Being
Thrown for a Loop on the
Loop
by Gregory C. Hundemer
I had to make a phone call. I went to the phone, picked up the receiver, and dialed. After ringing a few times, the person on the other end picked up. "Hello?" he said. "Yeah," I said. "Can speak to Art please?" "This is he," the person on the other end said. I ssumed he wasn't lying, and believed him. "Art," I said. "This is Greg." "Greg!" he said. "Ever since you got married, you've been all whipped. You ought to come down and play some drums with us." "Nah," I said. "I'm not Greg Eklund, you fool. The other guy you know named Greg." "Oh, okay," Art said. "What's up?" "Yeah," I said. "When I went to you concert, you didn't play 'Fire Maple Song' or 'Electra Made me Blind'. What's up with that?" "Oh, I don't
know," Art told me. "Listen, you want to get some pasta from the pasta shop?" "Nah," I said. "I'm trying to watch my figure. Carbohydrates are evil. How about Baskin obbins®?" "Sure," he said. So we arRI&ÿØÿàJFIFddÿìDucky<ÿîAdobedÀÿÛ„ ÿÀ–ÈÿÄ™ !1AQa"q�‘2¡±B#RbÁr3Ñá‚’²C$4ðñ¢ƒ!1AQ"2aq�#ÿÚ?Ä,¬®/¦ŠÚÙ“Jt¢ŒV‹Xõ·}»ÚàU}Úéå“õCµÍIü1uu¢¶Ã±v§f´LFEã+¼��¼5pÜ9vŽÖí¶õ/axf_•Œ¤åPx1>Y97õ¼ºžkI‚tgMDP�&ž8*°Uu%/¦¾Ÿ[˜ñ„§%rtmï©ÿx§ÿ¨§!žÍIÖöåfq#ÃÓ–‘ËbÊ E1YièBN“AÂ×|웥ÿôæ¶³’â8Éši(X®•4W„Ð~Ýv^×Ûãê÷Iwæ�ÖHôÚÆÂ½4<5SçoìÄHƒÝ�å½Ôeàp蚌9„>Ä!ö!Ç,BËuzI`æIáL@IZ{À¬¡òUs«Éhh}ø�*ÚßG,�z�ŒŒ¤*¤¨ösÄ“Ç-.ŸQÚ‚£ÀT~„�’’Fx�=Ä!ö!/DmnË'Èrl�ó®!˜Éj—´ý종¼+êcð¦&´=Ø|nNïê<Ç4ÅòV·�e (£29û±KuÜV›jè�—©Ï†¯yĘ ûîcÚ!