I had a weekend.
Not that any of it matters after what happened in Boston earlier this afternoon. I know LJ is dead, but I hope anyone that reading this from the Boston area is safe, that everyone's loved ones in the Boston area are safe.
But here's the weekend anyway.
Thursday, it was raining and crappy, and after the great start to last week, I was too listless to do much of anything, including the cleaning up I've meant to do. Whoops. So I did it all Friday and went to bed before midnight, pretty exhausted.
Saturday morning, I woke up around 7:30 so I could make a good breakfast and get to the movies at 10 to see 42 with Es. It was pretty good, and I got to explain baseball things to Es after the movie was over. The movie covered about two and a half years' in time, between Branch Rickey getting the idea to integrate baseball and having a few conference meetings about it, to Robinson trotting home after helping his team win the NL pennant in 1947. There were some things that I found weird about it -- like how the filmmaker didn't jump on the chance to contrast Robinson's time in Montreal before he got called up to Brooklyn; Montreal was good to the Robinsons -- but most of it was really enjoyable, even if you don't understand baseball; the film wasn't about the game (I mean, of course there's some baseball stuff in there; you can't avoid it), rather the people playing it and affected by it. And the actress who played Rachel Robinson was a peach.
We had lunch, then went home for a nap because we were still tired and we needed to be fresh as daisies for the hockey game. Getting to the hockey game Saturday night was part of the reason we went to the movies so early (the other part is because it saved us $3 and we're cheap). So just before seven, we met Kai and Christine at D&B in Farmingdale (we'd been trying to get tickets to actually be in the Coliseum for the game for weeks, but even 30 minutes before puck drop, people still wanted $200 for 300-level seats. Ridiculous). They strolled up in their Islanders jerseys, we had our Rangers jerseys, it was a grand time. The Rangers were in 8th place with 44 points, and the Islanders were in 7th place with 46. The Islanders had played one more game than the Rangers had, so the Rangers had to win in regulation if they wanted to move up to 7th; any other outcome would keep them in 8th. If the Islanders won, no matter how, they would stay in 7th, but be tied in points with 6th place Ottawa (who'd played one fewer game).
With the table set, and all of us knowing what was on the line for our teams, we sat at the bar and got our food and went through two and a half hours of emotional torture. There was no score through the first, and we were okay, but the intensity of the game started to pick up as the period came to a close ("Hey, wouldn't it be hilarious if there was no score through OT and we had to go to a shootout?" I asked, making a face and shaking my head, showing that I was joking and that was an outcome I clearly did not want). The second was painful -- still no score -- and during the third, we were literally screaming and crying. Crazy saves, shots off the posts on both sides, it was agonizing.
Regulation ended with no score; no one was swapping positions. Fortunately, the game didn't go to the shootout; Dan Girardi ended it at... I think it was 3:11, somehow banking one in off the crossbar behind Nabokov. Despite Farmingdale being out in Suffolk (but only just), Es and I weren't the only Rangers fans there, and we were cheering pretty loudly, and the Rangers celebrated on the ice like they'd won a playoff game (and I'll give an extra celebration to them because it was Lundqvist's first shutout of the season. FINALLY). Either way, we were all happiest that we finally got to breathe out, counting our blessings that we weren't actually at the game, because we just might have thrown up from the nerves and stress.
Again, we went to sleep before midnight because we were getting up early on Sunday. This time, we were heading out to bowling in Brooklyn. I'd called last month, asking about a reservation, but because we weren't doing a grand ol' party, really, we couldn't reserve and would have to walk in. I asked if Sundays were particularly busy -- yesterday in particular -- and I was told that if we came in early enough, there shouldn't be a problem.
Surprise, there was a problem. Whomever I'd spoken to on the phone completely forgot to tell me that the Post Office was renting out the entire alley -- every. single. lane. -- until 5 PM that day. It was about 12:30 when we showed up. So, um, we had to find shit to do. Fortunately, there was a pizza place not terribly far away, so we walked.
