Wish You Were Here

As I type this I'm sitting on my bed, side by side with Yuval, who is programming on his computer. We finished watching Dark City not twenty minutes ago. What a couple of nerds we are, right?

I apologize for the long absence. It's not like I can harp on others about their lack of posting and then not post for ages myself, I suppose. Much has happened, though not anything huge. Halloween was more tiring and stressful than I thought it would be, as Goodwill decided to defy business logic and close early and all costumes had been raided. I ended up wearing just a towel--you know, like I was just in the shower? If I'd been more in a creative mood I could have spread some fake blood on myself and been the girl attacked in the shower in Psycho. But alas, I didn't think of it until much too late. Yuval went as Levi Johnson (Bristol Palin's fiance) by wearing a hockey jersey under a sport coat with jeans, carrying around a hockey stick, and wearing a sign I made him that had a drawing of Alaska (with Wasilla pinpointed, of course) that said "I *heart*Bristol." The Halloween-ness happened at Chez Anthony in the form of a Vampire party (The Bloodsucker's Ball). There were vampire-themed movies playing constantly in the background with the volume turned down low, thus leading to much MST3K-ing. I can tell you that I feel so good about not paying money to see Van Hellsing. We pooped out early, around midnight, as we were both exhausted. Me just because I always am after 11pm, and him because he'd just gotten back from LA on a red-eye the day before.

November 1st saw the dawning first day of NaNoWriMo, though I actually didn't get a chance to start until November 8th. I'm way behind and not going to finish 50,000 words by the 30th unless I magically type my hands bloody over Thanksgiving, but it's fun to once again be writing something, anything. Adrienne and I saw (for freez) A.R.T's production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh, and I can totally see why Turgeon loved talking about that play. It's right up his alley in terms of humor. The accents were inconsistent, but it was still wicked fun. Yuval ended up leaving town again not a week after he got back--he had to journey to Carnegie Mellon to see his sister's senior thesis in theater lighting design. They play she was working on for this project? Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl. 'Tis the year for Eurydice, I suppose, what with A.R.T's production, Kramer's production, and Tamar's production.

I woke up bright and early on November 4th to beat the Election Day crowds, which paid off as I only had to wait for about 5 minutes. People in Boston were complaining about having to wait for 1-2 hours, and I wanted to be all "Dudes, you should have been at Kenyon in 2004. You know nothing of long wait times to vote! Nothing!" I skipped swimming so I could come home and immediately start watching the predictions roll in after 7pm. I was nervous at first, but when they called Ohio for Obama around 10pm, though, I went to Facebook, changed my status to "Erin is glad it's finally over. Congratulatons, Obama!" and went to bed. He had it in the bag after that. I may not have the historical context that my parents and grandma do when it comes to the fact that Barack Obama won, but I know enough to be proud of my country for overcoming a huge hurdle.

On Friday the 7th I made my way downtown to a cocktail/eatery named Flash's in order to celebrate the birthday of one Mr. Ryan Tully Merrill. I got there around 7:30 and didn't leave until about 11:15. And I wish I didn't have to leave because it was a fun party. I just started yawning exactly at 11pm, which meant it was time to go, which made Deanna laugh. I can't help it that I'm so lame and predictable, like a grandma! It's just my body's clock! I'm no longer a spry young college student, able to take naps during the day to recover lost energy. Man, I miss naps. Speaking of naps, I babysat Dylan the next night but he started screaming and crying while his parents were still there. They decided the combination of a bad afternoon nap and his molars coming in was making him super cranky, so they doped him up on Baby Motrin and put him to bed before they left. So really, my only job was to make sure the house didn't burn down while I was there. I did miss getting to play with him, though. At least his mom showed me pictures of him dressed as a turtle for Halloween. A turtle! The cutest idea for a baby costume ever.

Kickball is done as we lost in the first round of the tournament to the 12th seeded team (we were 5th). I was okay with it, though, as I'm kind of tired of playing kickball every week. Also, it was about 30 degrees outside on Wednesday night, and if we'd won we'd have to play again immediately. I couldn't feel my toes through my sheepskin boots by the end of the first game, so I was glad to leave the field. Friday night Yuval and I went out with Big and Asian (otherwise known as Eric and Amanda, our team captain and his wife whose wedding we attended in July). We had dinner at a really yummy Indian place downtown called Tantric, where we received a free plate of appetizer chicken tikka by the waiter's mistake. Then we were off to the movie theater on the Common to see Quantum of Solace.

I liked it. I liked Casino Royale better, but this one was still a fun James Bond. It lacked the emotional heart that Royale so subtly wove into its storyline, but there were explosions and chases and guns and near escapes, so I can't complain. I was also thrilled that Camille turned out to be the first Bond Girl NOT to sleep with James Bond. She was an interesting character, and I appreciated the feminist slant she embodied. I also liked the blatant nod to Goldfinger that shows up. All in all, a fun-filled evening that lasted until (gasp!) 2:00am for me. I was exhausted, but only slept in until 10:45am, believe it or not. Took a nap later, though.

Last night we journeyed to Sophie's for a fall-themed potluck. We had made Shephard's Pot Pie (with ground turkey instead of beef) for the occaision, which turned out deliciously. Must be all the butter. There was yummy chili, pumpkin hummus, cornbread, salad, kugel, apple crisp, dirt pudding, and pumpkin cupcakes besides our humble Shephard's Pie. Adrienne and Deanna had to leave early, but the rest of us stayed up playing an epic game of Trivial Pursuit (Genus Edition from 1970's) until about 12:30am. Then Yuval and I came back to my place and instead of sleeping watched Perfect Blue, directed by Satoshi Kon. I had recently seen Paprika, finally, which gave me a hankering for more of Mr. Kon's work. Plus, it was way shorter than Fantasia. So in the end we didn't get to sleep until 3:00am. And then woke up at 11am. Again.

Tonight we journey to Charlie's Kitchen for trivia and (hopefully) some time with Bob Proctor the Policy Doctor, who is visiting Boston. I have an hour-long test for my Chinese class next week, which is the final day of the class (wish me luck!). And I leave for Cincinnati in a week and a half for Thanksgiving. Let's hope I get some more NaNoWriMo done by then.

Read
Ptolemy's Gate (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book Three) by Jonathan Stroud
Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

Seen
Burn After Reading
Quantum of Solace
Paprika
Perfect Blue
Dark City

p.s. I also pre-ordered Wall-E off Amazon for $14. It comes out this Tuesday, November 18th. You should buy it just for the Bonus Short Film called Burn-E. Hilarious. Adorable. Amazing. Like all Pixar.