What I did on a busy Sunday
✞ Went to church and a Thanksgiving-themed soup-and-salad dinner afterward, hosted by The Youth.
⊗ Went to the Lansing Model Railroad Club's train show/sale at the MSU Pavilion with the Grahams. I saw a sign advertising this when I dropped Mom off at the Pavilion for a meeting last week and thought it would be fun to go. I've been a big fan of model railroads since I was probably 12, and though the active hobby has been dormant for more than 20 years, the interest is still there.*
[* As I've said in the past only semi-jokingly, the only reason I would ever want to buy a house is to have a place to set up a model railroad.]
I didn't know what to expect from this show. I thought maybe there would be a some medium-sized operating layouts, three or four tables selling things, and a few dozen men in their 70s walking around slowly. Model railroading is, after all, a fading hobby (or so I thought), and it's 2009 in Michigan, where no one can afford to go places or spend money on things. But when we got there, the place was packed. The parking lot(s) were full, and though part of that was due to a horse show going on at the same time, the vast majority of the visitors were there for the train show. There was a whole convention-center-sized floor full of vendors, about four major layouts and a few more smaller ones, and easily hundreds of people of all ages, genders and races walking around. I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe there is a future for model railroading after all.
¶ Bought the latest Peter Carey book - used - at Schuler's, where I chatted briefly with Steve B. (Lakewood Class of '90) who used to work at Barnes & Noble but was canned and moved over to Schuler's. Now I'll have something to cleanse my guilt after finishing The Da Vinci Code.
♕ Went to see the movie Precious, which you have no doubt heard about if you follow movies at all. It's "presented by" Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry and is strongly favored to nab a number of Oscar nominations. If you aren't familiar with the story (based on a novel called Push), it's about a morbidly obese 16-year-old black girl name Precious who lives in the ghetto, is functionally illiterate, is pregnant for the second time by her father, has a Down syndrome baby, and is abused emotionally, verbally and physically by her mother. Sounds like a real downer, right?
Surprisingly, it wasn't. Though it's very intense and parts of it are truly difficult to watch, it was surprisingly hopeful, playful and even laugh-out-loud funny at times. The script was top-notch and the acting was uniformly brilliant. Both newcomer Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Mo'Nique (her mother) richly deserve the Oscar nominations they are sure to receive, Mariah Carey was fine in a glammed-down role, Precious' alternative-ed classmates were scene-stealers (and, dare I say, the best part of the movie), and her lesbian teacher was played by the most beautiful woman in Hollywood I didn't know existed until today, ♥♥♥ Paula Patton ♥♥♥. I don't know why she isn't already a huge star. (Looks like she didn't start acting until she was 30. Maybe that's it.)
This movie was everything 2012 wasn't - in particular: good.
☬ Bought a Thanksgiving turkey at Meijer and visited the former Cappuccino Cafe, which has now become an Espresso Royale after being closed for several months.
þ Watched the MSU basketball game on tape. (They won by 30.)
⊗ Went to the Lansing Model Railroad Club's train show/sale at the MSU Pavilion with the Grahams. I saw a sign advertising this when I dropped Mom off at the Pavilion for a meeting last week and thought it would be fun to go. I've been a big fan of model railroads since I was probably 12, and though the active hobby has been dormant for more than 20 years, the interest is still there.*
[* As I've said in the past only semi-jokingly, the only reason I would ever want to buy a house is to have a place to set up a model railroad.]
I didn't know what to expect from this show. I thought maybe there would be a some medium-sized operating layouts, three or four tables selling things, and a few dozen men in their 70s walking around slowly. Model railroading is, after all, a fading hobby (or so I thought), and it's 2009 in Michigan, where no one can afford to go places or spend money on things. But when we got there, the place was packed. The parking lot(s) were full, and though part of that was due to a horse show going on at the same time, the vast majority of the visitors were there for the train show. There was a whole convention-center-sized floor full of vendors, about four major layouts and a few more smaller ones, and easily hundreds of people of all ages, genders and races walking around. I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe there is a future for model railroading after all.
¶ Bought the latest Peter Carey book - used - at Schuler's, where I chatted briefly with Steve B. (Lakewood Class of '90) who used to work at Barnes & Noble but was canned and moved over to Schuler's. Now I'll have something to cleanse my guilt after finishing The Da Vinci Code.
♕ Went to see the movie Precious, which you have no doubt heard about if you follow movies at all. It's "presented by" Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry and is strongly favored to nab a number of Oscar nominations. If you aren't familiar with the story (based on a novel called Push), it's about a morbidly obese 16-year-old black girl name Precious who lives in the ghetto, is functionally illiterate, is pregnant for the second time by her father, has a Down syndrome baby, and is abused emotionally, verbally and physically by her mother. Sounds like a real downer, right?
Surprisingly, it wasn't. Though it's very intense and parts of it are truly difficult to watch, it was surprisingly hopeful, playful and even laugh-out-loud funny at times. The script was top-notch and the acting was uniformly brilliant. Both newcomer Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Mo'Nique (her mother) richly deserve the Oscar nominations they are sure to receive, Mariah Carey was fine in a glammed-down role, Precious' alternative-ed classmates were scene-stealers (and, dare I say, the best part of the movie), and her lesbian teacher was played by the most beautiful woman in Hollywood I didn't know existed until today, ♥♥♥ Paula Patton ♥♥♥. I don't know why she isn't already a huge star. (Looks like she didn't start acting until she was 30. Maybe that's it.)
This movie was everything 2012 wasn't - in particular: good.
☬ Bought a Thanksgiving turkey at Meijer and visited the former Cappuccino Cafe, which has now become an Espresso Royale after being closed for several months.
þ Watched the MSU basketball game on tape. (They won by 30.)