Washington, DC
Saturday, June 16th

Saturday was a jam packed day. I met with Double E and Amy O for lunch. We all went to college together and I have not seen Amy O since last year when I was in town. We caught up on a bunch information, read gossip. We discussed Amy O’s job on the hill and laughed at some anecdotes of some of the senior Congressional members. It was good to catch up.

I later met up with Bill, Amanda, and Bill’s cousin and wife from Greece. We went to Rex’s place, a classmate of Bill’s at the Academy and a teammate on the Ugly Mugs for a crab boil. The food was great although complicated. I had never had so many instructions to eat a type of food. It was worth the work.

Rex sends the crabs to their death and subsequently our stomachs.

The eating tutorial begins.

After the boil I headed to RFK Stadium for a soccer match between DC United and the Chicago Fire. They are teams in Major League Soccer. DC United won the game 3 to 1. (Recap) I was surprised how good the crowd was; it was over 20,000 people. I had to leave the game early to take of some school business but got to see almost the entire match. It was quite enjoyable. The city is discussing building a soccer only stadium near the new baseball stadium in Anacostia, in South East DC, but the plans are not set in stone and the talks have turned quite acrimonious of late. (Post Article)

The crowd cheers on United.

The "Black and Red", DC United's cheering section cheerd the entire game.

After taking care of some school business I met up with McGizzle from the H and we met over at Norm’s condo. From their we went to Norm’s fiancée’s business partner’s house for a party. It was a great party. They had a DJ, freely flowing spirits, and quite good foods. I was sad because we missed out on the craps table that they set in the back. They have a gazebo/garage, see picture, which makes the setup for this type of party quite nice. We all had a great time and I headed back to the Albans for to get ready for the arrival of the students on Sunday.

Kegerator Envy

Did you know that Old English 800 is no longer charcoal filtered?

More spirits, Pete sticks with beer.

Washington, DC
Friday, June 15th

For the faculty this was the first official day at SPS (School of Public Service). We had a staff meeting in the morning were we went over staff introductions, schedules, and outings for the month we are here. The bulk of the staff is the same from last year. We have two new RA’s who are both SPS alums from 2003. Hilary is a senior at UNC Chapel Hill, where she is a political science and women’s studies major. Amelia is senior at Notre Dame where is studying American Studies. She is an example of how the world is a very small place. She is from Memphis; this is not all that remarkable because Memphis has always had a strong presence at SPS due to the Rotary Club in Memphis and Harold Ford Jr. who is an SPS alum and strong supporter of its programs. When we first met she was with her sister who lives in DC and writes for the Life section of the USA Today and all of looked at each other like we had met before. Well we had. Amelia and her sister are both alums of Bridgebuilders in Memphis. I think it is hilarious because as spoke more Amelia knows one of my old basketball players, Reggie, from St. Augustine Parish in Memphis and she also worked at the Midtown Boscos as a hostess and knows the gang there, even my former roommate Tusky.

For those who kept of with Pete last summer you pretty know what the School of Public Service is about. For those who don’t here is a LINK to a short video on the program that is narrated by Tim Russert of Meet the Press, whose son went to St. Albans the school that hosts the program. Also for Memphians a quick word on the Memphis Rotary club. Here is their blurb on their web site that explains what the PREP Program does;

Each year the club sends academically promising but economically disadvantaged high school students to summer programs at private preparatory schools across the country. In 2006 the schools awarded over $300,000 in scholarship aid to 114 deserving students. Schools included Choate Rosemary Hall, St. George’s, Northfield Mt. Hermon, The Putney School, Phillips Academy, The Taft School, Phillips Exeter Academy, The Webb School and St. Albans School of Public Service. After the students return, the club organizes community service activities, ACT/SAT training, college application assistance and essay writing workshops.

This program places very deserving students from Memphis in some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the nation. It is really quite amazing what opportunities the Rotary Club in opens up for these remarkable students. The club also has several other initiatives that are also noteworthy.

The day after the meeting was occupied by meeting the Dusza Men, for a wall on the National Mall, I had not seen Dave’s brother in at least ten years. I then hung out in the Sculpture Garden near the National Gallery of Art until Bill got done with work. At that point the two of us met Amanda and Bill’s cousin and wife from Greece at Fogo Da Chao for dinner where we laid waste to pounds of animal flesh succulently prepared by the Brazilian themed restaurant.

After dinner I met up with Norm, Double E, and Fran for some shuffle puck and beers at a pool hall/hang out place called the Rocket Bar near Norm’s place in Chinatown. Double E and I defended Memphis’ honor at shuffle puck and emerged victorious. We ended the night with Norm spinnin’ some vinyl at Fran’s place. A good time was had by all.

Washington, DC
Thursday, June 14th

The road tripping is over for the time being. I arrived into DC around 2pm this afternoon and made my way to Albans. As I pulled up I immediately realized that the construction which impeded upon the sights and views of the National Cathedral and the school were now gone. Unpacking my clothes and setting up my room it seemed like I had never left. I am in the same room as last year which is quite spacious, for a high school dorm that is. The school staff had snagged a college fridge where I can keep my …., energy drinks cold. I still have difficulty comprehending that this is where I live for the next five weeks. I have included some pictures from around the campus.

