Monday, November 28, 2005

Ahh, Sweet Boredom

Thanksgiving was fairly dismal as expected. Lunch at the in-laws was terrible. There was no chance of me gaining weight that day. Luckily nobody was hurt when the pyrex container of dressing exploded. It had been placed on an unlit stove burner that somebody then decided to turn on. I didn't see it from my perch in the living room, but I heard it make a nice pop. And no, I wasn't the one that turned the stove on. It ruined what my wife said was the best dressing she had ever made, but I never eat dressing so I can't vouch for it one way or the other.

I went home by myself after the meal since my neck and shoulder were giving me fits. They'd been hurting ever since I had spent Monday night and all of Tuesday sick in bed. Left to my own devices I watched a little of the Legacy DVD release of To Kill A Mockingbird which I got a week or so ago, but I found myself dozing off so a full investigation of the contents would have to wait. Once I figured out I wasn't going to be able to get a real nap in (when I moved I woke up because of pain) I puttered around listening to some old cassettes. Then I decided that I should re-read the novel To Kill A Mockingbird because I had forgotten some things from it. When you name one of your children Harper Lee you really shouldn't be forgetting things from that book.

The Soulfish wife was still suffering from the virus that Emmy brought from school so when she got home she made the girls peanut butter sandwiches and went to bed. I fed Liam and gave him a bath and then hit the couch myself. I watched Daddy Daycare with the girls. They enjoyed the movie immensely, especially when the kid poops all over the bathroom.

After they went to bed I had the living room to myself so I watched some television aimlessly until I noticed that TCM was showing Shenandoah. I had never seen the film starring James Stewart, but I knew that it featured Phillip Alford (who played Jem in To Kill A Mockingbird) and I was curious to see him in his only other cinematic role. Soon I was captured by the storyline of a father and his family trying to stay neutral during the Civil War. It made the pain in my shoulder and neck go away for a brief while.

Saturday was my birthday and I happened to feel miserable wondering if the pain in my neck and shoulder were perhaps age related. We drove to Murfreesboro to have lunch at my mother's and was surprised to find my second cousin Freddy's mother there with Frankie. Frankie is Freddy's five year old kid so Em and Harp were excited to have somebody new to play with.

It was slightly surreal watching my kids play in the backyard with Frankie. I spent so many Saturdays and summer days playing Hot Wheels with Freddy when we were little, going to the skating rink as junior high kids, and then playing lots of basketball during the high school years before losing touch with each other and here were our kids repeating the cycle.

We got home and I thought the girls might like The Goonies since it was on television. The oldest one got bored with it, but the youngest girl took the opportunity to stay up until 9:30 and watched it with me. I used to really like the movie, but I found it very annoying Saturday. Why does every child character in the movie scream all the time? Almost all of the dialogue consists in yelling out the obvious. It's a case of the Hollywood blockbuster overblown syndrome.

Sunday was as dull as could be and that was good. Even my neck and shoulder pain had been dulled. The wife got the Christmas tree put up with the help of our kids and the two girls down the street. I figured that would be a disaster, but they actually did help.

Then I recorded a new tune to send out as part of my free song deal. And the weekend was over. And while it wasn't all gravy, I'm thankful as can be. Boredom can be nice you know.

Look for some reviews of the latest Bomp records releases soon among other things.

No comments: