Last Weekend for November 23-November 25: Family, Static Art, Cinematic Art, Birthday
As long as I've been at my job (16.5 years and counting), we have automatically gotten the day after Thanksgiving off, leading to a guaranteed four day weekend. In most prior years I've had my Black Friday birthday spectacular party, with a buffet lasting all day. Given the larger than usual number of family members I had visiting this year and assorted other stresses, I opted not to have the party.
Instead, Friday morning I had a (mostly) family only bagel brunch. My parents, sister and brother-in-law, aunt & uncle and M were joined by Kendra (Tulip's fairy godmother) and my cousin and his wife the rabbi and their son for a leisurely breakfast of bagels and lox and both a red and a green shakshuka, plus assorted leftover cheeses and olives from the day before.
Once breakfast was complete, M headed back to Columbus to visit her family. It was a lovely sunny day, so we took my aunt & uncle down to Lakewood Park to see the lake and the Solstice Steps. My uncle wasn't feeling well so he went back to the hotel, but the rest of us headed to the art museum for the very first day of the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition as well as the Renaissance Splendors exhibition. I enjoyed both, but certainly wasn't blown away. O'Keeffe in particular was much more focused on her clothing and style than her art, which made it substantially less interesting for me.
After the museum we went and got dinner. This involved a number of mishaps: Superior Pho being closed, Korea House having an hour wait, my parents having trouble with their GPS, etc., but eventually we ended up at Number One Pho, where we taught my aunt all about pho. We then went home and played two rounds of Pandemic before going to bed.
Saturday, my aunt & uncle drove home. tigerlily_blue and her husband went to the Rock Hall. I took a glorious four hour nap while Mom made pizza for our mutual birthday, which we ate before my sister headed to the airport. With them absent, the three of us remaining went to see Bohemian Rhapsody, which was enjoyable but not great.
Sunday Mom & Dad headed out, leaving me at home. I went to the radio station to do some extra telethon-related work, then split my show with my trainee, with us alternating half hours. I then went to the Cinematheque to see The Lady From Shanghai. The noir from Orson Welles was, in the manner of noir, very enjoyable and occasionally confusing while being dark and atmospheric. It was a fine birthday movie. As a bonus, I won the Cinematheque drawing on my birthday for a $5 gift certificate. I probably won't use it, but still, it's nice to be lucky.
Instead, Friday morning I had a (mostly) family only bagel brunch. My parents, sister and brother-in-law, aunt & uncle and M were joined by Kendra (Tulip's fairy godmother) and my cousin and his wife the rabbi and their son for a leisurely breakfast of bagels and lox and both a red and a green shakshuka, plus assorted leftover cheeses and olives from the day before.
Once breakfast was complete, M headed back to Columbus to visit her family. It was a lovely sunny day, so we took my aunt & uncle down to Lakewood Park to see the lake and the Solstice Steps. My uncle wasn't feeling well so he went back to the hotel, but the rest of us headed to the art museum for the very first day of the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition as well as the Renaissance Splendors exhibition. I enjoyed both, but certainly wasn't blown away. O'Keeffe in particular was much more focused on her clothing and style than her art, which made it substantially less interesting for me.
After the museum we went and got dinner. This involved a number of mishaps: Superior Pho being closed, Korea House having an hour wait, my parents having trouble with their GPS, etc., but eventually we ended up at Number One Pho, where we taught my aunt all about pho. We then went home and played two rounds of Pandemic before going to bed.
Saturday, my aunt & uncle drove home. tigerlily_blue and her husband went to the Rock Hall. I took a glorious four hour nap while Mom made pizza for our mutual birthday, which we ate before my sister headed to the airport. With them absent, the three of us remaining went to see Bohemian Rhapsody, which was enjoyable but not great.
Sunday Mom & Dad headed out, leaving me at home. I went to the radio station to do some extra telethon-related work, then split my show with my trainee, with us alternating half hours. I then went to the Cinematheque to see The Lady From Shanghai. The noir from Orson Welles was, in the manner of noir, very enjoyable and occasionally confusing while being dark and atmospheric. It was a fine birthday movie. As a bonus, I won the Cinematheque drawing on my birthday for a $5 gift certificate. I probably won't use it, but still, it's nice to be lucky.