The Tuesdayshack Rises

Today was to be something of a busy day for the wife and I, as she'd made early lunch plans with a couple girlfriends after a nail appointment, but was then to join myself, EL, DR as well as Buckaroo Banzai & his wife Pookie to watch us eat our late lunch, then go to see a movie with Bucky, Pook and myself. The movie would take up most of the afternoon, then we'd likely end up having dinner in the evening as well, so the day was pretty much spoken for when the alarm went of this morning.

As it turned out, one of the wife's friends backed out of the lunch plans, so the wife was able to consolidate things by inviting The Lobbyist along for lunch at 1:00, so that streamlined things slightly.

I woke with the alarm at 9:00 and got the bed made and the house opened up before grabbing a quick shower and dressing for the day. I spent a bit of time on the PC in the Office to get a few things online caught up and updated my little spending tab list that I maintain each year. I was kinda chilling in the den when the wife got home from her nail appointment, then she moved into the Office to catch up on her own rat killing on the Mac, so I flipped channels on cable while waiting for our friends to join us. Bucky and Pookie turned up around 11:30 and unloaded an assortment of liquor that they were kind enough to gift us with, as their current diet forbids consumption of booze and they figured we might have a use for it, either for ourselves or for entertaining. We visited for a bit before heading out to pick up TL, who we only have in town for another 24 hours or so, which made it nice to spend a little more time with her.

We met everyone at our normal Mexican place across town (leave it to me to suggest a place completely across town from TL's house) where DR and EL soon joined us and we visited over a nice meal and allowed the group to get to know one another, as several of those assembled had never met before. DR actually used to work with Bucky back during his tenure at the theater, so I was happy to put those two in the same room, just so they could catch up a bit. We eventually said our goodbyes, then dropped TL back off at her mother's place and headed to the theater, arriving a bit early for our 3:00 showing, but happily in time to grab decent seats in a largely empty auditorium.

The Dark Knight Rises was something I felt I kinda had to see sooner than later just because the interwebs were starting to get more spoiler-y as the weeks wear on, where everyone wants to be nit-picky assholes about every single detail and blurt out every twist or turn in the story because they've seen it and must hold court. The movie is every bit as long as the other films, but held my attention from start to finish. The various twists weren't spoiled for me, as I'd all but gone out of my way to avoid info about the film after I'd seen one or two of the first trailers ages ago, so things were new to me and rather entertaining.

After the film we headed back to our place to relax, where the wife piddled with a few things in the Office and I chatted with our guests in the den while poking around on the TiVo to see what might be on to pass the time. Bucky had a phone call to make, which kept him on the phone for a bit with customer service over a DVD issue, then we started halfway watching Caddyshack until the wife joined us for further conversation.

Talk eventually turned to dinner, and our guests were kind enough to step out and grab some takeout for the evening meal. A short time later we were tucked into some pizza and watched some of the special features on the Criterion Blu-ray of Tiny Furniture, which included her first feature length film called Creative Nonfiction, which was amusing if a tad raw compared to her later work.

Our guests split around 10:30 or so and the wife called it a night, as she has a fairly early morning. I picked up a bit and then got started on this post so I can get into bed and be up to greet the Maid in the AM.

Be seeing you.

Salo Or The 120 Days Of Movie Shame

The wife was out of the house with meetings this morning and into the early afternoon, so I rose with the alarm at 9:30 and was greeted by a fairly blasé Yorkie, who followed me around as I opened the house for the day and made the bed. She quickly lost interest in my little reindeer games and settled on the couch in the sitting area off the kitchen, because it was obvious that I wasn't going to be doing anything exciting and new. I fetched the newspaper and then gathered the recycling to drop off while I was out running errands.

The Maxima was due for an oil change, so I hit the recycle bins and then the little service station that I always go to to get that taken care of. I spent the waiting time cleaning up the iPhone with the various notes that I've taken over the past who knows how long, little snippets of lists, phone numbers that belong in my contact lists, all sorts of junk like that. I also exchanged texts with the wife about our plans for tomorrow, which include some lunch with friends and a viewing of The Dark Knight Rises, just because I've come to feel that if I wait around much longer some jerk-off is eventually going to start spoiling it for me, which would drive me nuts.

The wife had programs from the dinner at which she received an award that I had offered to have framed up, and we'd discussed doing something similar with the playbills from the two shows we saw while in NYC last October, so I headed to the arts and crafts store afterward to see what they could do for me. I also took the print that the wife got recently, as it's of an odd size and would require some matting to look right in a frame. I stopped for a coffee on the way home and took a wander through Barnes & Noble to see if anything grabbed me, then pointed the car towards the house to see what the Yorkie was up to and have some leftovers for my lunch.

I was enjoying some chicken spaghetti when the wife got home, so she and I caught up on our mornings, then she spent some time in the Office updating her Mac with a new operating system. I had been planning to get back on track with my Movie Shame Monday project, and had decided that I'd grab something off the To-Watch Pile to kill two birds with one stone.

Salò, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom is a film that you always hear about due to the notoriously offensive material onscreen (rape, shit-eating, torture, etc.) as well as the cultural significance it has as far as adapting the Marquis de Sade's original material to the Fascist confines of Italy circa 1944 and really gives you a hellacious look at the extremes that humans can devolve to when indulging themselves to their every whim. I...uh...enjoyed (?) the movie for what it is, though aside from the very studied cinematography, which seemed to keep things at arms length in a lot of the scenes, there's not a lot to particularly enjoy here, as the aggressors are all completely repugnant and their victims are mostly ciphers, which makes it hard to identify with anyone onscreen, leaving you mostly appalled by what you're seeing. I would also say that while I'm using the word appalled in that last sentence, I was never truly bothered by anything onscreen, which I think is a fucked up statement about what one can casually see on the interwebs, but there you go. I'm just a jaded old fuck I suppose, but there you go. The film is well worth a look, if you have the stomach for it, which is a very essential caveat.

The late afternoon found me back to my routine of spending an hour+ on the Guest Side of the house reading for a bit and scanning another shelf worth of books into the Goodreads app, inching ever close to being done with that project.

The wife had an evening meeting, so she and I had an early dinner, just a quick steak and baked potato with an attempted Caesar salad, but the lettuce had apparently been too close to the back of the fridge and was somewhat frozen, which I had to pass on because it was just a bit gross. The wife split for her meeting and I spent some time on the phone confirming plans tomorrow with Buckaroo Banzai, then caught up on the last few re-runs of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, as the new season started today and I was keen to check it out. The show is a lot of fun, and filled with a ton of Gen X references that make me feel that I'm definitely the audience they are marketing to. The wife returned as I was finally starting the season premiere episode, so she and I watched that and then last week's episode of The Soup to round out the evening.

The wife spent some time on her Mac after we turned the TV off and I filed away a pile of movies in the Media Closet, then eventually drifted into the Office to get started on this post.

I'm out kids.

Be seeing you.

