March 27, 2009

After work, Karen and I went to visit some friends who I had met when working at Union South around 1989/1990. The two are married after having met at Union South.

Speaking of Union South, we drove by it. The entire area surrounding is blocked off, and many of the buildings around it are now fully razed. The north side of the building is serving as a dumping point for all the scrap being pulled out of the building; it looks very surreal, seeing this huge pile scaling the building to its third floor with the areas windows removed; soon the entire structure will be gone.

Our friends have a beautiful town house on Franklin Street, which is not far from the Capitol. We stayed for a few drinks, caught up on some old business - to which I must relate that I thought one of the University Miscreants - Tunnel Bob - had recently passed away. He has not, as I saw him lurking around a bus stop near the University; he looks the same, sort of like a skinny version of James Taylor (now that's skinny). Same old clothes: plaid shirt, baggy cargo pants, scrofulous, pock-marked face. I am not sure if he can get through all the University tunnels anymore as there is so much construction going on at the University.

We finished our drinks at the townhouse and went to an Indonesian restaurant named Bandung, after a city in Indonesia. The food was excellent, and gave me a new appreciation for green papaya, which I have always relished in a salad. We then sallied forth to the Essenhaus to have a pint of beer, and reminisce on Union South and talk about their experiences when they lived in London and Singapore, but followed their hearts back to Madison. We each drank one Hofbrauhaus Maibock, 4 total ($20). I love German beer but even more so when it is out of a tap, and the Essenhaus has over 40 German beers on tap at any one time.

Our friends have joined another population of all our friends in allying themselves to iPhones as their primary phone. I have always tried to stay away from cell phones, as I do think they become intrusive, to paraphrase Thoreau 'we do not use cell phones, cell phones use us.' (His item was railroads.) But, they are very seductive in their design and overall functionality; I dunno . . . theses little devices could be the start of squelching my Luddite tendencies.