Scootin' along

Just a quick update. I'm still at work (5:30 p.m. Sunday). Hopefully will be out of here soon. We'll have some good stuff to read about Fitzgerald, Libby, etc. tomorrow, I think.

Sounds like there was fun for all in L.V. Friday and Saturday. It's interesting that John picked up a couple other wireless signals in the neighborhood. The village should be progressive and put up wireless for everyone at a cut rate. Maybe Gretchen Taft could get that going.

C's been doing a lot of knitting lately. She's enjoying her once-a-week class. There may be lots of scarves available this winter.

Finally Fall

The leaves haven't changed much, but we had to turn on the heat this weekend at night. So I guess fall is finally here in Va.

M and I had a great time Thursday night. He drove in to D.C. (I was working at our bureau) and parked at Union Station. Only got a little lost and I was able to reroute him. Thank God for cell phones.

C picked up his car at the station, since she was coming in from NYC on the train. M walked from the station over to the mall to take some photos, then over to our bureau to meet me. It's only five blocks or so from the MCI Center, where the U2 show was that evening.

Before the show, we went to the ESPN Zone for dinner. It took them a bit longer than it should have to get our burgers to us and without our asking, they gave us our meal for free. Not a bad way to start the evening. M said that happens on occasion at Macaroni Grill too.

The tickets I bought were for the floor - standing room only. We were able to maneuver within 20 feet or so of the outer rim that U2 extends out from the stage so that Bono and the others in the band (yes, even the drummer) can walk out into the crowd on the floor. You can get an idea of where we were from this photo from another show. We would have been at about the 5 o'clock mark just outside the lighted circle. So we were quite close to them a few times. I'd rate it as the best show of the 5 U2 concerts I've seen, just because the band seemed very energized. Perhaps it was because Sec. Rice was in the audience.

Over the weekend, C and I saw two movies - Capote and Good Night & Good Luck. I recommend them both. We also made the weekly pilgrimage to Wegmans. And I got in a run on Saturday and biking today (along with writing a story that should be in the Life section tomorrow).

I expect it could be a busy week at work, depending on what Mr. Fitzgerald has in mind.

Weekend update

Beautiful day down here today. Unfortunately I spent it inside, working on a story related to the CIA leak saga. But yesterday was beautiful too and I got in a good run and - I hope - the last lawn mowing of the year.

Last night, M and Not Dead Yet played their second gig at one of the local bars/restaurants in Centreville. Monday night, he and his buddy Mike (lead singer of the other band, Shatterbelt) are going to do an acoustic set at an open mic night in Fairfax. So he's musically busy.

E went with Pat and his father yesterday to Shepherdstown, W. Va., so that Pat could look at the college there. E thought the place was a bit too small and rural. Is John S. there yet?

C goes to NYC on Tuesday. Will be there until Thursday night, at a book conference and going to a lot of book lunches, dinners and parties. M and I go to see U2 play in D.C. Thursday night. So a pretty busy week.

Hope the trip back and forth from Conn. is going well.

What you lookin' at?

This weekend's feature is a nice photo of Fenix taken by C last week in W. Va.

We had a good weekend. Saturday, a work colleague celebrated the publication of a book he's co-authored with a party at a store in Alexandria. We stopped in for a bit. Today, I gave C a ride to Crystal City so that she could interview C. S. Lewis' stepson (who apparently controls the estate) about the upcoming movie of The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. While she was doing that I went for a 3-mile run along the Potomac and since it had stopped raining, it was quite nice.

Then we came home, put a roast in the oven with some vegetables, played a little tennis, and when everything was done (including Yorkshire pudding), fed E and Pat. M and the guys from Shatter Belt (his age-appropriate band) have been too busy practicing in the basement to eat. They apparently have a gig Tuesday night in Fairfax City. Wednesday, he's got a gig in D.C. with the Not Dead Yet (the old guys), and Saturday another gig with the old guys back here in Centreville. I may have to retire soon to manage his musical career.

Good to hear the Bills win today (I listened to the last quarter on my Sirius radio while cooking).

It's Oct. 7, so...

Martha!
(your card is in the mail)

Homecoming

E and Pat, as you can see, got all dressed up for the homecoming dance. They also went out to dinner with another couple. From what we hear, they had a good time. M marched into the football game with the band and did some drumming with his old buds in the stands.

M and some of his other buddies who have a band - Shatter Belt - jammed in the basement the other day and a "booking agent" (tattooed kid a few years older than the guys) stopped over to check them out. He claims to be able to get them into a local club in November. We'll see. On the 15th, M and the old guys in Not Dead Yet make return to the Red Rocks restaurant in Centreville, a few miles from here.

Tomorrow, C plans to go to W. Va. for a couple days to check on the house. She'll take Fenix for company.

Hopefully, we'll have the Accord back in a week or so from the body shop. We've had to do some car juggling, but nothing too complicated.

Got quite a bit of reaction to last week's story about the Marine who's going to work for Al Jazeera.