Reads

Last week I ventured with a couple of new friends from the building, G and J, to Sette, a nearby (very nearby) gourmet pizza plus wine and martini joint. I say very nearby and I mean it in the nearest-by sense of the word nearby without it being next door. Anyway, we were indulging in a couple glasses of vino and somehow one thing led to another and we hatched book club. I've always aspired to become a member of a book club. In Atlanta, there was a slim ray of hope that I'd be invited to a book club in which Craig's co-worker's wife participated, however, the book club was, according to the word I heard, "full." (This left a question mark hanging over my head, but whatever, I decided I didn't want to be in their lousy book club anyway.) So here we were, G and I the primary ambitious book club wanters, inventing our own book club. (Unfortunately there are only 4 of us total, but we're all 4 interested, intellectual and love wine, so what more could we want??) Our first read will be a book called The Kite Runner, hot off the best seller list. A serious advantage to book club is the motivation to read something you might otherwise not pick up at the bookstore. So tonight begins my speedy read of The Kite Runner (we're attempting to finish it by the end of the month so that we can begin something new in February).*Our weekend was engaging. Friday G took us to meet a married couple called the Hintons. We all went to Bottom's Up Pizza down in Shockoe Bottom, a cute pizzeria that was flooded by Tropical Storm Gaston that hit Richmond in 2004. (They have a painted waterline on the wall that depicts the level the water reached in the building.) The Hintons are a sweet couple, pregnant with their first child. The happy father-to-be may as well double as a stand-up comic, a very funny individual. He was animated most of dinner and amused us with stories. Following dinner and beers, the Hintons headed home and Craig and G and I walked to Rosie Connolly's, which is my new favorite Richmond cozy pub. The atmosphere is perfect for settling into a booth with friends and having a few pints. At one point in the conversation, books were mentioned and we discussed several different books and midstream Craig said, Hey, is this what book club is like? Can I play?? He makes me smile endlessly. After Rosie's we started the walk home, and it was raining. In a way I cannot express it was like being in my own movie, me and my boyfriend and our new friend half walking half running through the cold rain after a warm stint at a near pub. We got back to the building and continued to hang out until nearing 4 a.m. Craig was playing samples of music we like on the computer and I was kneeling by the cd tower rattling off various artists G should borrow from us (because our music is just so perfect!) Craig asked from across the room, What's my favorite Kristin Hersh song? (after we had just mentioned she's my favorite musician). G turned to me and said in this very neat way, He really loves you, he has favorite songs by your favorite musicians? I filled up with this incredible pride for my relationship with Craig and music, an odd triangle we've always been, me, music and Craig. I've already mentioned it but it's a passion that flows very deeply in both of us. Anyway, Saturday morning we woke to pounding heads and pounding rain. Unfortunately, as much as we absolutely adore our apartment, we have unearthed its flaws. In the event of a rainstorm, we have a collection of enigmatic leaks down the face of our interior brick walls. For some reason I didn't let it irritate me too terribly. We chased them and smothered them with towels, I made eggs and toast and we showered to head to Woodbridge for the desk of Craig's dreams. Even in the rain we decided we wanted to make the trip. I grabbed the iPod for our travel and something strange, panicked and happy swelled in me while we drove. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with a sense of overstimulation, so much smart music, so many smart things to be thought and to be read, so much beauty in a drive with your companion while the wind tears across the highway and ripples leaves into circles overhead. I didn't confess this to Craig because it can't be explained well, or settled. It just has to chart its course and finish itself in my head. Panic coupled with happiness is an odd sensation. Anyway, we made it to IKEA, and I guess I was fairly disappointed in the place. Very warehousey, very crowded and cheap compared to what I hoped to find. Nevertheless we selected a desk, not the one we had seen and selected because that one would have been monstrously disproportionate to our living room. We made it home in one piece, my head reeling from the aftershock of staying up so late the night before, waking in a rain storm, feeling ransacked with three dozen emotions en route to Woodbridge, and we bickered about the desk, its location in the apartment, and so forth. G stopped by and we ducked out for a glass of wine at Sette. I went to the Market afterwards to buy ingredients for almond chicken for Craig (a new meal we're adding to the rotation, although it has a thick cream base which isn't necessarily going to assist us in our weight loss program, but nevermind that). And I wound up hanging out with G and her friend Jermaine some more later while Craig dozed and caught glimpses of football. Sunday we woke to go to breakfast at Millie's. G came along, and as luck would have it, Millie's was swollen with patrons, we likely would have waited over an hour to be seated, so we walked in the other direction to check out Cafe Gutenberg. What a divine little existence it has, Cafe Gutenberg. Craig even uttered the word cute, and he rarely, unless in reference to either me, puppies, or his nieces, uses the word cute. We had illy coffee (Italian espresso?) and G picked out a $3 book from the shelf to purchase. A Nick Drake cd was playing in the background. We each had omelets and we talked about various happenings. It was nice, and when we got home Craig hit the football hard. Indianapolis played first, then during its halftime we headed to the West End to meet a co-worker and his apartment friends to watch the Bears game from a bar. It was a good time. Enough beer to go around, and so forth. The only pitfall is that neither of the Midwest teams won. Damn. *Now I'm preparing for a week where I accomplish good things. The Kite Runner ought to be interesting. I have one week until AB visits from Atlanta, and as badly as I want the apartment to be absolutely perfect, I will have to do what I can to get the place together. As the TV season and football season conclude for the spring, we've joined a movie program again. I think I jumped the gun because we've had the same two movies sitting in the apartment unopened since last week. It's difficult to pack every single thing into one week. Being with a lot of people on a more regular basis again is life fulfilling. Friends are such important factors in feeling healthy. But I need to remember to stick to my resolutions, as well.*So little time.