— पांच हजार दो सौ सैंतालीस —
I saw a movie with a friend last night, but in an unusual—though not totally unheard of—way: I did a "party watch" on Prime Video of
Groundhog Day with Kwanteria, who, although she's still working remotely for PCC until the end of August, moved back to Houston about a month ago. So, we started the movie at 6:00 my time, 8:00 her time.
For some time before she left, we talked regularly about going to a movie together one of these days. There were challenges, because she lived in the suburbs, so it was only feasible for her to come into town for a movie on a weekend, when I often had other plans, or when I didn't, there typically wasn't a movie playing that was a great contender for us to see together. I think we would have eventually made it happen had she stayed in the Seattle area, and she even talked about finding a place in town that would make her commute easier.
I never got a detailed account of her decision making process, but in the end, she decided it was better for her and her son (who is something like 8 or 9 I think) to move back to her hometown in Texas rather than further into Seattle. Someone like Shobhit, who practically makes a sport of ignoring nuance, would ask why the hell she would want to do that, especially with Texas state government becoming rapidly more fascist with each passing day. Well, there actually was a perfectly logical reason for it: her family still lives in Houston, and can provide assistance with childcare, saving her a lot of money. Also, there's something to be said for more progressive-minded people moving into red states: it helps tip the scales at elections, and I am convinced that without voter suppression efforts, Texas would already be a purple state and tilting right over into blue. Kwanteria had very legitimate personal reasons to move back home, but her move is also actually good for Texas. So, there's that.
Anyway, Kwanteria openly talked about how much she'll miss Seattle and her friends here, and said she wanted to do virtual movie nights with me since we never did get to go see a movie together. I told her I was up for that, and asserted I was totally serious; she concurred. We even declared we would make this a monthly event, on the third Wednesday of every month. We both have it as a recurring event on our calendars.
The decision was made in July when I already had plans on the third Wednesday (I needed to spend that whole day working on my photos and travelogue about my trip to Denver and Cheyenne), so we made an exception for July and did it on the fourth Wednesday instead. Hence, last night.
We chose
Groundhog Day for our inaugural movie because she had told me shortly before leaving that she had never seen, which shocked me. Granted, I learned during our movie-time chatting last night that it was released when she was . . . two years old. Fuck, that makes me feel old. So does realizing that 1993 was 29 years ago. Jesus Christ. I was just thinking the other day about how, although I've still got nearly another four years to go, I am definitely closer now to 50 than I am to 40. In fact, the whole reason Dad and Sherri and I are going to Idaho in September is to celebrate Christopher's 50th birthday, after which I will be the only one left of us four kids not yet in my fifties. At that point, I'll have three and a half years to go. I'm not a big fan of contemplating these facts, and yet for some reason I think about them regularly anyway.
I have to admit I do delight in watching people significantly younger than me also struggle with aging as they get older too. Hahaha it's your turn now, fuckers!
Anyway. Kwanteria seemed very much to enjoy the movie. She told me she laughed from start to finish, although after I admitted the white wine I was drinking (which Eddie, our traveler-tenant last week, had given us) was also helping me enjoy it, she admitted she was "high af and laughing my ass off."
It was really fun watching and chatting with her, and made me really look forward to this as a regular monthly event. She agreed, and then we signed off.
— पांच हजार दो सौ सैंतालीस —
— पांच हजार दो सौ सैंतालीस —
Otherwise, there was a fair amount of contemplation and/or discussion of upcoming travels for Shobhit and me. Just this morning I filled out the ArriveCAN app for Shobhit and me to cross the border back into Canada on Saturday, for my first time to Vancouver in four years; Shobhit's first time in five years; my first time there without it being choked by wildfire smoke in five years; and both our first time there specifically for Vancouver Pride in
fourteen years. Overall, though, it'll be my 12th visit to Vancouver and Shobhit's eighth.
We spent more time last night discussing the Family Vacation in Leavenworth in September, though, because there had been a spate of discussion on the Facebook Event page about which meals which family will volunteer for. In the end, we volunteered to bring salad and bread for the night Gina will provide lasagna, and also to cook breakfast for everyone one morning. So far as I can tell, with lunch being the only "fend for yourself" meal each day, that now means all three dinners and all three breakfasts are covered. Angel posted that she'll bring pizza to feed everyone the first night; Gina will provide lasagna the second night; and Brandi and Nick said they will do barbeque the third night. Apparently Beth will do a breakfast one morning; Dad did tell me on the phone the other day that he thought he would make French toast one morning; and Shobhit suggested he and I make eggs and country fried potatoes one morning. We all arrive Monday September 26 and leave Thursday September 29, so that should pretty much cover it. Honestly I expect there to be way too much food overall.
That's going to be a long week, for three of us (Dad, Sherri and me) combining two trips back to back: I'll take the bus to the 512 Park and Ride Friday September 23, and get picked up by Dad and Sherri for the drive the rest of the way to Wallace, Idaho; Christopher's 50th birthday brunch will be Saturday, September 24 at the rental home Dad and Sherri and I will be staying at; Dad and Sherri and I will travel from Wallace to Moses Lake on Sunday September 25; then to Leavenworth Monday September 26, when everyone else—including Shobhit—will also be meeting up there, for the next three nights. It occurred to me last night that I always have so many Zevia sodas, and will not want the likely sugary-soda or other drinks available, I should pack a bag of them for Shobhit to bring in the car when he drives over.
That trip is still two months away and it's already getting very organized. We're even going to have a "family competition" with prizes the third night, which had me slightly worried as I didn't want to deal with some kind of activity I'm not comfortable with and then have anyone resent me for not wanting to participate. It's been decided that the game will be cornhole though, which is very simple and easy and I'm totally cool with that. I'll also be very bad at it and won't win any prizes, but I'm okay with that too.
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[posted 12:20 pm]
