Pour Me A Story, Vol. 27
feat. Mucci from Twitter, anchor moments and more
greetings gang, and welcome back to Pour Me A Story.
as I write this, it’s been snowing for like five hours here in Denver, which…man, it was like 80 degrees last week. I prefer the cold weather to warm, but consistency is key, ya know? once it gets hot, it may as well just stay that way.
we’ve had quite a week here. the baby’s newest trick is saying “hi” and waving, sometimes simultaneously, and I continue to be absolutely astounded as I watch a small human develop and grow. life’s a fuckin’ miracle sometimes.
also last weekend I ground my way through an organized 5K in Boulder as part of a Special Olympics Colorado fundraiser. the day was cool and I felt pretty good, despite having dropped a great deal of fitness in the past month. I got off to a good start, and then…a tweaked hamstring again. I was a mile in, and I was determined to finish or go as far as I could before I couldn’t anymore.
I managed to finish the distance, although the hamstring tugged worse as the miles wore on, and I finished in under 30 minutes, so as far as 5Ks go it was about my baseline. injuries are frustrating, but I guess if I’m gonna continue to “be old as dirt” I better get used to them.
Tales From The Trail
today I got a text with a photo from my buddy Mike. he was kneeling somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line by a boulder with the number “500” drawn on it. I’ve examined the photo and it doesn’t look like it’s added with an app, but I could be wrong.
anyway, the 500 was to commemorate the number of miles he’s hiked since late February when he set off on his journey from the Georgia end of the Appalachian Trail. the most I knew about the AT (as they call it for short) was that the events of the nonfiction book Lost on a Mountain in Maine took place in the Appalachians near Mt. Katahdin, Vacationland’s highest peak.
so as much as it’s been a physical challenge for Mike to trek his way towards Maine, it’s been a mental exercise for me (I know, much more taxing) to make sense of his endeavors from the comfort of my own home. I had no idea there were towns where hikers could basically walk off the trail to restock supplies or sleep in a bed for a night, or that the folks on the trail assign themselves nicknames they go by when they cross paths with other hikers.
I’ve also been fascinated with Mike’s reports of what he’s eating when he stops in a trail town for a night in a lodge. I mean, I was an unstoppable eater while I was training for the half-marathon, and he’s hiking between 10 and 15 miles every day. I’d be taking caloric advantage of those days too.
Mike doesn’t always have great cell service and I’m reticent to take up his precious relaxation time with an interview, but we’ll see what happens. maybe I can get him in these pages someday soon.
Anyway, We Have Company
this week’s special guest makes for a perfect unintentional return to the original theme of Pour Me A Story — celebrating other folks’ good news. my pal Mucci from Twitter had an extremely good life-changing event unfold around him mere minutes before we did this interview. I won’t spoil the surprise or steal his thunder.
AC: hey man, how's everything this fine Thursday?
MfT: Couldn’t be better. Just asked my best friend and the woman of my dreams to marry me, and she said yes, so I am without complaints. How are you?
AC: you hear that, folks? this man had possibly the biggest day of his adult life and he pivots immediately to talking to ME. I'm equal parts flattered, humbled and worried about you. that's incredible news man, I'm super excited for you both. how'd it all go down?
MfT: Haha, honestly, it was super simple. She knew it was coming, just didn’t know it was today. I asked her to take a trip up to the roof with me (our building overlooks the water and Nats Park, so it’s a pretty nice view), since it was such a nice day, and we just enjoyed the view and each other’s company.
AC: keep it simple, I love it. well good for you guys. great way to start the springtime and you'll surely have more safe opportunities to celebrate now that things are starting to open up. how's everything looking in your neck of the woods?
MfT: Things are pretty good around here, but we are definitely in a sort of bubble. I just got my second dose earlier this week, and she’ll be fully vaccinated next week. DC has had its share of COVID, but we’ve been luckier than most, I think.
AC: man, what a WEEK for you! whew. everything's coming up Mucci. what's it like living in the nation's capitol? I've only been there once and I thought it was pretty neat but I was a dumbass 22-year-old with a hangover. are you from there or did you relocate?
MfT: Haha, I’ve definitely been luckier than most, especially recently. DC is an interesting place to live, and I don’t mean that in the negative way that other transplants do sometimes. I was raised in Cleveland, and then moved a bunch with the military, spending a good deal of time in Omaha. I was chosen for a class out here in DC in 2018 and decided I wasn’t going back to Omaha when it was over. 2018 was the first time I had been out here, so it’s been a learning experience, but I think I’ve been picking things up nicely. I love the city and area so much that I transferred all my sports fandoms to the teams here, so it’s really home now!
AC: tremendous stuff. I think I had an inkling you were from Ohio but I'm not even sure what I was basing that on, so it's good to know I was right there. I've been to Omaha a couple times too and had a good time, but I imagine it doesn't hold a candle to DC. do you think that's your forever home or are there places you'd still like to try your hand at living in?
MfT: I lived there for 6 years and I was ready to move, no offense to any Huskers reading this. When I left, I told myself that if I liked DC even equally as much as Omaha, I was staying forever. I met my girlfriend(oops, fiancée) a month after moving here and was enamored with DC, so it was a wrap. Eventually we’re going to buy a house about 10-15 miles north in Maryland and call it home forever. Real suburbanite stuff, haha.
AC: haha you're gonna have to get used to that title change. but I hear you on the suburbanite thing. I thought I'd be down to live in a downtown apartment forever -- until the baby came and now I see the upside in houses and yards and SPACE haha. let me stretch out a little bit, y'know. alright since we have some light at the end of the tunnel: what's something you haven't done since 2020 that you just can't wait to do safely again? like it's taking on some mythical status in your mind type of thing.
