Thanksgiving #2, 2005

On the day after Thanksgiving I drove to my parents' house to celebrate with my mom. My dad is out of town until next month, my sister is busy packing for her move, and my brother is also out of pocket, so it was just the two of us.

We watched several movies my mother had recorded using one of those new-fangled technologies I know nothing about.

One was the American remake of "Shall We Dance." There are so many things I like about the original that I want to say I like the original better. (And of course it is uncool to like an American remake of a foreign movie better than the original.) But it had a better ending and a few other additions I liked. The main character was a lawyer who wrote wills, which I thought was interesting. And the detective had a crush on the wife, which I didn't like, but which let us get to know the wife better, which I liked. Also, since the characters were Americans, they talked more, which I like.

However, the original had some things that were missing from the re-make which I enjoyed. Like charm. Mainly I think I liked the message more. The message I got from the original is that ballroom dancing is addictive. It's an odd message, but lets them show how beginners could want to continue with it, even though they feel like idiots when they're first starting. The characters actually learn dancing in a realistic amount of time (though still more quickly than I did).

Of course in American movies, people only look like idiots when they are playing idiots, and everyone else always learns everything instantly. In the American movie, the message was that ballroom dancing is passionate, and if you are not going to dedicate yourself to learning everything and becoming passionate, then there's no point in dancing at all. I don't like that message, but they did have a great scene showing how much more fun dancing is if you add passion to it (or the look of it anyway). I think I might be too embarrassed to dance like they do in that scene.

I was wondering how they were going to deal with how ballroom dancing is taboo in Japan, but not in the US. They decided that if people find out you are ballroom dancing, then instead of thinking you are a slut like in Japan, they will think you are gay. I was surprised they thought of anything, and it was important to the movie, so I'm glad they tried. But it didn't work as well.

I also liked how in the original, one character has to be a very good dancer and yet also be creepy--can you imagine trying to figure out how to do that? And another guy has to be very enthusiastic and passionate but still look like a dork, which is also very well done. They didn't capture that in the re-make. (The dancing was actually similar, but they almost completely removed these references from the script.)

In the middle of the day we went to a neighbor's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I was told that I look just like my father. Which was fun. I'm fantasizing about telling my dad that he is no longer allowed to think he is ugly or he will be thinking that I am ugly (which he doesn't)! Heh!

Dinner was delicious, then we escaped back home where Mom finished baking bread and talked me into coming to the synagogue with her in case they had trouble making a minyan (quorum). They still didn't make it, which I've never seen before. It means there were certain parts of the service we were not allowed to do. So the six of us just talked about what we were thankful for, went through the meaning of the Torah (Bible) reading for that day, and did the blessings over the candles, wine, and bread. Someone there said I looked just like my mother.

I don't remember anyone ever saying I look just like either of my parents. I guess we all three now look old! And short (although my mom still has a quarter inch on me)! And myopic!

Then we came home and watched an old movie about misfits running a training mission on a de-commissioned, then re-commissioned submarine. That was fun.

Nanowrimo Update

Since I was driving alone, I brought a tape recorder so I could write by talking. And I brought only one CD, the same CD that's been in my car for a month, so I wouldn't like it too long. I did, though. And it's a long CD, with 73 minutes of music. And I listened to some songs over and over trying to figure out the words. So finally I decided to start "writing." But by then I was in the icky parts of the route, where it's easy to fall off the road you're trying to stay on. So I turned the music back on.

Word count: 0.

Thanksgiving #3, 2005

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Mom cooked the whole Thanksgiving meal for the two of us. Ridiculous. Also delicious. Also, I now have a lot of leftover turkey.

We also watched some TV shows about several tools, mainly routers (for carpentry, not computer connections), which was interesting, because I never quite understood how they worked before. I still don't really understand, but now I know they're sort of like drills made for cutting lines instead of holes by moving them along the wood like a saw instead of leaving them in one place like a drill. They don't look like drills because they have extra bits around them that help you keep them level while you're moving them.

We also played Quiddler, a spelling card game, by the regular rules. With only two players, I don't feel like I have to play a pirate version (where you steal each other's words) to keep it interesting while you're waiting for your turn. However, I then did make up a version where we each get eleven cards as if it's the last round and try to maximize our points, and then we switch hands and try to do it again, and then we compare our scores on the identical hands. My mom was much better at coming up with longer words, but I was generally better at getting more points (not counting the biggest-word bonus).

Nanowrimo Update

Mom was on the computer once, so I pulled out my laptop computer and starting writing. But then she got up almost right away, so I stopped.

On the way home, I listened to music through the icky part of the driving (getting out of town), then turned it off so I could compose more of the novel into my tape recorder. However, it turns out if you're sitting there with no ideas in your brain on only six hours of sleep, it is not safe to drive. So I turned the music back on.

Word count: 192 + 0 = 192. Also, I arrived home safely.

Best Kerby Lane pancakes ever

Today, our waiter at Kerby Lane said that the pumpkin pancakes were the best pancakes ever. Unfortunately for me, he said this to another table of people after I had already eaten my strawberry pancakes. But if you are about to go to Kerby Lane, and the pumpkin pancakes are available, you now have the proper recommendation.

Nanowrimo Update

Today I wrote after brunch. Then after seeing the latest "Harry Potter" I went to a write-in and wrote some more. Then I came home and wrote some more. I did a good minimum considering how far behind I am.

At the write-in, I really, really wanted to quit. And that may be why, for the first time, I used a plot ninja. Someone handed everyone a yellow leaf and said to use the beautiful (and furry) leaf to inspire them to write something. So I now have a scene involving raking. Sadly, this was the best writing I did today:

In Which a Fuzzy Yellow Leaf Enters the Scene

"Bubba, you're raking!"

"Yes. There are leaves. And they must be carefully organized."

"Into stunning piles? And do they stay in the stunning piles or is this a transitory state on the way to perfect leaf organization?"

"I move them to the compost heap out back."

"I'll help. Would you like me to move the leaves or take over the raking?"

"Oh, that's nice. How about raking? My fingers are threatening to form blisters."

"My pleasure. I can't believe the autumns here are so dull."

"I prefer the term subtle."

"Subtle? More like completely invisible."

"What? You have your brownish yellow, your brownish orange, and your brownish red. Look at the rainbow of shades of brown."

Word count: 2934. That means I need to average 1755 a day for the next three days to finish, which is only a little higher than the average for the month. It's still possible. I'd rather not be trying to upload my "novel" for the official word count on the last day if I can help it, though, in case of extremely heavy traffic causing problems. Oh, well.