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gwanggwang
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Name: Gilbert
Country: United States
State: District of Columbia
Birthday: 10/5/1981
Gender: Male
Interests: eating, singing, dancing, sleeping
Expertise: You should let me love you...
Occupation: Accounting/Finance
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  gwanggwang
Member Since:
12/26/2003
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| As Hurricane Ike is barreling down on Houston and Hurricane Hanna dropped in for D&M's wedding, I'm reminded of a trip Dennis, I, and a few friends took down to Ocean City two years ago. As I was eating fancy chinese wedding banquet dinner, and somewhere between the fifth and seventh courses, it struck me that D and M did not just meet "in church" (or at Hooters, as has been suggested).
It was the last week of August 2006, right before school started for the kids, and we had an apartment on the beach. D and I had to leave beach week early -- I had to go back to work, and D had ... a hot date. On the drive back, we were talking about possible places to take said hot date, and eventually it was settled to be a stroll around the DC monuments at night (I know, I'm revealing one of the secret amazing date places to all the ladies out there... sorry). However, Hurricane Ernesto had different plans for that night.
D called me to figure out emergency contingency plans for that night, and we worked through his options... dinner in Georgetown, stroll along the waterfront (shoot, that's outside!)... nice ethnic cuisine and entertainment in adams morgan (still more walking outside!)... dinner and a movie (sure, if he was in high school)... Since we spend much of our time outside doing free things, all those ideas had become fail. Finally, at the end, I very jokingly suggested that he could still take her out to the monuments, and trudge through the torrential rains with only one, small umbrella for the two of them so that they'd have to huddle close together.
Well, the SOB did just that. And you know what? It worked. GENIOUS. So it was a hurricane that signaled the start of their new lives together. And another one that christened it and sealed it by the State of Maryland, and the powers vested in such people. (It's funny... I would never ever describe anything about either of them as a hurricane, but alas, the hurricane is now enshrined in their annals of love as another symbol of undying love and perserverance, right next to the red heart, diamond ring, and Facebook's pink thong gift.)
So, here's to you, D & M: may you have a whirlwind of a marriage, and may you, together, weather all the hurricanes that will blow through your life...
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| It's been a while since I wrote about my bus escapades, but I just have to share about the 70 bus in DC. I remember riding this bus with my mom back when I was little and my dad's office was in Silver Spring, but it has only been since I moved up there that I had started riding it again. It is hands down the most (in)famous bus line in the city -- it even spurred a play written by a couple of local artists a few years back! The 70 is full of nothing but characters, better than anything I could come up with!
Early Saturday evening, I decided to take the 70 bus right outside my parents' house to Silver Spring. It started nice and calm as it usually does, today offering incredibly gorgeous views of the sun setting over various landmarks on the Mall and downtown DC. At Chinatown, a hispanic family of several kids got on with the daughter carrying her young baby sister in her arms. I couldn't help but to stare at this little girl: people say that all babies are cute, but this one was simply gorgeous. Her sweet smile and laugh, huge curious eyes, and a perfectly cute ribbon around her head could just melt anyone's heart!
At we came up around Mount Vernon Square several other families with young children boarded the bus and all of a sudden the bus ride seemed to turn into a day care! But even amongst the craziness, everyone on the bus was incredibly courteous and helped in looking out for all of the kids. When a mother near the front started worrying loudly about where her son was when he didn't reply to her, a couple of guys in the back just hollered back to her that the child was fine and sleeping in a seat he had found there, and even helped him to the front. As a mother with a stroller and two toddlers were trying to make their way to the exit while the standing-room only bus was still moving, another man helped her children keep their balance and basically escorted them to the exit. Another older elementary girl was actually wearing a t-shirt that read "I'm a criptologist creptololigist ... I break codes" which completely struck my nerd bone and gave me a good laugh since she looked like someone who might have thought that funny too!
Then as we traveled north of Petworth, a man in a wheelchair needed to board the bus. However, an elderly couple were sitting in the wheelchair seat and needed to move. The old man was sound asleep the entire ride even from back in Southwest, and as I learned later, was not feeling very well. His wife kept punching him in his arm trying to wake him up, but only after about 3-4 minutes and the goading of a few other passengers was he able to stir and make his way to another seat. As they reached their destination several stops later, he again required a solid effort to disembark. While he struggled to make his way down the steps, an petite, attractive young lady decided to help him down. She ended up staying with him, clearly taking a detour from her own trip home, and even indirectly forcing her boyfriend to stray from his schedule too. Through the open bus door I could see her holding the elderly man up and could hear her quizzing the man and his wife about his condition, even inquiring if she should call an ambulance for him. I was completely floored, and humbled once again! A total stranger! Helping another stranger! I was most definitely verklempt for a moment there.
As we reached the Walter Reed Medical Center and passengers had already been emptying out en masse, I suddenly hear a couple of guys start rapping and banging a beat on a seat in the back of the bus. They literally continued for the next 10 minutes until we reached the Silver Spring metro station, but I didn't mind because they were actually pretty decent. I slowly realized that they had rapped several lines about their bus ride on the 70 that day (among other things)! Perhaps this was just their urban form of blogging. It was like when Homer wrote the Odyssey in verse, or when people sang the Bible before it was written down! It was that rapping that inspired me to write this xanga post... but who knows, maybe in the near future, you'll be able to hear the rap versions of all my journal entries! And then awesomeness will definitely ensue!
I really do encourage any of y'all to take a bus ride on the 70 sometime. It is really an experience like none other. It may take twice as long as a subway ride, but it is awesome entertainment - way better than anything you might watch on TV. The 70 bus is more than a ride home -- it's a community. Rich, poor, young, old, black, white, hispanic, asian, loud, quiet, attractive, two-seater fatties, kind-hearted, conscience-less; they all ride the 70. So, if any of you are ever at the Nats stadium, Waterfront, Chinatown, or anywhere along 7th St and need to head up to Silver Spring, perhaps give the 70 a try. I guarantee it won't be boring!
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| As I was walking around Bethesda earlier this evening, pining that the Apple store was out of iPhones, I saw this homeless guy sitting on a ledge by the Barnes and Noble. As I am usually wont to do, I passed him by without giving him a cursory glance. As I walked back on the same street, I saw a father holding the hand of his three year old daughter. However, as they passed the homeless man, the father passed a dollar bill to his daughter. He told her to give it to the man, which she did without thinking twice.
When I walked by this second time, I felt that strong tug at my soul (more like a swift kick in the nuts) incredibly clearly. All of my recent thoughts about the falling state of the world and the ineptitudes of my own nature melted away right then and there. It's things like that purity and flat-out awesomeness that made me reconsider all my cynicism of the world and the goodness of people...
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| Just tonight they are filming a new movie set for release in 2009 called State of Play, starring Russel Crowe (awesome), Rachel McAdams (hotness!), and Ben Affleck (unfortunately). This is like a block away from my house! This time the HUD building is supposedly being used as a setting for a hospital -- go figure.
I was also just watching Enemy of the State with Will Smith and Gene Hackman, in which the HUD building is referred to as the FBI building. Utterly ridiculous! But still nice to know. I used to think that those round flying saucers they put up back in the day were a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money, but since it's been featured in several movies, like Enemy of the State, Deep Impact, Hollowman, and now State of Play, maybe I should start looking for my big break!
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