Tuesday, May 8, 2012

On the off chance I seem especially chipper tonight, let me assure you it isn’t because I had a particularly fantastic day, nor have I rekindled a passion for blogging. No, the reason is because I took an evening nap–one of those ill-advised affairs, about two hours long, designed to ruin my normal sleep cycle. It’s something you know you shouldn’t do, but you do it anyway for reasons unknown. This exact sentiment aptly describes last weekend, too, when I attended the Asian festival-slash-regatta.

Or partially attended, to be more precise. The night prior to the race, my buddy called to discuss carpooling plans and other details of the day. After about a minute, we leveled.

“I’ll be totally honest,” I said. “I’m going to do the bare minimum needed to get by tomorrow.”

Turns out he and his wife were on the exact same wavelength, and so we decided to leave the event at 1 PM, which would afford us a full five hours on site. But due to the mysteries of Asian time, those five hours yielded only a single race: the initial qualifying heat, which lasted about 80 seconds. The other 17,880 seconds were spent waiting, sitting, and wandering the fairgrounds, with tent after tent filled with exotic tchotchkes and inedible foods.

I’m being uncharitable here. I’d eat at any shithole of a Mexican restaurant in a heartbeat, but sanitation scores were suddenly crucial vis-à-vis stir-fry. Double standard, I know. But we stuck to our guns, punched out early, and there was nary a regret. Yesterday evening, in stark contrast, I was totally at ease during happy hour, and two, three hours went by in a flash as conversation, cheesesteak, and Vodka Red Bull flowed freely. I was at peace with who I am, and I had found my people. They just happen to look a little different than I do.