Panic Sunday

The wife got out and hit the grocery store this morning for some baking items and ingredients for chicken spaghetti, but had already returned when I finally woke just before 11:00. I finished putting up the last of the grocery items while she finished a phone call with the Mother In Law, then we visited about the plans for the day and finished picking up the kitchen a bit.

The wife started her dough for a late afternoon baking project and I spent a few minutes in the Office, then finally settled into the den for a wild hair re-watch of Panic Room off the To-Watch Pile, which I haven't seen in quite some time and have had on the Pile for some time now. Honestly, it's not my favorite David Fincher film, so I figured if nothing else I could have it on for background noise while I read the newspaper, as I had the feeling that the wife would soon be catching a nap with the Yorkie once she came to a stopping point with the baking. Sure enough, she and the pup soon disappeared off to the bedroom and I finished out the movie along with the newspaper, then weighed my late afternoon options.

The wife was getting started on her baking as I grabbed a magazine and headed over to the Guest Side of the house to first scan some more books into the Goodreads app, then spend about an hour reading while listening to some jazz via Pandora. I can happily say that I've gotta be at least halfway done with all of my books at long last, though I admit that I've forgotten where I stopped on a shelf here or there, so I may end up playing catch-up and double checking things at the end of this whole project.

The wife was well underway with both a chocolate babka recipe and single serving cherry pies, as well as the chicken spaghetti meal when I finally surfaced from my Library diversion, so we compared notes on how all that was going and I had a cocktail to pass the time. I watched a couple episodes of the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated marathon that was running on Cartoon Network, which I was happy to find means that the show is set to return this coming week with new episodes, so that's something to look forward to. I've really enjoyed that show's retro/modern take on the characters, especially the continuing storyline that ran through the entire first season, rather than everything just being neatly wrapped up in 30 minutes.

We spent the evening first with a few Fox animation re-runs, then moved on to the 'good stuff' if you will, with a new True Blood, whose season continues to win me over and then lose me again withing the same fucking 50 minute period, it's like they're actively fucking with me at this point. If one character's story arc starts getting interesting, two others take weird turns that frustrate or confuse, it's kinda maddening at this point. We certainly ended on a high note with a new Breaking Bad, which continues to blow the doors off anything else on television week in and week out. All I know is that when this one goes away for a year I'm going to be pretty antsy to see the finale. I suppose the upside is that it will give me the time to give the entire series another watch, which it richly deserves.

I'm out kids, as I'm tired and wanna be up early in the AM.

Be seeing you.

Slackerday

This morning the wife rose early and went to run a few errands, so by the time I surfaced from my fog around 10:00 or so she was nowhere to be found. I made the bed and got the house opened up for the day, then texted her to see where she was. I'd woke with the assumption that she might've stepped out to go grocery shopping, but when I found the list still here I was curious where she'd gotten off to. She confirmed that she was out exchanging a few items and was on her way home, so I busied myself with nailing down some out of town friends regarding lunch.

Our friend Shioda had texted earlier in the week to try and confirm for the weekend so that we could see he and his wife for a visit, so I exchanged further texts to confirm a meeting at 12:30 at the deli that I ate at with the fellas earlier in the week, as I was keen to give the place another shot and try a different sandwich, see what else they had to offer. The wife and I had some time to kill before the meal so we stepped out early to run by the arts and crafts store to try and find a certain cake decorating guide that she was keen to pick up. We came up empty handed but found some scrap-booking odds and ends instead, then headed over to the deli to meet the happy couple.

We arrived just ahead of our friends, then hit the line and ordered food before visiting for about an hour or so, catching up fairly well and discussing our respective plans for the rest of the day. We eventually said our goodbyes and headed back to the house, comparing notes on the visit on the way.

The wife and the Yorkie chilled in the bedroom back at the house, while I spent some time on the Guest Side of things, scanning a few more things into the Goodreads app before reading for an hour or so in the Library. I've been trying to get back into my afternoon routines, but the last few days have been the only real time I've been able to make for this. Since we're going out of town next week again I honestly don't know why I'm bothering, as I'll just get things out of sorts again by this time next week. Oh well.

The late afternoon was upon us by this time, so I settled into the den and gave Richard Linklater's 1991 film Slacker another look, which actually took me back to some really great times. The film reminded me of some really fun times, when I was just discovering indie cinema, watching a lot of great movies with friends who are now scattered to the four winds or even dead, a time when I was drawing a lot and feeling really creative and productive, and a time when I was well immersed in the comics world and reading a ton of what I realize now are some of the best comics I've ever read. I wasn't in a relationship at the time, but for whatever pining I might've had for the opposite sex the good stuff still outweighs the bad in my memories. The film took me back to a very special little window of my past, and left me with fond memories rather than taking things down what could've easily been a melancholy route.

The wife caught a shower during the movie, resisting the urge to get fished in, then dressed for dinner out with our friend The Lobbyist, who is in town for about a week or so. TL arrived shortly after the wife made her appearance and we visited for a bit, then headed downtown for some Italian at the restaurant whose appeal puzzles me to this day. There was a short wait for a table, so we visited a bit and people-watched a bit before finally being seated and enjoying some average food. We hit a liquor store on the way home so that I could grab some Maker's Mark, then we chilled back at the house while watching (and slightly heckling) last week's episode of The Real L Word, which continues to both engage and puzzle.

Our guest split around 10:00 PM and then I put the wife to bed and headed to the interwebs to get started on this post.

Be seeing you.

Hanna Nana-nana-nana-nana-nana-nana...Batmaan!

The Lawn Guys turned up this morning for the first time in what must have been three weeks based on the state of the back yard, so their blowers and other nonsense had the Yorkie wigging out at the crack of dawn. The wife relented and just got up, but I was hellbent on powering through this latest annoyance and squeezing in the last hour of sleep that I'd tried to plan for myself.

The alarm woke me at 9:00 and I went in search of the family to see what they'd been up to for the past hour or so, then visited with the wife about her plans as well as my own for the day. She'd planned to stay around the house and work on more laundry while paying bills and things of that nature, so I agreed to run by the bank for her while I was out running a couple errands, including the arts & crafts store and a couple garage sales that promised either books or DVD's in their ads.

After the bank I hit up a couple garage sales, neither of which turned up anything interesting, so I eventually made my way to the arts & crafts store to price out a few different framing options that we're in the market for, including the program from the dinner at which the wife received an inaugural award, as well as our playbills from our NYC trip and a print that the wife picked up recently. I ended up speaking to DR about the framing options, which he seemed to think wouldn't be that much trouble once we decided how to mat things to secure them in the frame, and he mentioned that I might want to hold off until Monday, as a sale will be happening. I thanked him for the tip and ran by another estate sale on the way home, finally giving up on finding anything of interest.

At the house I touched base with the wife and then ordered a pizza for carryout, as it was a meal that I feel like I've been craving for the past week or so. I picked that up, narrowly avoiding getting fished into a conversation with a woman and her adult son who appeared to be mentally handicapped and was giving anyone he encountered that Macaulay Culkin litany of questions, ala Uncle Buck. I kinda started to overhear this as he was near the counter as mom paid their bill, so I was praying to myself that I wouldn't get fished into it next, as there seemed to be no end whatsoever to the questions. Thankfully I was able to grab my food and get the hell out of there without any weird incident.

