RyanHarne.com

During my stay in Boston, I discovered an anomalous portion of my usually health-bent nature. When paying luxurious sums for fine dining, and most especially, when at esteemed restaurants, my entire calorie-counting conscience disappears. It returns upon leaving the restaurant but during an expectant visit, the notions of sugar-free, fat-free, and cholesterol-free become phantoms. One of our meal stops, the Friday night one at that, was at the Top of the Hub perched high above Boston, commanding a full watch of the city. Dinner was expensive; expensive as in a-few-day’s-wages expensive. But it was likely the best meal I have ever had. Ever. Perhaps a $50 plate of cholesterol truly does taste better than spending $5 at McDonald’s and getting the same nutritional scars.

My anomalous self didn’t cease there. I also found out that I love dogs. To be somewhat more precise in my meaning, I love robotic and adaptive dogs. Cosmo is my new friend (in addition to a few other people I met during the trip). Forget having kids - I want an Aibo. Unless I can program my child to play the Tetris theme song before doing a trick, then I shun the idea of having children. Tsk.

However, the greater portion of my brief appearance in Boston was the company. Seeing Jeremiah, Adam and Bryan again was, well… great. The distance that mockingly divides us in unfortunate, and video chatting serves as only so much refreshment, so the occasions which provide a grand intersection are nice. A living room full of Macs (and Cosmo) is wonderful (and also an enormous bottleneck for the internet connection).

I suppose, next is Virginia Tech. Chicago. Global domination. Hopefully, all in that order.

Oh, and thanks Boston Logan International for incredibly fast ticket-to-gate service.

I miss you, Cosmo.

Much of the past week has been spent in preparation for one of the most needed trips I’ve ever taken. The amount of time I’ve been considering the Boston trip in my thoughts has been astronomical and was reaching a time-spent level like that of “sleep”. This isn’t to say, however, that I actually get sleep, because I don’t. And I wish to offer no misconceptions.

So now, Boston. Perhaps possibly the pinnacle of the summer, leaving again for VT will be near the top mind you, I am already having a blast and I have only been present for 20-something hours. So much more fun to be discovered, though.

Alright. Back to playing with the dog, mentioning Angela Lansbury, and looking for the crazy guy on the T.

There is one memory I have from the dark ages of high school that returns to me and continually brings about a laugh. Somehow, this memory seems to return without warning, and I chuckle to myself at inopportune times. It would be horrible if I ever forgot it, so to preserve the humor for my future and more forgetful self, I will scribe it here.

I took Advanced Placement Government in my senior year. Great class, great teacher, great student assortment. Of the accelerated classes I took in high school, AP Gov was likely the most intellectual since it allowed no leniency for a slack student. Plus, we had conversations during class. Our teacher was famed for being able to lose her train of thought, so we all tried diligently to bring up tangent topics just to sit back for a few minutes. You know, like modern jazz musicians, the socio-economic effects of the Volkswagen vans in the 1970s, and Virginia Department of Education woes.

Even though sometimes able to lose track of topic, our teacher was fantastic and persistent for our gradual education. Following a test, we would be quickly given the correct multiple choice answers, individually look through our answers and find our foolhardy mistakes. Indeed, it was a helpful measure of learning through error - a repetitive reinforcement. Questions that were deemed too confusing or ambiguous could be challenged by the class, and a few, lucky instances of begrudging surrender were granted us by the teacher in the form of a half-point or so.

During one such check, while studying Asian governments, a student challenged a fill-in-the-blank answer that he provided. To a question asking the name of the current Chinese president (dictator, etc.), he answered “Kaishek”. While this is partially correct (the president’s name is Chiang Kaishek), he received no credit. As our teacher reiterated to this forgetful student, in traditional Chinese culture, the “first” name comes last, and the “last” first. So, in effect, I would be Harne Ryan. Thus, the student put down a very common first name of Chinese citizens, “Kaishek”, and specified no last name (as he thought he was doing). The student’s response to our teacher’s rebuttal was priceless:

“Well, we’re on a first name basis.” Years after hearing this, I still cannot stifle laughter. Such a quickly spat response and the image of a JF student being pen pals with a communist dictator, wow, that’s comedy.

