— पांच हजार चार सौ तीस —
Shobhit needed his car for campaigning on Saturday, and so I took a new approach to getting down to Gabriel and Lea's house when I don't have access to the car: I took my bike, first on the Sound Transit express bus to the Federal Way Transit Center, and then I rode to the house from there.
It actually worked out very well, except for one thing. When I was first thinking I would just take buses all the way there, the itineraries I found, no matter what variation came up, had it taking me about two hours to get there, on three different buses: the #11 from my place to downtown Seattle; the Sound Transit express #578 from downtown Seattle to the Federal Way Transit Center; then the King County Transit #178 from there to a stop about three quarters of a mile from the house, which I would then need to walk.
All of this was perfectly doable, and I could handle it pretty easily: I have many times now taken transit all the way to Olympia, after all, and that typically takes between two and a half and three hours. This is untenable to a lot of people, but not to me. I'm happy to have the time to relax and read a book.
But! Then I realized, I could actually save time by bringing my bike, because the bus itineraries had me waiting 15 minutes at the Federal Way Transit Center, which, combined with the walk I'd otherwise be taking at the end, amounted to a full half hour I could cut into a fraction of the length by cycling, especially if I could just head out on my bike as soon as I reached the Federal Way Transit Center.
Here's where I made a one-hour mistake. I realized when I did an itinerary that would include my bike—which then only necessitated taking one bus, no transfers—then that meant I could catch the Sound Transit #578 from downtown Seattle an hour later than previously suggested. Unfortunately, I kept thinking I had factored that change into my plans when I went to catch the 578 at 10:43 a.m. I only realized right after I had put my bike on the rack in front of the bus, and gotten on the bus, and the bus had pulled away, that I was actually on the bus an hour earlier than needed.
So, now what? I really went back and forth on this in my head. Should I text Gabriel and see if I could just arrive early? I knew this would annoy him, and make him feel obligated to let me come over earlier than planned. I decided not to mention it, and just take my time riding my bike through Federal Way, and kill time wherever.
I even thought: maybe I'll find something along SW 320th St—which makes up by far the majority of the stretch between the Federal Way Transit Center and Gabriel's house—that looks interesting enough to stop and check out, to kill time? Well, not so much: 320th in that direction is all of about five blocks of strip mall and/or box store type bullshit before it's just a long stretch of residential area. Federal Way is like the poster child for suburbia, literally none of it designed for comfortable cycling, incidentally. Some of the stretch did have "bike route" iconography stenciled into the pavement—literally on the sidewalk. Gabriel loves to bitch about how much he hates Seattle every time he comes into town (with his car, of course), but for my own purposes, I could just as easily find just as much reason to bitch about Federal Way and its inaccessibility to the car-less.
Literally the most interesting thing I saw was a Trader Joe's. I had earlier looked up on Google Maps to find all the regional Whole Foods locations, not one of which is in Federal Way. I was trying to see if there might be some place I could pick up a snack or something, so as not to arrive empty-handed—even though I knew there would be far more than enough to consume whether I brought anything or not. My being on a bike presented a challenge in this, however, as did my accidentally arriving an hour early, which would complicate anything I could pick up that might be perishable. In the end I didn't bring anything. I decided Trader Joe's wasn't exciting enough to stop and unwrap the bungee cord keeping my shoulder back to the bike rack.
Once I did get closer to Gabriel's neighborhood—and I have to admit, most of the ride was pretty pleasant, but for the few times I had to veer into the street to bypass people walking on the sidewalk—it was actually Lea, of all people, who blew my cover. So much for just killing time with Gabriel being none the wiser!
He called me shortly after noon, asking me where I was. So, I told him: I told him the cross streets I was near, where I had stopped on my bike to answer the phone, and Gabriel was, predictably, incredulous that I was so close so early—"You were the one who suggested 1:00!" he said. Indeed, I was. And I was not yet at his house, for the record.
