Sunday, February 23, 2003

I can see I don’t

I can see I don’t have much time to get this posted because Blogger’s going down in half an hour and I have to cook the fish for the burritos before the Simpsons come on anyway (one must maintain one’s priorities after all) - but I couldn’t let a full 24 hours pass without gushing about the amazing night we had last night with Sha and Helena at their beautiful multichromatic condo down the Peninsula.  We discussed the intersections of politics and theology from the diametrically opposed perspectives of the Iranian revolution and the communist-era East German Lutheran Church, with first-hand perspectives and numerous tangents and detours.  We dined fabulously on roast beef and chicken rolled in lavash, on grilled tomatoes (in Iran these fruits are called “foreign berries,” I rather liked that) and lentil stew and my very favorite crunchy crusty rice and an insoucient and hearty merlot, and then rose-and-cream ice cream for dessert while we retired to the media parlor for a demonstration of their new projection system.  They started us with a trailer for Lord of the Rings, just to show us how clear the picture could be, and it was significantly better than it had been when I saw the movie in an actual theater.  Plus, the screen - a real pull-down movie screen - shows an image one hundred inches diagonal (80 inches wide, 60 tall).  Our minds suitably blown, Sha plugged in the evening’s primary entertainment, which, having been recorded on a VCR in EP mode, didn’t do the large format justice (mighty blue justice) but was still a hell of a lot of fun.  Four episodes of The (animated) Tick, and they let us bring home the whole six-tape collection afterwards.  A selection of favorite lines from last night’s selections:
“I don’t like the look of those prickly succulents.”
“No one could survive that much corn!”
“I am on a big power trip - and you are coming with me!”
“Evidently, angry clowns do charge.”
“Once again, we find that clowning and anarchy don’t mix.”
“Didn’t you realize it’s against the laws of nature?  Clowns were never meant to be so big!”
“Villains - I say to you now - knock off all that evil!”
-- and my favorite of all:
“We have reviewed your performance and found it to be flaccid and disappointing.”

Yup.  Been there.  Right down to the moth suit.  It was a whole weekend’s worth of fun in a single night.  Plus the third Sha-and-Helena visit in a week.  I’m spoiled now.  But that’s all changing soon - I’m way behind at work now, with a veterinary appointment monday morning (lose half a day) and another session with the mediator in LA on wednesday (lose a whole day) and a Commission meeting on Friday (by when I’d damn well better have my ducks in a row, collated, cross-referenced, and while you’re at it, better call the drakes and breeders to confirm certain obscure traits of heredity and behavior).  In other words, much as I hate to tear myself from your collective bosom, I may not be posting as much or as often as I’d like this coming week.  If I didn’t like my work I’d be quite resentful. As it is I’m rather peeved.