Musical Wanderer

I do the finances for a dance school with several studios in DC and MD.  I wear a bunch of hats in my job and one of them is making deposits of donations and grants.  We have an account with Bank of America which has branches conveniently close to all of our studios. Sometimes I make a deposit when I'm visiting our Friendship Heights studio in NW DC.  Though there is fair amount of street activity a couple blocks away near the Friendship Heights Metro station and shopping areas, there is very little foot traffic in the vicinity of the bank.  The bank branch usually has a young guy at the front desk greeting you as you come in, asking what you need help with and directing you to one of two or three tellers at the windows or the assorted managers in cubicles for loans or opening accounts.  I typically ask the tellers who wants to take care of me, as they rarely have any customers doing transactions and it's usually a quick deposit.  They have ...

This weekend, I went up to New York City to the 150th football game between Lafayette College and Lehigh University.  Though both schools are in eastern Pennsylvania, the game was held at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, selling out the stadium with 3 times the number of tickets typical for the sell-out games between the schools on their campuses.  As is my way, I played with numbers in my head on my way home to DC on the train after Lafayette routed the trash of the earth, Lehigh 27-7.  (There was even a video on the stadium screen of Sean Hannity rooting for Lehigh, added proof they are low life bottom feeders)  Oh, yes, I went to Lafayette. Fun with numbers: There were about 40,000 alumni of the two schools at Yankee stadium (almost everyone there was an alum or spouse of one of the schools.  No one else would have any reason to care).  Let's assume a MODEST average annual income of $50,000 of those present (those who are not very successful would n...

I still remember watching the marathon in the 1972 Olympics.  Frank Shorter won the race, the last American male to win it.  (An American woman, Joan Benoit, won the first women's olympic marathon 12 years later).  ABC Sports portrayed it as an epic race.  I, like millions of people, became fascinated by the mere idea of a marathon.  Running in junior high and senior high, I always imagined running a marathon. A few decades later, in 2003, I actually ran one.  The Marine Marathon is known as the People's Marathon because of the number of first timers running the race and the lack of prize money (it is not a marathon for socialists).  I still recall feeling great for most of the race, as it's truly exhilarating to be part of the mass of runners, to be cheered by anonymous crowds, to be achieving a childhood dream.  I also recall starting to feel exhausted all of a sudden during the race and looking up and seeing the sign for mile 20.  I fo...

Though heartbreaking, it should be no surprise the Nationals were eliminated.  We had more wins than any other team in NL, BUT  against the best teams, the ones that are in the final pennant games, the Nats were  8-10. 5-2 w/Giants 2-5 w/Cardinals 1-3 w/Orioles (Didn't play KC, so we didn't lose to them) Against other teams that made playoffs, the Nats were 9-10.  4-3 w/Pirates 0-3 w/ As 4-2 w/Dodgers 1-2 w/Angels (Didn't play Detroit, so we didn't lose to them) It doesn't matter if you can beat the worst teams in baseball, everyone does, that's why they're the worst teams in baseball.  You gotta beat the best teams in baseball to succeed in the playoffs.  And the Nats don't.

A couple weeks ago I ran across some amazing things and wrote it down but forgot to post.  Tah-dah! 1.  Walking down the street here on Capitol Hill, I spotted a couple boxes of free stuff across the street.  I took a small detour to investigate and found the puzzle maze below.  You have to tilt the plastic globe in various directions to guide a small metal ball around a track inside with holes and various other problems to negotiate.  I first saw one at my wife's brother's house amongst his kids toys.  I was addicted within minutes.  More addictive than than crack, Angry Birds, or re-watching Sherlock episodes. 2.  The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society - An article in The Guardian led me to the website of a group, mostly women, who read pulp fiction topless all over New York City.  Their NSFW website features photos of them reading all over town.  Perfect site for geeky guy readers.  Their only proble...

It's time to come clean with a periodic affair that I've been having for two dozen years. It started in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1990.  It moved from there to Sewanee, Tennessee four years later.  Four years after that, in 1998, it moved to DC, where it's been ever since, except for a brief jet set affair in Turkey in 2006.  It's not a constant thing--it only crops up every 4 years.  I can return to my happy life between meetings, but it's always there, always something that makes me look forward to the future. It's had some ups and down, like any affair.  I was very innocent at first, though my first taste made me want more.  I've had to learn its rules, learn to endure the wait for the next time, learn to explain and share to a chosen few.  When I first started, few knew about it.  But now it seems that everyone, well, in DC at least, wants to share it. My affair has been with the World Cup.  Like cocaine from the continent home to thi...

