"But every single second of every single minute of every single hour, someone somewhere's expecting something of me..." The more I listen to the Juliet Dagger's "Leave Me Alone," the more I'm convinced that it was written for me.  

My Saturday had a whirlwind quality about it. I picked up a Zipcar, another Toyota Matrix called "Mr. Ed," at 8 AM. Unfortunately, due to some confusion and an assumption on my part, I'd canceled the original reservation for a car in Hoboken and had to make a last-minute reservation for this one in lower Manhattan instead. Getting in and out in the morning was quick and smooth, though, and I proceeded to Target and Shop-Rite to pick up some much-needed stuff (like a new 'lectric shaver) and groceries. I came back home long enough to bundle up a bunch of gifts, then departed for my sister's home in Montville, where I had lunch with her and John and the kids. Shawn really seemed to like his new Fisher Price train, though smacking his cheek hard on the edge of the play table threw him for a loop and left an angry bruise. He recovered pretty quickly, though. Cayden seemed less excited about his penguin bowling set, but he probably just needs time to really discover it.

From there, I went to visit Dawn and Dave, and traded Christmas gifts with them, too. Turns out that not only did Dawn and I buy each other the same exact book ("Blaze" by Richard Bachman, aka Stephen King), we unwrapped them at the same time. Definitely going to be friends for life...  lol  After catching up and trading stories, the three of us met Jon and Karin at their house; Dawn rode with me, the first time I'd driven her (or a pregnant woman) in a good ten years or so. Dawn and Dave got the tour, and the five of us went to Applebee's for dinner.

Or not. There was too long a wait there, actually, so we got back into the cars and went to a Ruby Tuesday instead. Where we ended up waiting almost as long as we would have at Applebee's, though we'd been told the wait would have been shorter. Eventually, an apologetic host asked if we'd be OK with sitting at a regular booth (instead of the larger one they were having trouble clearing for us), with one of us sitting in a chair at the end. Of course, that turned out to be the fifth wheel, me. It wasn't so bad, really, except for being kneed in the shins (and the knees!) by Karin a few times. Though Dawn and Jon, like me, are lefties, both couples sat with the righties on the left and the lefties on the right, so there were all kinds of joints and limbs connecting while we dove into various kinds of burgers and things.

Jon and Karin brought me back to their house, where I'd left Mr. Ed, and after a quick farewell, and an attempt on Karin's part to give me a quicker route back to 80, I took off east again, stopping at the apartment to change into a warmer coat. It took me about fifteen minutes to get from Lyndhurst through the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan, which shocked me, and only another fifteen or so to get back to the garage. I was less pleased when I arrived at Penn Station five minutes after the train departed, but it was only 35 minutes or so 'til the next one, so I didn't get home too late.

I got up early on Sunday and psyched myself up for laundry. After I'd returned from that dreaded chore, however, I was feeling out of sorts, and I eventually gave in and napped for a few hours. Not sure it really helped... There were some work issues I needed to tackle, which I did, and then of course came "The Simpsons." Who knew that Homer invented grunge? Or that perjury was the worst thing a U.S. President could do?

Yesterday, I took the company van to Red Bank to repair some data and assess a practice's network and hardware. It was nice to get out of the office for a few hours, and I only got one call for assistance from my colleagues while I was away. An after-hours meeting that ran past 7:30 PM ended with Robert, Fred, Mark D., and me dining at El Cid, another welcome change of pace. Mmm, tilapia franchese...

And now I'm getting ready to look at more data, instead of having time to myself. I need to put "Leave Me Alone" on repeat. At least I'm being kept company by a Guinness or two.

Yeah, I haven't been updating the 'blog so much lately. Sorry 'bout that. Real life, 'n all, y'know... No, the black squirrel hasn't gotten me. Haven't even seen him in two weeks or so.

My friend Sally's mom passed away two weeks ago, and while I couldn't make the funeral, I sent her a plant and my sympathies. I seem to know a lot of women who have lost their mothers, which is a bit disconcerting. At the end of that week, a stressful one for just about everybody, a number of my co-workers and I had a sorely-needed Happy Hour at On the Border. Those three raspberry margaritas really hit the spot.

Dawn and I saw "Beowulf" that Saturday, and while we both remembered enough of the epic poem to notice the film's numerous departures from it (I'd never pictured Grendel's mother lookin' so fine), it was very powerful and entertaining. Dave met us at a new barbecue place out their way for dinner before I headed for home.

On Sunday, I surprised my parents with an early Christmas gift; I'm taking them to see Cirque du Soleil's "Wintuk" in New York the weekend before Christmas. I've enjoyed the two Cirque shows I've seen in Las Vegas, and I know my parents have seen a few on television and loved them, so I thought this would be a fun time for the three of us, and something they won't forget.

Monday night, I met Barbara in New York and we went to the Gramercy Theater to see Shonen Knife! Barbara loves the three rockin' girls from Japan, and I enjoy them, too, so I'd gotten the tickets as part of her birthday present. Openers Verona Grove were good, if hard to distinguish from a lot of other rock bands today. I liked the Juliet Dagger better. Maybe that's because they're fronted by an SG-playin' blonde. It was clear that Shonen Knife was headlining that night, though, and they put on a powerful and fun set.

My aunt Zilda is visiting from Brazil for a month, and staying with my aunt Zenir (yes, there are several Zs in the family) in Atlantic City, so they and their accompaniment attended Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house, along with my uncle Arnaldo (an A!) and his wife Irma. We all ate a lot, drank quite a bit, too, and had a generally pleasant time, though it got louder than I'm comfortable with. I don't think I could have survived growing up in a big Italian family...

"Battlestar Galactica: Razor" aired on Sci Fi this past Saturday night. It made for a gripping two hours, even though it's not really a replacement for a full season, for which we still have to wait a few months. Definitely whetted my appetite, though!

I rented my first Zipcar on Sunday, and it was a good experience. Zipcar lets you rent cars hourly or daily; they've got a decent selection of vehicles, and all you have to do is get to the car's location to pick it up, then bring it back to the same location on time, as there may be someone renting it immediately after you. I drove "Bjorn," a Toyota Scion xB, around for a few hours, getting some Christmas shopping and some laundry done, and had no issues or problems with the car or the service.

I added some music to iTunes on Sunday, including the Smashing Pumpkins' greatest hits CD that Dawn gave me for my birthday, and the debut album by Plastiscines, four attractive young Frenchwomen who know how to rock, even when they're not singing in English. The new one from Seal is great listening, too.

I'd hoped to finish recording "Loster" this weekend, and/or upgrade the PowerBook to Leopard (OS X 10.5.1), but while I did some prep work for both, neither was accomplished. Well, there's always next weekend...