How the hell did he even know I was close? Turns out Lea, who must have been out to run an errand or something, happened to pass me driving by when I was near a particular gas station. She called Gabriel and told him she saw me, as naturally she would. I don't blame her for that. I guess I should have found some other, more secret route where I'd have been less likely to be detected. I don't think there was any other option, actually.
I told Gabriel I was just going to ride over to Dash Point State Park and kill time; I didn't even intend to get there until about a quarter till 1:00 at the earliest. He said he needed to get something done and asked to give him at least half an hour. I was like, "I'm not at your house, so, don't be mad." Which was true! I wasn't even actually there, and he was acting as though I had already arrived. So what if I was close? I guess next time I'll have to wear a disguise. Maybe I'll wrap myself in a dirty blanket or something.
I actually rode past the entrance to Dash Point State Park at first, thinking there might be another entrance, which was wrong. But, I wound up at a bridge that crosses the county line, which meant I technically rode my bike out of both King County and Federal Way into Tacoma and Pierce County, which was kind of fun.
Then, I rode back to the entrance to Dash Point State Park, where I rode to the end of one road to the right, found that to be of little value, and then rode to the end of the road in the other direction, even though it was down a
very steep and winding hill to a parking lot very close to the beach, where a bunch of people were picnicking—and there was no place whatsoever to lock up my bike. Had there been one, I would have gone out to walk the beach a bit.
There was no way I would make it back up that hill on the bike, so I walked it. I texted Gabriel as I climbed, and he told me he was "very familiar" with that hill, which I don't doubt, given that he lives in Federal Way now, and grew up there as well. Once at the top of the hill, I killed just a few more minutes looking at TikTok. The perfect activity for time spent in a state park.
— पांच हजार चार सौ तीस —
— पांच हजार चार सौ तीस —
I didn't even get to the house as early as 12:45, thanks to the somewhat long TikTok video Gabriel had forwarded me, of a kid Lady Gaga once pulled onstage to demonstrate his incredible knowledge of the choreography, which literally moved me to tears. I've become such a softie.
I did still arrive first. I found a perfect spot in the back of the house to lean my bike against the wall, and walked up the steps to the back patio, where Gabriel was still cleaning up. I immediately noticed his
fantastic shirt, which features a sloth riding a llama gliding on a slice of pizza. He had his last day as a teacher recently, and when he wore the shirt to school and none of the kids said anything until he brought it up, they apparently said he wears weird stuff so often that it hardly seemed out of the ordinary. To be fair to Gabriel here, I've never seen even
him wear anything that delightfully bonkers.
Many had already texted that she would be slightly late, and Andy arrived not long after I did. Lea, who was only going to be able to hang out for a couple of hours before she had to leave for a sleepover with a couple of friends, was inside. Gabriel announced that was there and Lea yelled from some other room like she were thrilled about it: "Matthew!"
This was a deliberate hangout, proposed by me and then more directly organized by Lea—she literally created an Evite for it—of the five people in our group chat, actually the only group chat I regularly participate in. Someone, I don't remember who, gave the chat group a name: "We're Too Old for This Shit." It's the only group chat of more than two people that I have pinned among the nine chat contacts I have pinned in my iPhone app. Thus, it was just these five people: Gabriel; Lea; Andy; Mandy; and myself. This had actually been the earliest, original intent for Gabriel's birthday, until it ballooned into something bigger.
Just to be silly, when Lea sent out the Evite, she titled it "We’re too old for this shit 50th reunion."
As soon as I saw Lea, she offered me a choice of peanut butter m&m's and some other candy. Given that I can't remember what the other one was, you can guess which one I took. I later split a very large cookie Lea had baked, with a s'more baked into the middle of it. I usually try to avoid anything with gelatin in it but sometimes I make an exception, like when something looks irresistably delicious.
That was the start of basically a whole day of grazing on junk food. But it was delicious junk food! Mandy brought a bag of cheddar Ruffles potato chips, which I also had a lot of.
Mandy was last to arrive, and not even she took all that long to get there. We were all chatting in the kitchen for a bit, and then Gabriel declared we should all move outside.
