5000 Fingers

How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?
-- Dr. Seuss

Sunday, February 28, 1999
One year ago: Sketches

Don't miss my report on the premiere performance of Swing THIS!, the new dance troupe based at the Century Ballroom, and the second anniversary party, from Friday night.

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Saturday afternoon, my sister M---- and her two boys picked me up, and we all went to a movie. There's a small theater in the University District called the Grand Illusion, and now they've started an allied house on Capitol Hill, in a storefront of a building that's devoted to a lot of different artsy things.

The movie was "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T." I always confuse that title with "The Circus of Dr. Lao," and so did Jack when I was telling him about this. Both movies are on the strange side, but this is much more for kids. It was written and designed by Dr. Seuss, and you can really tell! It's a boy's fantasy about the evil-mastermind tendencies of his piano teacher, Dr. Terwilliger.

I really liked it! The surreal sets, costumes, and special effects were great, and several of the songs were very catchy. The ballad that was sung by the plumber and Tommy Rettig wasn't bad. I wish Dr. Seuss had done more movies; what a genius!

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Friday had been A----'s fifteenth birthday (Jack's older daughter). She had a sleepover that night, and she'd decided on dinner at a Mexican restaurant Saturday evening. Jack suggested I join them, so I did, after a stop to buy her a gift.

I figured a gift certificate from Fred Meyer (a big local store like Target, but better) would give her lots of options. I also cruised around the Broadway Market and bought her a book called "The Book of Me," a fill-in-the-blank book that looked like fun, and candy for all of us to share around: Japanese pineapple-flavored gummy hearts, pop rocks, and, just for Jack, a Pez dispenser with Darth Vader's head. (He's counting the days until the new Star Wars movie.)

I gave A--- the loot after we got back from a nice dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. It had a circus theme for the decor, which seemed strange to me, but the food was good! Jack, of course, told them it was A---'s birthday, so she was pleased but embarrassed when the staff came out with a candle-bearing flan for her (and sopapillas for the rest of us), put a huge embroidered sombrero on her head, and sang Happy Birthday in Spanish.

The gifts were a success, but A--- wasn't thrilled with the alarm clock that was one of the gifts from her father. She correctly deduced that this means he will no longer take responsibility for waking her up on school day mornings.

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A---- watched Red Dwarf videos while Jack, his younger daughter H----, and I played Boggle, which I brought over a while ago. I was right, it's a game far better suited to this family than Scrabble. The quick gameplay is much easier on Jack's patience than waiting for one's turn in Scrabble.

We woke up to the sound of the girls shrieking at each other. Why? Who knows? It seems to be a chronic condition.

I was pleased when Jack volunteered to look at some of the pictures from dance camp, since he hadn't seemed too interested when I mentioned it at first. I just wanted to point out some of the people I talk about, and give him a sense of the environment I'd been in, so I didn't make him look at all of them -- there are over a thousand on the CD-ROM!

We didn't have a particular plans for the day, and we didn't come up with anything even after looking online, so Jack and I went for coffee after the girls promised not to kill each other while he was gone. I suggested we go to Caffe Infinito in the Redmond Town Center. I like the leather couches there! It was very nice and comfy, and the sour-cream coffeecake was extra good. Jack was wondering aloud if it had been a change in language that caused technological changes in early civilisations. I think he was thinking about this because of the book about early humanity that he's been reading.

We walked down to the bookstore. I found a magazine about the Arts and Crafts movement and Craftsman house and furniture style. We ran into Jack's friend B---, so Jack had more coffee with him, and I took off home (which had been my plan anyway).

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I was really proud of myself today! I actually did a lot of work on next month's journal stuff (inspired by that magazine), and I took out all the trash and recycling! This had been piling up, because we've been having over eighty days of rain. When it's wet out, or if I don't get home until after dark, taking out the trash is problematic.