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DEAN'S QUARTERLY NEWLETTER, Vol. 12, No. 2, 12/01/2008
HIGHLIGHTS OF Autumn 2008:
Autumn Visit to Minnesota -- My nephew Joshua's wedding to his bride
Ashley was the impetus for a fourth visit to Minnesota this year. The wedding
was held on a chilly September day in a beautiful setting on Keller Lake island.
The wedding and reception came off well, and the couple headed for a honeymoon at
Myrtle Beach. That same week my new nephew Jordan was born as the son of my niece
Rachel and her friend Justin, their second after Roman.
Amtrak travel -- The trip to Minnesota by Amtrak was part of a month-long rail
pass that took me also to Toronto (to visit friends Igor and Alla), to Boston (to
visit the Milendorf family), and to Niagara Falls, New York City and Charleston, SC
just for fun. Charleston was the new place on my list, and I was highly impressed by
its state of preservation. I consider it to be the most well-preserved historic
district I've seen in North America, with a lively area for tourists as well. The boat
trip to Fort Sumpter, where the Civil War began, was quite fascinating as well.
Perksters in Exile -- Until early summer, my social life revolved around The College Perk
Coffeehouse, affectionately known as “The Perk” by numerous local eccentrics. It has been my salvation ever since
I moved to Dullsville (a.k.a. Beltsville), Maryland four years ago. The Perk might not have obtained its mystique, myth and
legend were it not otherwise at the epicenter of a vast entertainment dead zone in DC’s outer northeast suburbs, an area that
isolates and traps its inhabitants in a seemingly endless morass of bumper-to-bumper taillights and boredom. Still, a community
of quirky coffee house people has made the place something special indeed – full of comedy, drama, spirit and attitude -- and
they know there is no alternative to it! Earlier this year, thirty Perk customers held signs and pleaded passionately before the city
council to “Save the Perk”, in a battle pitting the city with the Perk’s owner, who while fighting foreclosure perhaps also sometimes
cantankerously thinks he can legitimately contest fees and permits. While seemingly weathering those battles, all seemed
nebulous until an electrical fire knocked the place out of commission in July. Unlike the old Joni Mitchell song, we all knew
what we had before it was gone. “Well, wha’da we do now?” those without lives asked each other. So ever since then,
life in Dullsville has been really, really dull! Occasionally, I run into exiled Perk regulars – disoriented, glassy-eyed,
wandering aimlessly, metal detectors in hand, and wondering when their long dark night in the wilderness will be over.
Overly dramatic, yes perhaps in light of world economic turmoil, but for desperate folks around here, it matters!
Now, scores of expatriate Perksters console each other on multiple Facebook blogs dedicated to The Perk. Sounds pathetic,
I know, but hope is not lost, and drum circle gatherings around the bonfire occur out back every full moon in lieu of reopening.
The latest word at the most recent drum circle, direct from the owner himself, is the reopening may be in January. We're all holding
our breaths and turning blue.
COMING UP NEXT QUARTER (Winter): Inauguration, trip to Arizona
Check in and let me know what’s up with you.
You can contact me by clicking on this E-mail address: mailto:%20mail@deanoman.com.
My address in
Maryland: Telephone numbers:
Dean
Oman Home:
301-931-1144
10405
46th Ave., Apt. A204
Work: 301-504-2317
Beltsville, MD 20705
Review previous newsletters:
Summer 08 – Dean’s
News Vol 12, No. 1, 09/01/08 – –
Summer visits to Minnesota, Oman reunion, Perk fire
Spring 08 – Dean’s
News Vol 11, No. 4, 06/01/08 – –
Springtime visit to Minnesota
Winter 08 – Dean’s
News Vol 11, No. 3, 03/01/08 – Arizona, –
Philadelphia and my brother's visit
Autumn 07 – Dean’s
News Vol 11, No. 2, 12/01/07 – Western Europe –
Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Belgium
Summer
07 – Dean’s News Vol 11,
No. 1, 09/01/07 – Minnesota
Spring
07 – Dean’s News Vol 10,
No. 4, 06/01/07 – Ireland
Winter
07 – Dean’s News Vol 10,
No. 3, 03/01/07 – Colorado, Arizona, New York City
Autumn
06 – Dean’s News Vol 10,
No. 2, 12/01/06 – Western Europe
Summer
06 – Dean’s News Vol 10,
No. 1, 09/01/06 – Minnesota and San Diego
Spring
06 – Dean’s News Vol 9, No.
