Mezcaleria Suerte
Little to report today. I was home for about an hour after work, long enough to eat a sandwich Shobhit had brought home from work and watch an episode of Difficult People. Then Shobhit and I walked downtown to see Logan Lucky. It turned out to be excellent, even better than I expected, and I expected to enjoy it.
I worried a little in the very opening scenes, because the movie does not take the flashy or snappy approach to introducing us to its characters -- quite the opposite, actually. I wasn't worried that I wouldn't like it; I really thought that at any moment Shobhit was going to lean over and declare how bored he was, just like he did during Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. That movie was at least a third of the way through before Shobhit did that, to be fair, and also he was right. Luckily, even before Logan Lucky started to get funny, Shobhit surprised me by seeming actually to be rather into it. And this is a movie about Southerners, which Shobhit has a tendency to make prejudicial snap judgments about based on no more evidence than the fact that they live in the South.
One of the things I loved about this movie is how apolitical it was. It's true that a majority of the characters here would likely be people who voted for President Fuckwit. A key point that I read a while ago, though, and which has really stuck with me, is that there are more liberal people in the South than liberals in the rest of the country tend to assume. God knows that there are plenty of conservatives right here in Washington, a reliably blue state -- although that reliability is due almost exclusively to the Seattle-Tacoma metro area. And if you consider how many areas are, say, 60% blue and 40% red, there are just as many areas where the figures are reversed: 60% may be a majority, but 40% is still a lot. So assuming someone is a backward dipshit who votes against their own interests just because they're Southern is not in the least bit smart. (When it comes to a fair majority of my own extended family on the other hand, more often than not it'll be an accurate assumption. And most of them are in Western Washington.)
Beyond being apolitical, Logan Lucky even refuses to stereotype its characters. The closest it gets is when people suggest the heist it's about should be called "the Hillbilly Heist." But I might go so far as to say this movie is actually just as good as Ocean's Eleven -- and it's got the same director. They are very similar movies, just focusing on people of different levels of sophistication and socioeconomic background. But although a couple of characters in Logan Lucky come close, none of its characters are dumb. I was really glad I went to see it, and happy to see Shobhit enjoy it just as much as I did.
Shobhit ate very little yesterday up to that point, and decided on our walk home from the movie he wanted to stop somewhere and get something small to eat. He looked for Groupons while I looked on the Chinook Book app for deals, and neither of us could find anything very appealing nearby. And then he just up and decided, as we walked past, to try this Mexican place on Pine Street called Mezcaleria Oaxaca. I don't know exactly how long it's been there but it's definitely new since Shobhit moved away from Seattle in 2010, as probably a majority of the restaurants in the Pike/Pine Corridor are now. I had never gone there, though, and I quite liked it -- the décor, the atmosphere, and also the crispy vegetarian tostadas. The strawberry margarita I ordered, mixed with fresh strawberries, was excellent. I may see if Laney wants to come back there with me for Happy Hour sometime. Shobhit and I did not sit in the open-air rooftop deck they have but we did go up and check it out before leaving.
By the time we walked home from there, it was nearly 10:00. Shanti rushed up to greet me at the door as usual, and I rubbed her belly while Ivan looked on from the love seat in the living room. He adores Shanti and seems almost to enjoy regarding Guru with disdain just as much. Both my cats are unusual in how much they like getting their bellies rubbed, though. A lot of cats hate it. Not these two. Guru actually is the more annoying of the two, though. He loves to mew for attention every time Shobhit and I get into bed.
I had a realization recently: even counting the pets, I am the favorite among all of those who live in my condo. I mean, Ivan certainly likes Shobhit just fine, but he's still much more bonded to me than he is to Shobhit. And God knows, conversely, even though Shobhit likes Ivan just fine, obviously he's wildly enamored with me and always has been. I am his husband, after all. I am the clear favorite of Shanti as well. Hell, she only wails at the door when I'm the one who is gone, often irritating the shit out of Shobhit. It's slightly less obvious but I stand at the top of the hierarchy in Guru's mind too -- although in that one case, Shobhit comes in at a rather close second. Guru gets nearly equally affectionate with Shobhit and me, and is particularly partial to laying in between us when we are in bed. But whatever, I'm still the most popular!
What an odd thing to realize. And a life that is the polar opposite of when I was growing up, particularly in school. I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a "favorite" at work now, but I'm definitely well liked, even loved, by many even there. I'm really living a life beyond the wildest imaginations of my younger self. When I was a kid I really thought everyone hated me, and now I go through life feeling like everyone loves me.