MfT: Haha, I’ll definitely slip up in the future with it. Yeah, we’re cool with one future kid in an apartment, but that is a way away still. Hmm, that’s a good question. Honestly, we’ve been itching to get back to our weekly trivia night. I know that’s a nerdy thing to say, but we’re nerds. There’s a DC-wide tournament league(I think it’s in a few other cities, too) and it was honestly one of the best parts of our weeks; it really made everything feel permanent here, if that makes sense.
AC: yeah I can definitely understand that. like an anchor of your week, and something that made you feel like "I live here" rather than just "oh this is a city that I happen to be in." I'm trying to think of what my moment like that has been for all the places I've lived. and I just KNOW you've got a pair or two of shoes you haven't had the chance to wear yet... how does the future Mrs. Mucci feel about the sneaker collection? is she an enthusiast herself?
MfT: Lmaooo, she once told me “our bills are all paid and we still have money to have fun and do stuff, so I can’t even really be mad at you about them”.
AC: haha it's been a very similar story here. before the baby came along, a buddy of mine once said to me "look at it this way, you're not spending it on drugs, and you don't have a kid hungry at home while you buy shoes, so there's that." I felt better after that. alright man lemme hit you with two softball questions and then I'll let you get back to your lovely fiancee. first up: the guest gets to choose the song of the week, anything goes. something meaningful or something that's been stuck in your head or whatever!
MfT: Haha, the perspective is always nice! My song of the week would have to be “Hawái” by Maluma, unless Migos’ “Major Bag Alert” song for that Wendy’s commercial counts, then it’s definitely that one.
AC: I think we can jam both in, it's a big day for you after all! and moving on to the final one: this is where you get to plug something, whether it's an important cause or something meaningful or hell just a TV show or whatever. sky's the limit!
MfT: I was thinking about what I’d plug this whole time, and honestly, I don’t have anything specifically. I guess I’d just like to offer people some words of self-reflection, if that’s okay. You don’t have to be the best person in the world to do good things. If you were a bad person yesterday, you can still be a good person today. Life doesn’t have to be about being good every day, but it should be about being better every day. Try to be better every day. Be a better you every day.
AC: I think that's a terrific way to finish things dude, thank you so much. I appreciate you taking the time and for waiting patiently until I finally got around to asking you!
MfT: Aww, thank you for having me man!
Dropping Anchor
when we were talking earlier, Mucci’s point above about a weekly trivia tournament being the thing that made him eventually feel like he had become a resident of Washington D.C. struck a bit of a chord with me.
it got me thinking about the things that made me feel like I was finally “at home” in each of the places I’ve lived since moving to the U.S. eight (!) years ago this summer.
Central Maine
this one’s easy, because I wrote about it when I discovered I’d experienced that very moment in June 2013. to quote my younger self:
What prompted this post (aside from the fact that I had six pints and a Coors Light for the road tonight) was when someone heard said stupid accent and asked me where it was from. Without skipping a beat, the same way I have for a good month or two now, I answered, “it’s an Augusta accent.” Whether joking or not, I’m automatically identifying myself as a resident of the capital city, and Maine in general.
Now, while I still don’t expect to be settling in Vacationland forever, or perhaps even be here in the next year or two, I do like the sensation that comes from feeling like I’m “home”.
South Florida
this one’s a little tougher. my 18 or so months in West Palm Beach weren’t the greatest months of my immigration or my adult life, marred by a difficult personal life and some really rough financial times. it definitely had its bright spots — Publix chicken tender subs, coworkers who became great friends at a time I needed friendship the most, every bar having 2-for-1 drink deals all day — but like I said, it was a rough time.
I think the first time I really felt like “this was home” was, ironically, about two months before I packed up and moved across the country to Denver. I had just moved out of the apartment I shared with my ex, into another apartment in the same condo complex, and delivery guys from the furniture store had just left after setting up my couch and bed.
I remember looking around at this sparsely furnished space, marveling in the sheer quiet and solitude after a literally and figuratively noisy two years, and thinking “phew. this is my home now.” I kinda wrote about that too actually.
Colorado
in contrast to my revelation in West Palm, the lightbulb moment came in Denver on the first night back in town in 2017 after having left in late 2013. my Uber driver dropped me off in the parking lot of my hotel for the next three nights — the Days Inn on East Colfax, not exactly the Shangri-La — and after a day of travel and the stress of moving across the country, all I wanted was a shower and a beer in that order.
after washing up and changing my duds, I set off down Colfax on foot to find myself a cold one. I distinctly remember walking down the street, seeing the Wells Fargo building jutting out of the city skyline off to my right in the middle distance, and thinking, “yeah, I’m home. this is the place.” oh weird, I also wrote about that.
Worthy Consumables
there are two types of people in this world: people who don’t keep up with a consistent flossing schedule, and liars. I’m in the former category, but my dental hygiene is none of your business.
anyway, Alex is much more conscientious about these things than I am, so when she floated the idea of getting a WaterPik I agreed because it sounded like a good idea.
and you know what? it’s pretty good. it’s certainly preferable to yanking a piece of waxed mint string through my gums, and while it feels strange to sandblast between your teeth with a jet of water, it definitely is a worthy substitute and one I’m more likely to use frequently. bet the baby will think it’s funny when I squirt her with it, too.
Parting Note
well it’s a big day for our pal Mucci so, as mentioned above, he gets two songs. enjoy ‘em!
thanks again for hanging with me for another edition, folks. one of these days we’re gonna get Tony Hawk or The Veronicas in here, I swear to god.
— adrian ✌️