To compound my recollection of this humor, today I saw a fantastic license plate that will forever be available to the public’s watchful eye on the internet.

THUGNMA.

Is today a good Tuesday, or what?

Ok, get this. Hold on. Grab a nearby seatbelt, if available.

Today, I used eBay. Like used eBay; not simply browsed.

That was reason number one. You may want to find a depressant to relax you after this next shock.

Reason number two. Woody, at BRCC, used to the term “blog” while speaking today.

Am I the only one who thinks this is an uncoincidental and unprecedented collection of events? This could only mean that within the next few years, nay! hours, we’ll be ruled by robots who will know what is truly good for us.

As long as the robots appreciate coffeeshop experiences, I’m right behind our mechanical comrades.

Working out is a true relaxer. I choose the treadmill over the elliptical trainers. Just a preference. But, today, a stroke of unfortunate fate befell me and it can only go downhill from here. During my morning run, my knee started to hurt. I shook it off, kept running, all was well. Then again it began to stiffen up. By the time I finished running, my knee hurt. Not horribly bad, just uncomfortable. It appears I am aging. Curse you, Neverland; those magic beans brought me no immortality.

On another front, I began Moby Dick. I’ve never read books before that include words such as “avast” or “thar” or “higgedly”. At the same time, I am having a blast enacting these scenes in my mind, hearing the coarse calls of sailor to sailor. I’ve never been around large bodies of water for any extended periods of time. But I can hear the waves expend their ceaseless energies into the hull of the ship. Perhaps, this is why so many people want to be pirates.

The complete assortment of events in the past few days leave me exhausted. If I had three arms and four legs, I would likely still be behind; not to mention being left with some extra appendages. Work is a rush; the BRCC band schedule is brutal; and school emails are rushing at me without remorse.

In spite of the chaos, or reality, there are a few things that have preserved my sanitary. Um… rather, “sanity”. Or maybe they haven’t, but I should recap nevertheless.

While in le Jetta, I had a shocking case of deja vu in the greater Lynchburg area. In my high school years, I remember driving along a certain street and laughing hysterically as I saw a hubcap launch off of an auto and roll down the street. Now, with the introduction of “spinnerz”, it’s not uncommon to see rolling wheels when vehicles are otherwise stationary. Yet, just yesterday, on the same street as in the past, I saw a vehicle lose a hubcap. But the best part about it was my point-of-view of the ordeal. The hubcap jumped off the wheel in motion, and to my eye, appeared to be rolling right along beside the vehicle once it was released. That was classic. And brought back good memories. Bringing back good memories can retain sanity.

Returning from another long evening of BRCC band excitement, another deja vu occurred. A lone lightning bug, scuttered its way into my path, lit up into brilliance, and then dispatched its guts upon my windshield in full radiance. This happened in precisely the same manner just over a year ago. Back then, though, it caused me to become reminiscent as my birthday was ever-nearing. This time, however, I winced at the impact and reminded myself to install those lightning bug warning flashers on my car to avoid further casualties.

In high school, there was a band called New Age Vikings. Its existence has since faded, but the prime life of the band was in my senior year. New Age Vikings was a large band that played great alternative ska/rock. Large as in twice the size of The Polyphonic Spree, and alternative ska/rock as in the type of good tunes only underground local bands produce. A few days ago, I received a call from the lead singer of NAV. Random. Random but pleasant, and it, once again, brought back a slew of memories involving bowling allies, Tigger costumes, and recovery task forces. I reach the conclusion that, once again, good memories preserve sanity.

Even still, I’m not all together sure if I do, in fact, have my sanity with me at all times. Perhaps, I left it at Barnes & Noble on Monday. I mean, I was considering buying an audio DVD. And I don’t even own a DVD player.