Weekend Update
Since I could finally see, I took to the road Friday night to visit Toby in Macon. I got a late start after laundry and a nap, so it was close to midnight when I got there and we really only had time for TV (which is all I had energy for). That was OK, though, because it was nice to just be with him and be out of town.
Saturday was a good relaxing, lazy day that included some pretty spectacular lightning storms. We slept in, watched TV for a bit and got Pizza for lunch/dinner. Toby finally showed me The Dark Crystal, which I don't think I appreciated very much... maybe I've fallen prey to MTV-style spastic editing with everything being much faster paced. In the evening, a trip to Blockbuster lasted a bit longer than we had planned for, but we got too funny DVD's to enjoy for the evening. Queer Duck: The Movie is a feature-length adventure of the title character, who is a gay male nurse water fowl, his sensitive artist/waiter boyfriend, Openly Gator, and their good friends, Oscar Wildcat and Bipolar Bear, who starred in the 20th century Internet cartoon, Queer Duck on Icebox.com (which had gone bust with some many other Internet companies, but has been reborn). I loved the cartoon back when I discovered it in 2000 (and even have an original t-shirt from then) so I was thrilled to see the movie become reality. The film is good, silly fun that actually has a coherent plot, oddly enough. Then we watched Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic, an over-the-top stand-up comedy piece in which the comedienne does her best to offend anyone possible. I didn't stay awake too well, but I thought what I saw was funny. I can't say I would heartily recommend it, but I think if you consider your sense of humor especially twisted, try it out just so you know there is someone even more twisted.
In the morning, we got up quite early for a Sunday and got on I-75 North to Atlanta so we could make it to our 11am reservations for the Georgia Aquarium. We experienced no traffic delays and found a good $5 parking lot nearby with enough time to stop in Centennial Olympic Park, where Toby, who had never been, snapped a few photos. The early hour on Sunday must have been the right time to choose because there was no line to speak of and the crowd when we got there wasn't too much to deal with. We got through all of the exhibits fairly quickly with Toby getting lots of photos and videos and we went back to see some animals a second time, like the otters (both river and sea varieties) and the penguins. We also got to view the beluga whales and whale sharks through special viewing windows in the ballroom areas that are usually only available to special event guests (one of the docents mentioned that we were there on some kind of "appreciation day" but I didn't get what/who was being appreciated). After nearly 3 hours enjoying watching the animals, we made our way over to IKEA for a little shopping. Other than lunch, I bought nothing, but Toby got a few small things, including a very sharp rug that I was very tempted to buy, too (and still might). We made it back to Macon fairly early with enough time to feed Toby's mom's Boston Terrier, Dobie, watch Happy Accidents on IFC (clever romantic film) and watch a French film on DVD, Come Undone. This gay-themed romance follows one main character in three time-lines, giving you enough of each part so that you know pretty much what's happening when with enough information that your aren't too confused but, instead, know just enough info for the story to move along. We got to bed a bit later than I had meant to (but the movie was well worth it) and I was up by 5am so I could get to work on time back in Augusta by 8am.
