A brief essay.
August 3rd, 2006 | by Scott Jennings |My Stupid and Crazy Weekend
by Scott Jennings, age 26
A few weeks ago, I was totally bumming because it was looking like it wouldn’t be prudent for me to take the vacation time that I had planned (one day) to visit New York for the Del Close Marathon. And while I wasn’t doing cartwheels over missing the DCM for the first time since 2000, I was definitely identifying with the ennui, you know.
But doors and windows and all that, and now I would be able to attend the “Second Annual Sabis Invitational,” a ridiculously-named poker tournament held in honor of my old college chum and former Speaker of the SA Senate, Chris Sabis. So on Saturday afternoon, I hopped into the I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS and headed for DC to surprise Chris and dominate a soft game.
On my drive up, the thought occurred to me: when I arrive in DC, I’ll be halfway to New York. In theory, I could rise very early on Sunday morning, drive from DC to my preferred New Jersey train station, hit the City to catch the Community Bike show and freak some people out, take the train back to my car, drive back to DC and crash with Chris, and rise early on Monday morning for the drive back to my normal life. I was very much on the fence about this plan, because it was stupid and crazy.
So I got to DC, surprised the hell out of Chris and a couple other college chums, and set to playing some solid tournament poker. I placed 7th out of thirty entrants, and was completely happy with every single play I made — got every call I wanted, got every fold I wanted. I was short at the final table, got it all in with pocket fours in the cutoff, got called by the small blind (and monster chip leader) with ace-jack, who promptly flopped Broadway. Such is poker, and I’m far too old to take a results-oriented view of the game, since I played perfectly and that’s all I can do. And I had a great time, because Chris is a wonderful old friend, his wife Mab is an incredible human being, and his friends still find my antics charming and full of relevant social commentary.
The party broke up really quickly after the game ended, so I got to sleep at a reasonable hour and committed to waking up in the morning and following through with my stupid and crazy plan. Five hours sleep, shower, out the door, on the road, made excellent time, arrived a half-hour early and caught the earlier train, hit Penn Station, at the UCBT by noon. I called Ryan on my walk down to pass along my best wishes to the team, which he accepted. Then I walked into the theater and BLEW HIS FUCKING MIND. (Along with the rest of the team and the DSI delegation.)
Community Bike had an amazing show on every level, and I couldn’t possibly be more proud of this group and how much they’ve grown and how hard they’ve worked and how much it’s all paying off for them. These guys are all that keep me motivated and interested and push me to be the best director I can be, and for that I owe them a debt. Megan caught me being proud of them after I was giving them notes to myself on the sidewalk after the show.
We had lunch at the New Venus Diner on 23rd and 8th, which really made me miss the unique phenomenum of the New York City diner. Back to the UCBT to catch a few shows, but the ass and the beer got tiresome quickly, and I had the sudden desire to go ahead and get back on the road, so I left quietly. I was bummed that I only got to see a few of my old New York friends very briefly, but next time I’ll spend more than four hours in Manhattan.
The drive back to DC sucked — Delaware traffic, and I screwed the pooch getting from the Baltimore-Washington Parkway to 395, so I ended up taking the long way around. But Mab (as you recall, a superior human being) had dinner and Battlestar Galactica waiting, and I slept well and drove the rest of the way on Monday morning.
So that’s what happened, in case you were curious about how you saw me last weekend. (And that’s why I’m pretty much broke right now.)