Not long after that, Gabriel unveiled a sort of stunt that was a bit more organized than any of us were expecting for our visit that day. He went into the house, and then back out to the rest of us gathered around the small table by the back door on the patio, with what turned out to be gifts: a bottled drink and a Funko Pop boxed toy, each of them personalized.
Mine was a bottle of "
The Margalicious Margarita by Thomas Ashbourne (the same brand given to everyone; all the others had different flavors/liquors), and my Funko Pop was the
Return of the Jedi C-3PO, specifically that is the one with C-3PO in the chair in which he pretends to be a god to the Ewoks. Gabriel and Lea both agreed that made it the perfect one to get for me.
I should have taken a photo of it. I don't know why I didn't. I drank all of my margarita but I can still take a photo of C-3PO; he's at home now. I can't remember what figures were given to the others, except I remember Mandy got the
Wicket Ewok, although I can't remember why.
Even though Lea was also given a personalized bottle and Funko Pop, Gabriel revealed that this was his way of asking all of us to be in his wedding party. He and Lea are getting married next year on May 4 (because of "May the Fourth"—and this will overlap with my Birth Week, which annoys Gabriel every time I mention it, but hey, just as happened with his birthday party this year, that means he's already scheduled for my Birth Week by default so he doesn't have to worry about it), at
North Fork Farm in Snoqualmie.
I'd say the immediate reaction to this was fairly varied. Mandy had asked before Gabriel made his reveal as to what this was all about, "Is this going to make me cry?" And then when he officially asked us all to be in the wedding party, Mandy immediately put her face in her hands, and Gabriel almost mistook it for something negative (which would have been silly), until she assured him it was because she was so touched just to be asked.
There was a moment when it was noted I had not said anything—I mean, the way I see it, if Gabriel wants me in his wedding party than my being in his wedding party goes without saying—and I made a crack, I can't remember what exactly, but something to the effect of, "I'm weighing my options," which got a good laugh.
Of course I'll do it. I happily
officiated at his last wedding, after all, and honestly I'm glad I haven't been asked to do it again. Not because I didn't want to be asked then, but because to this day I think I seriously biffed it, making the crucial mistake of not writing a specific script from which to read. Mandy is also ordained, and has offered her services multiple times, not that she ever gave any indication that she'd be offended if anyone else were chosen—she clearly would do it if asked, and is fine with someone else being asked. Indeed, it turns out, Lea's brother has been asked. Apparently he's going to wear a Jedi robe.
I did ask what, exactly, being in the wedding party will entail. At the wedding itself, I guess I'll just be standing there. That works for me! I'll have to consider what I will wear; going full-on Star Wars cosplay (which, as of right now at least, they willy only encourage if it's done with real effort) is not likely in the cards. Mandy was immediately brainstorming on what she'll be wearing. Lea still doesn't even know what she'll be wearing. She's got ten months to decide. There will be some version of a bachelor party, but Gabriel assured me it will not entail going to a strip club. I suggested we all just go somewhere we can drink Manhattans. He was surprised by this suggestion because I am not really a Manhattan drinker. But he is! Which is why I suggested it.
I suppose you could argue that it's too bad I was not more immediately, demonstrably excited. But, the answer to whether I would be in the wedding if asked—especially when clearly not a lot will be asked of me—is always basically "Duh." That's not the most feeling response, I realize. But I can only be who I am!
The wedding venue looks beautiful and I look forward to going to it. Whether or not to stay the night there remains a question. I'll still be scheduling Birth Week activities the rest of the week surrounding that date. It's pretty convenient that May the Fourth lands on a Saturday next year.
In the end, and somewhat predictably, I hung out much longer than everyone else. Lea did indeed leave around 3:00, for her sleepover with two friends she was herself intending to ask to be in the wedding party. Right after Lea left, the rest of us—including Tess, who has gotten to tall it really irritated me that I was now definitively the shortest of the group (Andy thought maybe he was, but we stood back to back to immediately prove it was me)—took Lady for a walk. In so doing, Gabriel led us all through the forested area of the now-defunct
Camp Kilworth across the street from his house. We saw some old buildings marked for demoliton, and a great view of Puget Sound from the Archbishop Burnett Retreat Center, which neighbors Camp Kilworth on the other side.