Twelve Hetalia cosplayers, mostly in costume, marching through a pretty Hasidic part of Brooklyn was an interesting sight and experience, but we all made it to the pizza shop fine. And the dude behind the counter was extremely nice and accommodating, which floored me entirely. We wound up staying about an hour, all of us pizza'd and soda'd, paid with no problems (*silently thanks everyone for listening to me and bringing cash*), and went to a park down the street to kill the rest of our time because it was a pretty gorgeous day yesterday.
We were on the swings, played some card games, sat around and talked, and generally had a good time, even though I was a little less than happy we weren't bowling, and still worried that, when we got back to the alley, there wouldn't be any lanes available (because that'd be my luck). We made it back a few hours later, hung around until they finally decided to help us, and bowled. Because we'd started so late, and most people expected to be on their way home by then, some only stayed for a game or a game and a half before heading out. I felt miserable, especially since we still had to play through all those games we ordered! By the end of the evening, six of us were playing enough games for twelve people, and the only one who was worth a damn was Ben, who's in a bowling league and took it all as extra practice. Aside of him, all of us were sore in various places; I had to start bowling lefty because my right thumb was swollen from taking so many turns so quickly and I couldn't hold the ball!
My personal best game was the first one, in which I got 104 (it's been a long time), which I think -- aside of Ben's games -- was the best overall! Es came close with a 94 in her last game. After all the games were done, it was me, Es, and Ben sticking around for a bite before leaving the alley. We all took the train up to Atlantic, where Es and I decided to hop on the LIRR instead of going through Manhattan (because we were SO BEAT ... and also we were desperately trying to make it back in time for Game of Thrones. We failed), and Ben took the N back downtown. Thus, Sunday came to a close.
I had fun, but I'm still a little tired and my thumb's still really swollen, but... MORE SHIT THIS WEEKEND because LOL Promtalia (I'm actually kind of excited). Mets are in Colorado but their game has been postponed again on account of snow (yesterday's in Minnesota was too). I'm just going to spend the rest of the evening reading whatever news I can find online.
But here's the weekend anyway.
Thursday, it was raining and crappy, and after the great start to last week, I was too listless to do much of anything, including the cleaning up I've meant to do. Whoops. So I did it all Friday and went to bed before midnight, pretty exhausted.
Saturday morning, I woke up around 7:30 so I could make a good breakfast and get to the movies at 10 to see 42 with Es. It was pretty good, and I got to explain baseball things to Es after the movie was over. The movie covered about two and a half years' in time, between Branch Rickey getting the idea to integrate baseball and having a few conference meetings about it, to Robinson trotting home after helping his team win the NL pennant in 1947. There were some things that I found weird about it -- like how the filmmaker didn't jump on the chance to contrast Robinson's time in Montreal before he got called up to Brooklyn; Montreal was good to the Robinsons -- but most of it was really enjoyable, even if you don't understand baseball; the film wasn't about the game (I mean, of course there's some baseball stuff in there; you can't avoid it), rather the people playing it and affected by it. And the actress who played Rachel Robinson was a peach.
We had lunch, then went home for a nap because we were still tired and we needed to be fresh as daisies for the hockey game. Getting to the hockey game Saturday night was part of the reason we went to the movies so early (the other part is because it saved us $3 and we're cheap). So just before seven, we met Kai and Christine at D&B in Farmingdale (we'd been trying to get tickets to actually be in the Coliseum for the game for weeks, but even 30 minutes before puck drop, people still wanted $200 for 300-level seats. Ridiculous). They strolled up in their Islanders jerseys, we had our Rangers jerseys, it was a grand time. The Rangers were in 8th place with 44 points, and the Islanders were in 7th place with 46. The Islanders had played one more game than the Rangers had, so the Rangers had to win in regulation if they wanted to move up to 7th; any other outcome would keep them in 8th. If the Islanders won, no matter how, they would stay in 7th, but be tied in points with 6th place Ottawa (who'd played one fewer game).