As I write this, the planet eagerly awaits the results of the third round of matches at the group stage of the World Cup.  Whereas upwards of 200 million Americans obsess about basketball brackets during March Madness or join together to eat crappy food and watch commercials during the Super Bowl, approximately THREE BILLION people drop what they are doing during the month of June every 4 years for the World Cup.  Apart from watching man walk on the moon 45 years ago, it is the only time the planet joins together for one event. Though it is the world championship of soccer/football, for much of the tournament's history over the years it has been a meeting of the major soccer powers of Europe plus the major two South American soccer powers, Brazil and Argentina.  The final match of the tournament typically features Brazil and a European nation or two European nations, though sometimes Argentina sneaks into the final by the Hand of God . Below is a chart comparing the n...

When the cat's away, the birds will...well, let me explain. My wife was away this week.  She went to Spain with her sisters to see her niece graduate from college.  She posted on Facebook, "the weather isn't the only thing in Spain that's hot."  I commented "to borrow from BBC Sherlock, 'Down, girl.'" While she was dreaming of spicy Spaniards, I found distraction as well.  I wish I could provide exciting tales.  My distraction was building a plastic model of a navy ship. Building plastic models is not a typical hobby of fifty-something men living with their wives instead of in their mothers' basements.  Nor is it typical of bleeding heart liberals with pacifist tendencies.  I take no responsibility for reacquiring my adolescent hobby a few years ago.  That lies with my Mediterranean-ogling love.  A couple years ago, we went to her friend's wedding in southern Massachusetts.  A friend of mine lived nearby in Providence, so we we...

Combine baseball with dogs.  Who can resist? Pups at the Park at Nats Stadium on Saturday, May 17. Can we go home yet? It's hard to be adorable Maybe I can catch that ball with an F on it When is the beer man coming again? I'm a cat at heart See, the other dog sat in his dad's lap Text a picture of me to the dogs at the dog park Hey, that collie over there is kinda hot. Can I have some of your hot dog? I get scared when Soriano comes out. This is great.  Can we come again?  Did the Nats load the bases with Mets again?  Go back to Shea Stadium, Mets Fan!    I can't watch Gio implode anymore, it's horrible.

Every technology has an ideal use.  Sometimes it is not the inventor's original concept.  Throughout the past 100 years, inventions have been re-purposed by those with imagination and vision.  A few examples are likely to convince anyone: The CAR - originally designed for people to travel from home to work or places far away, its true purpose became clear when a visionary couple somewhere had sex in the back seat.  For generations, the car has been the place where millions have lost their virginity, had an illicit affair, or even were conceived (e.g. Elaine Robinson in a Ford).  It is wonderful that all can thank the puritanical Henry Ford for the opportunities provided by the car.  Let's hear it for Henry.  Hoo-ray! The INTERNET - originally designed for scientists to communicate and share data, the internet was considered by many in the 90s to be the new horizon for commerce and the future highway for information.  It was only in 2003 that...

No, this is not an attempt to parody C.S. Lewis by drawing together three disparate items into an allegorical children's story about sacrifice.  I work for non-profits, the first of the items above, and like all people and organizations, non-profits have to file a tax return.  For a 501(c)(3), the tax return is the IRS Form 990, in which the organization reports its income, expenses, and activities for the year.  Our auditor draws up our Form 990 as part of the annual audit. I review the form to make certain all of our answers make sense, the numbers are reported correctly, and that all the board members' names are spelled correctly.  This year, I noticed an interesting question: Tanning Booths?  Non-profits?  A 501(c)(3) is tax-exempt because it carries out worthwhile artistic, educational, or social programs.  I know there are a lot of strange things going on in creating the tax code.  But how do tanning booths mix with most non-profi...

Years ago, I found myself in Kent, Ohio studying music as a 30th birthday present to myself.  At first I was just studying voice aiming for a bachelor's degree, but after a while I was also studying ethnomusicology (basically anthropology for musicians) and choral conducting for a masters degree, because I heard everyone was looking for people with masters degrees in choral conducting and ethnomusicology (but I may have had a few drinks that evening).   As is my way, I always found ways to get distracted from what I needed to be doing, and one was wandering around Kent with my friend Wendy and taking pictures of a large stuffed dog.  The dog appeared in my group house one day.  'Not exactly sure where it came from or who brought him in, but he was accepted into the house readily because he was not an annoying flute player like one of our previous housemates. Wendy and I wandered town with Bear (not sure why he was christened "Bear") a couple days before ...