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Talent ShowThere are two kinds of talent, man-made talent and God-given talent. With man-made talent you have to work very hard. With God-given talent, you just touch it up once in a while. |
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Saturday, October 17, 1998
I had so many things to do today! I wanted to get a few loads of laundry done, so I could remake my bed with new, smooth, Egyptian cotton sheets. I bought these last Tuesday, I think. So I was up early, and ran into my neighbor Sandy. I was surprised to find out that the unit in our building that is up for sale belongs to her! She's moving to another co-op building in the area, not because she dislikes us, but because she wants to stop living in the basement. She expected her apartment to sell quickly; it's a large studio, and the kitchen and bathroom are in good shape. She invited me in for a moment to peek at it, since it had been a while since I'd been in there.
I went up to the grocery store to get supplies for the sack lunches I needed to put together for the homeless men that sleep in our parish center. I was able to resist buying most other things. I came home, assembled the bags, and drove over to the center. But they've been doing some construction there, so it was no longer possible to drive up to the back door. I had to go to the church parking lot, climb some stairs, and cut across a shrubbery. Meanwhile, my car was not parked properly, but just pulled up with the hazard blinkers on. I wasn't really blocking anyone, though.
I went directly from there, on up to the Northgate Mall. I needed to buy a birthday present for my sister. The one thing I know is always useful for her: "Botanic Garden" china from Portmerion. I got her a pepper grinder made of china (at least the outside of it) in that pattern, and a tube of mixed peppercorns with the great name "Luau Blend".
I really needed to get back home, but I proceeded to spend a fair amount of time in the underwear department of the Bon Marche. I got a black, lace-trimmed camisole, of the softest, most strokable fabric. The brand name is "Cuddle Duds", and I can't stop petting myself in it! The reason this took rather a long time was not that I had a hard time making up my mind, but because there were two sorority girls ahead of me in line. They were making the sales person call up every other store, looking for a certain model of pajama pants, in a certain size. Sheesh! I said to the woman behind me in line, that this was a time to practice the patience and calmness that I like to tell myself I possess. We giggled together.
I decided that I needed to skip the Cacophony puppet show, in spite of the fact that I had urged my friend Julie to attend. I had to get ready for the evening, pick up my place and take out the trash. I did finally get all this done, and Jack arrived right on the dot at five o'clock.
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Jack had seemed to have some mild reservations about meeting my family, but I think he was kidding. He seemed to fit in just fine! Tonight was my sister's birthday, which was the occasion for the celebration. A---, my film festival buddy, was there already. He was providing the dinner, ordering in Chinese food, so I hadn't had to cook after all. A few other family friends were there as well. Jack played guitar for us for a while after dinner, then we walked the few blocks over to the church that my sister's family attends. My older nephew J--- had signed up to be in a talent show, tap dancing while accompanied by his father playing on the harmonica.
The talent show was surprisingly good, although performers did have a tendency to go on too long, playing several numbers where one would have sufficed. There was a story teller, an interpretive dance, an drummer of African drums, a pianist, a guitarist, and so on. They put my nephew last on the bill! He did very well, and danced with good style and rhythm. I think the only thing that could be improved would be for him to look at the audience and smile.
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Jack and I didn't have any set plans for the rest of the evening, so we discussed a few possibilities as we drove through the Arboretum towards the bridge. Fortunately we decided to go to the U-district and hang out, before we got actually on the bridge. We visited the newstand (Jack bought some guitar magazines and software magazines), Espresso Roma (Jack craved a machiatto), and Wizards of the Coast. Jack indulged me by playing pinball, which is my special favorite there, and he and I both played a tank-shooting video game, and a motorcycle racing video game. We got in trouble on this last one, because I missed a turn and left the track (the game lets you do this), and Jack followed me. Oops!
What a fun evening!
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