2002-12-29 - 10:02 p.m.

Time With Friends

After work on Friday I decided to go to a few stores and see if there were any great deals to be had after Christmas.  The news reports recently have said that retail sales this season were not good and many retailers were trying to grab every last dime they could by pushing merchandise at discounts.

I didn't see any good deals.  I saw the same thing I always see in stores, a bunch of ugly, useless crap that is overpriced.  I went to several stores, including one that was going out of business, and everything was still too highly priced.  My sister found some stuff at the craft stores she likes so much, but I don't buy craft stuff, so I was out of luck.

I bought the Thorlo socks I like so much. And I bought and I bought a book at Barnes & Nobel, Live From New York An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live As Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller.  I am about 100 pages into it and it is great.  I have been watching the television show Saturday Night Live since it first appeared in 1975.  I have followed the careers of the performers and writers through the decades.  I still have a great book my mother gave me back in 1977 that has scripts and photographs from the show.  I realized when I got home that I have a collection of books about Saturday Night Live and the people connected with it.

On Saturday I cleaned up the house, talked to Ed, talked to Helen, talked to Mike on the phone.  Joel and his fiancée, Anna, came over that evening.  I have only met her once.  I like her a lot.  She is a zaftig, vocal young woman.  We talked a lot last night.  I really can't help doing my private evaluation of people as I talk to them.  I think I understand her pretty well now.  It is important that Joel understands that I like the woman he intends to marry.  And I was determined to like her no matter what.  Fortunately it was easy to do because she is a very good person.

There is a 50/50 chance they will actually get married next year.  I know Joel pretty well and I can sense hesitancy in him.  He commits to really big things and then finds a way to get out of them at the last minute.  One example of this was when he was going to join the Army, had talked to the recruiters multiple times, had traveled to another city to take the tests and, once getting there and checking into the hotel he sat around in misery for a few hours, then packed up and left without telling anyone he was leaving.

I don't blame him. This is how he operates. He gets ideas, he talks to people about it, he agrees to everything, and then pulls out and is hard to find after a while.  So they may or may not get married.  I surely hope he does not do anything mean to this sweet girl.  But he does agree to almost anything at first.

We went to a movie.  We saw Catch Me If You Can.  They wanted to see it.  I didn't care what we saw, I just wanted to hang out with them.  It was just as bad as you think it is.  Tom Hanks and Leonardo DeCaprio act, act, act for the duration of the film.  There was no point during the film that I forgot it was Tom and Leonardo I was watching. The actual characters were nowhere to be found.  That is one of the problems with watching movies with famous actors.  I never get lost in the film.  Of course, the exception I keep coming back to is The Sixth Sense.

Steven Spielberg directed the film.  It hit all the normal Spielberg buttons.  I am so tired of it.  But I did see a preview for the Master and Commander film that I am looking forward to.  It comes out in June and it is going to be really great.

It was late when the movie ended so we went to one of the few open places, Waffle House.  We talked a bit longer.  Joel talked about his brother and how worried he was about him.  Anna gave him a few lectures on how to interact with his brother and help him.  That is another thing, I don't know how long Joel, or any man for that matter, will sit and listen to continuous lectures.  Everything Anna told him was correct, in my opinion.  I wonder if that will be enough for him.

They want me to come and visit them soon. I would like that.

This morning Kay came over unexpectedly.  She had been to church near our house and wanted to drop by with a few gifts she made for me and my sister.  It was sweet of her.  I was just out of bed and sleepy and my hair was sticking up and I looked nasty but she didn't seem to mind.  She and my sister and I talked for a while and then Helen called.

I have not seen Helen since she moved to London a few months ago.  She was back in town for Christmas and to pack up all of her stuff at her dad's house.  Her father is going to sell his house and move to some retirement community.  Helen became very depressed because this is the first Christmas since her mother died.

She called me to come pick her up at her friend's house.  We had lunch at Savage Pizza, which we both like a lot.  We went to the funky little stores in the heart of the hippie district.  I saw a selection of bongs, one of which was Homer Simpson.  We walked around and talked. Then we drove around and talked.  I think Helen is doing much better.  She shares a flat in London and works as an administrator for a school that teaches English to non English speaking people. She said she has a lot of Check students.

In the coming months her roommate will be on a book tour and she wants me to come and visit her. I really want to.  My New Year's Resolution will be to get a passport.  Normally I don't make resolutions.  But this one is important.  I have wanted to go to Great Britain all my life. It is the homeland of my ancestors.  The Motherland.

Now it is Sunday evening.  Tomorrow it is back to work.  I just don't feel like it.  And yet, here we are.

Jimmy
 

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