Justin, aka My Partner in Crime, Visits DC

You may remember Justin from such adventures as “Confrustion: Trying to Figure Out How to Use Expensive Podcasting Mics“, or our weekly early morning breakfast summits, which we documented in a video. Or that time we were videotaping the inside of every Marriott hotel in Austin for a side job involving some Romanian employers who needed video of hotels. Or maybe you don’t know about that.

Justin is one of my besties. The Bert to my Ernie. My work-husband, even though I worked (and work) with my actual husband. We toiled together as a reporter-photog team at KVUE-TV, from 2006 to 2009. Then he joined us at The Texas Tribune, where he remains a multimedia producer today. But mostly we’ve involved ourselves with shenanigans, buffets and long nights that journeyed into daylight. There was one summer when we were obsessed with going to Cool River Cafe, a.k.a. “Cougar River” or “Cougar Town”, to dance to one-syllabled cover bands like MAXX or SUEDE with women who were old enough to be our moms, or Liza Minnelli.

This weekend, he visited me in Washington for the first time since I moved here in February. Together, we:

a.) Overheard a really loud fight my downstairs neighbors were engaged in for more than 45 minutes. Tried to make out some words but it is harder than you would think.

b.) Participated in NPR’s first Design-UX camp, #DUXCamp, in Downtown DC. We learned from greats like Robert Krulwich, one of the most creative storytellers around today.

c.) Picked up a free wooden tennis racket in the U Street area, and brought it to the bar as a prop for the evening. It is now hanging behind the bar at Solly’s as a tribute to the fun times we had with the DC crew.

d.) After a couple of adult bevs, we ventured over to a DC landmark, Ben’s Chili Bowl, ordered chili half-smokes and cheese fries, brought them back to eat at the bar, provided some nice padding for our stomachs and continued on with a blur of an evening.

e.) Three words: David Allan Coe. (Let me/let me/let me)

f.) Awoke Sunday unable to enjoy the beautiful fall day due to total food and drink overload. I blame the chili but not the cheese.