planes, trains, and bicycles
I took myself to see The Endless last night, which was the kind of movie I was perfectly happy to have gone to see, I liked it plenty, but still can't imagine going out of my way to recommend it to anyone else. I suppose if I found anyone I knew to be interested in the specific themes it explores (science fiction, alternate timelines, a sort of mystical mystery), then I might say to them they should see it. I don't know who that might be, though.
For me, it was mostly just about getting back into the swing of seeing movies again; the movie I saw on Monday was the first I went to in a nearly two-week break. Being a 6:30 showing on a Wednesday, the house was not very full, which was to be expected. Although there was one group of three guy friends there, and maybe one or two couples, otherwise the house was full of people who, like me, had gone to see a movie by themselves. As I noted on social media last night, these are my people.
Before leaving for the movie, in that hour I was home, Shobhit deep fried some tortillas for us and we ate them with a potato and cauliflower dish he made for dinner, as we watched The Big Bang Theory. This week's episode was better than most have been so far this season; I really feel like the quality of that show has waned significantly this season. I used to be so impressed by the character development on that show. Now, it often comes off as just dumb. This week was better though.
It's a drizzly day in Seattle today, so I sort of pre-emptively made up for that yesterday by biking down to Lower Queen Anne -- or close to it, as in the case of work -- twice. First for work; I was then home for roughly an hour before the second time was for the movie, which played at SIFF Cinema at the Uptown. No MoviePass usage there, but with my SIFF membership I get $5 off all tickets, so it was $9 instead of $14. Since I just renewed my membership, though, I was able to use the first of five free small popcorns on a punch card that I'll surely have used up within a month or two. I'm going to blame that popcorn on my weight being back up to 150.4 this morning, after weighing in yesterday at 149.7, the first time I got below 150 in some time, well before my Birth Week.
My bike ride back from the movie basically spanned the time it took from beginning to end of dusk, and I took several pictures of the city as I rode, which I posted as a series on Instagram. It was eight shots, which would not fit into one tweet, and I don't like the way Facebook displays multiple photos in one post as much, so in both those cases, I just posted the first photo with a link to the Instagram post. It was a very nice, lovely ride, unusually quiet for going through downtown Seattle, I suppose because it was between 8:30 and 9:00 on a Wednesday evening. I mean, it was also a challenge, being the second time I rode up that hill in the same day, but it had its rewards.
I then wrote the movie review and that pretty much summed up the entire evening.
OH MY GOD these fucking "Save Madison Valley" dipshits and their "squeaky wheel gets the grease" mentality! Is that god damned PCC ever going to get built? Now that group is threatening "taking the case to court."
the Save Madison Valley group says it will take the case to court to stop the development altogether if necessary unless the project is significantly altered to meet their requirements for a smaller project.
My response to that is: FUUUUUUUCK YOU. Or, more specifically, the comment I posted, among the more than thirty (most supporting the site redevelopment) already on the article page:
These Save Madison Valley dimwits have long since proved themselves to be unreasonable, and lacking the brain capacity to understand that only compromise allows for progress — and the city and planners have compromised for them over and over again! STOP LISTENING TO THEM.
I was talking to Kevin a couple of days ago, because of the sudden news that Bryan, who did category management for HBC (and Kevin does for Grocery, my department), has left the recently formed "Category Management Team" with its own new boss to work at one of the stores again. Beth, the new Senior Category Manager, does things a lot more differently (and strictly, I guess), and apparently Bryan was not a great fit for it. Anyway, the conversation with Bryan evolved, and I found out the "Center Store" (that's my department! in Grocery) section at the new Rainier Square store will be notably smaller than that of other stores, as this one will cater more to downtown clientele searching more for "Fresh" (Deli, Produce, Meat) products. Damn it! Maybe that won't wind up being my default new store after all, and it actually will wind up being Madison Valley -- which is roughly the same distance from home, just in the opposite direction. If it ever fucking opens, anyway!
I just got back from lunch with Karen down at the Six-Seven Restaurant at the Edgewater Hotel. I left a little late because I was proofing an ad with Noah -- damn work, getting in the way! Karen herself was delayed slightly due to that train carrying planes, but she still beat me there easily. I did stop to take that photo while crossing over the railroad tracks via the Olympic Sculpture Park.
Karen is having to avoid dairy for two weeks, so we couldn't share a dish this time. I just ordered the flatbread and ate it on my own. Not too heavy a meal, but at $13 before tip, it did cost me more than my half of a shared dish usually does. Unless we share the truffle macaroni, actually. But I couldn't eat all of that dish on my own and also pay twenty bucks -- again, before tip -- for it.
We talked a lot about the gardens I visited for my Birth Week last week, and also about the pretty extensive plan I've already got in place for boats during my Birth Week next year.
Then I walked back and now I should get back to work.
[posted 1:28 pm]