But a couple weeks ago at a much needed trip to one of the Russian baths in the area, I couldn't help but get excited when I heard a familiar voice a locker row over. Kind of nasal, pitched kind of high, slightly neurotic but definitely lovable.
"Ahhhh, I feel clean. I feel like a man."
"Yeah," Familiar Voice's friend said.
"You know what? I feel free for the first time in my life."
I walked over to get my towels and took a peek and sitting on a bench putting on his shoes was Oscar winning actor Paul Giamatti.
I went back to my locker and listen as he extolled the virtues of the Russian bath, and talked about smoking pot with some guy in DC.
I was sorry that I didn't get a chance to schvitz with Mr. Giamatti. Not because I would have liked to gawk or trouble him, but because it was all Russians when I got in there and that was infinitely more boring than Paul Giamatti could ever have been.
But none-the-less, I was glad to know that Paul and I share a love for the crisp, searing heat of the Russian baths. And he pretty much summed up how I feel every time I leave there, and I'm fairly sure that from now on, his weird voice will ring in my head as I change.
I feel clean. I feel like a man. I feel free for the first time in my life.
