![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Heart, Hearth, Earth
Dec. 23rd, 2002 01:04 pmCozy.
That's the word for this time of year, when things seem to be clipping along at a good pace, when things seem to be stressful, but, you know, that good kind of stress.
The date I had from last week came over again this weekend. She's very cool - she brought over Wilde for us to watch. Ah, how lovely to see Stephen Fry dolled up in all sorts of fabulous clothes, with floppy curled hair and a wistful expression flitting across his visage in nearly every camera shot! Also lovely was Jude Law and the copious screen time dedicated to his sculpted ass. Can that man pout, or what? What a bratty little petulant Bosie he was. And then! Oh, and then: Orlando Bloom, my very favorite fake blond Elf, playing a bit part as a rentboy. Oh ho ho yeah, mmm hmm.
The date and I had a really great time hanging out, getting to know each other better, going out to eat, going shopping for some of my last-minute gift stuff for grab bags and things, and playing video games.
There was one point Saturday night where we were playing Halo on the XBox, drinking beer, of all things (still leftover from the moving food I got), and we were laughing, and she was talking at the game, telling the aliens she would kick their asses, and shooting her own men. We just laughed and laughed and laughed. And then laughed some more.
Sunday was spent mostly at my mom's house, attending a grab bag with my mom's sisters and their families. I had a nice time, got to see my brother and his wife for the first time in weeks, ate good warm home-cooked food, laughed a lot at the little kids and my brother telling everyone in Polish that he couldn't speak Polish. He's got this bizarre sense of humor, and so it felt good to be around it - it's like a special timbre/language/melody/favorite song I haven't been able to hear for a long time. I missed my brother!
After all the guests dissipated, I helped my mom with a few small tasks, and then headed into Oak Park to hang with two of my very favoritest people, Jon and Tom. They moved to LA a few years back, and generally tend to make it back to the Chicago area to hang with friends and family.
When I got to Jon's parents' house, it was like stepping into my past - I hadn't been in that house since maybe early college days, I think, and so many things kept flooding back, little moments: Bad Poetry Contests, Jon's student film from when he was at Columbia, parties, phone calls ...
Jon's younger brother answered the door, and it was so good to see him, and I felt so holiday-cheerish I gave him a huge, warm hug, and he hugged me right back. We never were close friends or anything in high school, despite being the same year - I was always friends with Jon by dintof being in so many plays with him, and on speech team with him. But I've always had a fondness for Owen, and it was extremely heartening to meet his wife and see his daughter, and see the assured happy look on his face.
When I stepped into the living room, I noticed that sitting on the couch was none other than one of my favorite students from my directing/speech team coaching days, except he looked a bit older and with a beard, so it took me a few seconds. He took longer than me to do the recognition thing, and so we stared bemusedly at each other for several seconds, until I said, "Turquoise ...?" and then it dawned on him, and he crowed, "Light Blue!"
See, way back when, when I directed him in a production of Ionesco's The Sandbox, I used to warm the actors up with concentration exercises, including one that used the names of colors and clapping as a chant/timing thing. There was a funny bit where he and I were tossing our chosen colors back and forth for quite some time during one round, getting more giddy and amused at each repetition, so it became an inside joke sort of thing. "Turquoise, Light Blue!" "Light Blue, Turquoise!"
It turns out Owen was one of his professors in college. My world gets ever smaller.
I gave Jon and Tom their gifts - road trip goodies, as they drove from LA to Chicago (no mean feat!): a Barbie doll that's a pen, a crayon coloring pad, a box of crayons, a tiny hot pink notepad with flowers on it, some Dove chocolates, and two light-up plastic swords, so that they can duel in the car. They loved their gifts, but I still felt sheepish because of what they got for me.
From them I received a mix CD they made for a bunch of friends and family, and then I unwrapped this gorgeous embroidered cloth-covered box. Inside, lined in velvet, was a Chinese calligraphy set. It's ... beautiful. There's a stone and a pot of ink goop for stamping works, there's an ink stone and an ink stick, there's 4 brushes, their bristles hardened and shaped into delicate points. Wow.