The wife joined me for a nibble of the food, then she and the Yorkie retired to the bedroom for some trash television in the afternoon, as is their custom. I settled into the den and watched Hanna off the TiVo while I ate my lunch, because the movie is something I've heard a lot of good things about. The basic set-up for the film is that a father has raised his young daughter to be vigilantly ready to take on a government agent who will come for her once she reveals their presence via a transmitter. The film has a very simple plot, and is mostly fun for the way the innocent Hanna interacts once she is introduced to the populated world after being raised in seclusion without something as simple as electricity, but she can also snap your neck at a moment's notice. It was fun, though I'm definitely late to the party on this one, as I've been hearing people talk about it forever it seems.

The late afternoon was spent cleaning up the dead or dying flowers that were hanging around in several arrangements from last week, then getting the piles of recycling ready to drop off. The wife and Yorkie came to check on me as I was finishing up this project, then I stepped out to drop everything off and start to evaluate what we had going on for the evening.

We've made tentative plans to try and finally get back into the Summer movie viewing with a trip to the theater to see The Dark Knight Rises early next week, so I was hoping to give the first two films another watch as a little refresher. With this in mind I popped in the Blu-ray of Batman Begins once we settled into the den. The film holds up well, and I was kinda happy that the wife joined me, as I would rather she be 'up to speed' on the series when we go to the theater. I had some leftovers for my dinner as we took it in, then we paused between films to get out and grab a little something for the wife's evening meal, as she wasn't keen on the pizza.

Once we reconvened I threw The Dark Knight in, surprising myself when I realized I'd only watched the movie once before. Heath Ledger still kills as the Joker, though watching the two films back to back I would have to say that I found certain bits of the expository dialog here and there to be a bit corny, but I suppose it's stuff that you have to get in there for the rubes who haven't wasted half their life reading comic books like I have. The two films really ate up the evening, as we finally wrapped the second around 11:00 in the evening, so I put the wife to bed and then headed to the Office to get started on this crapola, even though I should be spending my time working on getting things updated from two weeks ago.

Be seeing you.

Little Red Killing Kind

After being up until 5:00 in the AM last 'night', I slept for about four hours, woke long enough to hear the wife and the Yorkie bumping around in the kitchen, then went back to sleep for a few more hours to try and maintain my sanity. I woke as the wife was returning from errands around 11:00 or so and we visited a bit about her day thus far as well as her plans for the afternoon, which mostly consisted of sticking close to home and getting some laundry done to try and get things back to normal.

Talking of normal, I had been thinking about my usual routines in the past few days, so I decided to run over to Odessa and take a prowl through the pawn shops and see if anything new had turned up over the past few weeks or so. With this in mind, I dressed while the wife got some laundry started and then said my goodbyes as I headed out to see what I could find. I grabbed Starbuck's on the way out of town, just to fortify for the afternoon and then made my usual circuit of the various stores, turning up absolutely nothing for my troubles, which was kind of surprising, as stuff usually tends to turn over in a couple weeks at most of these places. I did find a handful of stuff at Big Lots, including a few things that I figured would make for decent trade bait on Swap A DVD if I decided that I wasn't interested in keeping them for myself. I rounded out the trip with a browse of the books, music and video outlet, where I ended up with a copy of the new Phantom of the Movies' VideoScope from their magazines section and nothing else. I was amused to see a middle aged woman and her kids desperately looking for a copy of Truckin' in the magazine section, where a clueless employee tried to help the woman while her two under 10 yr old boys casually flipped through this month's Maxim, presumably because they share my lust for Jessica Biel's body.

I eventually pointed the car towards home, trying to call the wife to see if she needed anything, but I never got her on the phone, so I ended up just grabbing a very late lunch at McDonald's just because it seemed easiest. I headed home to eat and after greeting the wife I chilled in the den and ate while watching a super-wild hair flick off the TiVo, the largely lambasted Red Riding Hood starring Amanda Seyfried as the young girl menaced not by a wolf, but a werewolf that plagues her medieval village. I must realy hate myself, as I was essentially punishing not only my body with shitty food, but my intellect as well, subjecting myself to this shitty movie. I was sort of hoping that the film would be something I could get into once it got going, as it started off very set-bound, in that I never really felt like I was looking at a real environment, it all felt very fake and artificial from the first frame, so I was hoping for some kind of weird fairy tale hyper-reality that just never happened, then the stupid werewolf turns out to be a giant CGI wolf instead of anything remotely human looking, a trend that I despise on every level. If it's a 'were' something, try to account for the human elements too, dammit. Don't just show me a large animal that you promise me was once a human being. Bleh.

The wife had mentioned that she was going over to the Mother In Law's place for a bit this evening, which I honestly tuned out about, because I'm frankly family'd out at this point, so I figured I would let her go and do whatever she wanted to while I chilled at the house. She split to head over there around 5:30 or so while I was finishing up the movie and looking through today's mail. The weather had been cloudy most of the afternoon, and it soon darkened furtehr and gave us a pretty decent little rain shower for the better part of an hour or more, then the wife texted to say that she was headed out to dinner with the In-Laws, which I was surprised by, as I wasn't expecting her to be gone very long.

More on that later...

I ended up popping in a completely random selection from the To-Watch Pile, a film called The Killing Kind, in which a sex offender is released after 2 years in prison, moves back in with a smothering mom at her boardinghouse and then starts spying on her one cute tenant while taking revenge on the people who put him in prison. See, the weird bit is that he didn't actually participate in the gang-rape that opens the film; he wasn't able to perform, but the victim ID'd him anyway and he did time, so she's definitely on his shit list. The lead is played by John Savage, who I recall from Deerslayer, and the cute tenant he spies on and gets weirded out by is a pre-Laverne & Shirley Cindy Williams. The film has its moments, but overall its a bit too slowly paced and doesn't ever get as grim as one might expect it to given the subject matter, so I dunno if I'd recommend tracking it down or not.

During the film the wife and I traded several texts as the dinner plans she'd headed out for had fallen through due to a long wait at the restaurant, then a burger alternate was chosen and I was kinda wondering how long this whole thing was going to drag on. When the wife returned she elaborated on the evening and basically told me that I had stopped listening when she said 'family dinner', as the evening entailed some of the Beau's relatives being in town, as well as the Older Sister's family, the Middle Brother In Law and his son, all sorts of people, about 12 for dinner for what I had imagined was to be the wife having food with the In-Laws and calling it a night. I actually felt kinda bad, as I would've likely sucked it up had I realized that everyone in the fucking extended family was going, but since I though it was something low key I just blew it off. Oh well, it's all in the past now.

