Evening Wrapup

And so Travis picked me up, and we headed down to Bryant's to eat. A marvelous barbecue eating experience, that, marred only by the fact that when I left my wrapped-up leftover portion (that I'd planned to be lunch on my way home) on the table while I went through the line again to get a bottle of sauce, an overly-efficient waitress cleaned it up and tossed it out. Sigh. Given that it was about half by weight of the total meat that was served, it really did feel like a waste and a loss.

After that, we headed back to Travis's place over miles and miles of freeway. I had to run a few yellows, and even a red or two to stay behind him, but I managed it...didn't want to lose him in the dark. The apartment, when we finally got here, turned out to be very...impressive, in a cluttered sort of way. It kind of put me in mind of the Book Rack, a bookstore in Springfield which has 95% of its floorspace taken up by piles of books that reach to the ceiling. It's kind of like that. No wonder he likes Read or Die. He probably sees Yomiko as a role-model! :)

I inflicted Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death on Travis, and then by the time it was over his friends had started arriving for the anime club showing. We watched episodes of Cheeky Angel, Full Metal Alchemist, Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, Bottle Fairies, and Cinderella Boy. Then I inflicted the first episode of the live-action Sailor Moon upon them, and then we watched a couple episodes of Read or Die TV. At which point the others had drifted away, and I decided it was about time for bed. So now I'm lying on the fold-out bed typing this update and getting ready for sleep.

More tomorrow.

K.C. trip, day two: mid-afternoon report

So, here we are at Union Station again.

( An account of the day thus far. )

Now that I've said all that needs saying, I'll close for now and enjoy the rest of the time I have until the battery gives out...or, more likely, until Travis, tbutler, finishes updating his own journal as I see he's now doing at this point. Until then, I'll just sit here and enjoy the historic ambiance juxtaposed with the modern-day computer.

You know, now that I think about it, the modern Internet and the historic train system served kind of the same kinds of functions. For instance, it was due to train schedules and conductors' pocketwatches that we got standardized time zones in the USA to begin with...and now you can use the Internet to sychronize your computer, and thence your own watch, with the atomic clocks that keep national standard time. The train carried people and mail from place to place all over the country...and now the Internet carries e-mail and videoconferencing so that people can meet face-to-face without having to travel. Okay, maybe it's stretching the point a little, but there are similarities and parallels in the old and the new that are brought together in this place.

A couple hours later...

Just spent an hour or so going through the Liberty Bell Seven exhibit with Travis. It was a truly fascinating experience...it was fun to learn about what went into its launch, its loss, and its recovery...and amazing to stand in the very same room, separated only by a thin plexiglass case and about a foot of space, from the second American manned spacecraft.

It would have been nice if we'd had more time to spend, but it doesn't really matter too much...I saw the main thing I came to see, and it was every bit as inspiring as I'd expected.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to hit the bookstore this afternoon after all, as it seems they're closed. But it's not a big tragedy; there are plenty of used bookstores in the world.

Going to close this entry now and head out to do the rest of the stuff we're going to do today. Later.