‘]žAÁWÔÇÝË ö!•¶>ò÷#_u+ 9#Õ÷œ°Ÿ`®†ŸÚýÖÛí—VFú”ÿ è´ ÃW#‡’›ÒÎyßtºëB`4T�ÙiãUÂÙƒq\‰¥iÈqÅEÒq*Õ<=-‘ö`gíÉeޏâ Hñj@|@#ð® ¿¼Ák²_HBˆÂéÔ^´«�Ç>X�H7±o1ºEeœJ�©3Ÿ?wqî,mª)4àT `iÈÔà�©·wGZX£˜iÖ»à^x„ÃäpÞ7;+;wk™Ržµb*r¨ÀvHjÑÛÁœ7~¤·_HŒ–öh²¨š¾¡ÉBóþo†+{ª¼šÿªð’–)måôÛÔ½k©$„Ì÷%,�Ôr¥9´Ýjîφvöõ©n¶]/¿Ì,»nåt,bIRtVzLlBŠ�?v5Ä¡eþh7ηVH`gaC‘q<«ïÂÉ8£Rì¯óÚÛ½Ä6·Zíg“#4ûc—é\NDàkÐ̒ƲFÁÑÅUÔ‚<Áa »Žñebš§qP@Ò®|0$)I™÷G|‹·�.š(G¤AÃ?Šç#ÆËû3…Úã5føÓëÅ®¹VÔܲxy!ØÜš2‰Z‘>gHÖ›FÐwMâé§‘ÖvD�Afôd–0îÜý¿^Keìnß¹tŽÖi ¸ÿ˜"£Ì0ÆwwäÖõUø3ÞêÙÓkÞnìc”M �$mAÇõ¹ãN·(çî×/د¸ZÞÛ]í×lªEÅ»æ¥I�ÒŒvHýÙ÷6Ón÷Ö¡@9CCâþõò91QqäÊ4î·å€›ýÎöÀØÉnôGfY¢þ4)Èò# †¼µ’ò[©¡ydr:6媵QMl|,gÐXqdqíGŠçsšéßTzQ!Ö(OÓãJb ¾àw¢v¾Ñ×D^ËQ ,HQOåÇ1SnÆz-›º½uÆ%•7/ ³Òêo <ˆ”5`J’Äjo3NxÙN–?&rö®òµ×‰Œ÷·v¥»Km¶³"Êkª•'ø³þ÷^´ÖQ†Ý›ÃÈ„·3´úÙÆ—9“§æyãC2K&žMÊ0ZݵAÌég,mû¥Í´âgÔMsf©Ï¢rƒõ'Ø_¼=hÆÏ»Ü3¬ƒM¬¬ãÐË–�$ä0$�û‹}‘7‹˜�̶€•ÿ2ƒúŽœS™X½šá®Ö8W¯q±Î«L©†ði1]¾B»zx�_ž4QàKy,u¢Ô+Qý¸$ evŽ´©\°B†~ÚÚWt´›¡s%¼òiIÌD#�"ƒÕʼñƒ°¸¹:�EμFÝ¿¶lXÌ…]B5ר a¦£V|q‘Þrn®˜PdpûosÙ·›+Iåyâ˜9…¤¡®b´>gLmÒå¾ÍYµöÉ ÞlL ÑäŒSý¡�ˆÁ°ß;t0Þ¥-™*39rlø3SÈØx¨´úSè9roË`t›Ñ´Û5¢“V`�¹ñ8’eöç¿…t¹ÕkfÌP2‘YΚ”“LW%µBäB¤•hA´ øŠ`¦X«!x;‡s„D²J¬š€,WÔEhjpÒ%µ£[Ù»öËk‰e¸ŽkÙ"¢ \Ž¡é?2ù*µcÜî½ÜÖ?©pe˜c“HÁÔxçSŽMöý›ô�O§JÓ×_6'“}ßö;Km®+°vÛØÃ" ôT©='–:ª©W˜µ¹Y¶Qºš[ØfµêõJF¢j@¥s4®íz×"6ûÙ7pÀÍô½XÁ¢Í‘%)R~8Æ»:_Õ•"Ní°O·8!=µÒ ƒÀãE7I—fˆGõ9CFàcÏIÉŸ‰×ÑÊ$±°YÓ"œ�3X$h;°O,‹" FPi!�Ì0ñ#C×Á¾çºÜm.öð›©J© ÁÝ�eKqà0¯X×°†Í|ê-—öÌíW[HËèm Ö§<ñ,§«T´c¶¬ËjÇKùL_B»"—D…Aª·Ë† )(¤äÙB{:õ¶ýÚ€Ö9�S*ñÍÚ¬ÔÙÒÙÆð6_^µÛ½ÔšÛNL'¡Í×å`Äyã‡l ½ó¸½åŽÒ..VöT»ot¢•6ˆÆž·“uÊöe—Ôo‰ I´WžÊKk®”Œ™¨ut`èWøƒ�q_2ô“r1XϵÁl¶ÈóhÚEÕZg\ñÈßØØœ#Ôuº:˜?