In the past week I:
Had dinner with some mobsters from Miami on Sunday night, after spending an afternoon with my mother wandering around my neighborhood. (This is the first time she's been to my place for any length of time since I moved in a year and a half ago, even though I've invited her a few times). We visited this really cool antique store on Lyndale Avenue, right next to The Wedge Co-op. But you probably want to hear about the first part of this little blurb, right? I swear, they're transplants to Miami by way of New York. The mobsters are now in-laws of my youngest brother, who got married last summer. They are swimming in money, and like to throw it around like it's confetti, all the while complaining about the bill, just so everyone knows who paid it. And just so you all know, too, my dinner was paid for by an 83 year old guy named Melvin, whose fifth wife Sylvia was sitting on his left, right next to the first husband (Woody-79) of Melvin's second wife (Bertha the Bitch), who was not present, but still managed to gain said title. I was sitting between Dave (K's father-in-law) and Gloria (grandmother-in-law). This family is crazy, and the weirdest stuff seems to happen to them. For instance, Dave told me all about the train set he had in his basement that apparently came from the collection of Gary Coleman of Different Strokes fame. I'm telling you, it was like being in an episode of The Sopranos, only with Jewish gangsters instead of Italians. Ironically, we were having dinner in an Italian restaurant. Ciao Bella. By the time we left, we all smelled strongly of garlic and were groaning about our pants being too tight. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I even got quizzed on my sex life by several octegenarians. They asked me if my mother had ever had The Talk with me, you know, about The Birds and The Bees. I said no, she gave me a library card instead. They thought that was a riot. Is it funnier that it's the truth? So that took care of Sunday.
Got many (mostly unhelpful) bits of advice from my family about my car situation. Since I know almost nothing about how a car actually works, and what sounds or noises would constitute a mechanical emergency, I couldn't tell them what was wrong. Other than the many and varied blinking lights that have been keeping me company the past week. My brother recommended that I take my car to the mechanic his in-laws use. This may actually be helpful, since I have no way of knowing who's a good mechanic and who's just going to rip me off just because I'm a girl. I'm going to assume these guys know what they're doing, and hope for the best. Right now, I have my very first rental car, ever. A grey Chevy Malibu. I don't like it much. It kind of smells like it's been near a farm, though I can't imagine why that would be. And all the stuff that makes it work is in weird spots that I have to waste time looking for. Still, even though I can't really afford a car payment, I'm sort of hoping they come back with a list of things wrong with my William that's so long I have to get a new car. I have no idea what I'd get, instead. Something with much better gas mileage, more energy efficient. What'd be really nice, would be to not need a car at all. No insurance, no gas, no mechanics. I could save a fortune if I didn't have to have a car. I imagine I could get by without one, if I really, truly had to. I should take the bus to work someday, just to see how long it actually takes to get from here to there. I'll bet its an hour or more. In my car, it takes 15 minutes.
Got a wicked cool gift from some truly good friends. Warm fuzzies in the midst of cold heeby-jeebies. A silver lining so bright it should actually be called a platinum lining. A diamond lining, even. Something a lot more valuable than plain old silver, anyway.
Went to the library and got another couple (dozen) books. I am so greedy. I cannot resist the lure of all those words... stories.... lovely, lovely stories.
I did the dishes, and now I'm planning on finishing my brother's wedding present while watching a movie or two. I haven't decided what I want to watch, yet. Maybe BBC's Pride & Prejudice. I love, love, love that movie. Even if it is 6 hours long. You just cannot beat Colin Firth in a wet, white shirt with that adorably stunned expession on his face when he sees the object of his desire (namely, the opinionated Lizzie Bennet) casually strolling about his lawn. Soooooooooooo sexy. But I haven't decided if that's what I want to see, or not.
The Summer Solstice is this weekend. Midsummer's Eve. The longest day of the year, here in the northern hemisphere. And the shortest day in the southern. So many of our religious holidays, from whatever religion, are intimately tied to where the sun is at any given time of the year. Christmas was deliberately placed near the Winter Solstice to coincide with the pagan festivals of light, which celebrate the return of he sun after the long dark. Even though it's supposedly the celebration of the birth of Christ, who scholars believe was actually born sometime in late March. I'm not an anthropologist, so I don't know much about most of the other cultures on the planet, but I do know that what we believe is true here in MN would be ludicrous in a jungle village in South America. And Australia. Would they have such an odd sense of national identity if they hadn't had most of their cultural identity exported from Great Britain, only to clash with having the world be backwards from what they were used to? For instance, if Western religion (with all its European pagan origins and Middle Eastern mythology) had developed in Australia first, would Christmas still be in December, or would it now be in the heart of June? Just things I sometimes wonder about.
Well, that's really all I've got for today.
Jinx
