This is a post about a day that I did not run. I drank too much beer the night before, stayed up too late, and skipped my planned 3 miles. That's just the truth. It happens.
I went down to Argenta to meet my sister Katie and my aunt Lee Lee for lunch. Lee Lee beat us there and got the cool booth in the window for prime people watching. Katie and I joined her and ordered Blue Moons. Lunch was lovely and we enjoyed the time out with each other sans kids in the middle of the day. We tabbed out and Lee Lee left and Katie and I decided to have one more beer together (for a total of two if anyone is keeping track.)
After that, we needed a walk before driving, so first we headed over to the antique store next door. We admired frogs hanging from the ceiling looking interestingly phallic, fingerless mannequins with paddle hands, and some especially lovely vibrating upholstered chairs upstairs. The guy working there said they usually charge for people to have that much fun, so we took that as our hint.
We left the store and crossed the street. In the entry-way of the Starving Artists' Cafe, we saw a painting of a woman with stars tattooed on her lower back, dipping down below her pants. Inspiration! We decided we needed to get that tattoo....right then. We did take a minute to text some important people about our plans, but set off down the street in search of a tattoo place in Argenta.
Just down the street, a man was getting comfortable on a bench outside a storefront. Katie, assuming he was homeless (because he was carrying a backpack) and that homeless people know where to get tattoos, asked him if he knew of a place. It turns out that he didn't, but was eager to talk to us about why we would want to defile our temples by tattooing them in the first place. I told him that I didn't think that the parts of the Bible that he was using to support the defilement argument really worked for me, and then I told him I was gay.
Oops. Newly energized, he got up from his bench and (asking permission to approach us!) began his earnest effort to save me from certain hell-fire. (The he did profess his love for all people). I didn't listen very well though, which was very frustrating to him. He wanted me to listen to him quote about how the effeminate will not inherit the kingdom of God. I've actually heard that one before, but he didn't want to debate the meaning of effeminate with me. Damn. Katie and I decided to give that discussion up (Katie was less patient than me) just as I heard someone calling from across the street. (I believe in the importance of conversation, but I think quoting scripture falls under the same rule as jokes: "Oh, you've heard that one before? Ok then...")
But back to the call from across the street! It was Dave and Claudia and their kids! I hadn't seen Dave and Claudia in over a year! Katie and I nearly got runover as we escaped from the guy trying to save us from ourselves. I knew Dave and Claudia were moving to North Little Rock, but I firmly believe that running into them was a sign--of a number of things. They were heading in the Starving Artists Cafe for lunch, so Katie and I joined them for hot tea and conversation.
After that, we were back to the tattoo discussion. With varying levels of support from our romantic counterparts, we decided to go for it and drove up to 7th Street. We each got the same 5 stars, but in different colors and places. Katie got hers on the top of her foot and mine is on my right side.
And that's the end, I guess. I had a great day of adventuring with my amazing sister, was lucky to run into some wonderful old friends, and did not run any miles. I made up for it yesterday with 7 and today with 5. I'm back on track.
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