With the table set, and all of us knowing what was on the line for our teams, we sat at the bar and got our food and went through two and a half hours of emotional torture. There was no score through the first, and we were okay, but the intensity of the game started to pick up as the period came to a close ("Hey, wouldn't it be hilarious if there was no score through OT and we had to go to a shootout?" I asked, making a face and shaking my head, showing that I was joking and that was an outcome I clearly did not want). The second was painful -- still no score -- and during the third, we were literally screaming and crying. Crazy saves, shots off the posts on both sides, it was agonizing.
Regulation ended with no score; no one was swapping positions. Fortunately, the game didn't go to the shootout; Dan Girardi ended it at... I think it was 3:11, somehow banking one in off the crossbar behind Nabokov. Despite Farmingdale being out in Suffolk (but only just), Es and I weren't the only Rangers fans there, and we were cheering pretty loudly, and the Rangers celebrated on the ice like they'd won a playoff game (and I'll give an extra celebration to them because it was Lundqvist's first shutout of the season. FINALLY). Either way, we were all happiest that we finally got to breathe out, counting our blessings that we weren't actually at the game, because we just might have thrown up from the nerves and stress.
Again, we went to sleep before midnight because we were getting up early on Sunday. This time, we were heading out to bowling in Brooklyn. I'd called last month, asking about a reservation, but because we weren't doing a grand ol' party, really, we couldn't reserve and would have to walk in. I asked if Sundays were particularly busy -- yesterday in particular -- and I was told that if we came in early enough, there shouldn't be a problem.
Surprise, there was a problem. Whomever I'd spoken to on the phone completely forgot to tell me that the Post Office was renting out the entire alley -- every. single. lane. -- until 5 PM that day. It was about 12:30 when we showed up. So, um, we had to find shit to do. Fortunately, there was a pizza place not terribly far away, so we walked.
Twelve Hetalia cosplayers, mostly in costume, marching through a pretty Hasidic part of Brooklyn was an interesting sight and experience, but we all made it to the pizza shop fine. And the dude behind the counter was extremely nice and accommodating, which floored me entirely. We wound up staying about an hour, all of us pizza'd and soda'd, paid with no problems (*silently thanks everyone for listening to me and bringing cash*), and went to a park down the street to kill the rest of our time because it was a pretty gorgeous day yesterday.
We were on the swings, played some card games, sat around and talked, and generally had a good time, even though I was a little less than happy we weren't bowling, and still worried that, when we got back to the alley, there wouldn't be any lanes available (because that'd be my luck). We made it back a few hours later, hung around until they finally decided to help us, and bowled. Because we'd started so late, and most people expected to be on their way home by then, some only stayed for a game or a game and a half before heading out. I felt miserable, especially since we still had to play through all those games we ordered! By the end of the evening, six of us were playing enough games for twelve people, and the only one who was worth a damn was Ben, who's in a bowling league and took it all as extra practice. Aside of him, all of us were sore in various places; I had to start bowling lefty because my right thumb was swollen from taking so many turns so quickly and I couldn't hold the ball!
My personal best game was the first one, in which I got 104 (it's been a long time), which I think -- aside of Ben's games -- was the best overall! Es came close with a 94 in her last game. After all the games were done, it was me, Es, and Ben sticking around for a bite before leaving the alley. We all took the train up to Atlantic, where Es and I decided to hop on the LIRR instead of going through Manhattan (because we were SO BEAT ... and also we were desperately trying to make it back in time for Game of Thrones. We failed), and Ben took the N back downtown. Thus, Sunday came to a close.
I had fun, but I'm still a little tired and my thumb's still really swollen, but... MORE SHIT THIS WEEKEND because LOL Promtalia (I'm actually kind of excited). Mets are in Colorado but their game has been postponed again on account of snow (yesterday's in Minnesota was too). I'm just going to spend the rest of the evening reading whatever news I can find online.