That for Which I Am Thankful
Nov. 29th, 2004 04:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenI went around to two Best Buys looking for the CD she expressly told me she wanted. She's good at this birthday racket. She knows what she wants, and she told me what to get and didn't suggest that as an idea to anyone else. I kept asking to, you know, check that no one else had gotten it, but no one else had any idea. Best Buys blow for CD shopping, let me tell you. I asked one clerk for "Lillix" and she went back to the Rock/Pop/R&B aisle from whence I'd come and didn't see the CD any more than I had. Then she went to search for it on the computer. I had to spell the name about three-four times before she told me they didn't have it.
Drew reminded me as I went out the door that there was a Coconuts over in the area, so, after Best Buy was a bust, I went there, stopping only once before for a card for her birthday (which, to my dismay, seems to have been thrown out accidentally). Cocontuts was much better, seeing as for starters I walked in and saw that U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was on sale for $11. No CD, save for some used CDs I have, has ever been so cheap, especially not a brand-new album. So, despite the fact that I've never bought a U2 album (because they're all pretty good and I would have to then buy them all) and despite the fact I was there for someone else's birthday gift, I picked it up, mostly to get "Vertigo" which has not stopped being in my head since I first saw the iPod commercial. I did find Devin's Lillix CD and nabbed her a copy of Beautiful Garbage so she has the complete works of Garbage, our shared obsession. Of course, on the way out, I stopped and had to buy the "Buy 1 get 1 free!" CD holders. To get 96 slots for $7.99 was too good a deal to pass up. I got her gifts, but it was a good trip for me, all in all.
We celebrated Devin's birthday after picking up Dana and her fiance, Jotham, from the airport. Thanks to their late flight and my miscommunication issues with my Dad which got us home via Long Island from JFK, we only celebrated Devin's birthday officially twenty minutes before it was technically over. She liked what I got her--naturally--and what else she received (a new dance bag, a really nice sweater, et al), cake was had, as was wine for adults. Maybe the best part was staying up really, really late with my mother of all people (she of the falling asleep on the couch before 10:30 pm) and Jotham. Forget what we discussed, but it was good to talk with them both, as I'd really not had too many discussions with Jotham and none quite so candid with my mother. We talked until 2-3 am, then it was off to bed.
Another reason to like Jotham and my mother: he doesn't like sports (watching or playing much, really) and she cooks really, really good food. Jotham, Devin, and I conspired to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (another B-day present), which was nice as I'd only seen it that one time en masse and was a tad too tipsy at the time to remember it or even like it that much. It grows on you with repeat viewings, and I felt like it was closer to the spirit than the letter of the book. I'd have liked the letter, as that's my favorite book, but it wouldn't have been as good a movie, I suspect. It was fun to play "HERMIONE LIKES RON! HERMIONE LIKES RON!" shouting games with Devin (who seems to think there's any doubt in the matter). As it got towards the end, my Dad, Drew, and Darryl-brother came in to announce the looming threat of football. Jotham's solution: "Hey, I missed part of the beginning, so, let's go back" as soon as the football crowd had left the room. So we did. We watched through Harry Potter a second time, and either the footballers didn't end up caring that much about the game (unlikely) or they didn't notice.
Thanksgiving was great--there were two new dishes introduced: red potatoes in a lemon/butter sauce and squash with pecans. I loved the potatoes and saved the squash for those who liked it. Better still were the Kringle cookies that were fresh when I woke up in the morning and gone by the time dinner was ready, but those are always good. There were TWO kinds of pie, apple and pumpkin, which had to be enjoyed at a much later time because we'd stuffed ourselves silly on the main courses. My mother's a saint--she cooked all day, set the table, got stuff put out...I wanted to offer to do something, but Thanksgiving is the holiday least suited to my abilities, or perhaps the one at which my abilities as cook are completely unsuitable for the holiday's demands. Dishes though, dishes the rest of us could do. Top it off with the Director's cut of Chronicles of Riddick, and you have a perfect Thanksgiving.
Dana and Jotham have some crazy disease whereby they like walking...everywhere. I think it's a San Francisco thing. They walked to the store to get bagels and were gone an hour. They walked to Lord&Taylor's and were gone about two. The suburbs are no place for walking...things are not close together. I got the sense they were disappointed I didn't go with, but I took every chance they were DEFINITELY out of the house to stitch the samurai. I got the swords done this weekend, and that's about it.
