Just lounging around

In anticipation of the coming apocalypse, and because it is fun, I try to do a little bit of vacation every day and a whole lot of it on the weekend. It is less about going physically away or doing specific things and more about a state of mind. I think it also helps when you have the right conditions, as we did this past weekend, namely really crisp clean air and plenty of sunshine. When you have those things, then just sitting on the velvet couch with the windows open after getting thoroughly worked over at yoga will send you right to vacation land, which is conveniently located near nap land.

There were two other events this weekend that served to transport one from the here and now to another time and place, namely a nine-year local area college reunion for my class and going to see Star Trek. They were, in very different ways, both quite effective at taking me on a journey.

The class of 2000 San Francisco Bay Area reunion was Saturday evening at a barbershop lounge* started by a classmate two years ago and was a great venue to learn that I am apparently the only person from my class who hasn't founded or been elected board president of a non-profit. It was, suffice it to say, an impressive parade of do-goodery. It also turned out that four of the eight rowers in my freshman boat on the crew team were there, along with three of the freshman men's eight. I don't know what that means other than that we like free food. Probably nothing.

Star Trek, on Sunday evening, was great fun and took me somewhere very far away. Other than the very beginning which made me cry (it was a pretty horrible scene but I don't expect that that's a good enough excuse for crying at Star Trek) I thought it was some good old-fashioned escapist entertainment with clear good guys and bad guys and lots of unadulterated heroism. It came along with a healthy dose of "daddy issues" of course because it was directed by JJ Abrams, but still managed to be a good time. The experience was further enhanced by seeing it at the Kabuki which is a theatre where the balcony has reserved seating and sells food and drinks. No, I'm not noticing a pattern here.

And now, the week begins, with a heap of work to tackle. I am already looking forward to a little bit of vacation this evening, perhaps at the Clementina Lounge.


*This "barber lounge" concept is a new generation of barber shops based on market research that showed that men would spend more time and money at a barber shop if it were actually just a bar with booze and a comprehensive selection of men's magazines where it turned out you could also get your hair cut.