Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, looooong after the fact, I thought I'd give a quick rundown of my Thanksgiving weekend 'cause it was good times, and this blog has become somewhat of a journal substitute:


Thursday morning:
Anne, Toffer, and I drove up to Poky. After dropping Toffer off, Anne and I went to my parent's place. A couple of days earlier, I had found a used Nintendo64 at DI and bought it to go with the $2 MarioKart 64 game I had previously purchased in the off chance I ever found a cheap N64. So it made its debut with Anne kicking my trash. But I kicked my mom's trash after that to boost my confidence again, so it all worked out.


Thursday evening:
After another great Thanksgiving meal, we all lounged, napped, and played Blokus and Rummikub. Both very fun. And um...who won both games? Who was that? Then Anne and I went to see Four Christmases at the one theater in town. It actually made me laugh a lot more than I expected, but it was still not recommendable overall. Have I mentioned I just really, REALLY dislike Vince Vaughn's general persona? Well, I do.


Thursday middle of the night:
After we got back, Maw, Anne, and I sat around chatting for a while, mostly about politics. Fortunately for Anne (who can't turn down a good political banter opportunity), my family has never been shy in conversation, and politics are not a taboo topic. We spent quite a bit of time discussing capitalism, communism, whether Obama is the beginning of the end, etc. We finally called it a night at around 1:30 am.


Friday morning:
Not one of us woke up before 10:00 am. You read correctly. 10:00 am. I think I groggily rolled out of bed at around 10:30. This was not characteristic for any of us. We figured there must have been something in the air, or we were drugged somehow.

After enjoying a quick breakfast and some chatting, Anne and I were back at the N64 racing and battling to pop each other's balloons. I think we're pretty well matched, which makes for some intense MarioKarting action, baby.

Then it was time for the traditional post-Thanksgiving decoration. This cherished tradition includes lights, evergreen garlands, cool random decorations (don't bother asking - the answer is: she bought it at TJ Maxx), one nightmare-inducing Santa figure (seriously creepy), and sending their youngest son up a precariously tall ladder to do their dusting. Hey, I know what I'm useful for, so I'm glad to be of service. Pretty cushy job, really. Do a little dusting, carry some boxes, and get amazing meals and a comfy place to stay in return. I got the good end of that deal.

We also watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, which is another sort of tradition and one of those movies always guaranteed to get dad busting up.


Friday afternoon/evening:
After decorating and napping and freshening up a touch, we headed out for a late lunch at Senang, a swanky little tapas bar which I definitely recommend. Who knew Pocatello had a restaurant with totally edible food? I even got a free Irish Cream steamer out of it because our server hadn't made a steamer before, so she brought one to test before bringing the final one. Such good food, too.

Then we all went to see Australia. I was reluctant because the previews left me thinking it would be really cookie-cutter and terribly written. OK, so those are kind of true, but I actually really enjoyed it nonetheless. It did have a "look at us, we're the next big cultural epic" feel that seemed like too much to cram into one story, and the thread of the boy seemed like a somewhat token attempt to hold the movie together, so I got to the end and thought, "was this really supposed to be about the boy all along, or...?" Regardless, it was beautifully shot, almost storybook-like in parts, which may be a pro or a con depending on your taste, and despite some cheese factor, I was moved in parts. And let's be honest, beautiful stars. It showed one of the most memorable kisses I've seen on screen. And I enjoyed how they toed a strange line between very traditional masculinity and femininity and blatantly reversing the typical roles: using her as the authority figure and using him as the gratuitous sex object in the otherwise blatantly cliche camp scene involving a bucket of water. I couldn't help but laugh out loud as he shook his hair out. It was like a spoof of a shampoo commercial. So despite the corny bits, I actually found myself seduced into giving a rip about the characters and cheering inwardly when they got those no good cheeky bulls in the big metal ship. And the indigenous dude skewering a bad guy was pretty cool too.


Saturday morning:
Saturday, we enjoyed a great family tradition: Swedish pancakes with lemon and sugar or strawberries and whipped cream. Yum. It's comfort food for me. Takes me back.

And after one last round of MarioKart, we were on our way back to Utah with a ton of leftovers. Sometimes, there are benefits to being the only family member to show up at holidays. *wink*

Narrow Daylight

I love this song: Narrow Daylight, by Diana Krall, from her Girl In The Other Room album, which has become one of my favorite albums. Every time I hear Narrow Daylight, I just want to sit back, close my eyes, and let it intoxicate me with its wistful beauty. It's such a simple song, but for some reason, it harmonizes my soul in a way few songs do. Every time I hear those first chords on the piano, I immediately cease whatever I am concerned with to let it in freely. It may sound corny, but it's the truth. I don't know what it is.

I have nothing profound to say about the lyrics nor an analysis of its musical structure. I'm not sure there is anything earth-shattering to it. I just love it. Diana Krall has a mesmerizing tonality that envelopes me, particularly in her more introspective, mellow songs.

Unfortunately, the YouTube music video for Narrow Daylight doesn't allow embedding, but you can view the video directly from YouTube.


A sampling of her other songs which captivate me:

Departure Bay
LONG but such a beautiful, evocative song.


Let's Face the Music and Dance
I've always loved this song as she sings it, and over time, I've identified with the lyrics in a variety of ways.


Just The Way You Are
A Billy Joel classic redone beautifully. I wish more people took these lyrics to heart. I wanted to share these lyrics with someone in the past, but I didn't want to be presumptuous, so I never did.


Why Should I Care?
I was asking myself this very question, unable to answer it but "caring" no less, when this song first struck at my core.


Peel Me a Grape
This one's more for fun. Shows her sassy/saucy side. She performed this song at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, where I first heard of her, back in 1998, if I remember right. This video is, of course, from a different performance.

Couple Of Peeves

I'm seeing a pervasive trend that has been concerning me, and I can no longer sit back silently while so many of my friends, even those whose oratorical or grammatical prowess I respect, fall victim to yet another degrading social trend: dropping the "of" from "a couple of".

Stop it. Stop it now. Put that "of" back in, for goodness' sake. Do it for the children in future generations who, if nothing is done, will have yet another nonsensical grammatical glitch to deteriorate the clarity of linguistic structure.

If we continue to ignore this error, who knows where we'll be in a couple generations?



...if you didn't pause and say, "Hey!" while reading that last line, please go back and read this entire post over and over until you do.

That is all.

See Common Errors in English for more slaps upside the prosaic head.