It's a little hard to stitch when you have to listen for people returning all the time. It's also hard to stitch when you're listening for the door and it keeps opening and closing because your brother is fixing the screen door. I was a bit of a nervous wreck, save for the one time I opted out of helping to move stuff from the storage area in favor of an hour when just about everyone would be gone (besides, moving large and heavy things is best left to the 6 foot and over male crowd anyway). I got stuck with reinstalling the seats in the van after the move, which, despite the huffs and puffs generated by moving furniture, was more difficult than the moving could ever be. For one, those seats come out lickedy split, but have to be nudged back into their grooves just so or they slide away.
Hard work deserves reward, and mine was to go to Mocca one last time before it closed. I met the usual suspects for a Mocca trip--Ken, Q, Pucik, Carrie, Eugene--and brought Liz M, Robert, theKathy, and Heddy besides. I decided to branch out and try something other than the Chicken Paprikas and got the wonderful beef goulash. The desrert-y crepes were delicious, I made the ULTIMATE TEA again, and, per my usual when hanging out with Liz, lost about half my IQ points and was pretty much the most ridiculous person at the table.
However, I wasn't the most ridiculous person in the restaurant. From the minute we entered until the moment she left, the woman sitting behind me was the most beligerent customer I'd ever been in a restaurant with. Sure, the wait staff is a bit terse, probably due to the imminent closing of the Mocca (giving them license to be rude because there wouldn't be much longer to worry about customers not returning), but you're supposed to be afraid they'll kill you, not yell back at them. We felt bad asking for more bread and water (which meant we were hungry and thirsty before and during our meal, respectively, and which made us feel like prisoners rather than diners). Not so the lady behind me, who was hollering for this or the other thing and getting madder instead of more desperate (like us) when the wait staff didn't come when she called. She shouted for this, for that, and for the other thing, louder and louder each time. By the time she barked about the check, I figured she must be close to sub-nuclear destruction rage.
But it got worse. The woman summoned over one of the waitresses, the tall, skinny, less gruff one, and demanded to know if the bathroom was free, as in available. To which the waitress responded, "How do I know? Am I the bathroom lady?" Admittedly, this was the less diplomatic response of several she could have chosen, but the customer to whom she was speaking had made the entire evening a reason for abandoning diplomacy. She launched into a tirade about how her mother was 92--92!!!!!(as you all should know, multiple exclamation points mean insanity, and here they are no exaggeration)--and what a hardship it would be for her to get up and get there and not have the bathroom ready at her leisure. While this situation is pitiable, she chose to phrase a request like a command and got what she deserved--a soundly rude response. You don't say "CATER TO MY EVERY NEED" to someone, not even a hostess or waitress. They provide the food to your liking, and the bathrooms et al are just icing on the cake. Places like McDonald's, they need bathrooms, partially to attract customers off the road, but restaurants like Mocca have reputations built on food not waste removal. If this lady had said, "Excuse me, but my mother is old and can't wait long for the bathroom, would you please, if we got her up right now to go, see about holding it for us?" That's a compromise--we'll start out for it this instant--for a compromise--the waitress would only have to hold the bathroom free at that time and not have to go check, come back and report, and go back again to hold down the fort like some toilet scout. Obviously, that was not on the menu, and the woman left in a huff, declaring that it was a good thing that Mocca was closing. The rest of us don't share her sentiments. It will be missed.
The evening was capped off with me finally getting to see The Incredibles, which, more or less, lives up to its name. I can't say I'm terribly in love with it, or that it's the best movie ever, ever, ever. Truthfully, I probably need to see it again to have more of a definite opinion on it. For one thing, I love Finding Nemo, which is, without a doubt, the most enjoyable Pixar movie I've ever seen, Incredibles included. Finding Nemo was incredibly beautiful as a film, stunning for its accuracy almost as much as the real things portrayed are stunning. It was also adorable, hilarious, and overall wonderful, a film in the Disney mold that broke it and freed itself of Disney-fied trappings.
It turns out we did manage to surprise my sister, flying in the face of all the clues that she had to figure things out. My mom arranged an engagement party for Dana and Jotham, but she organized a surprise Bridal Shower for Dana a couple of hours before. Devin kept Dana out of the house, mostly by getting her lost in White Plains and then going to the nail salon for a few hours. Drew and I went to get party supplies (we probably went to every CVS within a 20-mile radius before giving in and going to a party store a little ways away, which we should have done from the get-go, seeing as everything we needed was there). We picked up Carrie, killed about 10 minutes, then waited for Dana to arrive.