We rounded out the evening with the season premiere (from a few weeks back) of The Real L Word, a show that I find mildly entertaining and largely exhausting, as the characters all seem to make the worst relationship decisions they possibly can at every turn. We ended with the new Louie, which was wonderful as always, ending on a strangely melancholy note that I think is indicative of what I love about the show and what I can imagine others might find maddening about it. The free-form style he uses definitely drifted into arthouse zaniness this time around, and I loved it.

I put the wife to bed and then jumped into this post, though I doubt I'm staying up much past getting it saved, as I'm still feeling my late night at this point.

Be seeing you.

House Of 1,000 Tiny Rejects' Furniture

The wife was out of the house when I woke this morning, so I started listening to a podcast and busied myself with getting the house opened up for the day before hopping online to finally address the ridiculously late blog publishing schedule, which has only gotten worse in the face of the recent family funeral and other complications, like my lack of interest in writing any of it down for the general public to read.

The wife got home as I was putting the finishing touches on the post I was working on, quite ridiculously the one detailing the preview night of San Diego Comic Con, lo these two+ weeks after the fact, but what are you going to do, y'know? I'm nothing short of a drain on society and not getting paid for any of this shit, so just try to make me care if it's published in a timely manner and I'll tellya to pound sand for your trouble.

The wife and I caught up a bit, then I finally got the post I'd been working on published and called in a late lunch for the wife and I, then dressed and headed out to pick up some Thai for lunch as well as a random stop for some dessert just because it sounded good to me. I finally made my way home after an assholish wait for the food, delivered the wife's spring rolls and then settled into the den with some random stuff off the TiVo, catching up with Black Dynamite, Aqua Teen Something You Know Whatever (as the show is known this season), and the newest Ultimate Spider-Man, then decided to take some time to read for a bit in the Library in the late afternoon.

I chilled in the Library for about an hour and change, got some more stuff scanned into the Goodreads app, then went to see what the wife and Yorkie were up to, which turned out to be laundry and general picking up of the house. I spent some time online, dicking around with this or that, then eventually the wife and I ended up back in the den, where I suggested a little something off the To-Watch Pile that I thought the wife would dig.

I'd ordered Lena Dunham's film Tiny Furniture as part of the Criterion sale over at the Barnes & Noble website, and since the first season of Girls has wrapped I figured the wife might dig checking it out to fill the void, as I had it on good authority that it was pretty similar to the television series in concept and delivery. The movie was a lot of fun, reminding me at several turns of various indie comics from the mid '90s, which makes me wonder if Dunham is a fan of the format, or if that's merely a coincidence. The film follows a directionless 20-something (Dunham, 'natch) as she returns to NYC after graduating and moves back in with her over-achieving mother and younger sister, who have no time for her 'finding myself' nonsense. It's a good flick and well worth the time, give it a look.

The wife and I watched a weeks' old episode of Dallas, then followed it up with last weeks', just to try and stay remotely current, then the wife called it a night and I decided to power through with tonight's episode of Futurama.

I was flipping channels and found myself watching a few minutes of The Devil's Rejects on IFC, then they came to one of their commercial breaks and I wondered why the fuck I was wasting time with 'indie' commercials instead of just watching the film itself, so I ended up re-watching House Of 1,000 Corpses as well as Devil's Rejects, and I have to say that I really enjoy both films for very different reasons. House is fun for the day-glo spookshow of it all, and Rob Zombie wearing his influences on his sleaze for pretty much the entire film, but Devil's Rejects is something much greater than its influences. Devil's Rejects manages to be a stylish take on the '70s exploitation genre without ever fully succumbing to the style of the era. The film is easily Rob Zombie's most accomplished work and a few bits of his cornball dialog aside, it feels very gritty and realistic even though it's populated with the cartoonish characters from the first film.

By the time the two films wrapped it was pushing towards 4:00 in the AM, so I finally hopped on the web and got this post dummied up before heading to bed to catch some rest.

Be seeing you.

Back To Life, Back To Reality

Today was the day that we could finally get back to the normal run of things, as we'd finally got most of the family related stuff out of the way and could start getting back into the usual routines, which for the wife included morning meetings and for me getting the house back to normal and opened up for the day before meeting the fellas for a bite to eat around 1:00 or so.

The wife texted me that she was meeting Morris and his mother for some lunch around 11:45, so I figured I could go and visit with them and have a soda or something, then still meet my friends for some lunch and catch up on the past week. With this in mind I dressed quickly and headed over to the Mexican restaurant that had just seated the wife and co. as I was walking in. We visited over some queso and chips, then I watched them eat and eventually excused myself to head to the deli where I was to meet the fellas about ten minutes before 1:00, giving myself just enough time to get there without having to wait around on anyone.

As it turned out, EL was waiting for me when I walked in, and then we were soon joined by DR and placed our orders. This deli is new to me, so I was a little antsy about what I had chosen, but figured I'd just hope for the best since I knew little about this place or its quality. The food was actually rather tasty and I kinda caught the guys up on the rather hectic week that we'd had since I last saw them, as well as catching up on the (thankfully) more sedate week that they had enjoyed.

After we said our goodbyes I took a detour through the local books, music and video outlet for a couple magazines and also found a random Clive Barker paperback for half price, so I figured what the hell, I can add it to the stack, right? It was one of those that came out shortly after I stopped reading everything he was doing, so I guess it'll be fun to have Coldheart Canyon around to read at my leisure. I headed back to the house to see what the wife and Yorkie were up to only to find them crashed out in the bedroom for a much deserved nap.

I excused myself and grabbed something to read before heading over to the Guest Side of the house to read for a bit in the Library. I also took the opportunity to scan another handful of books into the Goodreads app, a project that's fallen by the wayside for no reason in particular, though I want to get back into the habit, as it's been helpful in the past when shopping while we're on the road. The wife eventually got up, nagged awake by the ingrate of a dog who wanted a late afternoon snack, so she ended up in the Office piddling around with e-mail and other stuff that's gone kinda ignored this past week.

The idea for the evening was that we might have a few folks over since Morris was in town, just to allow a couple other friends to catch up with him before he splits tomorrow morning, so the wife lined things out to place an order for food that Morris himself would pick up, then we'd have a dinner in with Morris, JH and Kno1. I watched a little something off the To-Watch Pile to pass the time while enjoying a cocktail and waiting for folks to arrive; the wife grabbed a shower and did her hair, as she has to be on television in the morning and wanted to get a jump on that.

Kno1 arrived first, followed in quick succession by JH and Morris, loaded down with a ton of Italian food from a local favorite downtown that I still have yet to warm to completely. We had a fun meal, visiting over some...reliable (?) food, which is the most charitable way I can put it, as the food is decent but nothing special to my tastes. As I said, I like the food well enough, but it's absolutely nothing I'd seek out of the wife wasn't a fan, y'know? We eventually settled into the den and I finished out the DVD I'd popped in earlier, which was the first TV Carnage DVD called Ouch Television My Brain Hurts while we shot the shit about this and that. Kno1 split somewhat early, as he had a drive ahead of him tomorrow and isn't that much of a night-owl anyway, then we hung out over a few more cocktails and watched some more television before the evening took a truly odd turn and ended with a little bit of flashing (and not from who I would've expected), which was the furthest thing from my mind and quite the bizarro surprise way to end things. I won't go into details because who the fuck knows who reads what anymore and I don't want to accidentally embarrass anyone, but suffice to say, it was an amusing night.

