LOOOONG WEEKEND RECAP
THURSDAY
I got together a small crew to partake in 80’s night at Neighbors. Andrew joined me for prefunk at my place. I was watching my newly acquired “Fraggle Rock: The Complete First Season” from the library. I was really excited about it and very pleased to find that Fraggle Rock is just as enjoyable to me now as it was when I was 7 and our family was inexplicably receiving HBO for free.
Andrew brought me and Dom our long-awaited birthday present; a laser disc player. Dom had bought one ages ago off of ebay in order to play the only proper versions of Star Wars in existence. Of course, the player he got was broken, so he had to find somewhere to get it fixed. Meanwhile, Andrew bought us a player for our birthday but never had a chance to bring it to us. So Dom got his broken player fixed and then, on Thursday, Andrew brought us his. So now we have TWO working laser disc players. I think that’s an invitation to turn our apartment into a shrine to working obsolete media.
Andrew also brought us a new laser disc, “Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country”. He eventually convinced us to turn off the Fraggles (which he was NOT enjoying) and put on Star Trek. I’m just glad we found something we could all enjoy. Unfortunately, Andrew and I couldn’t finish the movie because there was dancing to be done.
We met Aiyana at Neighbors, but it wasn’t quite ready for us yet, so we decided to go to the Comet for a quick one. We met Derek and Annika on the way. We all got a round of Stubs, poured by the inventor of the drink himself. They are a pint of half cider/half PBR with a port chaser. The port is a little much for me, but I love the PBR/cider mix. Next time, I think I’ll just order a Stu.
Things were just getting going when we got back to Neighbors. A few hardcore dancers scattered the floor. We decided to wait it out a while longer. The lads played some pool and we watched the dance floor from the balcony.
Finally, the moment was right for us to boogie. We formed a nice little circle on the floor and danced our asses off to new wave hit after new wave hit. I love you, DJ Rock Lobster!
After we danced ourselves sore (which takes a lot less time than it used to), we headed home, but not before stopping at Pommes Frites to split a cone of chips and replenish any calories we might have previously burned.
FRIDAY
In the morning, Dom and I were lazy and it was wonderful. In the afternoon, we errands in the pouring rain. The evening brought Meep’s awesome holiday party that was fully stocked with cheese and bread (in the form of cheese logs and challah). We listened to cheesy Christmas music, enjoyed Meep’s decorations, drank Yule Logs (which are basically White Russians with egg nog instead of cream) and sifted through the gifts.
Speaking for myself, I came away with a tremendous gift haul including: mix cd’s from Gene and Elyse, candy, a paint by numbers set from Erin (which I plan to enjoy whilst stoned), and some very awesome, long coveted guilty pleasures from Meep in the form of a purple plush unicorn for my alleged new office, the Kelly Clarkson album “Breakaway” and “Walker Texas Ranger, the Final Season”. The last two items may require a little defending to my hipster brethren. First of all, Kelly Clarkson has got some pipes on her. Second, she sings the hell out of some pretty angsty songs for a pop star, and even though she doesn’t write the MUSIC, she does write most of the lyrics.
As for Walker, well, let’s just say that anyone who can appreciate the inanity and fantastical plots of a Paul Verhoeven movie combined with some comically sweeping generalizations would love this show. It’s kind of like what would happen if George Bush were a TV exec and not a puppet for puritanical dictators. Hilarity ensues.
SATURDAY
Again, my morning was delightfully unproductive. In the afternoon, Dom and I went to Elyse and Gene’s for Chinese food, the Last Starfighter, and a failed attempt to do something sacrilegious on Christmas Eve. We apparently have very few male friends who are interested in seeing naked strangers. And the ones we do have want to see the naked ladies in Lake City and not anywhere near where we live. You see, Ben had told me that he planned on going to De Ja Vous, as is his annual tradition. That sounded like a fine time to me, as it did to Elyse. But since he wasn’t going to the one downtown, Elyse and I thought that surely we could organize a separate group to come with us. We were wrong. Poo.