She was so clueless. Devin's demand that they stay under the nail-dryer until 3:25 precisely didn't tip her off. Neither did Drew calling Devin to find out where they were and having Devin pretend she was a friend who was out of town but wanted to have a get-together. Heck, neither did the party group standing fairly openly in the living room in front of the large windows. Dana had to be like pulled toward the group and had to have things explained to her. Once that was done, she started to open up presents, mostly stuff people bought off her registry and brought to the shower. Something I learned from this process: every ribbon snapped from a present is one child the couple will have. Not being careful got Dana up to four kids, then frustration with individually wrapped small items got her as high as 26. Jotham looked fit to burst or burst into tears when he heard...
The theme of the party, however, was filling in a recipe book for Dana. Each guest brought her a recipe and spice, garnish, or ingredient to be used in the dish. Lisa donated a chocalate cake recipe and Jello; I gave her "Snappy Green Beans" and bacon bits (vinegar would have been too heavy); Carrie had soda bread and cloves, and so on and so forth. We played a game whereby guests answered questions about the bride and the groom, and the winners got gifts. Carrie and I were taking notes on what was said at the prompting of my former neighbor. We didn't quite get it, and tried to write down funny stuff, like for a memory book. The idea was to write down what she said about gifts then, at the end, read them back as the dialogue for her wedding night. Let me just say that any wedding night where the phrase "It's like wearing a jellyfish" is used must a very...interesting one. And, seeing as it would be my sister's, TMI.
The Engagement party itself was muchos delicious, from appetizers and snacks (best dips ever!), to meat (nothing left of any of it, and two roasts and two rounds of curry were made!), to dessert (one hyphenated word: ready-whip). I gained noteriety for spraying whipped cream in a can into foamy piles in people's mouths. I also managed to be more full than I was even on Thanksgiving. Good drinks, too. I tell you what, if any of you alcoholics are looking to marry a bartender, my brother's your man. He made bootleg Long Island Iced Tea (no gin, some cherry in it, however he did it) that's better than the real thing (if slightly less intoxicating). I've gotta get that recipe from him. Margaritas went around and around, too, which I am always there for. The party went so late that I barely kept my eyes open through Christopher Titus' one-man show that we flipped on, and Wrong Turn when friends came over for like an hour at 1:45 or so.
All in all, it was a great holiday.
And this is great, too:
SNIPER: You love your gun. Maybe a little too
much, but you're very, very good at handling
him/her. See that mosquito on that wall 200
yards away? I bet you could hit it if you
tried...
Which Type of Assassin Are You? (With Anime pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla
Drew reminded me as I went out the door that there was a Coconuts over in the area, so, after Best Buy was a bust, I went there, stopping only once before for a card for her birthday (which, to my dismay, seems to have been thrown out accidentally). Cocontuts was much better, seeing as for starters I walked in and saw that U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was on sale for $11. No CD, save for some used CDs I have, has ever been so cheap, especially not a brand-new album. So, despite the fact that I've never bought a U2 album (because they're all pretty good and I would have to then buy them all) and despite the fact I was there for someone else's birthday gift, I picked it up, mostly to get "Vertigo" which has not stopped being in my head since I first saw the iPod commercial. I did find Devin's Lillix CD and nabbed her a copy of Beautiful Garbage so she has the complete works of Garbage, our shared obsession. Of course, on the way out, I stopped and had to buy the "Buy 1 get 1 free!" CD holders. To get 96 slots for $7.99 was too good a deal to pass up. I got her gifts, but it was a good trip for me, all in all.
We celebrated Devin's birthday after picking up Dana and her fiance, Jotham, from the airport. Thanks to their late flight and my miscommunication issues with my Dad which got us home via Long Island from JFK, we only celebrated Devin's birthday officially twenty minutes before it was technically over. She liked what I got her--naturally--and what else she received (a new dance bag, a really nice sweater, et al), cake was had, as was wine for adults. Maybe the best part was staying up really, really late with my mother of all people (she of the falling asleep on the couch before 10:30 pm) and Jotham. Forget what we discussed, but it was good to talk with them both, as I'd really not had too many discussions with Jotham and none quite so candid with my mother. We talked until 2-3 am, then it was off to bed.
