24 Mar

With renewed readership interest, here’s a take on a busy weekend:

On Friday we banked mesenchymal stem cells in a process that involved coring into a lower back bone and drawing out 60 mL of marrow. There was local anesthetic, but still, there was no mistaking the sensation that your bone was getting bored into, and it was especially weird in a crammed little office in the edge of Rochester Hills. A great visit with Spike and the kids followed, probably a welcome break for her and her dislocated shoulder, while Eddie and I wrangled monsters in the upstairs bathroom and JoJo fell asleep in Andi’s arms Listening to the terrible story of one of Spike’s friends whose husband went on a guy’s golf trip and ended up dying in a Florida restaurant choking on a piece of steak. Then to Birmingham to get my new glasses, a drink around the corner that led to a kickstarter donation for a new bar in Detroit and then home to watch the new HBO documentary on Theranos. Which was great, but about as non-specific in the science as her own pitches to unwitting old white men investors. Then Saturday morning and the difficult conversation with Eric and Andi’s answer to his question about whether he could help in any way: to forgive himself. A session at the gym, a perfect coffee at home with Andi and then she ran errands while I walked the puppy under clear skies and temperatures in the low 40’s. Dinner at a dive Vietnamese restaurant, delicious, and a concert with Dave Boutette at crazy wisdom tea house. After the show, we were talking about the kewenaw and this story of friend of his who was talking to a 64-year-old Ojibwe resident about how the old man had no interest in anything south of the peninsula, no desire to see what lay on the other side. To which Dave’s friend said, “you’ve never been across the Macinac bridge???” And the old man said, “no, I’m talking about the Houghton Hancock bridge!” Then today I ran the Ann Arbor half marathon while Andi did the 10k, great showings by both of us! After brunch and a nap, and the newspaper and a walk, it was time for dinner and for me to fly to Gaithersburg, where I’m now in bed, a busy week ahead.