— पांच हजार एक सौ एक —
This is my requisite Monday roundup of the weekend, but I'm still going to try and move through it quickly. Not only do I have a shit ton of work to get done this week, but I have only three and a half days in which to get it done. The office is closed on Friday, during which time I would have taken the day off regardless, so I could bus down to Olympia and spend Christmas Eve with my parents for the first time in two years. Shobhit has to work and will drive down the next day; this was basically how we did this in 2019 as well.
And even before that, just as I did my last day working before the time I took off for Thanksgiving, I'll take my stuff home on Wednesday so I can work from home Thursday morning, before walking over to the Central District store to work a four-hour "Holiday Helper" shift that afternoon.
So let's get to it!
— पांच हजार एक सौ एक —
On Friday right after work, Tracy came to the office and so we left 20 minutes early that day so she could drive us right up to Lower Queen Anne and we could go see
Drive My Car, the three-hour Japanese film finding its way on a lot of critics's top ten lists. It won't be on mine, though. I liked the movie fine (solid B) but it didn't blow me away by any stretch.
I was on the phone for a few minutes with Gabriel last night and he somewhat surprised me by saying he had actually clicked through my link on Facebook and read the review. I know he reads some of my stuff but I never assume any particular thing I've written has been read by him, unless it's about having spent time with him. He complained yet again about how I he thinks I give too high a grade to movies I "hate." My feeling about this movie, though, was far from hatred. I actually liked it, and in spite of my criticisms, I stand by my review and feel it made that clear. I think Gabriel has a bit of a projection issue, and has a history of ascribing intent that doesn't exist. (Hence his common declaration that I'm "grumpy" when I answer the phone, which I almost never actually am. It should be noted that not a single other person I speak with on the phone tells this to me, which seems telling. Gabriel would probably make some wildly misguided assumption about exactly what it "tells," though.)
Anyway, I liked the movie. But, it was too fucking long. Tracy and I would have loved to discuss it much further afterward, but the movie got out at about 7:45, Shobhit had gotten off work at 7:30, and the Uptown is on his way home from there so he came and picked me up. I sat in Tracy's car parked on Mercer, trying to discuss the movie quickly, until Shobhit pulled up behind us and I got out to switch cars.
— पांच हजार एक सौ एक —
Saturday was my December
Virtual Happy Hour with Laney, calling via Facebook Video Chat to her in a campground about half an hour drive east of San Diego, she said. She was sitting just outside the campground clubhouse, its Christmas Tree right behind her; it made for a perfect dual photo as I sat in the living room with my tree behind me as well.
I had done some Christmas wrapping up until she called, having to stop and thinking at first that I had run out of wrapping. When I went back to finish it after the call, because trying to do it during the call proved too distracting, I discovered my last roll of wrapping paper had barely just enough for me to cover all of the calendars. I'll have two calendars to give as gifts at home on Friday; then nine to take to Olympia: one designed for Jennifer, and the other eight with all the same design to Dad and Sherri; my two sisters; and their collective five children. I suppose I'll take most of them over to Gina's house on Christmas Day, but if anyone doesn't make it then I'll just leave their calendar at Dad and Sherri's for later pickup.
Anyway, chatting and drinking with Laney (me with a hot buttered rum; she was just drinking water) was lovely as always, although not featuring in much new to share on either side this month. We did do a fair bit of fretting over the expected, unprecedented wave of COVID-19 infections heading toward us due to the Omicron variant, which has me slightly spooked but, for now at least, not intending to change my Christmas plans. I read
just this morning that most of the world's vaccines, while still likely to prevent serious illness, are unlikely to prevent infection from this variant—with the notable exceptions of those of us who got Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, especially with a booster dose. That would be me! Now I'm not naïve or stupid enough to say that makes me "bulletproof" (the word that idiot who came to Thanksgiving dinner at Faith's said about himself based solely on the fact that he'd already had COVID and recovered from it), but it still lessens my risk considerably, and when it comes to all of this shit, it's about weighing risks.
Anyway, most of the world has gotten vaccines other than Pfizer or Moderna. All three of my shots were Pfizer. What a privilege it is to be an American. A point that has been acutely true from the start of this pandemic, even in the face of President Fuckwit still being in the White House when it started.
