A weekend in the life...

I had an eventful weekend - mostly the good kind of eventful, as in lots of fun things to do, but also a few less than entertaining things.

It started Friday night with dinner and a movie with my homies - that means my girlfriends. We went to see Shopgirl. I liked the movie, as I'd liked the book, but had a few issues with it, as I had the book. I won't get into them here, because it's "writer" stuff that only other writers could possibly care about ("He needs to SHOW more - he keeps TELLING!" That kind of thing.). Jason Schwartzmann is a cutie pie when he's all cleaned up. His scruffy look doesn't do a lot for me. He seems to take on these roles as the offbeat kinda weird dude, so I have to wonder at this point if that's how he really is. Is he just playing himself each time? I learned that lesson with Crispin Glover. He was cute and a little goofball in Back to the Future, and I thought, "Why, I'll bet he's pretty funny in real life!" Then I saw him on Letterman. He's not a goofball. He's a freakshow. His Back to the Future character was his stab at NORMAL. So, don't necessarily attribute brilliance to actors that keep choosing "idiosyncratic" characters. That may be all they've got.

After the movie, we headed back to our cars at the restaurant where we'd eaten (we rode to the theater together in one car), and thanks be to the gods that Laurie's car happened to be near mine, because (and I almost hesitate to mention this after some of my previous posts) my car wouldn't start. BLAST! Seems the cold weather we had last week killed my battery. I might berate the car over this, except that this is a pretty common occurrance with extreme weather, and batteries are just a maintenance thing - not that there was something *wrong* with the car. However, I did have to get Laurie to give me a jump to get home. Thangod I carry jumper cables in my trunk. EVERYONE should do that. All of you. Go get some. They're not expensive.

I then had to get up Saturday morning and head to Sears for a new battery. Props to Sears for really quick and friendly service incidentally! Good ole Sears. I then proceeded on to the day's scheduled events, including a trip to the Seventh Circle of Hell, that is to say Walmart. I friggin' hate Walmart. I really do. They're the worst of capitalism, and the shopping experience itself is an exercise in sanity asphyxiation. The more you push your way through the crowded aisles, weaving among the masses, your cart crashing against the ones passing you, teems of unattended children pillaging the aisles and speaking in languages I don't begin to want to identify, well, I slowly feel my patience and rationality choking out. I generally shop anywhere else I can find before stepping foot across their threshold. However...and I pause to collect myself before I admit this...sometimes they're the only ones with a particular item I want. And in the end, I'm an American, and I want what I want when I want it. So, if all other options are exhausted, to Walmart I go - Xanax in hand.

On this occasion, there was a particular timer for my holiday lights that I wanted. My co-worker had already searched for this timer, and found it only at the Seventh Circle. So, I girded myself and entered. While I was there, I grabbed a couple of Christmas gifts and a few other items - moving swiftly and purposefully as to make my trip as efficient as possible. Like some relationships, get in, get what you need, then get the hell out quick, before it takes you down.

Once home, some substantial re-working of my lights took place to get everything attached to the timer. The hideous multi-colored tube angel had to be moved into the house to free up an extension cord (tragic loss), so I could put out some more lights - the big old-fashioned, multi-colored bulb kind. I put them around the window on the front of my house. They look good, but unfortunately, I dragged them across the pavement a bit as I tried to work with them, so they're already looking a little beat up and I only just took them out of the box this year. I'm happy to report, though, that the timer is working like a charm, and my somewhat anemic display turns on and off as it should - with no effort from me whatsoever. Woo-hoo!

Saturday night I went to see The Good Humor Men. They were really funny, and I'm sure the fact that the theater had a full bar in no way colors my opinion. Only four of the seven performed at the show I saw (Pat Hazell, Wayne Cotter, Henry Cho and Jimmy Brogan), but it was enough material to feel like you got a good show. I love comedians.

Last but not least was church at my parents' church yesterday. Yeah, I said it - I had a good time at church! Every year, a jazz band from San Antonio comes and performs Christmas songs for one service during the season at their church. The band is the Jim Cullen Jazz Band and they're great! I bought one of their CDs after the service. In fact, I'm listening to the CD right now as I type this.

So, there's my weekend. Busy, busy! And the next couple of weeks look to be no less packed with things to do. But it's all good! I'm glad I have friends to socialize with and the money to fix my car when I need to and my health and all the other things I forget to be thankful about on a daily basis. Onward with this festive Christmas season!