¸.é’kkÈmጳƄ¦¶¤)\±««Ø«òdït«*ôˆBµåâÜÜÄ$‘¦�‰e’…EZ€€?•FX²šxÚL½Žß:Œ°^î{ì––R@ñÇb’b+�]"€g˜ÇG’8+[YZvË*k{†×BV=I¨Ë‰Æ>Æåàéu:¾OÀ?··ƒs¸ÚnCŒ~œ°m¡Í²¯¿L`ék¾`÷7h/µ5È@BpÝkæík•&,ƒu L2¡÷厡Æ'3Ûª´‘̽C@x×ߑà ØW·îg–ä ”9š€-šÓžÁY4½Îêh ×Ïo)P±#¬tähb+ÏXGXbÊ÷2ÛCgHA·WIå¨3–§Ã³£Ôà“VmJÅ$Ô™Tyœ_¨æ³©a#R Šf‡Ù‡ 9–Z‘˜É‡…1Ú.ÂÝBã6Fàp,¥ W 3D²¶·º¤¶â“®]"µÏˆ®96pÏCG[)3߸qäÛö¨Â˜l ÌÒF(…¥É@Áq³¯_g+·yp;ömŽ¥–q+Û° �£ Ä×2=@ùcb9{˜ÝÚ©}s8šS<S¢Ì0¨mUÒ–"Ö ™áfÉ+í�Ä ©÷8HÝ�nè²¹I¡fS^� SŸ!åŒÝ«E~´©fM²)ðTïxòOÛ݉Ý÷Ò™¶{ù:u(ñÄÁCpzS ÿEnÍû5_·}‰÷ÊÞGÝVéPÆË”ìšU™³�’rôð—ð%®È·y7m«t’Êb²›`’4Á¨À8®†Q¨OŽfúq´|ž‹§·ì§Ä[s¶%�£±«c&MÕ@ýßy>ã²5ªg`¬¾+‹5ZWf³XB=—Û›ö¹HnÛ e¡ÒyDÒ´®6Û³üÚô³äUî͸l›»ÙE ”Y uŠé4Æ�Wä¤ÃØÔ©h5òõ±mñ_KÜûüQcKo·Û\ÅhîËÓZ†,u“;´2Îï´\æ *Âda|Ä9?«!ÃèyeNÖØZE½×n’ˆä–).(¬P†¦ ¤b¹.H ÛAÛ-1$Ïþ9®C/Ð9Ó+X(*: �4#0Ã%U¡—©OIÉÇú1x$6ò,ñ|¼Xr„%î>â¸ÛlRîÍäwéoÛYõT�1™ê—&¿ì:Öcšóq&êæFšy$ZÈÜr¥=ص$‘Ÿ“y7~ܶ¾‹j„Æ–åeë$…[<³O†-ª2lrÆÚ7_×ÐN±-Té1oâãP1,-<�!H8¨¸òAT¦!Žþ‘íøwi=P+˜Ž–!ª¤WÏo§$_×RòeV]—´$k-�ººÉê”Ö´ô’¦¼0œHΉ<~Ñܦ½pÌæE�‹ÐxfÕÄåòF‘-·k�v‚OÛˆ%s�ÏÔÃ]‰¸ÂCÜ=öJöÛF۶ؤdäKq3-@Ò8Vξ8Õƒ+wg7[ÿÜ{Ž¤Ï¼Ì�ˆÙÈŠcP'ù™¾SƒÊöíÍÊö(â»Ý¯î¯£š^‚MÕÒŒ[/N…éç‡W’q€wxZ‰û…æ·•àEŠ1é:‹eV[Ž0v¯“»þ}ó’°Šß@,}9s¥ÉÓ«„q=Õ¤D4`ý*<°õBÚàþâïkk*Ámô×2%:×$ranged to meet at Baskin Robbins® in a few minutes. "Wait," I said. "The one downtown or the one on the loop?" "Loop," Art said. "Okay," I said. I went to the one on the loop and waited there, but Art never showed up, but I decided to grab some ice cream anyway. I got mint chocolate chip.