Four years.  What’s happened in four years?  Man, that’s a tough one.  It’s so amazing how we can, each and every one of us, pick little microcosms of our lives that actually tell a full and complete story and yet, in the grand scheme of things, are just blips on the radar of life.  Far out.

For me, as I sit here and create a microcosm for myself, I remember world events like 9/11 and anthrax, a space shuttle explosion and Saddam Hussein in a hole.  I remember Hollywood blockbusters like Spiderman 1 and 2, the final two episodes of Star Wars, and perhaps the most quoted movie by our little clique, Old School.  I think of random and inexplicable good times, like seeing a Coors Light commercial featuring a faux polar bear and laughing our asses off.  I think of the Canadian Ballet and the 4th of July.  I think of grooms on tractor trailers and friends stuck in Battery Tunnel traffic.  And of course, I think of the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

I am full of both wonderful and painful memories.  But, in this four-year microcosm of Captain Larby’s life, one event outshines the rest.  On a fateful day, at a place called Pat Flannigan’s, two worlds collided on an ungraceful, yet unavoidably wonderful course.  Almost three months later, on 6/16/2001, the deal was sealed.  And as I sit here and type these words, the Future Mrs. Larby is sitting on the couch reading a book, casually bopping her head to the sounds of Sinatra and I realize that I am truly a happy man.  Here’s to you, A. 

And here’s to you LTJ, without whom things would be very different right now.  And here’s to CJ, Mayor Jeremul, Dr. Danker,  and the rest of the Boston crew who have sustained our core for four years.  Four years seems like such a short, finite span of time and yet the memories seem to go on and on and on…

Who but us, I wonder.. Who but us would take the week of vacation that we have before starting our new jobs to…
- Drive 14 Hours to Tenessee, Sleeping at a Rest Area at 4am, only to continue the last 5 hours of the drive at 9am.
- Camp for two days 60 Miles from our Destination, just so that we can arrive “early” and practice our tent-setting up skills.
- Get up at 7am from camping to go wait in 2+ hours of traffic to get into the Bonnaroo camp grounds.
- Spend collectively about 3 hours setting up and re-adjusting tent poles, ropes and stakes in order to make the tent and canopy stay up through wind and rain.
- Spend one day in complete discomfort with 85+ degree temperatres in a field with no shade.
- Spend another two days standing in non-stop rain and wind.
- Walk approximately 3-4 miles per day in the elements mentioned above (to and from our camp site)
- Trapse around in ankle deep mud and other “unidentified brown waste.”
- Wait in 10 minute lines to get ice at least once a day, to keep the food cold in the coolers.
- Wait in 15 minute lines each time you have to go to the bathroom, only to arrive at a disgusting dirty port-o-potty.
- Wait in 30 minute lines to get close enough to a water station, so that you can perhaps get a chance wash your hair or your arms.
- Burn to a crisp.
- Contract poisoned ivy.
- Drive 14 hours back from Tenessee to NJ.

Who would do this? Who would call this fun? Only us (and the 79,998 other people) that attended Bonnaroo this past weekend.

And did we have fun?
Yes.

Was it worth these hardships faced?
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.

Today was a semi-momentous day.  Today was the day that Cool Jesus got the good office.  Today…Cool Jesus got an office with a window.  To some of you out there, that might not mean a cotton-picking thing.  To those of you that know what I’m talking about, let’s share an air high-five.  Yeah, that was sweet. 

I moved to my fourth seat in 2+ years at Company X today.  I thought my most recent spot was going to be as good as it would get for me at Company X, but there was a shift in the cosmos.  Neptune aligned with the third ring of Saturn.  Some lead paint chips ended up in the vice president’s oatmeal.  Whatever it was, it happened and I am celebrating tonight.  It’s about respect.  It’s about acknowledgment.  It’s about time! 