Our guests called it a night shortly after 10:00, then I put the wife and Yorkie to bed before grabbing a final cocktail and getting started on this post. As it stands at this moment I have nothing planned for tomorrow save for updating the blog to the point that I can start posting two posts a day again to get it caught up once more, as I've begun to fall behind even further in the wake of the funeral and other drama.

Be seeing you.

Burial, Halloween, Television

I slept about four and a half hours last night after being up dicking around on the web much later than I should've, then woke with the alarm at 8:30 to start getting ready for the Druncle's funeral. I showered while the wife dressed, then Morris arrived, having offered to drive us to and from the funeral to make things a bit easier. He drove us to the funeral home, where a good amount of people, both family and friends were already milling around.

The funeral directors assembled the pallbearers (which I'd been volunteered for) in the back of the chapel, applied boutonnieres to us and then seated us at the front of the building before the family were led in and the proceedings got underway. One of the wife's Uncles officiated the proceedings, kind of tag-teaming things with the Mother In Law, who was surprisingly composed throughout, save for a few moments here and there. The Older Brother In Law and I kinda continued the theme of keeping one another company, as neither of us feels 100% at home with the various cousins who rounded out the numbers of the pallbearers, nor with the Middle Brother In Law.

The MIL gave the crowd a chance to share any remembrances they might have of the Druncle, none of which got out of hand, thank you God, though several of the people speaking were oddball cousins that I've not met in 8 years of being around this family, so I had a hard time imagining that they were as tight with the man as they seemed to think. We proceeded the family outside, then waited around until it was time to load up the casket, then I joined Morris and the wife in his vehicle for the procession to the cemetery.

Here's where things got a bit sideways: the daffy broad leading the funeral procession forgot which fucking cemetery we were going to, so when the cop has traffic blocked at a certain intersection, she just drives around him and proceeds on down the road for several blocks before realizing her mistake and taking us on a puzzling detour through a residential section before we finally got back on track, which made for a really bizarre journey. We spent about a half hour at the graveside after placing the casket and laying the boutonnieres on top of it, visiting with a few folks before finally drifting back to the vehicle as the group started to disperse.

Since we were in our neighborhood we stopped by the house and both Morris and I changed clothes while the wife changed shoes, then I took my own car over to the MIL's place, just in case I wanted to split earlier than the wife or Morris might want to call it a day. We mingled and visited and mostly stuck to the same kinda clique-y groups that we've been in the past few days, because as I mentioned earlier, I don't care whose cousin you are, if I've not met you in the past 6-8 years I doubt that I will see you again after today, so why bother?

Notable was one of these total strangers tripping as she walked into the kitchen area, prompting the Older Sister to diplomatically comment that the MIL should light the area to make sure people see the little step up, which I took to be her way of making the woman feel less foolish about falling on her ass in front of people. Personally I had a slightly different take on that situation, in that it occurs to me if you're wandering around in unfamiliar territory, maybe you would be more aware of your surroundings and look where the fuck you're going, how about that?

Of course that may just be bitterness creeping in after a week of entertaining virtual strangers and trying to not get too agitated by it all. The only other wrinkle was someone needing a phone to make a conference call on, who then had to launch into a way more detailed than necessary account of why he needed the phone, because none of us really cared. Then the same guy drifts back in as if to make sure we don't wanna ask him any questions about his super-important call; it just felt weirdly open-ended in a way that invited us to ask more about the situation when none of us could really be bothered.

We eventually split for the house around 3:00 or so, as the various family and friends had finally started to take the hint that it'd been a long week and maybe we should all go our separate ways. Morris and the wife joined me shortly after I got home and divvied up some leftovers, then Morris headed over to spend time with his mother and the wife crashed out for a nap.

On a wild hair I'd decided to check out the Blu-ray of Halloween II that I had picked up awhile back, for the full length bonus film Terror In The Aisles, so in anticipation of that I popped in Halloween, just for a re-watch. The film is fun and made for great background noise as I went through the mail and piddled around in the den over a few cocktails. I moved on to a re-watch of Halloween II on Blu-ray next, which I had oddly enough caught on cable about a month ago, then the wife joined me as I was starting Terror In The Aisles, which is hosted by Halloween's own Donald Pleasence as well as featuring an appearance by Nancy Allen. The film struck me sort of odd, in that it seemed more interested in showing us clips of other films rather than going too far into any sort of criticism. It pretty much gives very middle of the road 'insights' about why we like to be scared, etc., but didn't honestly tell me anything I couldn't put together for myself. I did really dig the clips though, even if they got into rather spoilery areas for a lot of the films, so I was happy that I'd already seen pretty much everything that they referenced.

The wife and I enjoyed some leftovers for our dinner and finally got a chance to watch last night's episode of Breaking Bad, then rounded out the evening with the last episode of The Ricky Gervais Show before calling it a night.

I hopped online after putting the wife to bed and did some shopping for this and that before starting this post, which I hope is the first step on my way to getting caught up again now that we possibly have a few days to ourselves for some normalcy.

Be seeing you.

Werewolves, Viewings, Television

Today I woke late and got the house opened, then helped the wife bring in groceries before piddling around while the wife baked a cake for the Younger Nephew, since it was something that he requested the day before and she was hoping it'd take his mind off the fucked up week.

The Yorkie seems to have fully recuperated from her bout of stomach issues and was happy and playful, which was a relief.

I spent some time on the PC in the Office poking around on eBay for a bit, then settled into the den to watch Werewolf Woman courtesy of Netfux rental. It was a bizarro experience, with only a bit of true werewolf action at the beginning of the film, then devolving into the weird madness of the lead in the rest of the flick, as a woman finds that she resembles an ancestor who was put to death as a werewolf, then starts killing people left, right and center. There's some crazy rape/revenge elements in the final act that really set this one apart as a puzzling mish-mash of genres, but it's something that I don't know if I would re-visit quite honestly, as it is such an 'everything & the kitchen sink' approach to the material.

The wife dressed for the Druncle's viewing and headed over to the Mother In Law's place about an hour early to make sure that everything was happening as it was supposed to, so I eventually started getting ready myself, keeping it kind of casual since I will be wearing a suit tomorrow for God knows how long.

I arrived at the funeral home a few minutes after 4:00, visited with the family and friends that were streaming in, which included the usual suspects as well as some more random people I had never seen in my damned life, which seems to be the theme of things this week. Kno1 turned up as well, eventually offering to split for a drink to visit and bit and catch up, which I took him up on, as I didn't feel like my absence would really effect anyone. We had a drink at a little bar and grill downtown and shot the shit for about an hour or so, then I go the call from the wife that she and the In-Laws were headed back to the MIL's house for food and further mingling, and by the way, where the hell had I gotten off to?, so we headed back to the funeral home so I could pick up the car, then jetted over to the house to meet everyone.

