A friend of mine is screeing his movie, Hell’s Gate, Thursday night at the Beach Theater in St. Petersburg Beach. I have tickets, but unforunately I have class that night and I won’t be able to make it.
If you’re interested in seeing the movie, let me know. First come first serve on the tickets, and if you go you can head across the street after and take part in the free open bar.
Brief follow-up to this post. Specifically, the part where Alex was concerned over the fact that the Halo book I bought him was 314 pages long and had “big words.” He told me afer I bought it he was going to “try” to read one chapter a day, so last night I asked him if he had read his chapter.
He had read four of them.
I got a feeling I’m going to be buying a lot more books soon.
I like Pandora.
I really do.
But sometimes this service is totally on crack.
I just went from Ministry to Apoptygma Berzerk to SHEILA E???
Then to Portishead.
Yeah.
And I thought my iPod shuffle was wacky.
So I was originally going to sit down and write a five-year anniversary post. I even started to do so. I realized, however, that I hadn’t written anything about my day yesterday…and it was an awesome day. So much so, that I think putting down a chronicle of that day is much more important. To me, anyway. Your mileage, as the saying goes, may vary.
When I got back from Dragon*Con last week, I promised my son that we’d spend a day together over the weekend. We got to go to Dragon*Con. J. got to go to his grandmother’s house for a weekend (where he got a PSP and assorted other loot). It seemed only fair I devote a day to Alex. I made no plans in Warcraft or around the house. Sunday was going to be his day.
Woke up relatively early, and made breakfast for the family. Omelete’s all around! It started with just one for Alex, but as everyone started to smell my wonderful cooking I ended up making three more. Not that I minded, really. I actually enjoy cooking, when it’s appreciated, and my breakfasts are almost always appreciated. I got dinner in the crock pot (pot roast…mmm), grabbed a quick shower, and then Alex and I were off.
Our first stop was at a place called Congo River Golf in Clearwater. It’s a nifty little mini-golf course that an interesting little bonus feature – you can feed baby alligators there. They have a partnership with the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and a small habitat near the entrance. What’s most amusing about it is that the three dollar “gator food” is a cut up hot dog. Anyway, a rousing game of mini-golf took place, with the score a dead heat going into the final two holes. A poor calculation on Alex’s part on the last hole that dropped him into a rock trap put the game to me by a margin of only 2 strokes! Of course, we were both so far over par it wasn’t funny. Yeah, not so much of a future in the professional golf tournament thing for either of us.
After we left there, we stopped by the Barnes and Noble on Sunset Point for some books and a snack. Picked up a copy of Marvel Zombies, Ultimate Spider-Man TPB #3, and the new Dragonlance novel. Got a Halo book for Alex as well, despite his fears that it was too thick for him to handle. I was a little taken back by that statement. I mean, the kid reads at a 10th grade level! He shouldn’t be intimidated by a 314 page novel about a video game. I guess it’s just the level of books that he’s reading as part of his fifth grade curriculum. That bothers me to an extent, but he didn’t test well enough to make it into the gifted program so what can I do? Anyway, I talked him into letting me buy him the book and he actually had the first chapter read before we got home.
Ah yes, I’ll be inflicting The Hobbit on him soon…muwahahahah.
Split one of those mondo cookies with him while he had a glass of milk and I sipped on a Pumpkin Spice Latte. I’m such a whore for Pumpkin Spice. Really.
Next stop was Bed, Bath and Beyond where I wanted to look for some metal tins to store my spices in. I was sick of looking at my boring spice rack, and rapidly running out of cupboard space for the ones that didn’t fit in it. Alton Brown has this system where he uses metal tins and velcro to put them inside of his cabinet doors. I figured I could ape that pretty easily.
I was wrong.
At Bed, Bath and Beyond the only tins they had were magnetized ones that cost $2.00 each. I figured if I was going to be putting velcro on them it was silly to spend extra on the magnets, so I passed. Alton had said you could get the tins at a Hardware store, so Home Depot was scheduled on to our afternoon agenda. I did, however, get a wooden cutting board (something I desperately needed).
For lunch we went to eat at a place called Sunset Subs. I used to eat there quite often when I worked at the Staples in the Sunset Point Shopping Center.
It’s not nearly as good as I remember it being.
At the Home Depot I was again thwarted in my efforts to get the metal tins and velcro. Realizing that Alex was being dragged to all kinds of Not Fun places, we decided we’d swing by the movie theater to see about going to a movie. Unfortunately, there was literally nothing that we wanted to see. A quick stop by Target also failed to produce the tins I was looking for. The closest I came was finding a candle making kit at Michaels that had four tins in it, but I wasn’t convinced that the seal on those was going to be strong enough to stay closed when hanging on a door.
Lowe’s – Nothing. Finally we ended up at Linen’s and Things, where I purchased 15 of the exact same kind of tins that I passed on at Bed, Bath and Beyond.
As a side note to that – It’s not exactly what Alton promoted, but I think I’m happier with what I ended up getting. I actually found a place online that I could purchase the tins from today, and they are much less expensive. However, when you add in shipping and the cost of the Velcro and China Markers needed to emulate his system exactly I’m only saving about 20 cents per tin. Not only that, but the tins don’t have a shake or pour option. I realize that by having a clear top and not being stored in the cupboard my spices won’t be preserved as well, but I don’t buy expensive spices like he does anyway. Not at this point in my life. I really like the way the spices look on the fridge in their jars, too. So I think, for now, I’m sticking with the magnetized ones. In fact, I’m heading over to a Linen’s and Things here in Brandon to buy more today.
