Thursday, August 7, 2008

purposefully cryptic*

Highlights of the whirlwind Miami trip earlier this week:
  • the beach
  • speaking Spanish
  • delicious handmade pasta (at Spiga, for those of you heading to South Beach for a meal anytime soon)
  • watching storm clouds go the other direction, for once
  • the beach, early in the morning, empty except for me
  • starting the day with real espresso, made by a real Italian guy, in a tiny little Italian cafe, where all the other customers were (really!) Italian.
  • eating lunch and reading the newspaper cover to cover at News Cafe (from which Gianni Versace was walking home when he got shot, says my friend Ben) and watching the fancy people go by
  • coming home

Lowlights:

  • the task I was actually sent there to do, which luckily went OK
  • coming back to the hotel, turning on the news, and having the shit scared out of me after the fact
  • the Miami Beach version of a good time, which appears to involve lots of money, tiny bikinis, fake tans, nightclubs, and clothing boutiques... none of which interests me, in case you wondered
  • the sunburn on my upper lip. Not the lower one, just the upper. How do I do these things? Clearly I carefully covered my lower lip and then stared up into the sun.
  • the airport shuttle driver, who said he supported Hillary Clinton and is dismayed that "now they want to paint the White House black." To which I said "yup, and I think it would be one of the best things to ever happen to this country." He changed the subject and started telling me about his Shih Tzu puppies.

I'm tempted to start speculating in print here about why I volunteer for things that might suck. OK, more accurately, I've been speculating for the last five or 10 minutes, then hit the "delete" button. It doesn't it really matter. I do it, I'll keep doing it, and I don't believe in harboring regrets.

But sometimes the things that might suck really do.

*I really can't get more specific, sorry.

1 comment:

Christopher Parker said...

Your purposeful cryptic drama only makes me curious!