Latest Entry into the Visitor Hall Of Fame, Tent Division

I enjoyed a surprise visit from my dear friend Doug Ottke this week and so added another gilded entry into the Schaackmobile Visitor Hall of Fame. This time with a twist-- Doug set up his tent on the "lawn" (a somewhat polluted area filled with broken glass and treacherous weeds-- I am NOT exaggerating when I say treacherous-- the lengths these plants have gone to in order to disperse their progeny is quite painful for largely hairless mammals like ourselves. When you come to visit, high step through the weeds and make your way straight back to the safe confines of the concrete patio...notice the neighbors put in a new privacy fence to boot, how thoughtful of them!) Anyway, Doug was on his way from Tallahassee, FL (where he was visiting another old college compatriot of ours, Franklin, more about him in a future post) to Denver, CO (where he lives, until Sept. 15th, when he heads to Central America). Luckily, the godforesaken nature of Arlington does not impair my ability to enjoy hosting a visitor like Doug because the fun and entertainment is inherent in the conversation. Doug is a fascinating guy-- by training, a geologist, but his philosophy of living has brought him to a variety of jobs and places. These travels include a recent stay with his aunt and uncle in LA where we continued working on Teapot Dome Sabotage, his screenplay depicting the juxtaposition of nature and its destruction, and one man's inability to simply take home a paycheck and look the other way. Hopefully you will see it on the big screen one day, or on at least a medium-sized screen. Any documentarian or movie-making friends out there interested in such a thing? Becca? I can have his people call your people! (In other words, give you each other's email addresses).Doug and I met during my first year of college at Earlham in the late fall of 1992. We became friends by the time he graduated but, hour for hour, we have definitely spent more time together in the mountains and on the streets of strange cities than we ever got to hang out in college. Doug is a renaissance man in a sense-- he is well-read, a good conversationalist, opinionated but not close-minded, interesting and interested-- which is a rare and wonderful combination of traits. He is also a Rush fan, as are many of the most interesting people (ok, men-- I have yet to meet a female Rush fan) I know. Doug actually was the first person to introduce me to Bob Dylan as well, but it was long before I was smart enough to listen. I am sure that is true for many other things he has brought up in conversation over the years, and I am just genuinely grateful to him for sticking with me as a friend while I catch up. Among other stories we got to revisit, we enjoyed retelling the tale of our visit to the Smithsonion in 1999 to see the Ontonagon Boulder-- a massive piece of copper from Michigan that is embroiled in a 3-way custody battle so alledgedly controversial it has to be kept behind the scenes in the Natural History division of the museum. It can only be visited by the geological elite, but Doug knew a guy, and we somehow managed to get backstage (this was my first trip to Washington, DC, it was only about 48 hours, and despite the great number of monuments and museums I have heard that they have there, I spent most of my time in the collections area of the Geology division at the Smithsonian looking a giant, dusty rock). It was a great day though, and a great trip, and it is a telling example of Doug's passionate interest in things derived from this earth and the trouble that they can incite above ground once humans get involved. So glad you came by Ott! Come again when you can!