A Big Thanks to my Adoring Fans

I just wanted to thank all of you out there who sent me a postcard for my birthday.  Thank you for helping Brandon out with his big birthday surprise for me.  One of Brandon's friends even sent me a map of the world and some pins to mark where the postcards have been coming from.  It has been a treat to hear from so many of you and they're still coming in!  Who will I hear from next? We'll see if we can't post a few of them, so you can enjoy them as well.

Thanks again for thinking of me on my Birthday!!

dez

Thanksgiving in Seattle

Found some cheap tickets and flew up Seattle to celebrate Thanksgiving with some friends of ours. We had never flown Virgin America before, and were pleasantly surprised by how interesting they made the flight with mood lighting and music. We'd fly them again if they went where we needed to go.



We spent a lot of time wandering through the downtown area, popping our heads into various shops, checking out their central library (which is enormous), exploring Pike's Place Market, and just enjoying being outside in the rain.



Was amused by the auto rickshaw's the police used to give out parking tickets. In college, a friend of mine wanted me to make a movie about guys cruising around Wisconsin in an imported auto rickshaw. With some money and an ounce more gumption it might have happened.

On Thanksgiving day we volunteered with our friends and their church at a downtown mission, helping serve a Thanksgiving meal to the homeless. Afterwards we had our Thanksgiving dinner with their church friends, in a lovely evening of good food and company.

It was a fun to see such lush mountains. I never realized how important trees were to me until I moved away from them. Yes, they have trees in Los Angeles, but not like they do in the Wisconsin countryside where I grew up. Seattle has trees like that though, and it was interesting to learn how important logging was to Seattle's founding. My ancestors were lumberjacks, so I felt connected to my surroundings while we visited.

"Ghost Town" is a movie you should all see.

Seriously. I just got back. It's the most hilarious heartwarming film I've seen in a long time. Imagine "The 6th Sense" only funny and pleasant and really not like "The 6th Sense" at all. Which is to say, [1] It was very well written, [2] The performances were delightfully stellar, [3] It got an 84% on rottentomatoes.com--I'm not the only one who thinks it keen, [4] I laughed throughout this movie more than any other I've seen this year (perhaps even, the last decade, but I go to far), [5] It's really quite classy, as far as comedy's go these days (Mr. Apatow, I'm looking at you.) [6] It's humor depends almost entirely on witty banter, less silly than Monty Python, less precocious than Juno, just wonderfully dry cantankerous fun, and just when you think that's all it is, [7] It will make you cry, then laugh again, then, holding the cheese thank you very much, you'll cry once more. I don't cry at many movies, but rarely are movies this smart. My highest praise, my highest recommendation. Seriously. Why haven't you bought tickets yet?

Now, my word of warning: I feel slightly bad to have gotten your hopes all up for some cathartic experience you may or may not have. So think of it this way, I guarantee you'll be able to watch this film and say, "Ah, yes, I can see exactly why Brandon likes this film so very much."

Annual Apocalypse

Annual Apocalypse
Originally uploaded by brweaver

Once a year the apocalypse comes to Los Angeles. This year it's less then 10 miles from our apartment. Typically at 9:30am it's sunny with blue skies, but not on apocalypse day. Soon the horsemen will be here to ask for treats. They're demanding like that, those horseman.

It smells like a dying campfire outside, and the L.A. Times has warned everyone to stay inside as much as possible. But so far we're OK. It's somber to think of how many people are losing their homes though.

The L.A. Times reported one man as saying "This is what really scares me, it's not earthquakes, it's these fires that will kill people around here."

Bathroom Trouble

Bathroom Trouble
Originally uploaded by brweaver

Oh no! Peeling paint lead to the discover of water damage. Apparently our upstairs neighbors bathtub has been less than kind to us. A week of dust and plaster and fresh paint has led to a very dirty apartment full of noxious fumes, but everything looks really nice now.