All I Said Was You Looked Like You Needed a Friend
Okay, so I promise that my holidays have not been terrible or sparse, despite no updates save that last one. I've just been keeping away from the computer more than usual in an attempt to not fritter away my break on the internet. Of course, that mostly means that I've been frittering away my break reading books, but I can pretend that makes me feel productive.
Visiting Mexico was nice, even if I haven't got a lot to tell. Mike and I helped Dad plant vegetables and, um, the other plants he grows down there. Cough cough. And we went on plenty of wanderings down the beach, one of which was jam-packed with leftover hanks of squid that Bethany surmised must have been dumped by fishing boats, since they were all the same bits and there were a TON of beaks which were crunchy and fun to walk on. We also visited the market and bought more freaky coconut faces to add to Dad's collection, and had some really yummy birria tacos at one of the market-corner taquerias, run by a man named Humberto who has really, really good English after having studied it for only a year. Right on, Humberto.
Christmas was very laid-back; I gave Dad and Bethany the books I got them (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks and The Pigeon by Patrick Suskind), and Mike and I got freaky coconut faces, necklaces, and keychains featuring the likeness of Dr. Simi, the jovial mustachioed mascot of a chain of Mexican pharmacies. Good times were had and pork roast was eaten. I also did an ADIML on Christmas Eve('s day) with, well, the fancy-ass new-to-me Canon D-SLR Rebel XT that Mike got me for Christmas. Can I say that I felt like a total ass giving him a book and pajama pants? There was something specific that I really wanted to get him but I ended up not being able to afford it. I'm going to start saving up for his birthday to get him back for giving me this beautiful amazing camera and two lenses. I have been trying to read through the booklet to learn about aperture and ISO and stuff, but it all flutters out of my head when I'm not actually using the darned thing, so I guess some practical lessons are in order. (Also, Jessica's mom continues to be a freak and gave me a Brother sewing machine. A SEWING MACHINE. I was all afluster. Now I can finish that shirt I was surgerizing and do other projects as well, from the comfort of our tiny apartment! She also gave me-and-Jessica an 8-cup rice-cooker with a steamer basket, which is fly. No more undercooked pot rice for me! Oh Mommy Chambers, you crazy.)
Speaking of things I can't afford, I ended up making a spontaneous decision to visit Mom and Everett up in Washington over this coming weekend. The plane ticket cost more than I thought I was willing to spend, and Mike got kind of grumpy at me for spending so much for what will only be a four-day visit, but Mom sounds so happy about it that I know I'm doing the right thing. It's not just because of Chico, I promise. Mom has been sounding pretty down recently, partly because of that and partly because of the lack of sun up there...from what she says, it has been snowing like balls up there and it is hard to get around, which has to be pretty new for a lady who had previously lived in Berkeley and Kauai all her life. It's harder to gauge how Everett's doing; the snow, I think, hasn't affected him as much, but Chico WAS his dog and they had a really close bond. I also have to wonder how Toby's doing without his brother around. In any case, before I make myself too sad, let us just say that it will be nice to visit them and be there, if only for a few days. I look forward to awesome food and lots of staying indoors. (Plus, Jessica got me Burn After Reading on DVD since I didn't get to see in in theatres, so I can take that and have some good old-fashioned Cohen-brothers/Frances-McDormand-style amusement with Mom. We can have a double-feature with Fargo!)
I guess the year's almost over, so we'll all be making mistakes with the dates on our documents until June. 2008 was an interesting year, and 2009 will probably be too. Haven't got any celebrations planned for this evening, since I have work at 8:00 tomorrow morning; today I was intending to go out and hunt through thrift stores to find a potato masher, and then do laundry, and here it is almost 11:00 already. So much for avoiding the internet to stop wasting time!
Visiting Mexico was nice, even if I haven't got a lot to tell. Mike and I helped Dad plant vegetables and, um, the other plants he grows down there. Cough cough. And we went on plenty of wanderings down the beach, one of which was jam-packed with leftover hanks of squid that Bethany surmised must have been dumped by fishing boats, since they were all the same bits and there were a TON of beaks which were crunchy and fun to walk on. We also visited the market and bought more freaky coconut faces to add to Dad's collection, and had some really yummy birria tacos at one of the market-corner taquerias, run by a man named Humberto who has really, really good English after having studied it for only a year. Right on, Humberto.
Christmas was very laid-back; I gave Dad and Bethany the books I got them (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks and The Pigeon by Patrick Suskind), and Mike and I got freaky coconut faces, necklaces, and keychains featuring the likeness of Dr. Simi, the jovial mustachioed mascot of a chain of Mexican pharmacies. Good times were had and pork roast was eaten. I also did an ADIML on Christmas Eve('s day) with, well, the fancy-ass new-to-me Canon D-SLR Rebel XT that Mike got me for Christmas. Can I say that I felt like a total ass giving him a book and pajama pants? There was something specific that I really wanted to get him but I ended up not being able to afford it. I'm going to start saving up for his birthday to get him back for giving me this beautiful amazing camera and two lenses. I have been trying to read through the booklet to learn about aperture and ISO and stuff, but it all flutters out of my head when I'm not actually using the darned thing, so I guess some practical lessons are in order. (Also, Jessica's mom continues to be a freak and gave me a Brother sewing machine. A SEWING MACHINE. I was all afluster. Now I can finish that shirt I was surgerizing and do other projects as well, from the comfort of our tiny apartment! She also gave me-and-Jessica an 8-cup rice-cooker with a steamer basket, which is fly. No more undercooked pot rice for me! Oh Mommy Chambers, you crazy.)
Speaking of things I can't afford, I ended up making a spontaneous decision to visit Mom and Everett up in Washington over this coming weekend. The plane ticket cost more than I thought I was willing to spend, and Mike got kind of grumpy at me for spending so much for what will only be a four-day visit, but Mom sounds so happy about it that I know I'm doing the right thing. It's not just because of Chico, I promise. Mom has been sounding pretty down recently, partly because of that and partly because of the lack of sun up there...from what she says, it has been snowing like balls up there and it is hard to get around, which has to be pretty new for a lady who had previously lived in Berkeley and Kauai all her life. It's harder to gauge how Everett's doing; the snow, I think, hasn't affected him as much, but Chico WAS his dog and they had a really close bond. I also have to wonder how Toby's doing without his brother around. In any case, before I make myself too sad, let us just say that it will be nice to visit them and be there, if only for a few days. I look forward to awesome food and lots of staying indoors. (Plus, Jessica got me Burn After Reading on DVD since I didn't get to see in in theatres, so I can take that and have some good old-fashioned Cohen-brothers/Frances-McDormand-style amusement with Mom. We can have a double-feature with Fargo!)
I guess the year's almost over, so we'll all be making mistakes with the dates on our documents until June. 2008 was an interesting year, and 2009 will probably be too. Haven't got any celebrations planned for this evening, since I have work at 8:00 tomorrow morning; today I was intending to go out and hunt through thrift stores to find a potato masher, and then do laundry, and here it is almost 11:00 already. So much for avoiding the internet to stop wasting time!