The Wacky Circumference! The Daddy-O!

I love the movie The Hudsucker Proxy voraciously.

Just thought y’all should know that.

Thanksgiving 2003

T’was a fun and cheery Thanksgiving for Kip and I at Barry’s (and Charles’, and Sarah’s, and Bean’s, and Phil’s, and Matt’s, and Kim’s, and Sydney’s) house. Much, too much food, including two Turkeys which I somehow ended up being in charge of carving which meant I ate far too much turkey skin.

This was first time to the house and so my first gander at decorating efforts I had only heard described. There are some very definite colors on the walls of that house, and cause for much comment. Other reacurring topics of conversation were Sydney Quinn, Julia Child, Letterman, Sydney Quinn, Olympia, Obie anecdotes, stuffing recipes and Sydney Quinn.

And now, on to the pictures. Many, many pictures. You have been warned.

(update: fixed broken photo link)

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I see how it is

Just learned that my Grandfather Lee also passed away today. He was 97, so he had a good run of it. He also has been in the throes of dementia for the past two years, which must have been especially grueling for Dad, who visited him near everday.

George Timothy Lee, Senior was a farmer, a Methodist minister, a cars salesman for Chrysler during the depression, the father of seven suriving children and grandfather to many more. He made it to great-great-grandfather before passing away.

The two things I’ll remember most was how he used to entertain me and my brother Andy by dislodging his partial dentures and then popping them back in with a fascinating serires of sounds and how when he visited us in New Jersey my mother had to go to extra lengths to find a restaurant that didn’t even serve alcohol so he could treat us to dinner out as he insisted. He was that strict a Methodist.

I swear the next post will be about an abundance of good food, drunken intellectual arguments about popular television and the cuteness of Sydney Quinn.

But right now it’s time for the bourbon and Tom Waits…

We hardly knew ye

It’s 2:15 am and Kip and I just got back from Dove Lewis Emergency Veterinarian Hospital, where we said good-bye to Zydeco.

The doctor who saw her figured that she threw a blood clot at some point this afternoon and really, in her still fragile state, there was no chance of recovery. I had to agree, especially when she was brought back in so we could say our farewells.

Still sucks, still hurts, can’t believe she’s only been with us for a little under two months. We took her in the begining of October when she had collapsed from near starvation on our front porch, so skinny, so filthy. We had been noticing her a couple of weeks before that, wandering our street. Thing is, she had an owner, who was slowly killing her with neglect, a mean feat on this street (don’t get me started).

Such a sweet, sweet cat who really needed affection as much as food. She was constantly searching out laps and warm contact.

But what really sucks is that we had finally given her to the downstairs tenants, a transaction delayed by the truly awful week they already had to endure.

Sorry about the miserable news Thanksgiving morn, but death waits for no national holiday, and I would rather get it out here than even try to talk about it over appetizers tomorrow.

On the eve of the Turkey

Sometimes the Shopping Gods smile upon you. I managed to hit the three grocery stores I needed to when they were pretty empty and finished paying just when the hordes started rushing in. All three, plus Powells on Hawthorne, the liquor store and TimbuktunesÑnew 3 Legged Torso CD, perfect cooking music.

Unfortunately, the Shopping Gods then demanded a two hour nap from me as tribute. I hate taking naps, beyond the time lost, I always wake up disoreinated. And my sleep schedule is screwed, but as we don’t have to be at Barry’s tomorrow ’til 5pm for dinner, that’s okay.

Then Kip came home and we decided to go to Movie Madness and rent a bunch of DVDs as they are closed tomorrow and Kip loves to cook with movies going. (He’s making Black Bean and Chocolate Chili and an assortment of breads, I’m just going to make Mushroom Pie and bring the chocolate covered ginger and a bottle of scotch.)

My luck continued to hold as we where on line only a short bit and had time to check out a Guy Maddin collection that we also rented. And got to see a stunning sequence of the DVD of director Chris Cunnigham’s work that the staff was playing.

Though I didn’t know before now, I’ve seen Chris Cunningham’s work before, specifically the Bjšrk Video of “All is Full of Love” which I always found mesmerizing, creepy and pretty, as was what we saw tonight.