Kno1 hung around for a bit, then split just before everyone started tucking into food, as he wasn't hungry and had just wanted to make a quick appearance. The wife and I ate while visiting with the Older Sister, the Niece and the Nephew, and I had a couple more cocktails courtesy of the MIL's bar, then we eventually picked up after the crowd thinned, marveling at the strangely light turnout when the OS had actually planned ahead and had the damned meal catered by a local Italian chain. Had things been more impromptu they'd have eaten us out of house and home, but since there was plenty of food people seemed to stay away in droves. Weird.

We eventually settled in the house and visited for a bit, but the wife was really feeling the cumulative effect of the week, so we headed home around 8:00 to just chill out and relax. We got into our comfies and chilled with some typical Sunday evening television, then were joined by Morris about halfway through True Blood, which we finished out together over a few cocktails, then visited while I flipped channels to see what else was happening on the TiVo.

Morris eventually split for his mother's place around midnight, so I put the wife to bed and got fished into the end of X2: X-Men United on cable before finally coming to the web later than I should've to get this post started.

I'm out kids.

Be seeing you.

Savage Saturday

The week has begun to weigh on me as I spend more time staying up late and getting up later and later, so it was no surprise that I woke today around 11:30 to the sounds of the wife and the Yorkie going about their business in the kitchen area like normal folks instead of the possum that I seem to be morphing into. A nocturnal creature, if you will...

When I finally surfaced the wife and I caught up on her day thus far, then made plans to maybe grab some lunch and drop by the Mother In Law's place, as she'd asked if I could come over and help her get some chairs out of the basement, along with a couple tables in anticipation of the various gatherings surrounding the Druncle's viewing on Sunday, then the actual funeral on Monday. The wife inquired about the possibility of bringing the MIL or the Beau some lunch, then we called in an order to a deli and headed out to pick that up so we could eat before doing the MIL's little project.

We grabbed food and headed to the MIL's, where we ate and visited with she and the Beau for a bit, then welcomed visits from Anastasia Beaverhouszen, a random neighbor of the MIL's, Brian's mother dropping off some snacks and eventually a representative from the charity whose fundraiser we'd attended last night, who was dropping of the bicycle that the In-Laws had won in the live auction. The Middle Brother In Law and Nephew also turned up in there somewhere, as he'd also been rooked into the whole 'chairs & tables' set-up plan too, so after a bit of shooting the shit the Beau walked he and I down to the basement to dig around to find the chairs and carry them out to the pool area. The Beau made the command decision to not bother with tables, as they'd cut down on the amount of mingling that happens, but I could kinda foresee the MIL changing that at some point in the future, but at least the bulk of things had been dispersed, which consisted of scattering chairs all around the pool area.

We had spent a few hours at the MIL's house by this time, and when the Older Sister popped in to pick up the Nephew to go and look for a suit for the funeral, I started getting more serious about leaving, as the stream of people would be never-ending at some point and I wanted to be at my house, dammit. The MBIL split for awhile to fetch some large trash cans for the party, and after helping him unload those I started to give the wife more signs that I was ready to split, so we eventually made our escape after yet another Aunt and Uncle had turned up and the Beau had split to grab someone from the airport.

Naturally I forgot that I needed to grab some antacids from the drugstore while we were out, so while the wife picked up the kitchen a bit I headed back out briefly to grab those and then settled into the Office to pay a couple of bills and spend some money on some dumb shit that I'd noticed was on sale at this website or that. That actually ate up more time than I had anticipated, so by the time I got offline we were into the evening and the wife had made some more homemade rolls so that we could make little sliders with the leftover tenderloin from the other night.

We settled in the den and I popped in Savage Streets off the To-Watch Pile, which was a film that I've been keen to see for the better part of a year or more, and have even had random interweb friends offer to dub for me, but neither fo those people ever came through with the discs, so I was happy to grab this Arrow UK release when I finally got a region free player and see what this sleazy '80s revenge film was all about. The story is fairly simple, in that a girl gang runs afoul of a group of thugs and as revenge the guys gang-rape the younger sister (Linnea Quigley) of the leader, who is played by Linda Blair, then Linda goes apeshit and seeks her own bloody revenge. It's sort of in the mold of something like I Spit On Your Grave, though Blair doesn't do any seducing to lure anyone into a trap, she's a lot more proactive with a crossbow and other found weapons. It's an interesting flick, in that the people in the film are mostly meant to be of high school age, but all look to be in their mid-'20s if they're a day, and the 'younger sister' is obviously the same age as her sibling, but it's a fun sleazy ride if you're into that kinda thing.

We rounded out the evening with this week's episode of Louie, then I put the wife and Yorkie to bed before pouring myself a final cocktail and heading to the interwebs, where I had some more odds and ends shopping in mind that I wanted to deal with before finally getting this post started and calling it a night.

I don't know if it's a sign of depression, boredom or just the booze talking, but I managed to buy some oddball shit off eBay just to be doing it, so I guess I'll have a few weird surprises in the mail in the next week or so.

Be seeing you.

Dog, Dororo, Dinner

The wife had meetings this morning and was out of the house when I woke, still feeling the same annoying kink in my neck that I went to bed with last night. The Yorkie was still lounging with me when I got up, so she and I cuddled for a bit, then I started getting the house opened up for the day and answered the door for a floral delivery that the Mother In Law had sent to the wife as a little 'thank you' for all she's done this week in the face of the family's loss and what have you.

The Yorkie started doing her weird gagging routine and barfed up a small amount of that white foam that she produces when she's getting ill. I gave her a bit of medicine (left over from her last bout of this type of crap) and crossed my fingers that it would sort things out.

I was actually looking at e-mail on the iPhone when the wife returned for a bit, so we visited briefly, noting with apprehension that the Yorkie seemed to be pretty indifferent to her food as well, then she stepped into the Office to check e-mail and the Yorkie naturally threw up, as if on cue. Except this time she was throwing up blood, so the wife grabbed her and ran her to the vet, where we expected that she'd get the same shot they always give her that calms her stomach back down.

Christ Almighty this dog is high maintenance.

Since the wife was out doing that I decided to seize the opportunity to run a couple errands, because the wife had been kinda hinting around that I should do something for her in honor of the award that she was to receive at a fundraiser this evening, so I figured I should take notice, since she very rarely specifically asks for anything. I ended up grabbing a little Pandora charm that had a little jewel in it a number 1 in the center, ala a first place ribbon, which seemed appropriate, as this is the inaugural year for the award she's to receive. Afterward I drove through Starbuck's for a coffee and a giftcard, which I figured would be good for her to use for quick energy between her various non-profit volunteering nonsense, then I grabbed myself some Chinese for lunch.

My original plan (since the wife had hinted about flowers) was to grab some roses or something like that, but with this death in the family we've actually had several floral arrangements turn up at the house, so I puzzled over what to do about this on the way home, making a last minute wild hair stop for some tulips. They just so happened to be the only flower not represented in the various arrangements that we currently have on our kitchen counters, so I figured that would be somewhat original, as I was debating just throwing my hands up and ordering a 'spring mix' for delivery for awhile there.