Andy and Mandy left shortly after 7:00, and then how much longer I would stay with Gabriel, who would otherwise be left at the house alone for the night, and whether we'd order pizza for dinner, came up in conversation. As did a rewatch of Denis Villeneuve's
Dune, which is rather long. My bike was a potential issue, and honestly somewhat to my surprise, Gabriel was willing to drive me all the way back home to Seattle if need be. That's kind of nuts in my opinion—it's fully an extra hour of driving—but, it allowed me to stay and have dinner and a movie with him. And, this did occur to me later, among Gabriel's friends, I think this is one slight differentiator with me: I'm the one who stays.
He ordered us a huge calzone to split that was pretty tasty.
Gabriel is so in love with
Dune, he wouldn't even be able to say how many times he's watched it. He'd watched it less than a week ago. This had to have been the third or fourth time I've seen it. I'll probably watch it at least once more before Part Two comes out this fall. And that movie really is eminently rewatchable, in a way very few movies are these days—to call it a rich text is an understatement. And Gabriel, now also very familiar with the novel, was able to offer broader context on all sorts of stuff, which actually really enhanced the viewing experience.
That said, because of not getting quite enough sleep the night before, I really started to zonk out before the movie ended. I'd have been in serious trouble if I'd actually driven, for real. I nodded off so many times that Gabriel sent
a picture to the group chat, after rousing me with the "camera click" sound on his phone (I silenced that on my phone ages ago).
When the movie was over and it was time to go, he lowered the back seats in his car, creating what looked like a ton of space to me. He insisted it was still necessary to detach the front wheel of my bike. Considering how I've gotten my bike into Shobhit's trunk with far less space (granted, also with the front wheel detached, but again: far less space), I remain convinced I could have gotten the bike in there without having to detach the wheel. He insisted it was not possible, but I wasn't allowed to try, so I guess we'll never know! It will remain one of life's great mysteries until the end of time.
I did not off a few times on the ride home, but I didn't ever fall asleep, and I did hear everything he said to me. That doesn't mean I remember all of it.
He helped me re-attached the wheel when we reached my building in Seattle, and I was home shortly after 11:00—actually a bit earlier than Shobhit expected, after I had let him know I was staying later.
— पांच हजार चार सौ तीस —
As for the rest of my weekend, Friday and Sunday were movie-focused: on Friday I went with Alexia to see
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which was . . . fine. (Solid B.) What may have been the best part was when we were leaving, as I saw a little boy
dressed as Indian Jones. Whether that was the boy's idea or his parents' is less clear.
Alexia and I walked both to Pacific Place to see the movie and back afterward. Between that and the bike ride Saturday, I got a pretty good amount of exercise over the weekend. I more than neutralized that by eating all day Saturday like it was Thanksgiving.
Yesterday, I took myself to see
Every Body, a documentary about intersex people that was excellent. I was only one of two people in the theater. The other guy didn't come in until the trailers were all over, so I really thought I could sit through the movie without a mask on. I put it back on when he came in, even though only one other person is hardly a big risk. But I figure, why take the risk if I don't have to? (Friday's movie had far more people, and I didn't see anyone else wearing a mask. Alexia even asked when I put it on, "Do we have to wear masks?" and I said no. "I just gleefully threw all of mine out!" she had said.)
Shobhit and I also finally got around to watching my library DVD copy of a 1988 Robert DeNiro action comedy I had never seen, but learned about recently on a podcast, called
Midnight Run. It was pretty good, though not nearly as funny as I expected. We were sufficiently entertained by it, though, as we ate the vegetable and paneer dish Shobhit made for dinner.
— पांच हजार चार सौ तीस —
[posted 12:31 pm]
