Started at 3p at the home of Curt & Mark, which is the consummate party home. I've raved about it before - outdoor full bar, pool & patio, gazillion beautiful rooms. I love their place. The food was catered and I ate about a gabillion proscuitto wrapped dates (cheese & almond centers). There were also chicken meatballs with cranberry, orange & jalapeno; cucumber slices with crab; baked parm cheese (so it becomes a cracker) with ceasar salad; little toast slices with ??? and roast beef; romaine lettuce with cream cheese & cranberry; and a full bar. Niiiiice!
The next stop was Nino's Restaurant, a mere 1/2 mile away. Some people drove but, feeling that half the point of a progressive is walking to each stop, I trotted over. What a mistake. About 1/2 way in to the walk, my knees started snapping & popping and I considered giving up. I made it to the restaurant but that was it for my knees. We got 2 drink tickets each. I asked for prosecco (italian champagne) and the staff said, "we don't have that brand", so I went with amaretto sours. YUM!!
I scored a ride back to the 3rd house, Brad & Brad's, where desserts were featured. I sampled every chocolate petit four (turned out the designs had nothing to do with the flavors... and that I don't like "honey" flavored white chocolate) and ice cream; thought of Laurie when I saw large red velvet cake; and decided I really need to buy Brad & Brad some premium coffee because whatever they're using is icky bitter (beggers can be choosers!).
The party was going till 9 but I was burned out by 8. Some old drag queen (who kept insisting he was "38"... maybe in DOG years... he was at least 60 in human years) had been abandoned by her group (they decided to leave, she decided to stay) and was clearly planning to hit me up for a ride. So, I ditched her. Just as well because the 2 block walk back to my car nearly had me in tears from pain... in both my knees and lower back. Damn, my body sucks!! (Earl had a good time making fun of me... and after I helped him try to hook up with someone... the nerve!!)
So I'm home early and sober. And, other than the Brian Setzer concert (and maybe a theater viewing of A Christmas Story), my holiday "celebrating" is done.
"They" say we're getting a rain storm tomorrow, a day off, then 2 or 3 more days. I hope so - we need it.
Ah, crap, I just caught Skritches eating the wishbone from the chicken I ate last weekend. Gotta go.
Here I am. House smells of stir fry and so do my clothes. I'm jonesing for some rice tea. I've had a crazy fixation on hot sauce lately and consumed one two bottles of Tamazula this week all by myself. Not sure why. My little boy was super wild today and I'm not sure why that is either. I'm about to start a sci-fi book called The Child Garden. I hear my little town will be covered in a couple feet of snow tomorrow. Wheeeee! There's a good chance I will be sledding on Tuesday. I wish for more time than I have. I don't hardly ever wish a day will go by fast. Not even the bad ones. Well, maybe the really bad ones.
I've had a lot of characters flitting about upstairs in my mind. Here are just a few.
The one above is for Illustration Friday's topic: Crunchy. Funny, huh?
I just watched The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner, again this week. Saw it when I was a teenager. Still one of the most wonderful films and utterly quotable! IF per chance you've never seen it... then add it to your Netflix cue or whatever. You'll love it. You can even see it with the kiddies.
Aaarrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Purchased from: Amazon
Rating: 10 out of 10 (Can I give this an 11 out of 10?)
Synopsis: Miller, the accidental memoirist who struck gold with the likable ramble Blue Like Jazz, writes about the challenges inherent in getting unstuck creatively and spiritually. After Jazz sold more than a million copies but his other books didn't follow suit, he had a classic case of writer's block. Two movie producers contacted him about creating a film out of his life, but Miller's initial enthusiasm was dampened when they concluded that his real life needed doctoring lest it be too directionless for the screen. Real stories, he learned, require characters who suffer and overcome. In desultory fashion, Miller sets out to change his own life—to be the kind of guy who seeks out his father, chases the girl and undertakes a quest. Along the way, he comes to understand God as a master storyteller who doesn't quite control where his characters are going. An unexpected bonus of this book is Miller's insights into the writing process. Readers who loved Blue Like Jazz will find here a somewhat more mature Miller, still funny as hell but more concerned about making a difference in the world than in merely commenting on it.
My Review: Well holy crap. Just after I thought my book life couldn't get any better after reading Susan Isaac's memoir Angry Conversations with God, I got my copy of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years in the mail. I could not tear through this book fast enough. Miller really knows how to put words together in incredible ways. AND, in addition to being an organic, funny, inspiring memoir, it was also a story about story, and if you know me -- I love stories. If you're someone who loves plot and character and conflict (all the things memoirists sometimes struggle with), you have got to get this book. Miller realizes his own story is lacking all the things that make great stories that we love to read and watch in the movies, so he sets off to make his story a STORY, letting the Master Storyteller scrawl across the pages of this life. It was so inspiring, I literally cried through the last hundred pages or so, especially during the stories about his friend Bob and his family. It made me want to evaluate my own life in relation to the elements of a story, and adjust things so that my life isn't just boring words on a page. It's my favorite book of the year so far. Seriously, you have to go out and read this book. Now. Do it. I'll be here when you get back because I want to know what you thought.
Karin and I have been into this show called It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia since it started.in 2005. It's a tad lowbrow sometimes and silly and Amanda absolutely despises it. Her refusal to even be in the room when it's on should probably be some sort of barometer for me, but the thing is, every time I watch an episode of this show I nearly bust a gasket laughing.
To wit...
Well, frak. In the first hour of my Heartswater Grading Challenge, I've gotten exactly 4 essays read and responded to, and only been able to figure out finalized grades for 3. I shall now eat a snack and run around the house in hopes of enlivening my sluggish brain, and then get back at it for hour #2. Updates will follow...
It's 1:16pm, Sunday afternoon and I know exactly where my anxieties are--piled in the form of student essays waiting to be graded for 9am tomorrow. Frick, frack, fuck. I've been putting work off all weekend. In my defense, I have been sick for a week or so, and have worked through the plague, so I did need a few days to sloth and eat vitamin C tablets. Defensible or no, however, I gotta come off break now and get this shit done. The term isn't over for two more weeks, give or take a few days, regardless of how done I feel already.
What's your favorite thing about the holidays? Least favorite?
I LOVE THE LIGHTS AND THE DECOR! It gives me a happy feeling whenever I pass by houses and buildings all lit up in the evening. I also love how cooler it is during this time of the year.
Least favorite has got to be the crowd in the malls. Then again in the PI malls are normally crowded no matter what time of the year.
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