The wife and Yorkie were home when I got in, so I touched base with them to make sure things were okay, and sure enough, the pup had the same shot as always and will have a follow-up tomorrow. I left the wife to take a much-needed nap in the afternoon and I settled into the den with my food and watched Dororo off the TiVo, just because it was one of the longest things on there taking up valuable real estate for far too long.

Dororo is a Japanese film that's (big surprise) based on a manga series and has been adapted into numerous other media, including this 2007 film in which a female thief (the titular character) joins forces with a samurai who is wandering the countryside killing goblins to get back parts of his body that they possess. The samurai's father traded his infant son's body parts to these demons for the power to rule the world, but instead has simply become a warmongering tyrant, while the child was taught how to keep himself alive by a shaman using a bizarre series of mystical and pseudo-scientific procedures, grafting the body parts of the dead to his own body to limp along until he can slay the various creatures that have his body parts, at which time the re-grow inside him. The film is fairly decent, if overlong, a complaint I seem to have about every other Japanese film that I encounter, so maybe that's my issue and not theirs. The CGI ranges from laughable to passable, but at no time will you ever be fully transported to a fantasy world where all these things seem possible, let me put it that way. It's a decent watch, but I don't know if I'd come back to it for any reason, I feel like it's told me everything it needs to, y'know?

The wife and I started getting ready for the evening around this point, as it was late afternoon and we were planning on being there around 6:00-ish, so we both got cleaned up and kinda approved one another's outfits, as I was unsure if I liked this tie or that with the suit that I'd selected, then we finally left the Yorkie to recuperate and headed out to the event, which was at the new county exhibit building South of town. The event is a fundraiser for a local charity and was to feature a speaker who was involved in the rescue of the Chilean miners from a few years back, but there was also a live auction, a silent auction and a few other bits to pad out the evening. We mingled and found the family who were in attendance, but not before one of the wife's acquaintances kinda agitated me. This gal (who actually used to teach with Anastasia Beaverhouszen over in Odessa as I recall) invariably acts as if we haven't met, like five fucking times now, which irritates me as much as the wife's friend who used to say shit like "Hi, I'm ------, we've met before..." before I even had a chance to speak to her, which drove me batty. I may try to scratch the new one across the face with a salad fork, so I can later introduce myself and say "...and I'm the guy who gave you that scar. Remember meeting me NOW?"

Anyway...

The food was pretty blah, but about what I was expecting, and the turnout for our table consisted of the MIL and her Beau, who looked miserable for the most part, but it's been a long week and I honestly wouldn't have been there myself if the wife weren't being honored. He did seem to perk up a bit as the evening went on, so that's something. The Older Sister and her family were there, as well as the Middle Sister's hubby and child, because she's presumably holed up in Dallas pulling a drunk over the family death or some odd perceived slight that none of us are aware of.

The MIL and the Beau split after the wife was given her award and the live auction happened, though they did get an old school styled bicycle in the auction, so that's cool I guess. The OS and her family stuck it out for the speaker, then split, and we kinda mingled our way out as the Middle Brother In Law and his son went to get a book signed from the author that was in attendance.

We got home and decompressed a bit in bed, then I fed the Yorkie, who ate happily, so that's a good sign. I left the wife and pup to crash for the evening and had some leftover Chinese to make up for the lackluster dinner at the event, watching some Adult Swim re-runs to pass the time before I got started on this post.

We actually have tomorrow 'off' from any weird engagements, family or otherwise, so I think we're both really looking forward to that.

Be seeing you.

Train_Thursday

The wife continued her efforts to maintain some element of normalcy in her life in the face of the various complications of the week today by getting up at a reasonable hour, showering and heading out to a meeting, as is the custom. I woke briefly while she was getting ready and yelled at the Goddamned Yorkie for pooping on the rug in the bedroom, then went back to sleep to try and grab something resembling a normal amount of rest.

When I finally woke up I made up with the Yorkie and got the house opened up for the day, then made the bed and decided to get out and grab some lunch. My initial choice for lunch wasn't answering the phone, so that kinda fucked up my plans to call in an order for food, then kill time by picking up Starbuck's, but as things shook out I ended up grabbing coffee first and then a burger out of desperation on the way back to the house. I'd spoken to the wife while I was out, so I brought her a coffee as well and we caught up a bit before she headed into the Office to work on the Druncle's obituary, which would then be proofread later in the day by the family at another dinner at the Mother In Law's house.

In an effort to start getting back to my own normal routines I popped in a movie that's been laying around from Netfux for over a week now. Train_Man: Densha Otoko is a really charming story about an Otaku (a Japanese word used to refer to people with obsessive behaviors towards things like anime and manga) who stands up to a drunk on a train who's bothering a young woman, then desperately tries to come out of his shell to court the young lady when he perceives that she might have even a passing interest in him. He seeks advice from a rather diverse series of online acquaintances who he chats with each night and they actually help out in numerous instances, encouraging him along and living vicariously through him, which is a really cute turn that I wasn't expecting. Actually, to be honest, the idea that he finds so many supportive friends online is one of the only things I found slightly far-fetched, but some further investigation into this film (and several helpful posts from Facebook friends when I mentioned watching it) has told me that the whole story is (allegedly) based on a true event, and has been adapted as a book, manga and a television show before this movie came out in 2005. Like I said, it's a cute little film and worth tracking down if you're in the mood for something kinda light, sweet and nerdy.

I left the wife working on the meal for this evening and stepped out to run by Best Buy, where they have the 'upgrade and save' thing going on again this week and I figured I might grab a couple things for about $5 apiece after the discounts were applied. I also agreed to run by the grocery store for a few odds and ends that the wife needed for the meal on the way back, then headed out, as I only had about an hour of so before we were supposed to be at the MIL's house.

Best Buy was fairly painless, in that they actually had the specific items I was after in stock (two of the Blade movies on Blu-ray, if you care), then I popped into the grocery store and pointed the car towards the house. The wife was putting the final touches on the meal, so I helped her load up a few items, then headed to the shower to get cleaned up before following her over to the MIL's place.

One of the random Uncles who's in town for the funeral has inquired about 'meeting' the Yorkie since they have a dog that they travel with, so I had reluctantly put the dog's collar on and was getting ready to head to the MIL's when I noticed that I had a voicemail. As it turned out, the voicemail was telling me that the Uncle in question wouldn't even be at the dinner this evening, so I felt really bad that the pup was all excited about a potential outing. Kinda flummoxed by this, I decided to take her for a brief ramble around the back yard at the very least, just so she didn't feel completely screwed and left out of the evening.

Dinner was fine, with only the immediate family (well, for the most part) in attendance rather than all the cousins and their kids and their kids' kids that'd been milling around last night. There was some random person who I was introduced to who's a cousin of the MIL or some such shit, who shook my hand and asked me how I fit into the family, so I indicated the wife and said that I was married to this sweet lady over here. It occurred to me later that I should've asked who the hell he was, since I've been in this house within the past 23 hours and I've never laid eyes on you in my fucking life, so maybe I'll be asking the questions here buddy...

