Fresh air fund

Saturday Risa invited the staff of ACV and the AAIFF volunteers to her parents' house on Long Island for a BBQ pool party. Joe offered to drive, and at 1.30 in the afternoon I found myself on the stoop of Eric's house in Brooklyn, waiting for Joe to arrive. Eric was out buying groceries. I called and realized I was on the wrong stoop.

The traffic was manageable. When we arrived, the badmitton net was set up, vegetables were roasting on the grill, and plates of roasted chicken and corn were ready to be consumed. We were the first carload there, and we quickly tucked into the food.

Risa's dogs circled around. One went for the occasional swim, dousing us whenever he chose to shake the water from his hide by the table. Groups of people arrived in intervals, and soon both grills were going and people swarmed around the food.

Having finished the first round of food, we took to the badmitton court to warm up in preparation for a swim. We batted the birdie for the better part of an hour before diving into the water. Food kept appearing on the table. Eric and Sonja brought bulgogi, and we hovered around the grill waiting for it to finish.

The afternoon wore into the evening, through cycles of badmitton, swimming, and eating. We played until it grew too dark to see and ate until we could see through to the bottom of the serving plates. At one point, I went to join Vivian on the hammock for a picture. I slowly eased my way into the hammock and brought down a tree on our heads. It was rotted through at the base, but the experience convinced me to stop eating. At least until cake was brought out for Dukyoung's departure and Tomoko's birthday.

As we were about to leave, Diana told everyone they had to stay. She and Risa had disappeared into an office, and when they re-emerged, they gathered everyone into the living room. They said that the festivals were always about giving awards to filmmakers, and that this year, they were giving out plaques to everyone. They then commenced to give out awards to everyone in an elaborate ceremony. Afterwards, Eric and Sonja left to take care of the dog. Plans were made to go bowling, and so I stuck around.

Dukyoung gave me pointers at the lanes. She had learned to bowl in gym, and I tried to synthesize (badly) her teachings. She said I should release the ball as if I was preparing to shake hands with it. In the end, I bowed out on a spare, bowling a strike on my last frame to eek out a 95, just shy of breaking 100.

Joe drove us home. The streets were clear and Dukyoung directed us over the 59th Street Bridge into the city. She said it was her favorite bridge for its views, and as we sailed across, the skyscrapers cut shadows out of the sky. Posted by eku at August 11, 2005 5:32 PM