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Dec. 28th, 2009 01:57 pmIt's been a pretty happy and enjoyable holiday break for me.
It started out with a lovely evening spent with Moira on Wednesday night, just the two of us. I'm so lucky to have her in my life, and in my house! She made fantastic food, as she always does when she has a chance, and we enjoyed very nice alone time in preparation for a very busy weekend.
---
Thursday, Moira and I had the traditional Christmas Eve Chinese buffet dinner with my parents, brothers, and pseudo-sister and her family. Her dad called me chief, as he has every time he's seen me since I played Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest years ago, and it made me smile, as it always does. Perhaps one part of getting a little bit older is an enhanced appreciation for ties to ones's own past as it gets a little further away each swing around the sun.
---
She and I woke up early on Christmas day to make the long, arduous four block drive to my parents' house for the equally traditional family breakfast. My dad made biscuits, pancakes, muffins, casserole, bacon, sausage, and more things I can't remember. There was a big chunk of fresh bleu cheese, as well as some gouda and others. It was a happy, wonderful morning. Just like my dad, that's really the best part of Christmas for me. Time spent with my family.
There weren't a lot of gifts this year, and that's just fine. My family gave me a copy of Cutthroat Caverns, a fun little game I was introduced to be Alan, the owner of Rockhead's, at their Thanksgiving board-game night. My brother received a copy of Tsuro, which is really engaging to me too. I've always loved watching water flow through channels, or seeing a ball roll along a marble roller coaster. Tsuro triggers that same weird bit of my brain. I need to find myself a copy.
Later in the day we drove out to Johnsburg for Christmas with the extended family at my aunt and uncle's house. There was lots more food (I have been stuffed all weekend!) and games. My uncle is handy with electronics and has a significant collection of arcade games in his basement. He's up to five pinball tables now, which makes me happy. I love pinball so much. One of his latest acquisitions is the Playboy pinball game, which my dad, Moira, and I all spent a little while playing with. I got to watch my dad play the bartop touch-screen TV-thingy strip-poker game that my uncle has on his bar too, which was highly cheesy and amusing. (Well, it actually has a bunch of bar games on it, but the strip poker one was hilarious.) Better than that, I got to sit and talk to my grandfather some more. I was out to see him a little while ago too, and I plan to go visit again after the new year. I love he and grandma both and want to see more of them. I talked about being into music lately and he told me about the guitars that my great uncle, his brother, used to make. I remember years ago when he was getting out of the hobby that he was looking for someone interested in his luthier's forms, but woodworking has never been for me. Still, it's a craft that I'm in awe of and appreciate. I wish I could have seen him working. Classical hand-crafts are deeply appealing to me. I wish I had the time and inclination to learn all of them.
---
On Saturday, I drove down to Chicago to visit![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cranberrynomiko while Moira had her partner visiting up in Kenosha. We spent several hours in front of Mister Mosquito and very nearly finished it! The next to last level is nigh-impossible though, and we gave up after a while. Though Mr. Mosquito was named one of the ten weirdest games of all time (and was a perfect going away present from my brothers when I moved to Michigan), the next one we played, Chulip, is at least as weird. You (the main character) are in love with the girl of your dreams. But before you can kiss her and declare your love, you must strengthen your heart...by kissing just about everyone and everything else in the village. It's a series of puzzles wherein you have to figure out the correct circumstances and actions that will let you kiss people. I have strange taste in games; I loved it! And finally, before I crashed for the night, she showed me a little bit of Animal Crossing, which I'd heard of but never seen. It was a lot of fun too. I have a soft spot for odd Japanese games. I'd be remiss not to mention the excellent homemade chicken and stuffing we ate too. Thank you!
----
Sunday, after getting a late start (my phone lost power over night and I got up about three or four hours later than I'd intended and didn't find out until I turned the radio on on the way up I-94 and said 'WHAT time is it???), I joinedserinthia for the new Sherlock Holmes movie. She was very kind and forgave my lateness and waited for me so we could get to a later show. Thank you Serin.
The movie was pretty good. I'm not too sure about Holmes as a brawler and bare-handed fighter (and a nasty one too), but I did like the movie. It was worth seeing if you like period action-adventure. It's a departure from the books, certainly, but fun. I kept actively comparing him to Dr. House while watching the movie, which I suppose only makes sense considering House was based on Holmes in the first place.
I was kind of intrigued by the theatre design too. We were at what's called an ultra-screen; a size between the typical movie-screen and an Imax. It reminded me very much of the interior of some of the movie palaces I know, though without an overhanging balcony. It was about the right size. Prior to the start of the movie, I imagined what a place like that might look like, done up in the '20s or '30s, and considered the evolution of the movie theatre from the advent of the talkies up through the modern day. It's quite a change, but the new and old are still unified in purpose, if not in execution.
But anyway, it was a fun time and I'm glad I went. Thanks for inviting me Serin!
I got home and thanked my sweet raccoon for being nice and soothing to me after I got back from Chicago and was all stressy about time and car worries. She was very good to me and I love her and appreciate her very much. She and I got to eat together again and spend some happy time reconnecting in the evening. I also got to work a bit at the piano lesson book I borrowed from my mom on Christmas. I'm working at getting muscle-memory trained for a few chords and am making some progress. I'm eager to get to the part of the book where incidentals or music in other keys start showing up. Somehow I'll just feel that much cooler when I start playing notes on those little black keys....
---------
Oh, and to continue on with my picture postings...
The Galleon
One of the rides at Kiddieland, the Galleon. Keeping in mind something my mother told me (if the picture didn't come out, you didn't get close enough), I took a few shots of this ride and got closer and closer until I was down on my knees looking up at the boarding queue.
