2002-01-02 - 1:03

Festivus

It's the dreaded post-trip entry, when I try to fit a week and a half into two pages and rarely have the time come across in print as enjoyable as it actually was. Once again, though, it was an enjoyable break at home.

I left last Sunday, surviving the longest line I've seen at an airport to barely catch my flight. (I was at the security check when they announced final boarding; but I've found that term to be surprisingly subjective, anyway. And there were three people who got on the plane later than me, so I think that I did fine.)

As usual, my brother Jason picked me up at the airport, with his dog, Jasper (as always) along for the ride. The only difference was that he was driving a new truck. I was going on two hours sleep but I stayed awake through the extended family get-together that night. It was cool to see most of that crew again, for sure.

I got out of any Christmas Eve obligations when Jason and I agreed to call off gift-giving between us. (Or you could say that we gave each other a thousand dollars, if that sounds more impressive.) Either way, it meant that I didn't need to go shopping, so I spent the day at home. Lewis Lake remains as quiet as ever. Quiet is a good thing, although after a certain duration of being stranded at home, I miss the independence of living in Ottawa and being able to get around on my own. At this time, though, I was still enjoying relaxing at home, although I think that I had finished reading Catcher in the Rye by the end of the day.

Christmas itself was cool: fairly low-key, stress-free . . . nice, all around. I've never been too much of a fan of turkey dinner, but this year saw the continuation of the recently-created tradition of having bacon-wrapped scallops added to the menu for me. Very tasty. I didn't particularly care what I got for gifts, although the folks did come up with an interesting present and Jason gave me something that I'm not supposed to mention (heh) but which was very cool. (It was something that he had mentioned a while ago, so it wasn't exactly a Christmas gift, meaning that our deal held.)

After the early dinner at home, I made the trip to Truro with Jason to pick up his stranded friend, Dave, which wasn't a bad jaunt, since I got to showcase some of my CD recommendations. The three of us went to Halifax for (yet another) Christmas dinner, at Chris and Frank's house, which is where I crashed when I made the trip to Halifax in April to see The Dears. Quite a few people were there (although not enough to defeat the two-turkey feast); and I saw several people who I had met on one of my previous trips, but not seen since. They're all very fun, funny people; and I had a great time.

The next day was back to the family affair, as Boxing Day has always involved a large get-together at my parents' place. The only notable fact is that there was no game of Auction 45s, despite my promise that I wouldn't come back next Christmas unless we got in at least one game. (Hmm . . . maybe they're trying to tell me something. Heh.) Sketchy, I say.

On Thursday, I got together with the Liam, who has been back in Nova Scotia for a while, and Stefan, who was also visiting during the break. We had some thoughts of catching Lord of the Rings, but it sold out too quickly, so we followed supper with some aimless wandering that eventually led back to Liam's place, where we broke in his Simpsons trivia game. (I have no explnation for our inability to remember some very simple rules; but at least we were consistent in our mistakes.)

I don't recall much from Friday. I think it was the point at which the feeling of being stuck was setting in.

Saturday, I did catch Lord of the Rings, with my parents, surprisingly enough. Well, I knew that the old man would want to go, since he had read the books, but I didn't think that my mother would be interested. I was definitely impressed by the movie. I have no complaints or ideas for how they could have done any better, which is high praise, considering that I was a big fan of the novel.

I picked up a couple of books when I bought the movie tickets, including another Bukowski novel, Women. I had finished half of it before the show; and I tore through the rest as soon as I woke up on Sunday (which, admittedly was around noon, but that's another issue). I love all of the Bukowski that I have read so far and Women was another excellent read: funny, sad, and brutally detached and honest. It was definitely one that left me thinking.

Liam called that night and we ended up making a fairly late (and, on my end, distinctly unsuccessful) trip to the casino. Ah well . . . it's only money. It was good to get together with Liam for a while, ay any rate. Hopefully, the next time he moves, it'll be back to Ottawa.

Monday afternoon, I went for a walk, mainly to see if I could find any pictures worth taking. (I came up with a few . . . they'll probably be on my home page tomorrow.) For New Year's Eve, I went back into the city, hanging out with my brother and his girlfriend, Aideen, at her apartment. Aideen was her unfailingly pleasant self, the rest of the company was a lot of fun, and supper was very good. Oh, and I got to make use of the CDs that made the trip home with me, which is always a good thing.

It was definitely a great way to bring in 2002. After midnight, we made a brief stop at another house party, before making it back to Aideen's for a few hours of sleep.

Then it was a quick trip home to pack before my parents took me to the airport. And here I am, after a break that seemed to go very quickly, but which supplied all that I really would have asked from it.

It was good to see the roomies again when I got back, even after receiving my gift from Aaron, which (some might say, unfortunately) extends my curious collection of Powerpuff Girls paraphernalia. Heheheh. Actually, I got quite a laugh out of the Buttercup shower sponge and Blossom . . . erm . . . bubble bath. Classic.

(Hmm . . . this turned into another Powerpuff Girls entry . . . I hope that you're happy. Heheh. Then again, if anyone made it through this entry far enough to reach this debacle, I'm impressed.)

So, that's the dry recitation of my trip home, which was very fun and relaxing. It left me with some other lingering thoughts, but I'll save those for a separate entry.

Happy new year, Townsville.

J.