Go Blue
Day 3, Act 2 was dinner at Vento Trattoria with my friends from the University of Michigan. My freshman year I was assigned to Mary Markley dorm, which for some reason was largely populated by New Yorkers. They were loud and obnoxious and had funny accents. I liked them immediately. [Random side note: Why would you ever want a dorm named after you? Think about all the NC-17 activities that happen there – would you want your classy name associated with a one-night stand? One that didn’t involve you?]
Todd (from Staten Island, yo) was my next door neighbor that freshman year and his wife Miki (Jersey, baby!) joined the team later. It didn’t start off so blissfully. They met because I brought Miki over to Todd’s house once to watch a Michigan basketball game, and when she veered off-topic to Russian literature instead of the Wolverines, Todd asked her to shut up. Mean Todd—actually one of the nicest people I’ve ever met—and Miki met up again a few more times, actually got time alone to talk and get to know each other one evening, and have been together ever since. They’ve been married seven years and have a dog named Brady, who I’m happy to report they have not taught how to bark Hail to the Victors.
Mike (Queens in the house) was in the same dorm as us. He used to be a curmudgeon who most identified with Moe the Bartender from The Simpsons, but we all knew he was a good guy despite his love of the Yankees. His wife Marisa provides the perfect mix of sweet and goofy along with a free spirit, and has taken some of away Mike’s edge and made him more of a freewheeling guy. She even got Mike to go to four Phish shows in four days. I’m pretty sure he’ll soon quit his marketing job and start selling sandwiches in arena parking lots to support his new jam band habit.
It was fun to see how Mike has embraced Marisa’s approach to life, while she has adopted some of Mike’s pragmatic, hard working attitude. While it’s good to be yourself, maybe a new version of you is possible, one that’s an enhancement without losing any of the original charm. Anyway, that’s what I’m hoping as Jaime and I work on improving one another over the course of 45 days.
On Day 3 of NYC, we had a double-date: drinks with some peeps, followed by dinner with other friends. Cause that’s how we roll.
The other guests were student colleagues of mine from grad school. Now living in NYC, Whitney, Ray, Jodie, and her boyfriend Rod came together so we could reminisce on the joys of not sleeping for two years and writing a thesis in 20,000 words or less. None of them had met Jaime, so rather than subject them to an interview about marriage, we got to know one another and caught up, though we’re pretty up to date due to my annual visits to New York (hint: come to SF for a change). Beyond being good friends, it’s also good to hear the state of the urban planning industry in other cities, and tell zoning jokes. (I’m kidding. I’m a nerd but not that bad).
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