Another reason to like Jotham and my mother: he doesn't like sports (watching or playing much, really) and she cooks really, really good food. Jotham, Devin, and I conspired to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (another B-day present), which was nice as I'd only seen it that one time en masse and was a tad too tipsy at the time to remember it or even like it that much. It grows on you with repeat viewings, and I felt like it was closer to the spirit than the letter of the book. I'd have liked the letter, as that's my favorite book, but it wouldn't have been as good a movie, I suspect. It was fun to play "HERMIONE LIKES RON! HERMIONE LIKES RON!" shouting games with Devin (who seems to think there's any doubt in the matter). As it got towards the end, my Dad, Drew, and Darryl-brother came in to announce the looming threat of football. Jotham's solution: "Hey, I missed part of the beginning, so, let's go back" as soon as the football crowd had left the room. So we did. We watched through Harry Potter a second time, and either the footballers didn't end up caring that much about the game (unlikely) or they didn't notice.
Thanksgiving was great--there were two new dishes introduced: red potatoes in a lemon/butter sauce and squash with pecans. I loved the potatoes and saved the squash for those who liked it. Better still were the Kringle cookies that were fresh when I woke up in the morning and gone by the time dinner was ready, but those are always good. There were TWO kinds of pie, apple and pumpkin, which had to be enjoyed at a much later time because we'd stuffed ourselves silly on the main courses. My mother's a saint--she cooked all day, set the table, got stuff put out...I wanted to offer to do something, but Thanksgiving is the holiday least suited to my abilities, or perhaps the one at which my abilities as cook are completely unsuitable for the holiday's demands. Dishes though, dishes the rest of us could do. Top it off with the Director's cut of Chronicles of Riddick, and you have a perfect Thanksgiving.
Dana and Jotham have some crazy disease whereby they like walking...everywhere. I think it's a San Francisco thing. They walked to the store to get bagels and were gone an hour. They walked to Lord&Taylor's and were gone about two. The suburbs are no place for walking...things are not close together. I got the sense they were disappointed I didn't go with, but I took every chance they were DEFINITELY out of the house to stitch the samurai. I got the swords done this weekend, and that's about it.
It's a little hard to stitch when you have to listen for people returning all the time. It's also hard to stitch when you're listening for the door and it keeps opening and closing because your brother is fixing the screen door. I was a bit of a nervous wreck, save for the one time I opted out of helping to move stuff from the storage area in favor of an hour when just about everyone would be gone (besides, moving large and heavy things is best left to the 6 foot and over male crowd anyway). I got stuck with reinstalling the seats in the van after the move, which, despite the huffs and puffs generated by moving furniture, was more difficult than the moving could ever be. For one, those seats come out lickedy split, but have to be nudged back into their grooves just so or they slide away.
Hard work deserves reward, and mine was to go to Mocca one last time before it closed. I met the usual suspects for a Mocca trip--Ken, Q, Pucik, Carrie, Eugene--and brought Liz M, Robert, theKathy, and Heddy besides. I decided to branch out and try something other than the Chicken Paprikas and got the wonderful beef goulash. The desrert-y crepes were delicious, I made the ULTIMATE TEA again, and, per my usual when hanging out with Liz, lost about half my IQ points and was pretty much the most ridiculous person at the table.
However, I wasn't the most ridiculous person in the restaurant. From the minute we entered until the moment she left, the woman sitting behind me was the most beligerent customer I'd ever been in a restaurant with. Sure, the wait staff is a bit terse, probably due to the imminent closing of the Mocca (giving them license to be rude because there wouldn't be much longer to worry about customers not returning), but you're supposed to be afraid they'll kill you, not yell back at them. We felt bad asking for more bread and water (which meant we were hungry and thirsty before and during our meal, respectively, and which made us feel like prisoners rather than diners). Not so the lady behind me, who was hollering for this or the other thing and getting madder instead of more desperate (like us) when the wait staff didn't come when she called. She shouted for this, for that, and for the other thing, louder and louder each time. By the time she barked about the check, I figured she must be close to sub-nuclear destruction rage.
