the legend of the five years
I spent I'd say close to three hours with Tracy last night, although for a good two and a half of them we didn't speak more than just a couple of words here and there—because we went to see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. We both quite enjoyed it.
This is a big, major, blockbuster release, the published release date today, but as per usual the first showtimes were actually last night. These used to start pretty strictly no earlier than 7 p.m. the Thursday prior to opening day, but yesterday the earliest showings were at 6:00. This worked perfectly for me, as it gave me just enough time to write my review afterward without having to stay up too late.
It also meant the theater was much fuller than they usually are at showtimes I more often go to, on weekdays right after work. As in, the movie I saw Wednesday had all of two people in the theater including myself; last night the house must have been somewhere between 25% and 30% full—which, for these days anyway, as a lot. On the upside, most people seemed to be keeping their masks on.
Tracy gave me a ride home afterward, which gave us a little time to talk about the movie and how much we both quite enjoyed it. This movie was not as great as Black Panther, but I still appreciated it in the same vein: its unprecedented representation in Marvel movies, particularly that of Asian superheroes. As I noted in my review, the climactic final act was kind of the same mess of action and CGI as all the other superhero movies, but up until then, this movie really stands apart. I had a really good time watching it.
I then spent about an hour at home writing the review. I didn't see Ivan at all yesterday; he had just left for work right before I got home. Once the review was done, it was then time to get ready for bed.
I've got a busy Labor Day weekend coming up, although ironically, nothing scheduled for Monday. I keep forgetting I actually have that day off of work.
Tonight is Happy Hour with Laney, with Shobhit joining—reservations at 5:30 for the rooftop deck at Mercado Luna, the Mexican restaurant on Pine and Summit which had to be canceled when we tried it three weeks ago, for two reasons: Laney's hip was still not yet well enough healed; and the heat wave that weekend prompted them to close down their rooftop deck for two nights anyway. Well, it's happening tonight!
Tomorrow is Gina's 50th birthday party in Olympia. It's going to get slightly tricky because there are still dipshit family members truly digging in their heels about not getting vaccinated who will be there, during which time I will be sure to stay outside. I have a feeling even Dad and Sherri are at least slightly concerned about this; Sherri just posted a reminder on the Facebook Event page just yesterday that there will be "dinner, cake, and outdoor visiting." I still plan to come down a couple of hours early so we can get some quality time with Dad and Sherri before the party. And of course, much earlier in the morning, I'll finally share the tribute video I made for Gina's birthday.
Then Sunday Shobhit and I are going to hang out with Karen and Dave on their new property in Tulalip, which currently only has a shed on it and eventually will have a second home constructed on it. We'll have a picnic lunch.
I honestly don't know yet what I'll do with my Monday. I'm sure Shobhit and I can figure something out.
Oh! Just real quick, a reason why I'm posting this slightly later than usual: we had a "Goodbye Teams Meeting" for Jess L, who has only been here for five years but is going back to Brooks, for whom she worked prior to this, over a Microsoft Teams virtual meeting. It was sort of odd because maybe half the people who signed on were actually here at the office—including Jess herself, who isolated inside a meeting room to call in, but also Scott who sits to my left and Tracy who sits directly behind me. I never got to know her that well, but she did still take the time to tell me how she appreciated my photo cataloguing, particularly of her Halloween costumes. So, after the call was over, I went and found the four costumes of hers that I managed to get photos of (she was probably hired before Halloween in 2016, but that was my last Halloween in West Hollywood) and sent a little digest of them in an email to everyone who had made it on the call.
Now, though, I need to get back to work.
[posted 12:47 pm]