The school entrance off of Senior Circle

I thought this was a nice pic with the flag waving

Side view of the school

View from one of the classrooms
After getting set up I ran some errands and headed over to Bill and Amanda’s place to watch game 4 of the NBA finals. Bill’ cousin John was in from Greece on business and we ordered some pizza and had a few beers. Bill and Amanda are in the latter stages of some home renovation and they have completed what I call a “man cave”. If you click on the link you will find a great article on what these things are about. Bill’s got a bar, a beer fridge, a very relaxing couch system, a bathroom (very important), and of course an overly large flat screen TV. The Dooz came by later on; he is in town for a family wedding and was able to join us.

These are two examples of "man caves" as sent by some folks from the Boston area in response from the article linked above in the Boston Globe.




After watching the Spurs dismantle the Cavs in the finals I headed back to school to end an enjoyable but very long day. By the way, if there has been a more fundamentally sound NBA team in recent memory I would love for someone to point them out to me. The Spur’s ball movement, floor spacing, and work away from the ball is superior. The most loyal Spurs fan I know north of the Alamo, R. Baruch says he did not watch the game for fear of jinxing the team. Despite his protests, I still call bullshit.

Monday, June 11th to Wednesday, June 13th
Atlanta to Raleigh, NC

I hit the road around 9am to miss any chance of traffic. There is something so satisfying about embarking on road trip. The car is all gassed up and a fresh cup of coffee to take the edge off the morning. The only way a long trip can be spoiled is when there is an impending time deadline. It takes all of the fun away. Oh well.

I’m heading to Raleigh to visit with my other post college roommate, Rick. Rick is teaching Biblical Studies at a Catholic high school in NC. His wife, Amy, just finished her first year at NC State’s Veterinary Studies Program. (More on that to follow). They have to wonderful kids. Courtney who turns 10, July 4th and Simon, who turns 1 at the end of this month. I can’t believe I have a friend who has a ten year old. It blows my mind.

Rick and I basically hung out. I know that may not sound crazy but it was a great time. I really enjoyed seeing him and his family. Rick was part of my short lived fraternity career before we both left, with a number of others. Our friendship transcended that pike fiasco. The funny thing is that at one time he and I were responsible for nearly all of the religious education of sophomores in catholic schools outside the I-240 Loop. The crazy thing is that while I think I did an OK job Rick was amazing. I have a number of his former students who worked with me in various summer programs in Memphis mention to me that his class was the one where they learned the most in high school. He designed a fantastic website for his theology classes.

On Tuesday night I jetted over to Durham to visit my cousin Christine, her husband Brian, and their daughter Jillian. They recently moved to Durham with Christine’s job at as Physician’s Assistant at the VA in Durham. It was great to see family. Our clan has spread out across the country in recent years so it was great to connect with them. Their daughter Jillian, who was the first great-grandchild of my grandparents on the Stephany side of my family, is doing well. She had a wonderful personality and she just lights up any room she enters. It was great visit.

Rick, the kids, and I hung the last day before I headed up to DC for the beginning of the program. In the evening Rick gave me a quick tour of the Chapel Hill area that is the home of UNC Chapel Hill. We had a couple of beers at restaurant/bar called “The Top of the Hill” on Franklin street, the main drag of the “scene” at the college. I had a beer called Swim Test Saison, it is described as, “A French Belgian style beer flavored with spices and East Kent Golden hops. A refreshing, yet fairly strong seasonal beer”. Strong is not the word for it, it had 7.5% alcohol by volume. Two beers and I had to head home.

Here is an article about the 45,000 students who converged on the street after UNC’s 2005 basketball championship

Sunday, June 10th
Atlanta, Ga

Sunday at Owen’s house has always been chore day. It has been that way since we lived on Mud Island over 10 years ago. Chore day does not change. My favorite chore day ever was when Owen did his chores in a Seersucker suit that his grandmother gave him for graduation. Anyways after running a bunch of errands and getting a mini tour of Atlanta and specifically Georgia Tech, where Both Owen and Amy work, we had treated ourselves to a frozen treat at the Varsity near the Georgia Tech campus. The varsity is your classic on campus burger joint that is packed by drunken students late night and alumni on football game days. I got the “Frozen Orange”. Imagine one of those frozen orange push up pops of our youth and now its shake. MMMMMM Frozen Treats. After errands we grilled out for dinner and watched the Spurs dismantle the Cavs.

The Varsity near Georgia Tech's campus

The Frozen Orange

A couple of housecleaning thoughts.

OTP vs. ITP

For those who do not live in Atlanta the acronyms stand for Outside the Perimeter and Inside the Perimeter. If one check the urban slang website it gives these definitions and examples.

Inside the perimeter.

• Used in Atlanta to let people know you live inside the 285 beltway or "The Perimeter".
• Many ITP'ers like to shun the OTP'ers.·

Outside the perimeter.

• slang for anything suburban; outside of I-285.o
• I almost got hit on Highland by some OTP fuck in a SUV that doesn't know what a crosswalk is. Cobb plates, of course.

Article 1

Article 2

I’ve linked a couple of articles about the great debate. There are lots of mentions of elitism, racism, McMansions, and Urban Sprawl. It is your classic argument that occurs to a degree in every major city but I think is perfected in Atlanta. I don’t know enough to judge either way but let weigh in this way. It has been over 7 years since I have been to Atlanta and I always heard about horrible traffic. I found very little traffic problems. I found the ITP to be full of great non chain restaurants and bars and they were quite fun. It basically had all the things I liked about Midtown Memphis only more of it. Yes, I’m single with no kids and I keep teacher hours but I had a great time. Many thanks again to Owen and Amy for their excellent hospitality. I always feel at home wherever I visit them. I will definitely be back to Atlanta, sooner than later.