Instead, we wandered the deserted streets and ended up at the Cheesecake Factory, a place that would ordinarily be the bane of my nightlife. On this particular night, it was just the ticket. Sherwood hesitantly met us there. We were brushed off by our waiter (who I’m sure was none too pleased to be there) several times, but mostly enjoyed the big fru-fru drinks and Dom enjoyed the insanely ginormous portion of cheesecake. One thing I noticed about the wait staff of the Cheesecake Factory is that they are leftover bullies. They will do anything in their power to get you to take your leftovers with you. They were pushing boxes on a number of our unwilling neighbors. While I think taking your leftovers home, or at least giving them to a homeless person, is a good practice, I was a little weirded out by their fervor.
SUNDAY
Dom and I woke up early to go to West Seattle. We had breakfast and lunch with the his sister, brother-in-law and dad. We also took turns passing around our little niece, Indie. So far, she’s cute and well-behaved. I like that in a kid.
And then Dom and I exchanged gifts and I scored the most impressive gift for which I am now indentured to Dom for life. The media would have you believe that nothing makes a girl happier on a gift-giving occasion than to get some expensive jewelry from their significant other. Well, for me, getting an ipod was like getting a big fatty pink diamond ring. I got all doe-eyed and wobbly in the knees. I guess this must mean our relationship is pretty serious. So thanks Dom. Screw Jarret. My man went to the Apple Store”.
After that we went to Erin’s for a delicious vegetarian feast. We finally met the rest of her animal brood in the form of a sweet elderly Dalmatian named Amore, a spazzy kitten named Kinsey, and a friendly loaf of a cat named Toaster (who may or may not be a Cylon). Of course, we already knew Digit, who has mellowed significantly since becoming a sister.
We headed home around nine to enjoy our food coma. Dom went to play with his Gryphon and I popped in “High Tension”.
“High Tension” was a great horror/thriller. It was great at building suspense, and the gore was unrelenting. I was really enjoying it…until the last 10 minutes when it turned into an M. Night Shlamalalamaman movie. WHY?!
MONDAY
Elyse and I have been making plans to see “Breakfast on Pluto” ever since we saw that first still of the impossibly attractive Cillian Murphy in drag. That boy is so beautiful, I don’t know whether lust after him or envy his cheek bones. Anyway, we thought we were the only two people who wanted to see this movie. And of course we’d heard it was bad, and we believed it. But that wasn’t going to keep us from the ogle-fest.
I headed up to the U-District. Elyse called me to let me know that now we were being joined by Andrew…and Brugos and Derek and Aiyana. The more the merrier, I say. Elyse was running behind schedule so I was left to my own devices for a while.
I should NOT be left to my own devices in the U-district. I ended up spending money in 3 places including Zandadu Comics, the Buffalo Exchange and the new Chai cafe. As exciting to me as the prospect of a Chai café is, it becomes less exciting when I find out that their 20 flavors of Chai are all in powder form. Yech.
Eventually, I met everyone and we got our seats for the movie. Halfway through the film, the projectionist dropped the ball, and the reel just stopped. It took her a few minutes to realize what happened so we sat there staring at a blank screen for a while. Derek and Andrew took the opportunity to get out of dodge and take advantage of happy hour. They invited the rest of us to come with them but we declined, opting for pretty actors over good storytelling. The second half of the movie WAS better than the first. But it still wasn’t any good. It was a pretty fluffy, PG story about terrorism and transvestites in the 60’s/70’s. I guess Neil Jordan has gone soft in his old age. Oh well. Cillian is still very very pretty.
After some debate, Elyse and I convinced everyone to go to Dinner at Blue Sea Sushi in Fremont. Dom also met us for dinner. I had never been there and was overjoyed to find their vegetarian selection to be vast. Everything I ate was delicious.
And then it was home to cram stuff onto my ipod and dream that my holiday would last forever.
Holidays really ARE fun when you spend them with your friends and not your family. Who knew?
Effed by the Wind 