the day after yesterday

I hadn't seen Drew in way too bloody long, so we hung out tonight. We went to see the movie "Sideways". It was really good. Very subtle humor. Some cringe scenes but mostly it was just neat. The entire movie has all these weird tie-ins to wine, which are hard to explain without giving anything away.

We went over to CheeseQuake after that. I had a really really really fabulous Cobb salad, once I told the waiter to substitute cheddar cheese for blue cheese. It was, infact, one of the best salads ever, and I finished almost all of it. Which sadly left me with no room for cheesecake, so I got a piece of tiramisu cheesecake to go. Mmmm, cheesecake.

Drew gave me a ride back to Kirkland (I'd had him pick me up because it seemed silly to take two cars to park in Bellevue) and then I had to drive home. It was really terrifying, honest -- there was a downpour of rain, which is odd for Seattle, we usually just get a sprinkle or two. So the highways were really scary and I kept hearing weird thumps and whatnot and I was somewhat surprised to make it home in one piece with no flat tires. Bleh.

Someone else's parody -- The Batter's Soliloquy

From Three Men on Third:

"At hand is a yellow-backed booklet, published in 1910 and bearing the title: On the Road with the Base Ball Bugs. The authors are Jack Regan and Will E. Stahl, and the contents consist of jokes and jingles. In all your born days you never saw such corn.
Included in the booklet, however, is a parody which deserves the attention of such baseball fans as there are in the world who happen also to be Shakespeare fans. It is titled The Batter's Soliloquy, its author is Donald Douglass, and it is prefaced with a line stating that it deals with a situation in the ninth inning, man on third, two out and the score tied at 2-2. The soliloquy itself follows:"

To wait, or not to wait - that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in this game to suffer
The taunts and yells of the outrageous fans,
Or dodge the curves and drops of an erratic pitcher,
And, by my coolness, 'scape htem? To wait -- to walk,
No more; and by a walk to say we stroll
To first, and then be daring like Ty Cobb,
And work the Double Steal -- 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To walk -- to steal --
To steal. Perchance to score. Ay, there's the rub --
For in that Double Steal what chance may come
When we have rattled the opposing pitcher,
Must give us runs; there's the respect
That makes a walk of so long life;
For who would bear the yells and taunts of fans,
The umpire's wrong, the bleachers' contumely,
The pangs of disprized hope, the game's delay,
The insolence of gamins, and the spurns
That one must take from the unknowing
When he himself his fame might make
By a 2-bagger? Who would roastings bear,
To grunt and swear under a weary game,
But that the dread of something after it,
The Minor Leagues, from whose ranks
No old time star returns, startles the mind;
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Then fly to others whence we ne'er return?
These bleachers do make cowards of us all;
And thus the fumble of a hard-hit grounder,
Is yelled at by the bleacher mob,
And, thus in places of great chance and moment,
We all make bone-head plays that lose the game.

Tasty Hake!

Thank goodness my Christmas present to the Dread Ringers arrived at 3RHQ safely. Or at least I'm assuming.

(I'd never ordered from Tastykake's online shop before, so I was nervous about it, but I got email yesterday saying it had been delivered, so, whew.)

Christmas / New Year Travel Plan -- Austin, TX

Okay, well, I decided to just go ahead and get a plane ticket.

I will be in Austin from December 25th at around 4pm until January 4th at around 2pm. I'll post exact itineraries at a later point. I know it's a long trip, but ugh, to get a decent plane price I kind of had to choose those days.

If you live in Austin, nay, anywhere in Texas, and I haven't seen you in a while, well, dammit, now's your chance.

(oh, and uh, where can I / should I stay?)