method acting, crucifix style

Ended up doing a lot since last Thursday. Normally when co-workers ask how my weekend was, my default answer is “Oh I didn’t do too much,” but the Mondays this summer, I’ve had to stop myself and realize that my weekends have been busy.

I’m developing a bit of a reputation at the office for being wholly unafraid of happy hours. Usually we try to organize a happy hour outing every now and again and it gets totally fouled up somehow. People have to go home to the suburbs early for one reason or another, people don’t feel like it and bail out.. whatever reason it rarely happens except every blue moon or so. I, on the other hand, have no trouble getting a friend or two together on my own and meeting up for some drinks and maybe food to unwind from a rough day/week at the office.

Thursday I met up with Josh, Greg and Jhim at Tonic and Halo for a little tipple before the LSF book discussion, it’s becoming a monthly ritual and not a bad one. I can usually get a bite to eat between home and Halo and some books are really better with a little drinkypoopoo beforehand. This month’s book really didn’t need it though, Gotham Central (Vol. 2): Half A Life a graphic novel, trade paperback, collection of issues, whatever you choose to call it, it was a good story about the lives of the regular law & order in the city of Batman. The discussion was active enough, the questions didn’t touch on all of the things I would have brought up, but we did go off-sheet here and there. I was just too tipsy to organize my thoughts more coherently. I wouldn’t mind doing more comics/graphic novels in the future since most comic stories seem to have a better grip on events taking place in diverse worlds instead of painstakingly long paragraphs describing the fair skinned blonde/blue-eyed hero rescuing the sable or raven haired/violet-eyed fair skinned maiden (or lad).

Friday I met Josh down the block from me at Tonic, he was drawn in by the half price Guiness drafts and the burgers were good too. We knocked back glasses there, had a brief pit stop at my place before joining the LSF TV watching bunch for a sci fi Friday. We made sure to show up for Battlestar Galactica as Stargate’s a fine show, I guess, it just holds no interest for me. Josh and I outlasted the rest of the viewers and laid about for a while chatting with Rob and Peter. On the way home, I determined that even uphill on 16th St it takes me about 10 or 11 minutes to walk home from U St, after waiting for a bus that didn’t even show until I was 1/2 a block from home (naturally) – so I felt good that I got a little fitness in, even if it was unintentional.

Saturday I got in a bit more walking as I headed down 14th St to meet Jenifer (I also saw Rob and Peter on my walk down, but they seemed horribly oblivious to my presence, even after a wave or two, so I kept moving) at Dukem, the place that I had thought to have my birthday party/dinner, but after eating there, the place really didn’t sell me. The big ol’ chunks of jalapeno in nearly every dish had a little something to do with that. I had a small pile on the side of my plate after picking them out of the sampler. I have other ideas, but I need to let my guests know fairly soon where we’re eating. Plus I need to get things set for the in-netween party at the House of Moose and Lion. So much work to do for my own party, sheesh! After lunch we braved the shops, it was a pretty cool day and the stores were full. We stopped in at Sur La Table, where I’m told the guy I had 3 dates with actually acknowledged our presence and waved at us, though I wasn’t paying close attention, Bed Bath & Beyond which was mobbed with back-to-schoolers and screaming mothers and then a little grocery action at Harris Teeter where I got enough grapes to snack all week (though they’ll likely be gone by Weds) among other groceries and as a treat for dinner that evening some crabmeat stuffed mushroom caps from the fresh seafood counter. They were pretty good, not too much filler, though there was a bit of imitation crabmeat mixed in with the real thing.

I was content to spend the evening in, watching public tv or a movie or playing City of Heroes but Jhim IMd me in the mood for a late night movie so we decided on Valiant at Gallery Place where we pretty much had a private theater aside from one man that came in a little late and sat right behind us and was enjoying the movie, perhaps on a completely different level than us as he found nearly every other line funny. Afterwards we headed to Dupont for coffee and then walked around a bit in the rain, chatting about various things, including religion. Sometimes it’s nice to “talk shop” as he says, with other pagans without feeling like you are being pressured to be more pagan than thou. I also forgot how much I enjoyed walking in the rain without an umbrella. Lesson: Always consider saying “Yes” even if your gut instinct may be “I don’t really feel like it” Lesser lesson: If you have a latte at 1 in the morning, you ain’t gettin’ to sleep anytime soon, kiddo.

Sunday after regaining consciousness in the very late morning, I played a bit of City of Heroes and then with a little IM coaxing from Jhim, I headed down to see The Brothers Grimm for the LSF movie outing. The movie was fun, but led to an amusing and annoying realization during the show. Bottom line: I need to better choose my seat. Not that I didn’t enjoy the company of one of the people I was sitting next to, but the one on the other side of me didn’t seem to understand that the show is best enjoyed quietly… that also goes for the person two seats down.. and three seats down… I’m not a movie shusher because I do enjoy a little talking during movies, but generally I reserve it for repeat viewings and home viewings and the noise of shushing is often louder and more annoying than the noise that preceded it. It was amusing because the talker to my left kept saying things like “Who is that, where do I know them from?” and the talkers on my right were displaying their knowledge of the who’s and the what’s taking place onscreen. However while watching Stargate and Battlestar Galactica with LSF, it was much the same so I can’t say I didn’t know what to expect.

It was also amusing because on the way to the theater I was reading Lena Williams’ “It’s the Little Things: The Everyday Interactions That Get under the Skin of Blacks and Whites” and in Chapter 7: The White Take, they discuss “Talking Out Loud”… about whites being disturbed by blacks talking in movies. And I’ve had friends say how they went to a certain movie theater to see a movie and while never saying it plainly they’ll say something like “Well you know what it’s like to see a movie there,” one friend even remarked “We were sitting near a very stereotypically urban woman.” It’s even come up during LSF meetings, predominantly a white bunch of queers, some of which clearly can’t keep their mouths shut during films either. Not that I ever believed disturbing others’ peace is a matter solely based on race, it’s more often a matter of “I don’t want to say something to cause a scene (or get my ass kicked),” still it was rather amusing. Which was good, because at times the movie needed a little bit of a boost. I’m still not sure what was up with Heath Ledger’s Jacob Grimm throwing out his arms at every opportunity of surprise, shock, wonder… etc.

So.. yeah as I was saying.. full weekend and happily so.