After we left Lowe’s I let Alex pick our next destination, so we were off to Game Stop. Of course, he asked me to buy him a game. It was a used copy with no book, so I plopped down the 17 bucks and got it for him. I figured it was about what I would have spent taking him to the movies anyway.
When we got home J. was watching The Two Towers so Alex couldn’t get on his new game. Instead we played a few hands of Chez Geek. At that point, dinner was done so I got that out of the crock pot and we had delicious pot roast. Alex got in a game or two after that, and then it was time for him to shower and go to bed.
Once he was down, I got my lunch together for today and set up the coffee pot to automatically brew in the morning. Grabbed one of my new graphic novels and went back in the bedroom to hang out with K. while she studied. We watched a little TV while reading, talked a bit, and flirted so much that despite her still being somewhat sick nookie became a necessary way to end the evening.
Not that I’m ever…EVER…going to complain when THAT happens.
So yesterday was, in a word, incredible. I spent some awesome quality time with my boy. We talked. We laughed. I shared some things from my past with him, and he shared a place he enjoys with me. I got to cuddle (and other stuff) with K. Even got to hang with J. for a bit (he played Chez Geek with Alex and I…he’s in that “I’m listening to my iPod and playing on my PSP while watching television so who are you and why are you interrupting me” phase so getting quality time with him is kind of hard). Didn’t play much Warcraft at all, and that’s not such a bad thing. As John (Banick) said to me in an email, we all probably needed a little time unplugged.
I got some pictures of Alex and I goofing around at the golf course yesterday. If I get them uploaded tonight I’ll share. I may still write about the attacks later, but I wanted THIS memory to be first. When, in ten years, I start scrolling back through my September posts to remember what I was thinking I want these thoughts to be the ones to rush back to me. These feelings.
Because yesterday I can truly say that life was just about perfect.
You don’t get that often.
For those of you not on the Jobsite Mailing List (and why AREN’T you, huh???)…
Greetings Friends,
The end of our season is upon us. We have two events remaining, and we hope to see you at both if your time permits. Does either event strike you as something a friend would enjoy? Please pass this on.
On Sept. 11 in the Jaeb Theater here at TBPAC we will present an encore performance of Anne Nelson’s The Guys as a benefit for the Tampa Firefighters Museum. In 2003 we raised over $3,000 for the FDNY widow and children fund as well as our own Tampa Fire Rescue. We have an opportunity here to raise up to $5,000 for the Tampa Firefighters Museum, but we need to fill the theater first in order to do that. Jobsite Theater is donating all proceeds from this event above our hard production costs for mounting the performance.
The Guys might be one of the most moving and healing experiences you could have in a theater. At only 70 minutes in length, it doesn’t beleaguer the events of 9-11, the politics, the war – only the human story shared between these two individuals as they spend an afternoon together sharing memories. Paul and Roz Potenza have very graciously volunteered their time for this project, and I’m sure a full theater will be payment enough. I promise you this is a beautiful piece that you won’t forget.
You can get complete information on the show here: http://jobsitetheater.org/guys.htm. On behalf of the board of Jobsite, the artists giving their time to make this happen and the Tampa Firefighters Museum – we sincerely hope you can make it.
The final official event for the 2005 – 2006 season is Jobsite Rocks III at New World Brewery on Sept. 16. The event features a raffle with outstanding prizes (like a casino cruise for 10, a swank import beer gift basket, 3 gift baskets from The Hub, tickets, $300 in free car rentals, spa packages and more) and live music from The Vodkanauts, The Weapons of Ass Destruction and Nessie. Doors start at 8:30, the first raffle drawing is at 9 and The Vodkanauts take the stage at 9:30. Cover is a minimum donation of $6, and raffle tickets are $2 or 3 for $5.
Jobsite Rocks III is more than our last opportunity for us to raise money for the year. We’re barely charging cover, and for the prizes we’re offering the raffle tickets are more than fairly priced – for us this is as much a season wrap party and an opportunity for us to personally thank everyone who has helped get Jobsite where we are.
We owe so many people so much. We have sponsors that treat us like their children, patrons who never miss a show, artists who labor on our projects for a fraction of their worth and Jobsite Rocks is our best opportunity every year to hoist a glass, share the love and rock the &$@* out. Even if it’s for an hour – please stop by. We want to say thanks for everything you do. For more information visit us at http://jobsitetheater.org/jobsiterocksIII.htm.
Are now available at the Dragon*Con store for only $45.
As I said in my earlier post, if you’re local and you think there is ANY chance you’ll want to swing by the Con I highly recommends that you purchase the four day super advanced pass and save yourself a ton of heartache. If for some reason you decide not to go, you can always resell it to someone and they can pay the $20 to transfer it (if they waited until the last minute, that would still get them a four day pass for $65 as opposed to $85).
Your current weight | 279.8 lbs
Weight change since your last recorded weight | +2.6 lbs
Total weight change to date | -139.4 lbs
I was up .6 pounds last week, so that put my total gain for two really horrid weekends (eating wise) at 3.2 pounds. That’s…not so bad. I’m more worried about the fact that I haven’t really exercised in a few weeks than anything else, to be honest. Really need to get back into that again.
Would write more, but have to get ready for class.