Dinner out for a change -- Kevin tends to eat out a lot on his own, but it just seems so extravagant to me that it makes me nervous to eat out more than once a week even if someone else is paying (I guess the habits of youth get pretty deeply ingrained; my family would have fast food maybe once a week (usually after church, oddly enough), and eating at restaurants was reserved for birthdays or other major special occasions). We had delicious pasta with a cajun cream sauce -- completely non-healthy, but oh, so good. Afterwards we rented some movies and came home to watch. Pleasantville was lots of fun -- there are maybe a few little holes here and there, but it's definitely worth watching.
Today, again, got up and worked. Talked to Roshani a bit -- she's getting married in less than a week! Eep! It's a little hard to believe; it wasn't so long ago that she was heart-broken over Jordan... (okay, it was almost two years ago, but it doesn't seem that long ago). I'll be leaving Wednesday for the wedding; should be interesting. She's marrying a lovely British boy (translation: white-skinned!) and I can't wait to see how well the family copes. It's a good thing Tom (her boy) is a nice, steady sort. Kevin's just lucky that he has a math conference in Boulder this weekend, or I'd probably be dragging him along to endure the family gauntlet too (and provide moral support (shall we take bets on how many aunts/others will ask me in the next week "So, when are *you* getting married, dear?" Argh!)).
Ah well -- the family can't ruin it for me; I like Tom, and I love Roshani, and I'm so happy for them. It'll be a lovely wedding, and I'm going to enjoy it, dang it. :-)
Anyway, I spent a while on-line looking for wedding symbols for Roshani's program, and then I made lunch (chicken and potato curry, cauliflower and tomato curry -- ah, home food :-), and then Kev got up, and we eventually headed out to Borders. Cal was there (older Japanese gentleman (nisei, as it turns out) if you remember), and he started teaching me a little about Japanese chess, and then Kevin wanted to try something, and somehow they ended up playing a game (I eventually pulled out my laptop and got some work done :-). Then Cal tried to teach me something about regular chess, and, after a bit, somehow Cal and Kev ended up mostly playing...
It would be easy to claim that Kevin was sticking his nose in, but the truth is that I get awfully intimidated at this sort of thing. It's one of the few areas where I get tongue-tied -- when Cal asks me, "So, what do you think white should do in this position?", I just stare at the board for a while, and eventually mutter a pathetic "I don't know." It's frustrating, because I really do enjoy playing these games; I just get panicky about it. Weird. So after a while, they end up playing each other (or working out moves and positions) and I just stare and try to absorb things, like a sponge -- which is totally *not* the best way to learn things, as we all know, so I really ought to get over it, admit that I'm going to make a fool of myself when I try to suggest moves, and just accept that that's the best way to learn.
Hmm...maybe if I give myself that pep talk before I meet up with Cal, that'll help. :-)
After Cal left, finished the CS newsletter (including that rather embarrassing blowjob poem I wrote a while back), then we picked up some groceries and came home. Ate dinner, sent out newsletter, sent a bunch of stories to the "Blowfish Update" (fingers crossed - they pay $50/piece for short-shorts), and then watched a really amazing movie.
If you're looking for a beautiful, controversial, insightful and moving film (that incidentally was a) banned in India and b) has some very hot f/f scenes that are incredibly well done), rent Deepak Mehta's _Fire_. Wow. Just wow. I may try reviewing it properly at some point, but for now, this will have to do.
And now, it's past eleven, I need to review my class prep for tomorrow, take a shower and go to sleep (up at 5 for class). So sleep well, munchkins, and have a marvelous week.