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Outdoor Cinema
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There are two kinds of adventurers: those who go truly hoping to find adventure and those who go secretly hoping they won t.
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Saturday, August 28, 1999
One year ago: Vonda at Fifty
Two years ago: Pioneers and All
Jack's daughter A---- (the fifteen-year-old) took off for the day while we were sitting on the back porch, wondering about breakfast. This was after demanding (she'd have a better chance if she asked nicely) twenty cents for bus fare. Jack doesn't know where she's getting money, exactly, -- he hasn't given her any since she came home -- but she seems to be able to obtain cigarettes (he smells them on her) and other stuff she wants. Not good! But I was relieved that she left, since an entire weekend spent the way we spent the previous evening didn't appeal to me.
I was sitting and reading the latest John Varley book, The Golden Globe, when Jack suprised me by serving up scrambled eggs (with lots of cheese) and toast. Delicious!
Among the many things that Jack wanted to accomplish today: moving and straightening stuff in his bedroom/office upstairs. So I went up and showered, then waited up there while he played the guitar downstairs. After a while, I called down to him, "Aren't you coming up here?" "To straighten up, up there?" "or whatever..."
I pounced on him after his shower. (And no straightening got done)
* * * * * * * *
Jack wanted to go see the Thirteenth Warrior, and so did I! It's based on a Michael Crichton novel, "Eaters of the Dead." I guess the title change was a good idea, since that sounds like a horror film, and it's really an historical adventure type of thing. Antonio Banderas is very good in it! I really liked how they handled the large group of warriors (thirteen of them, duh!), making each one a clear, distinct person, even though they were all Norse, bearded, wearing armor, and so on. They didn't spell out every single point; some things are left for the viewer to figure out. Viking Fu! Anita sez see it!
We wandered on from the movie theater, making several stops at independent computer stores in the various strip malls. Jack wants sources for cheap computer parts for various server projects. We arrived at a charity rummage sale too late to find anything we wanted to buy, but they were already bringing stuff out to the sidewalk in front of the store, to be grabbed for free. I grabbed a vintage "massager" in a cool retro box!
* * * * * * * *
We returned home in time for more sparring with A-----. She did cooperate in moving boxes of books from the living room down to the garage, which isn't as easy as it sounds. The garage isn't attached directly to the apartment; it's one of several in the basement and you have to walk some distance and go down a flight of stairs to get there.
We invited A---- to join us in our evening plans, but she didn't want to.
Jack has been to a few meetings of a group of Bellingham science fiction fans (that's how A---- got in trouble Thursday night, by wandering off when she was supposed to stay nearby during a meeting) and tonight they were supposed to gather for pizza before an outdoor movie, in Jack's neighborhood of Fairhaven.
After some difficulty finding the place (the wrong address was listed in the email), we had a nice meal with several folks, some of whom I'd met before at various conventions or Vanguards. Then we went over to the vacant lot to see Young Frankenstein. What a great movie! Jack kept remembering funny parts and bursting out laughing, just before they happened! The evening grew cooler, but not intolerable.
I'm glad Jack is making some congenial acquaintances in Bellingham.
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On the way home, we pulled up at the little store a few blocks from Jack's place, to get ice cream sandwiches. A---- was there! It seemed likely that she was hanging out with some of the weasely teenage boys that were also there. Better than twenty-five year olds, I guess! Two of them stole a case of beer and ran off while we were parked there! A---- got in the car and came home with us, denying knowing the creeps, and being rather rude and nasty for someone who just asked her father to buy her ice cream. After she stomped upstairs, Jack went to check his motor home, parked in a neighbor's yard now. He was worried that she'd unlocked it for the boys to go party in, but all was clear. How horrid! Will he live in perpetual tension from now on?
We set the alarm for an early wakeup, since we are driving to Seattle to see an art show at dawn.
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