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Saturday, June 17, 2000
One year ago: Still Digging
Three years ago: Bite Your Own Teeth
I would have gone back up to Jack's place after work yesterday, except for this: I wanted to go to the Fremont Fair, to check on that one vendor of clothing that I like so much. And that didn't start until this morning!
It was comfortable to be in my own bed last night.
* * * * * * *
I told Jack later that he'd have been proud of me for losing patience. That sounds contradictory, doesn't it?
But after parking on Westlake avenue -- I was going to take the bus to the fair -- I decided I didn't want to wait anymore. (The pride comes in because of Jack's usual lack of patience at waiting in lines, or waiting for anything, especially buses!) It was Saturday, and I didn't know when the next bus would come along. I drove down much closer to the Fremont Bridge, parked, and walked across. Lots of people were going the same direction!
Why, oh why, do people insist on bringing their dogs to crowded public events. It's not like the dog wants to shop for wind chimes or something! But it was early enough that I could make my way through the crowd without getting too irritated by other people's impudence in being where I wanted to be. I found the vendor right away, too, without having to go to the information booth or inspect every square foot of the fair.
How disappointing, though, that they didn't have any of the dresses in the warehouse (if they really looked). I was tempted to buy some of a similar style that were much longer -- but they were more expensive, and how realistic was it that I'd actually cut off the extra and hem the dress up? I'm just glad I bought as many as I could for the last few years, so that I have about twenty or so. When they wear out, I will have to cut one up and create a pattern, to start making my own.
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I drove north directly, not stopping to check out the fair. (I didn't really need to buy anything, anyway.) Jack was still asleep when I got there around twelve thirty. He'd been in to work for a few hours on Friday, because they were having some big meeting that he felt he should be present for.
He was feeling pretty groggy, and still uncomfortable from the surgery, but better overall. He's finally getting to see how bad he was feeling before! Not only the gall bladder pain, but nauseated and ill generally for a long time. He's still having some digestive upsets, though. When will that clear up? who knows. But if it's not better by the time he sees the surgeon for a follow-up next week, I'd be concerned.
* * * * * * *
I re-read Cuckoo's Egg by CJ Cherryh, just because I picked it up off of Jack's shelf. It's a good depiction of an alien society, with just one human character. Lots of politics, of course -- she's always good at that.
We decided to go see Chicken Run. For some reason it was only playing during the afternoon. The movie situation in Bellingham is very strange. One chain owns most of the regular theaters; there's one art house run by the film society. So if the chain doesn't get the movie, it may never play! We'd been to the theaters up on Sunset, and the ones at the mall, but neither of us had visted the ones that are closest to Jack's house. I think the building is sort of tucked away, not too visible from the highway.
It seemed silly to go to the movies on such a beautiful afternoon, but we were eager to see Chicken Run. Nick Park is a favorite of both of ours. Wasn't there a special about him that ran on PBS a while back?
The movie was fabulous! Very clever and funny. I enjoyed the swing dancing scenes, of course. I don't think little kids will enjoy it, but elementary school on up, yes! It's interesting to see what level of unreality or abstraction or anthropomorphism can be accepted by an audience. Sometime this depends on the animation method, when it comes to cartoons -- super-real digital stuff means you can't get away with some of the things they did in the old cartoons -- it doesn't look right! But chickens with teeth were acceptable. The big kiss at the end was difficult, but they played with it, acknowledging the awkwardness.
* * * * * * *
Jack was fading by evening. I decided to cook dinner -- frozen chicken breasts in the oven, and rice in the rice cooker. We had salad in a bag, too -- Spring Mix. "What, no vegetables?" said Jack. I figured the salad counted for that, but he has traditional ideas about what elements should be included in a proper meal. Oh, well, he got over it! I was amused at myself -- I got the recipe for the chicken off the bag of frozen chicken breasts (a soy-lemon-honey sauce, very simple) which meant I had to open the freezer to check on how long I should back them.
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Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move beneath
the chicken?
-- Supposedly Albert Einstein but not really
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