Hellish last week at work, what with 4th of July basically giving us two Mondays worth of call volume… Monday we got about our usual Monday load, which should have been far, far worse, given that 8 of our clients had closed out on Friday, June 31, but most of their participants thought we were closed; Wednesday we got the usual post holiday crush, greatly amplified by that major Friday close out, and amplified yet again by most of the participants who would have called us Monday calling us Wednesday instead. Thursday was better, but, you know, only by comparison. I was ready for my three day weekend.
The 4th itself… honestly, it was a quiet day. Rainy, so I moved the backyard grille up onto our very small back porch and did the rib-eyes there. We ate inside, played a little Magic: the Gathering, tried to watch the Tuesday re-broadcast of Sunday’s DEADWOOD and were yawning so hard by quarter of 10 that we went to bed. Or, rather, SuperFiance went to bed; SuperDrama Teen was off at a 4th party with her Significant Asian, so I waited up to make sure she made her 11 o’clock curfew. Which she did; she’s been very reliable in getting back on time ever since she started dating this girl, and it’s one of the reasons why we’ve been pretty happy with the relationship.
The rest of the week is mostly a blur.
This last weekend… well, SuperFiance has already written that up on her blog, and done a better job than I’d do, so you should go check that out. For myself, I’ll confine myself to random moments --
*** Good company is always pleasant, but having a great many people around is not something I’m used to, so I probably wasn’t particularly affable or charming. If so (and I’m very poor at seeing myself the way others see me) then I owe our guests an apology. I enjoyed hanging out with all of them, and if I seemed standoffish or rude, well, I’m sorry. I’m just not the best socialized person in the world.
*** Our kids enjoyed swimming in the pool at the hotel where the Collettes and the Gibsons were staying, and so did I. I deeply appreciate the invitation. SuperAdorable Kid in specific vastly enjoyed the pool and especially the hot tub.
***I had a good time playing HeroClix with Tony Collette, even if my own house rules about the Teleport Pad special object token ended up screwing me badly in our second game. I can see I’m going to have to substantially modify those; otherwise, the first person who gets to move and attack with a teleport pad handy pretty much wins in a walk.
***It’s been a very long time since I’ve gone to see a movie with such a mob. It felt kinda nice… I’ve missed it.
***SuperFiance makes the universe’s finest potato salad.
*** Friday, well before everyone showed up, I made the delightful discovery at a comics shop that Neil Gaiman is writing an ETERNALS miniseries. And it’s excellent so far… good enough by far to let me tolerate the wretched John Romita Jr. artwork.
*** All our kids behaved fabulously while company was here, but SuperFiance and I were especially impressed with Super Adorable Kid’s general equanimity. She can be a sweetie when she wants to be; but she’s had a great deal to learn about sharing attention with others and being a good sport about it. I think she’s made a lot of progress lately, and I was happy to see the results of that displayed this weekend.
*** I enjoyed showing new folks around our neighborhood, even though I gave them at most a limited tour prior to dinner being ready after we got back from the movie. I’d actually planned to run the across the street and show them around the Krogers where I used to be Mr. Floor Maintenance, but I totally forgot when we left The Great Escape. Probably just as well; I doubt anyone would have enjoyed me regaling them with a detailed catalogue of all the really bad spots, like the short length of tile in front of the grapes in produce. Sometimes we treasure our narrow little fields of expertise a little more than we should.
I may do separate posts giving some details of the two clix games Tony and I played, and my review of Superman Returns, but for now, I’ll once again direct you over to my lovely paramour’s lovely blog, and leave it at that.
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So this Boy Scout, couldn't have been older than eleven, is holding up this kinda chubby looking Scotch Pine. It was.... ehhhh... okay...
(Have to post anonymously. Local library won't let me sign in.)
ReplyDeleteNo apology about being uncomfortable. I kinda saw that on Saturday and recognized the signs (given that I do the same myself when we have guests) and that's why I asked about playing some Heroclix on Saturday. I'm glad we got 2 games in because of that.
BTW, I read the rules on the teleport pad and it's an action move for up to 6 spaces, period, not a free move. So you may want to adjust accordingly.
Tony Collett
Thanks for the links to my blog, Sweetheart. I just wanted to note a couple things...
ReplyDelete1) The potato salad is vanishing quickly. SuperDramaTeen is very fond of it as well. And she's there with it...all day.
2) Thank you for doing a VASTLY better job than I in thanking the Collett's and Gibson's for the swimming invitation. What a blockhead I am!!
3) It was kind of fun going to the movies en masse like that. I've had VERY little experience with it. Certainly none in the last 25 years or so. Kudos to Tony for the suggestion!!
Gee...next weekend it's just you and me. We'll be bored to tears!
Tony,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I want the teleporter pads to be a free movement, because otherwise, I can't see how they work... you'd have to move up and stand on them one turn, and then teleport the next turn... and with a limited range of 6, I just can't see how it would be worth it. (Although your Fastball Specialing Wolverine through it was pretty inventive!)
I'll probably make it a free action, and just increase the range, or slap a line of sight limitation on it, or even say that the pads will only teleport you to another pad... that way you'd have to have at least two on the board for them to work. something like that.
Baby,
You are NOT a blockhead.
I suspect we'll find something to do this weekend, with the kids over at their dad's. ;)
I'm happy to read that everything went as well as it did, including getting Tony down there to play.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about having guests. I'm so used to home being a refuge, and I tend to get the look of prey at bay when we have people in for long.
I knew Gaiman was writing the new Eternals mini, but have thusfar blown it off because as much as I didn't care for them being introduced into the Marvel U. in the first place, I figured I'd resent it even more were I to read a contemporalization of Kirby's introduction to them all over again. It was clear at the convention that Marvel's "editorial" level they didn't have a clue what Gaiman was going to be doing. I decided to keep my eyes open for info while waiting to see when the trade's solicited.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI was very pleased with the first issue of Gaiman's ETERNALS. As he usually is, he's being very respectful of past continuity, while, at the same time, taking things in a very reasonable, very four dimensional, very credible, and yet, completely unpredictable, direction.
The JRJ artwork is awful and loathsome, but, well, it could be worse, in that it could be Jae Lee, so, well, as with nearly any Gaiman project, I'll just read the words and try hard to avoid noticing the pictures.
Gaiman is, I'm noticing, retracing many of the themes he's explored in SANDMAN, and in his AMERICAN GODS novel. However, I find those themes seem to work much better in superhero comics than they do in text, so that's fine, too.
All good to hear. The solicitation info made it sound as if Gaiman was redoing the whole "Ike"/Ikarus reveals himself and the existence of the Eternals and Deviants to modern humans for the first time.
ReplyDeleteI'll still wait for the trade, but now I have more of a reason to look forward to it.
(I set up my computer at home, so I'm back in business under my real name and everything)
ReplyDeleteI forgot to ask, but is the title of your post indicating that you're a fan of the TV miniseries V? (I'll even take you being a fan of the 2nd mini or TV show, I'll take what I can get...)
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI'd imagine the rest of the mini will be good -- Gaiman rarely disappoints -- but obviously, there are no guarantees. I liked the first issue very much, though.
Tony,
I wouldn't say I was a fan of 'V'. I kinda liked some of the issues of the comic series that Cary Bates wrote. I think there were some interesting ideas, but they were mostly dumbed down for TV. Rather like most major media SF.
What I'm a fan of is throwing out goofy pop culture catch phrases to see if they connect with anyone else. I always enjoy it when they do. So thanks for that.