— पांच हजार एक सौ एक —
— पांच हजार एक सौ एक —
And yesterday, I went to see
Nightmare Alley with Ivan, at the Egyptian theater just because it was closest, even though I could have used my AMC monthly membership at Pacific Place. Ivan surely would have gone down there with me, but I knew 1:30 was a better showtime for both of us, and it's nice to have a theater only six blocks away.
I did feel like an incredibly dope once we got there though, because even though I even had it in my calendar as 1:30, for some reason I had it in my mind yesterday that it was at 1:00, and we left without my ever double checking the calendar. We got there before 1:00 and the doors weren't even open yet. "It's at 1:30, Matthew!" Ivan said, but he seemed to just accept it and move on. He did then say, "What are we going to do now? Do you wan to go look at the cats?" So we walked down to NEKO Cat Café just a few blocks west, which we have booked to go to on Wednesday the 29th, and looked through the windows at the unprecedented number of young kittens they have in there right now. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many cats in there at once.
We walked back, the doors were open, we went in, showed our proof of vaccination, and went inside. I didn't get popcorn this time, although I did bring a thermos of chai with some Biscoff cookies. Ivan went along with my suggestion that we sit up in the balcony, which I was honestly surprised they even had open. I was also kind of shocked how few people were in the theater—granted it was the first showing, but still. I saw maybe six or eight people down on the main floor, and we were the only two in the balcony. Perfect social distancing, though.
I did realize something yesterday. Ivan works as a nurse and gets tested for COVID twice a week as a matter of course. I was thinking about getting tested before going to Olympia, just as a precaution, but then I thought—we can probably use Ivan as a barometer. If Shobhit or I brought it home, Ivan would surely get it. And if Ivan tested positive, we'd have to quarantine no matter what. I'm not saying this is foolproof (it's still possible one of us could have it and not spread it to the others, especially with all three of us triple vaccinated); I'm just saying it prompted me to downplay any urgency of testing in my own mind. Also, Beth posted to the Facebook page and assured us all that they are going to open all their windows to keep the house well ventilated, and telling us to dress in layers, which I loved to see. And if too many people come over and can wear my mask and/or just step outside. As of today—and these things can change by the day—I think it'll be fine.
That said, once we get past Christmas and New Year's, I am glad that we have nothing major, no travel and no notable gatherings, planned until April. Which will make it easier to ride out this next wave.
— पांच हजार एक सौ एक —
Speaking of which, I was supposed to go over to Alexia's next door last night to watch her purchased digital copy of
Arthur Christmas, which I have never seen. We were going to get takeout to have for dinner while watching. But, we agreed to call it off after she texted me that her trainer's husband just yesterday tested positive for COVID. Alexia is going to get tested herself and we'll go from there; she said she "feels fine" but we all know that's not anything anyone can rely on with potential exposure—and with my headed to Olympia to see family in a week, I clearly don't want to risk it. That said, she and I do also have tickets to WildLanterns at Woodland Park Zoo tomorrow evening, which I intend to honor; I just don't know yet whether we'll drive together. It's an outdoor
and masked event, after all, so I think the risk there will be minimal. If she doesn't have a test result yet, I'll either see if I can't take transit there (which will be tricky from my work location, especially if I'd like to get home first), or perhaps we can just ride together masked with the windows down.
In any case, Ivan had expressed interest in the movie I had loved and told him about in August, called
French Exit, so we watched that before Shobhit got home from work, instead of my going over to Alexia's, after I was finished with my review of
Nightmare Alley. I liked
Nightmare Alley way more than Ivan did, incidentally; he clearly got bored and kept looking at his phone. I found it distracting and annoying myself, but at least there was no one else near us up there in the balcony. After that, he actually seemed to enjoy
French Exit, although he clearly didn't love it as much as I do. I could watch that movie again and again, and I realized while watching that, even though I gave it a B+ and I have more than ten movies this year with an A- or higher, I may need to include it on my top 10, just because it impacted me so deeply. And that's really my personal barometer for my lists each year.
Oh and speaking of watching movies at home, the three of us watched a Christmas movie Saturday evening after Shobhit got home from work, just because I wanted to watch another one from this year's list of potentials, and this was just the second one so far:
Miracle on 34th Street from 1947. What an utterly charming movie. I don't feel like it gets seen as much annually as
It's a Wonderful Life, but it should be; I like
Miracle on 34th Street way better.
— पांच हजार एक सौ एक —
[posted 12:51 pm]