I’ve been thrown off my routine lately.  Just as I settled into a nice after-work routine of NBC Nightly News at 6:30 pm, BBC World News at 7 pm, Jeopardy! at 7:30 pm, supper, Red Sox, and so on…I’ve fallen out of the groove.  It feels like I’ve been out of sorts for a month, but it’s probably been barely a week.  I tried getting back into the swing of things tonight by catching Final Jeopardy!  It was fate that I did, because the question was about Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania.  I never would have given that a second thought before, but tonight it caught my eye and I thought it was interesting.  Makes you think…

Lastly, let me also welcome LTJ and Miss Possible back to the East Coast.  Hope you had fun at Bonnaville.  I received a text message from LTJ this evening saying that they were in Pennsylvania.  My first thought was that they were still a long way from Boston.  After I realized they were headed for Homeboken, I damn near cried in my beer.  Hope to see y’all real soon.

What can I say?  I’ve been MIA for quite some time.  At my old job, all I wanted was some responsibility so I could leave at the end of the day with a sense of accomplishment.  Now I have that and more, and by the time I get home the LAST thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer.  But my good friend, Old Hoss, or Cool Jesus as he’s known around these parts, reminded me tonight that I am way over due.  Thanks for the kick in the arse, CJ.

Welcome home LTJ and Kim Possible.  We’ll look forward to reading more about the ‘Roo.  Cap’n Larby’s cousin was there, I’ve yet to hear from him.  I’m very curious to know how the Headhunters sound these days.  These guys, led by Herbie Hancock, created some of the funkiest down-home jazz of the 70′s.  I used to blast an LP of Survival of the Fittest in the home of CJ and Cap’n Larby.  It was one of the many eclectic pieces of music that our neighbor once called, "interesting".  (CJ’s contribution was New Edition).  Anyway, I wonder if time has been good to the Headhunters.  I certainly hope so.  Some feel that Herbie Hancock has gone soft in his old age.  Maybe.  But albums like Head Hunters, Thrust and the live gem Flood make me wish I had an afro and grooved during the ’70′s.  Ah well, thanks to the iPod every morning can be like 1975. 

On a personal note, I’d like to congratulate my grandfather, who at 86 years old, just came through knee replacement surgery with flying colors.  Next stop for Angelo, rehabilitation so he can cut a rug with the Future Mrs. Larby at the wedding.  Bravo, Angelo.  I hope I have his gusto at that age.

Cap’n Larby, over and out (but not for too long this time).

To summarize:  date #3 was yet another success.  Swedish Girl just keeps getting better looking, more interesting, smarter, and funnier each time I go out with her.  This time, I headed out on Route 9 West to meet her in her neck of the woods.  We had dinner (how much more American can you get than chicken pot pie, meatloaf, and beer?) and a movie (how much more American can you get than dinner and a movie?).  It might sound like less than a barnburner, but I think we both had a great time.  By the way, when would I ever have pointed out the intrinsic Americanism of a date?  A surefire sign that Swedish Girl is rubbing off on me (that and the Lithuanian music we listened to in her car).

Anway, right on cue came the thunder and lightning I ordered.  Despite driving home in probably the hardest driving rain I’ve ever driven in, I was still a happy man.  In fact, rumor has it that Swedish Girl might be contributing a guest post on this very web log.  The lawyers and agents for The Diatribe are in touch with the lawyers and agents for Swedish Girl, but things look promising.  How’s that for a scoop, eh! 

So here’s a question – at what point does a couple stop having dates?  There is, afterall, a point when a couple becomes official and I believe it is at this point that dates become going out.  For instance, my parents haven’t had a date since 1971.  So, the fact that I referred to last night as date #3 and Saturday as date #4 to be, is still an indication that the roller coaster has not yet reached the apex.  That’s fine with me.  No one is in a rush here.  Now that the Sox have won the World Series, I feel like time really is on my side.

Visa gero (that’s good-bye in Lithuanian…I think).

Just because we’re in the middle of nowhere TN, we can still make time to post. Believe it or not, there’s an internet tent here at Bonnaroo, complete with Vonage long distance telephones and a ton of laptops for use.

To summarize, we camped out about 60 miles from the campsite over the past few days. Fall Creek Falls, actually. Great place with a lot of adventures from the canoeing, falls, and even the marshmellow brigade that saved the day.

