Happy Damn Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a happy damn Thanksgiving. I had a pretty darned good weekend, full of overeating, movies, football, and overeating.

It started Wednesday, when Rebecca's mom came into town. I had to preview the movie out at my theater, so they came out to watch it. Debbie came bearing gifts: some stuff for the apartment, a book (see below), and a gift card that I shall use to purchase a messenger bag to replace the one that Rebecca wants back, the one that I took from her after her cat Mini vomited into my backpack lo these many months ago. It's too bad that the movie, Fallen Angel, wasn't very good, and it's too bad that the Mexican restaurant screwed up the food order so I had to eat a burrito with too many onions, but it was a good evening anyway.

Actually, it started earlier on Wednesday when I discovered that I'm on the Internet Movie Database. I'm fricking famous! Line up over here for autographs.

Thursday morning, bright and too early, I left for Michigan in my creaky car. Since I got it "fixed," it's been making a funny creaking sound when I hit bumps or shift. I called the mechanic on Tuesday and told him that I'd be bringing it in on Friday, and he said that I should go ahead and bring it in. The roads were clear, which was a nice surprise after the crappy rain and sleet from the night before. I got to my family's house in Muskegon just before dinner at 2:00. My oldest friend in the world, Moosie, and his girlfriend Erin came for the day, which was nice. I don't see enough of them. They're getting married next summer, and I'm supposed to be the best man. Any suggestions on speeches?

Anyway, dinner was really good. The turkey was perfect, the rolls weren't burnt (long story), and nobody was in a bitchy mood. After dinner, we draped ourselves over the furniture and watched the Lions getting their asses kicked. Moosie and I had a spirited discussion about whether the tryptophan in turkey was enough to make people drowsy; I argued that it is an urban legend that it makes you sleepy, and I am right. Moosie, Erin, and I had a pillow fight that turned into a wrestling match, while my mother poo-pooed that we had never grown up. What's wrong with that?

My dad and I continued our tradition of going to see the local minor league team, the Muskegon Fury, play that night. They won, as they do quite often: they won the Colonial Cup of the United Hockey League last year, and they've only lost once in the past 25 or so games. I'm sure you're glad to know that. It was nice to see live hockey again, and it's always nice to go to games with Bob.

Friday morning I drove my car out to the garage, to find that the bastard who runs it lied to me about being there. He was out of town for the weekend. Now I'm really pissed at him, and I'm going to sue him for whatever it costs to fix my car. I went back home and watched the Michigan high school football state championships with Bob. Muskegon had two teams in two different divisions playing at the Silverdome, and both teams won. Wahoo!

Friday afternoon my ex Jennifer arrived from her family gathering in Kalamazoo. We went book shopping, then went to see Finding Neverland, which was pretty darned good, but not great. Johnny Depp was really good, as was Kate Winslet, but the movie could have used a more fantasy-oriented director like Tim Burton. My mom made her famous macaroni and cheese, and my sister made her famous rice krispie treats. All was good with the world.

Along the way I started reading the book that Debbie got me, Tepper Isn't Going Out by Calvin Trillin of the New Yorker. It's a really funny story of a guy named Tepper who likes to sit in his car and read the newspaper. Drivers honk at him, asking for his parking spot, but Tepper isn't going out. After some newspaper coverage, people start to flock to him: some think he's an oracle who can help them with their problems, some think he's a rebel fighting for whatever cause they support, and the by-the-rules mayor of New York City, called Il Duce (but modeled on Guliani), thinks he's the first attack of the forces of disorder. The book is delightful, even though I hate using that word. Go buy a copy and read it.

Saturday I drove home in crappy, vision-obstructing rain, and I made it home in time for a nap before going out to my theater to show Fallen Angel. We had a really big crowd, which is always nice. I was there late because I screwed up yet again taking the film apart after the show. Some things never change.

Today I slept in and spent the rest of the day researching and watching Twilight's Last Gleaming, which we were thinking about showing next season out at the theater. I decided that it was a little too much for our mostly senior citizen crowd: too much violence, too much language, and too much radical leftist politics. We don't want to alienate our regulars, so we're showing Two for the Road instead. Then I got takeout from Boston Market and watched a couple of episodes of Angel. I'm going to watch a couple more before I go to bed.

I hope everybody had a good weekend.