I had a little time between runs so I visited Lauren at work.
She's trying out this wine and cheese shop.
In her cute, chef coat she gave me a fancy sampling of Spanish Manchego, French Pierre-Robert, Wisconsin Pata Cabra, and Dutch Gouda. A swig of Riesling cleansed my palate and morning.
A female cop let me into the school.
I beeped through a metal detector.
A tiny future female cop pointed me in the direction of the office.
She spoke faster than a cheetah.
And with disdain!
The school was a zoo of kinetic energy and apparently learning.
I learned that a cheetah can become a bossy hall monitor with a Napoleon complex.
I had some time between runs so I went to Raffe's Record Riot.
It felt like the record stores of my youth.
Walls of LPs crammed into a narrow, musty, moldy carpeted storefront.
I found some choice records including Jan & Dean Oddities, The Lively Ones Go South, and a hot rod compilation called Shut Down featuring "romping, road searing" cuts from the likes of The Eligibles, The Piltdown Men, and Robert Mitchum (!)
They also had a pop instrumental record, Music For Cards, Conversation, and Cuddling and a Lee Hazelwood and Ann Margaret duet album, but they were too overpriced for my budget.
The Lively Ones are not the obscure surf group that had a minor hit with "Surf Rider."
These Lively Ones are an even more obscure vocal group from Youngstown, Ohio who specialize in covers like "Route 66" and "Mack the Knife." According to the liner notes they possess "superb musicianship" and "zany personalities." They were so zany that on the jacket two of The Lively Ones both wished "best of luck" to a Valerie.
The clerk, a normal northwest side neighborhood type of guy, said I was probably getting a deal on the record because it was autographed. I guess I have the "best of luck."
I walked out of the store and into new snow, coming down windy and fast.
At 4:45 pm I had to go back downtown to pick up a bullshit box going to some Ferris Bueller vice president windbag in Winnetka. So much for that luck.
But when I got home around 7, I was greeted with a cured Spanish jamon bocadillo, an array of fine cheeses, and a bottle of wine courtesy of the lovely Lauren.
We ate well and watched some programs on the television until we passed out.
The long, wonderful week came to an end, tangled together under a blanket on the couch around 9pm.
Verdict: Win
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