. Just for what it's worth. I could elaborate, but another time. I now digress.

Things are different being home. All the neighbors have moved or are moving. (Not that the neighborhood is going downhill by any means. They're just getting older and want to live in smaller houses with smaller yards.) Jackie still isn't quite Jackie. She can walk fairly well, but her legs still aren't strong enough to run or jump. Vets say it might be a year before any of that.

My cousin Tony also lives here now. Those of you that know the story understand the kind of baggage that brings. Those of you who don't can ask me if you like. It's just not my place to make it public knowledge in this forum.

My family (and most everyone else) seems to think that because I work for the federal government that I'm somehow vital to the functioning of our democracy. As untrue as this may be, I really see no reason to tell them any different.

I finally saw "Th@nk You For Smoking." Loved it, as many people told me I would. Nick N@ylor is my hero. During one particular scene, I made the comment that that's the kind of father I see myself being. I was surprised to hear my own mother agree. I'm not sure if this is good or bad. Your insight is welcome. On a side note, I still don't really get the whole Charles-looks-like-Ad@m-Brody thing. I mean, yeah, one of the pictures on his website totally looks like me. But...eh. I'm under-whelmed.

My mom has this weird habit of not getting film developed for literally years. This week she developed a roll of unknown film, only to find that it was from my college graduation. For reasons I don't particularly feel like getting into, I found it oddly depressing. Go figure.

Anyway. That's enough musing for now. I'll do something more substantial at some point.

Athens tomorrow. Seriously looking forward to that. Then back home Saturday night just in time to drive back to D.C. Sunday. In case you were wondering.