But it got worse. The woman summoned over one of the waitresses, the tall, skinny, less gruff one, and demanded to know if the bathroom was free, as in available. To which the waitress responded, "How do I know? Am I the bathroom lady?" Admittedly, this was the less diplomatic response of several she could have chosen, but the customer to whom she was speaking had made the entire evening a reason for abandoning diplomacy. She launched into a tirade about how her mother was 92--92!!!!!(as you all should know, multiple exclamation points mean insanity, and here they are no exaggeration)--and what a hardship it would be for her to get up and get there and not have the bathroom ready at her leisure. While this situation is pitiable, she chose to phrase a request like a command and got what she deserved--a soundly rude response. You don't say "CATER TO MY EVERY NEED" to someone, not even a hostess or waitress. They provide the food to your liking, and the bathrooms et al are just icing on the cake. Places like McDonald's, they need bathrooms, partially to attract customers off the road, but restaurants like Mocca have reputations built on food not waste removal. If this lady had said, "Excuse me, but my mother is old and can't wait long for the bathroom, would you please, if we got her up right now to go, see about holding it for us?" That's a compromise--we'll start out for it this instant--for a compromise--the waitress would only have to hold the bathroom free at that time and not have to go check, come back and report, and go back again to hold down the fort like some toilet scout. Obviously, that was not on the menu, and the woman left in a huff, declaring that it was a good thing that Mocca was closing. The rest of us don't share her sentiments. It will be missed.
The evening was capped off with me finally getting to see The Incredibles, which, more or less, lives up to its name. I can't say I'm terribly in love with it, or that it's the best movie ever, ever, ever. Truthfully, I probably need to see it again to have more of a definite opinion on it. For one thing, I love Finding Nemo, which is, without a doubt, the most enjoyable Pixar movie I've ever seen, Incredibles included. Finding Nemo was incredibly beautiful as a film, stunning for its accuracy almost as much as the real things portrayed are stunning. It was also adorable, hilarious, and overall wonderful, a film in the Disney mold that broke it and freed itself of Disney-fied trappings.
It turns out we did manage to surprise my sister, flying in the face of all the clues that she had to figure things out. My mom arranged an engagement party for Dana and Jotham, but she organized a surprise Bridal Shower for Dana a couple of hours before. Devin kept Dana out of the house, mostly by getting her lost in White Plains and then going to the nail salon for a few hours. Drew and I went to get party supplies (we probably went to every CVS within a 20-mile radius before giving in and going to a party store a little ways away, which we should have done from the get-go, seeing as everything we needed was there). We picked up Carrie, killed about 10 minutes, then waited for Dana to arrive.
She was so clueless. Devin's demand that they stay under the nail-dryer until 3:25 precisely didn't tip her off. Neither did Drew calling Devin to find out where they were and having Devin pretend she was a friend who was out of town but wanted to have a get-together. Heck, neither did the party group standing fairly openly in the living room in front of the large windows. Dana had to be like pulled toward the group and had to have things explained to her. Once that was done, she started to open up presents, mostly stuff people bought off her registry and brought to the shower. Something I learned from this process: every ribbon snapped from a present is one child the couple will have. Not being careful got Dana up to four kids, then frustration with individually wrapped small items got her as high as 26. Jotham looked fit to burst or burst into tears when he heard...
The theme of the party, however, was filling in a recipe book for Dana. Each guest brought her a recipe and spice, garnish, or ingredient to be used in the dish. Lisa donated a chocalate cake recipe and Jello; I gave her "Snappy Green Beans" and bacon bits (vinegar would have been too heavy); Carrie had soda bread and cloves, and so on and so forth. We played a game whereby guests answered questions about the bride and the groom, and the winners got gifts. Carrie and I were taking notes on what was said at the prompting of my former neighbor. We didn't quite get it, and tried to write down funny stuff, like for a memory book. The idea was to write down what she said about gifts then, at the end, read them back as the dialogue for her wedding night. Let me just say that any wedding night where the phrase "It's like wearing a jellyfish" is used must a very...interesting one. And, seeing as it would be my sister's, TMI.
The Engagement party itself was muchos delicious, from appetizers and snacks (best dips ever!), to meat (nothing left of any of it, and two roasts and two rounds of curry were made!), to dessert (one hyphenated word: ready-whip). I gained noteriety for spraying whipped cream in a can into foamy piles in people's mouths. I also managed to be more full than I was even on Thanksgiving. Good drinks, too. I tell you what, if any of you alcoholics are looking to marry a bartender, my brother's your man. He made bootleg Long Island Iced Tea (no gin, some cherry in it, however he did it) that's better than the real thing (if slightly less intoxicating). I've gotta get that recipe from him. Margaritas went around and around, too, which I am always there for. The party went so late that I barely kept my eyes open through Christopher Titus' one-man show that we flipped on, and Wrong Turn when friends came over for like an hour at 1:45 or so.
All in all, it was a great holiday.
And this is great, too:
SNIPER: You love your gun. Maybe a little too
much, but you're very, very good at handling
him/her. See that mosquito on that wall 200
yards away? I bet you could hit it if you
tried...
Which Type of Assassin Are You? (With Anime pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla
