 |
   
|
Insurrection
Surrealism... is the forbidden flame of the proletariat embracing the insurrectional dawn -- enabling us to rediscover at last the revolutionary moment: the radiance of the workers' councils as a life profoundly adored by those we love.
-- Manifesto of the Arab Surrealist Movement
Saturday, December 12, 1998
One year ago: Group Excursions
I had a good time dancing last night, first at the rush hour jam, then at the Savoy Swing Club Friday night practice. We are now counting down the days until Swingout Northwest. I can't wait!
Jack had told me yesterday that he'd pick me up on the way back from taking his older daughter to Olympia to spend the weekend with her mother, and to expect him about two o'clock. This meant I had the early part of the day to putter around and get ready, and also to go do some shopping. I had been thinking about what to get Jack for a Christmas present, and had some ideas. My friend Jane had an idea for a source of one thing I wanted, and my sister M---- reminded me of a location for some other things. (Maybe I'll come back and be more explicit here after the gifts are given.)
Traffic was terrible, and the rain made the city absolutely sodden. I took a freeway entrance, saw that it was backed up, and stayed right in the "exit only" lane and got off again. I don't mind taking surface roads from the north end of town. It's not bad at all to take Roosevelt south, to the University bridge.
* * * * * * * *
I got home at one thirty, to find that Jack had gotten a late start. He sent me email at noon, on his way out the door, to say to expect him around four o'clock. So I got things ready, then watched "Four Weddings and a Funeral" on laserdisk. Jack arrived just as the final credits were rolling.
But he wasn't feeling well at all! I think a combination of stress (family stuff) then driving, then eating a hot turkey sandwich, then driving, had him all on end. So we sat down and he told me about his day. After a while he started to feel more normal, so we looked up movie schedules on the web. We already knew that we wanted to see the new Star Trek movie, but we hadn't made any firm decisions about when or where. It seemed that our best option was to go to the Redmond Town Center for the seven o'clock show. This was the site of our first real date, back in July! (We'd met for coffee once before that.)
We arrived in plenty of time, and wandered around the mall for a while. It is an interesting place, a faux downtown shopping district, with a street running down the middle of it. We spent time at Seattle Heat (Jack's stomach had settled down!) and at Borders. Jack succumbed to impulse and bought the latest Bruce Sterling and Greg Egan novels. He didn't regret buying either one, but the thought of two books being added to his "to-be-read" pile distressed him a bit.
* * * * * * * *
I liked the movie. I'm an original Trek fan from the age of ten, and I've always loved it. I'd say I like ST:TNG, love Deep Space Nine, and gave up on Voyager. I wasn't bowled over by this new episode, but I enjoyed it as if it had been a two-hour episode of the series. I do like Patrick Stewart! But if anyone should feel bad about their part in the movie, it's Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher. She hardly has anything to do or say! And I don't understand the title. How was hiding in the caves an insurrection?
There were some people sitting behind us, on Jack's side, that were making nuisances of themselves through talking, kicking the seats, and making noises generally. After a warning or two, Jack went to get a manager. The offenders chose to let discretion be the better part of valor, and grabbed the chance to vamoose.
On the way out of the theater, we filled out the marketing surveys being passed out. I embarrassed myself by mis-identifying K----, a film festival buddy whom I'd last seen at my friend A---'s birthday in August. I confused her with someone on an allied web team at work! All I can say is that both are Asian American women, who do resemble each other a bit, and I was seeing her out of context. But as soon as she said her name it all came back to me. I knew that she does some movie promotion and marketing work! I did feel bad, though.
* * * * * * * *
Jack wanted to try the restaurant across the walkway from the theater, since he'd run into the owners in some motorcycle context. (Reminds me of my brother-in-law, who always chooses restaurants from a personal connection.) Thai Ginger was indeed very nice, and inexpensive! Jack asked for three stars of heat in his cashew chicken, but it didn't really taste that spicy at all. Not like when we had dinner with Vicki Jean in Portland!
While we were finishing up, Jack got a call from Brett, a buddy of his that I'd met in October when we went to the costume party. He and Jack are working on a business thing together, and he had some things on his mind that he wanted to discuss with Jack. Jack told him to come on down to the mall and they'd talk over coffee at Borders. He did check with me to make sure I was OK with this before finalizing the arrangement! He said, after he hung up, "I didn't think you'd mind, but sometimes I don't pick up on people's feelings." I replied, "Maybe you haven't noticed, but I've been been making sure to tell you when I like something or don't like something."
* * * * * * * *
The espresso stand was closed, but Jack and Brett sat at a table and talked while I wandered the store and picked out a swing CD, a Christmas CD, and two swing Christmas CDs. Even after half an hour, Brett wasn't quite done, and walked with us to our car at the other end of the mall.
Jack had been curious about these new herbal soft drinks from SoBe, so we stopped at the grocery store on the way back to his place and got some. He also wanted to show me the anime of "Ghost in the Shell." I enjoyed the video, but I didn't feel any different after drinking the herbs.
I asked Jack if our first date had crossed his mind while we were at the mall. Nope! But that's ok.
|