We managed to make it into the roo in a record TWO hours today. Somehow, though, we managed to get a campsite that’s about 25 minutes from the venue, walking. So it’s going ot be brutal over the next few days, but I think it just means less trips to the camp.

The music picks up tomorrow and we’ve got a jam packed schedule to follow.

So many stories so little time, but all is well for the two of us (and the spiders) down in TN.

I wish I had some interesting new material for y’all out there, especially since LTJ and Miss Possible are going to be missing in action like dirty, no good hippies for the next week.  Alas, it’s Monday night and I’m barren.  And since I don’t have a fan base (yet) sending me letters that I can turn around into a cheap mailbag column (a trick plied by all the great columnists) for occasions such as this, I will instead go back to the future with a delightful exchange between Captain Larby and yours truly from the holiday season of 2003; bold/italics have been added to emphasize just how wrong or just how right we were.  Enjoy our little trip down memory lane…

From: Cool Jesus
To: Captain Larby

Subject: ho ho ho
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 11:26:08 -0500

Captain Lars,

Do you plan on heading into NYC to bask in its warm Christmas glow in the coming weeks?  Keep your eyes peeled for the Cool Jesus clan this weekend, if you’re there.  My parents, my sister, and my sister’s fiance are going to be in NYC for the weekend.  I had to pass.

Much to talk about.  I don’t like this Red Sox trade.  I like Curt, but he’s not worth 4 players.  Fossum, I won’t miss too much.  Brandon Lyon has potential, so he’ll be missed.  But, it’s the 2 prospects that kill
me.

You give up 4 young players for one 37-year old?  Not smart.  Look for Arizona to be very strong in a few years, if those 2 Sox prospects blossom as expected.  I just don’t like lopsided deals like that.  The Sox give up more prospects than just about any other team.  Their farm system is more barren than Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard.  Tumbleweeds blow through it.
True, the Sox will be good in 2004 and probably 2005, but you have to prepare for the future.  That’s a big reason the Yankees are so good.  Their big market money allows Darth George to operate more farm teams than any other club.  He either grooms those minor leaguers to occasionally reach the majors w/ NY, or (more often) uses the best ones as trade bait during the season.  Either way, NY’s farm system is
always strong.
Okay, more ramblings to come.  My party on Sat. was a success.  LTJ hit it off with one of J.Lee’s friends.  They spent the night on our futon.
Merry Christmas!

- CJ

p.s. How was your Thanksgiving?

—–Original Message—–
From: Captain Larby

Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 12:51 PM
To: Cool Jesus
Subject: RE: ho ho ho

Santa CJ-

I always loved working in the Downtown Crossing area during the Holidays.  To see Filene’s all done-up and the busy shoppers shopping about always put a smile on my face and helped to make the Holiday ring true.  Now, I have the great misfortune of working in the Fashion District/Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City.  Not much to look at, that’s for sure.

However, Rockefeller is just a stone’s throw away and the craziness of Times Square can sometimes be endearing.  I will do my best to infuse the NYC Christmas spirit into my soul this Holiday season.  I shouldn’t complain too much, because the mother of all stores, Macy’s, is right around the corner.  I learned last year to avoid that place like the plague for the month of December–it’s the most insane scene I have ever laid my eyes upon.

Thanksgiving was quiet, but enjoyable.  Papa Jack and Captain Larby made a lasagna from scratch–pasta and all–and it was delicious.  I ate so much that day.  Friday was round 2 of feasting at Chateau Scalia’s,
follwed by "A Christmas Carol" on Saturday and the Rangers vs. Maple Leaf’s game on Sunday.  All in all, a very busy weekend.

I understand your point about the Red Sox trade.  Potential talent is a very valuable commodity.  But I feel like ‘potential’ is the operative word here.   With so many contracts up in the air for 2005, the addition of
Schilling for the here and now seems very smart.  I think they filled a giant hole.  I like it.  I also like the fear that the New York fans are feeling right now.   That move sent a rumble through the core of the Big Apple.  I guess only time and the 2004 season will tell.
Leave it to LTJ to hook-up at a Turkey Day party.  Nice.

Did you see the conclusion of Boy Meet’s World?