Anyway....

The meal was great, the wife made a really tasty tenderloin and rolls, along with baked potatoes and trimmings, and the Older Sister made a really great dessert and the onion dish that the entire family (save for me) loves, as I'm just not an onion person. We visited for a bit and had the amusement of one of the Uncles leaving (for 20 minutes!) to run an errand, which had Grandmother moaning to anyone who'd listen about how she "...couldn't believe that they'd just leave her like this!", even though I personally heard at least two people mentioning to the room in general that they were leaving for a short time and would be right back. It's very funny to me, because Grandmother both amuses and occasionally annoys me with her antics like this, because to hear her tell it, she'd been put in a chair facing a corner of the room in an un-air conditioned garage and left to die rather than at a table visiting with members of her family for a completely reasonable period of time. Oh well, who knows what kind of a crotchety old fuck I'm going to turn into eventually; this lady is likely a walk in the park compared to what I have in my future.

The wife, the OS and the MIL were working on music selections for the funeral service after awhile, so I left them to do that and headed home, where I played with the dog a bit to try and burn off some of her excess energy, then settled into the den to flip channels a bit and see what the TiVo'd been up to. The wife got home later than I expected, so we ended up just comparing notes on the day a bit before she headed to bed and I got started on this post so that I can get to bed a little earlier than I have been this week.

Be seeing you.

Maid, Lunch, Family Dinner

The wife was out and about early this morning to run the Yorkie by the Groomer to get cleaned up and looking presentable again. I had been up late working on stupid blog stuff so I set the alarm for 10:00 in hopes of catching at least 5 hours of sleep.

I got up and opened the house for the day, then started picking up the kitchen a bit before the wife called asking me to be on standby to help her unload groceries, as she'd been called upon to help make part of a meal that was to feed the family this evening. We unloaded groceries and she pretty much ran back out the door, as she had to be at a a meeting and was running late at this point. I put away the groceries and then settled into the Office to work on getting another blog post updated and ready to publish before the Maid arrived and got started on her routine. I'd sort of come to a stopping point after getting something published and was debating eating something when the wife texted about the possibility of grabbing some lunch, as our plan had been to shop for a new suit on the occasion of both a dinner at which she's to receive an award, as well as the impending funeral this weekend.

I was quite honestly not feeling the whole shopping bit, so I took a moment to survey my closet and see if anything jumped out at me as a possible option for making due with this week and saving myself the whole hassle, then dressed to make sure I was ready to head out when the wife finally got home. The wife soon returned with the Yorkie, who we fed some lunch and then left to look after the Maid in our stead as we headed back out to get a bite to eat.

The wife and I ended up at a restaurant out on the Loop for a quick bite, then I kinda sprang my thoughts about the whole clothing issue on her and we simply headed back home, as I felt I had a couple suits that I can make do with for now instead of fucking around with a lot of measuring and options and all the other hassles that you get into when you start buying higher end clothing. Do you have a belt that goes with this, do we need shoes, etc.

Fuck that noise, I just wasn't in the mood.

Back at the house the wife started making some dessert items for the early dinner we were supposed to have and I kinda piddled around the house for a few, then decided to get back out to pick up a little ice cream treat just because it sounded good. I also kind of assume that I'm a little down, just because it felt like the sort of thing I used to do when food appealed to me more as a comfort thing instead of being about sustenance or actual enjoyment. I watched a few more episodes of the Freakylinks DVD in the den after the Maid finally got the hell out of our hair.

The wife went to meet the family at the funeral home to help make plans for the funeral, which they envisioned would involve a viewing on Friday, then a service and burial on Saturday. I tried to finish out the disc I was watching only to find that the fucking disc fouls up about 10 minutes before the last episode ends, meaning that I still don't have a reliable copy of the show in its entirety, which is just amazingly Goddamned frustrating, let me tell you. Now I'm also paranoid about how shitty the 2nd disc will turn out to be... Bah.

The wife returned and told me that due to the cemetery not digging graves over the weekend they were forced to have the viewing and funeral pushed back to Sunday and Monday respectively, then she started putting the finishing touches on her salads and desserts for the coming dinner.

I helped the wife load up and sent her on her way a bit early, then followed her over to the Mother In Law's house where everyone was supposed to gather. The evening stretched from 5:30 or so until around 8:00 PM for me, and let me tellya, even more extended family turned out for this than yesterday, which I didn't really think was possible. I mean, the Older Brother In Law, the Niece and the Nephew and I sat in the den just kinda indicating this person or that and mouthing to one another "Who the hell is that?!?", because once you get past the Uncles and into their kids and their kids' kids, my recollections start to get super sketchy, as they only seem to be around about once a year for some event usually involving Grandmother. For example, a little 6 year old wandered in eventually and asks "Have you seen my mom?" to the room and all I could do was send him toward the kitchen to look for whoever that might be, because I literally had no fucking clue who this kid was, let alone who his mom might be.

The Older Sister had made chicken spaghetti, so we soon tucked into a nice meal (and I'm glad I moved when I did, as all these new folks coming out of the woodwork made short work of the food pretty quickly), then spent some time visiting with the Beau in the den, who seemed to be in the same boat as I was about who the hell some of the kids belonged to. The wife had invited Brian over, so he visited with she and the In-Laws a bit and when folks finally started drifting out I started making my own in-roads towards getting the hell home, as this whole week is eating up any free time I might normally enjoy, and I had to joke that I feel like we're burying the pope or some thing, as the whole process will stretch out to nearly a week due to the cemetery not playing ball with our original plans.

Oh, and lest I forget, one of the other Uncles apparently approached the MIL and cryptically asked to go through the Druncle's room, because he "...wanted me to get something out of there for him", but couldn't say what it was when pressed for more info about what it was he's looking for, because he wasn't sure himself. The MIL and her Beau pretty much shut this idea down, but it left all of us wondering what the hell could be such a big deal? The common consensus seems to be some kind of dope, likely weed or something of that nature, but what a puzzlingly cryptic way to ask about it. "I need to look for something in his room, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for, and I can't tell you what it is when I find it."

What're you talking about, state secrets he was hiding for someone? Get the fuck out of here.

I eventually excused myself and after asking a few folks to move their cars I was able to head home and kinda chill out with a cocktail and flipped channels for a bit before being joined by the wife, who is to cook yet another meal for tomorrow night while the OS provides the trimmings, though for a smaller group. This is something the two sisters started hatching, as they soon realized that if these people continue to show up in packs as they have the past two evenings...well, as I believe the OBIL put it: "...you could spend $5000 feeding everyone over the course of several days at this rate."

The wife and I caught up with The Soup from both last week as well as tonight, then I watched an episode of Futurama before the wife called it a night and I half-assed watched a re-run of Family Guy before I got started on this crap for the day.

I'm out kids.

Be seeing you.