Still not the greatest picture, but definitely the best of the ones of this ride. Thanks mom!
It started out with a lovely evening spent with Moira on Wednesday night, just the two of us. I'm so lucky to have her in my life, and in my house! She made fantastic food, as she always does when she has a chance, and we enjoyed very nice alone time in preparation for a very busy weekend.
---
Thursday, Moira and I had the traditional Christmas Eve Chinese buffet dinner with my parents, brothers, and pseudo-sister and her family. Her dad called me chief, as he has every time he's seen me since I played Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest years ago, and it made me smile, as it always does. Perhaps one part of getting a little bit older is an enhanced appreciation for ties to ones's own past as it gets a little further away each swing around the sun.
---
She and I woke up early on Christmas day to make the long, arduous four block drive to my parents' house for the equally traditional family breakfast. My dad made biscuits, pancakes, muffins, casserole, bacon, sausage, and more things I can't remember. There was a big chunk of fresh bleu cheese, as well as some gouda and others. It was a happy, wonderful morning. Just like my dad, that's really the best part of Christmas for me. Time spent with my family.
There weren't a lot of gifts this year, and that's just fine. My family gave me a copy of Cutthroat Caverns, a fun little game I was introduced to be Alan, the owner of Rockhead's, at their Thanksgiving board-game night. My brother received a copy of Tsuro, which is really engaging to me too. I've always loved watching water flow through channels, or seeing a ball roll along a marble roller coaster. Tsuro triggers that same weird bit of my brain. I need to find myself a copy.
Later in the day we drove out to Johnsburg for Christmas with the extended family at my aunt and uncle's house. There was lots more food (I have been stuffed all weekend!) and games. My uncle is handy with electronics and has a significant collection of arcade games in his basement. He's up to five pinball tables now, which makes me happy. I love pinball so much. One of his latest acquisitions is the Playboy pinball game, which my dad, Moira, and I all spent a little while playing with. I got to watch my dad play the bartop touch-screen TV-thingy strip-poker game that my uncle has on his bar too, which was highly cheesy and amusing. (Well, it actually has a bunch of bar games on it, but the strip poker one was hilarious.) Better than that, I got to sit and talk to my grandfather some more. I was out to see him a little while ago too, and I plan to go visit again after the new year. I love he and grandma both and want to see more of them. I talked about being into music lately and he told me about the guitars that my great uncle, his brother, used to make. I remember years ago when he was getting out of the hobby that he was looking for someone interested in his luthier's forms, but woodworking has never been for me. Still, it's a craft that I'm in awe of and appreciate. I wish I could have seen him working. Classical hand-crafts are deeply appealing to me. I wish I had the time and inclination to learn all of them.
---
On Saturday, I drove down to Chicago to visit
cranberrynomiko while Moira had her partner visiting up in Kenosha. We spent several hours in front of Mister Mosquito and very nearly finished it! The next to last level is nigh-impossible though, and we gave up after a while. Though Mr. Mosquito was named one of the ten weirdest games of all time (and was a perfect going away present from my brothers when I moved to Michigan), the next one we played, Chulip, is at least as weird. You (the main character) are in love with the girl of your dreams. But before you can kiss her and declare your love, you must strengthen your heart...by kissing just about everyone and everything else in the village. It's a series of puzzles wherein you have to figure out the correct circumstances and actions that will let you kiss people. I have strange taste in games; I loved it! And finally, before I crashed for the night, she showed me a little bit of Animal Crossing, which I'd heard of but never seen. It was a lot of fun too. I have a soft spot for odd Japanese games. I'd be remiss not to mention the excellent homemade chicken and stuffing we ate too. Thank you!----
Sunday, after getting a late start (my phone lost power over night and I got up about three or four hours later than I'd intended and didn't find out until I turned the radio on on the way up I-94 and said 'WHAT time is it???), I joined
serinthia for the new Sherlock Holmes movie. She was very kind and forgave my lateness and waited for me so we could get to a later show. Thank you Serin.The movie was pretty good. I'm not too sure about Holmes as a brawler and bare-handed fighter (and a nasty one too), but I did like the movie. It was worth seeing if you like period action-adventure. It's a departure from the books, certainly, but fun. I kept actively comparing him to Dr. House while watching the movie, which I suppose only makes sense considering House was based on Holmes in the first place.
I was kind of intrigued by the theatre design too. We were at what's called an ultra-screen; a size between the typical movie-screen and an Imax. It reminded me very much of the interior of some of the movie palaces I know, though without an overhanging balcony. It was about the right size. Prior to the start of the movie, I imagined what a place like that might look like, done up in the '20s or '30s, and considered the evolution of the movie theatre from the advent of the talkies up through the modern day. It's quite a change, but the new and old are still unified in purpose, if not in execution.
But anyway, it was a fun time and I'm glad I went. Thanks for inviting me Serin!
I got home and thanked my sweet raccoon for being nice and soothing to me after I got back from Chicago and was all stressy about time and car worries. She was very good to me and I love her and appreciate her very much. She and I got to eat together again and spend some happy time reconnecting in the evening. I also got to work a bit at the piano lesson book I borrowed from my mom on Christmas. I'm working at getting muscle-memory trained for a few chords and am making some progress. I'm eager to get to the part of the book where incidentals or music in other keys start showing up. Somehow I'll just feel that much cooler when I start playing notes on those little black keys....
---------
Oh, and to continue on with my picture postings...
The Galleon
One of the rides at Kiddieland, the Galleon. Keeping in mind something my mother told me (if the picture didn't come out, you didn't get close enough), I took a few shots of this ride and got closer and closer until I was down on my knees looking up at the boarding queue.
Still not the greatest picture, but definitely the best of the ones of this ride. Thanks mom!