4, 06/01/06 – Hanging around Beltsville, MD
Winter
06 – Dean’s News Vol 9, No.
3, 03/01/06 – Minnesota and Arizona
Autumn
05 – Dean’s News Vol 9, No.
2, 12/01/05 – Minnesota, Toronto, Boston
Summer
05 – Dean’s News Vol 9, No.
1, 09/01/05 – Washington, Oregon and Northern California
Spring
05 – Dean’s News Vol 8, No.
4, 06/01/05 – Joshua and Dean’s Great European
Adventure
Winter
05 – Dean’s News Vol 8, No.
3, 03/01/05 – Minnesota and Bahamas
Autumn
04 – Dean’s News Vol 8, No.
2, 12/01/04 – Boston, Orlando, plus new digs in Beltsville, Maryland
Summer
04 – Dean’s News Vol 8, No.
1, 09/01/04 – Toronto, Minnesota, San Diego, Chicago
Spring
04 – Dean’s News Vol 7, No.
4, 06/01/04 – Italy, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, New York City
Winter
04 – Dean’s News Vol 7, No.
3, 03/01/04 – Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, Arizona
Autumn
03 -- Dean's News Vol 7, No. 2, 12/01/03 -- Minnesota
Summer
03 -- Dean's News Vol 7, No. 1, 09/01/03 --
California and Toronto
Spring
03 -- Dean's News Vol 6, No. 4, 06/01/03 – Minnesota,
Boston
Winter
03 -- Dean's News Vol 6, No. 3, 03/01/03 – Arizona,
California and Colorado
Fall 02 -- Dean's News Vol 6, No. 2,
12/01/02 – Balkans and Turkey, Minnesota, Toronto
Summer
02 -- Dean's News Vol 6, No. 1, 09/01/02 --
Minnesota, California and Canada's Maritimes
Spring
02 -- Dean's News Vol 5, No. 4, 06/01/02 -- Nearly
arrested
Winter
02 -- Dean's News Vol 5, No. 3, 03/01/02 -- Arizona
and California
Fall
01 -- Dean's News Vol 5, No. 2, 12/01/01 -- Boston,
Minnesota, New York City
Summer
01 -- Dean's News Vol 5, No. 1, 09/01/01 -- Vietnam,
Laos, Cambodia and Minnesota
Spring
01 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 4, 06/01/01 -- Baltic
Nations, Poland and Czech Republic
Winter
01 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 3, 03/01/01 -- Boston
and Arizona
Fall
00 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 2, 12/01/00 -- Colorado,
Minnesota and Gettysburg
Summer
00 -- Dean's News Vol 4, No. 1, 09/01/00 -- Minnesota
and Washington
Spring
00 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 4, 06/01/00 -- Eurailing in Europe, and Minnesota
Winter
00 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 3, 03/01/00 -- Jamaica,
Arizona and the Millennium
Fall
99 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 2, 12/01/99 -- The
Middle East and Minnesota
Summer
99 -- Dean's News Vol 3, No. 1, 09/01/99 -- Minnesota
Spring
99 -- Dean's News Vol 2, No. 4, 06/01/99 -- Pacific
Northwest
Winter
99 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 3, 03/01/99 -- Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Fall
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 2, 12/01/98 -- Germany, Poland and Czech Republic
Summer
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 1, 09/01/98 -- A summer romance
Spring
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 4, 06/01/98 -- New York City and Minnesota trips
Winter
98 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 3, 03/01/98 -- Arizona and Colorado trip
Fall
97 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 2, 12/01/97 -- Venezuela and Trinidad
Summer
97 -- Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 1, 09/01/97 -- Toronto and Niagara Falls
Best wishes to all,
Deano
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