It almost makes me want to resurrect the ghost of Jo Burgess again for a little while, with more authentic painting materials. Heh.
I felt more centered after a few hours in their presence. Things have been so intense lately that it was good to sit and drink cold water and talk about Hollywood and about the Lord of the Rings movies and and and ... it felt like (as I am currently discussing this concept with a good friend) coming home. Jon and Tom are always in my heart.
I'm exhausted today, though. I need a good night's sleep. I've been having too much fun lately. (Oh, poor me!)
That's the word for this time of year, when things seem to be clipping along at a good pace, when things seem to be stressful, but, you know, that good kind of stress.
The date I had from last week came over again this weekend. She's very cool - she brought over Wilde for us to watch. Ah, how lovely to see Stephen Fry dolled up in all sorts of fabulous clothes, with floppy curled hair and a wistful expression flitting across his visage in nearly every camera shot! Also lovely was Jude Law and the copious screen time dedicated to his sculpted ass. Can that man pout, or what? What a bratty little petulant Bosie he was. And then! Oh, and then: Orlando Bloom, my very favorite fake blond Elf, playing a bit part as a rentboy. Oh ho ho yeah, mmm hmm.
The date and I had a really great time hanging out, getting to know each other better, going out to eat, going shopping for some of my last-minute gift stuff for grab bags and things, and playing video games.
There was one point Saturday night where we were playing Halo on the XBox, drinking beer, of all things (still leftover from the moving food I got), and we were laughing, and she was talking at the game, telling the aliens she would kick their asses, and shooting her own men. We just laughed and laughed and laughed. And then laughed some more.
Sunday was spent mostly at my mom's house, attending a grab bag with my mom's sisters and their families. I had a nice time, got to see my brother and his wife for the first time in weeks, ate good warm home-cooked food, laughed a lot at the little kids and my brother telling everyone in Polish that he couldn't speak Polish. He's got this bizarre sense of humor, and so it felt good to be around it - it's like a special timbre/language/melody/favorite song I haven't been able to hear for a long time. I missed my brother!
After all the guests dissipated, I helped my mom with a few small tasks, and then headed into Oak Park to hang with two of my very favoritest people, Jon and Tom. They moved to LA a few years back, and generally tend to make it back to the Chicago area to hang with friends and family.
When I got to Jon's parents' house, it was like stepping into my past - I hadn't been in that house since maybe early college days, I think, and so many things kept flooding back, little moments: Bad Poetry Contests, Jon's student film from when he was at Columbia, parties, phone calls ...
Jon's younger brother answered the door, and it was so good to see him, and I felt so holiday-cheerish I gave him a huge, warm hug, and he hugged me right back. We never were close friends or anything in high school, despite being the same year - I was always friends with Jon by dintof being in so many plays with him, and on speech team with him. But I've always had a fondness for Owen, and it was extremely heartening to meet his wife and see his daughter, and see the assured happy look on his face.
When I stepped into the living room, I noticed that sitting on the couch was none other than one of my favorite students from my directing/speech team coaching days, except he looked a bit older and with a beard, so it took me a few seconds. He took longer than me to do the recognition thing, and so we stared bemusedly at each other for several seconds, until I said, "Turquoise ...?" and then it dawned on him, and he crowed, "Light Blue!"
See, way back when, when I directed him in a production of Ionesco's The Sandbox, I used to warm the actors up with concentration exercises, including one that used the names of colors and clapping as a chant/timing thing. There was a funny bit where he and I were tossing our chosen colors back and forth for quite some time during one round, getting more giddy and amused at each repetition, so it became an inside joke sort of thing. "Turquoise, Light Blue!" "Light Blue, Turquoise!"
It turns out Owen was one of his professors in college. My world gets ever smaller.
I gave Jon and Tom their gifts - road trip goodies, as they drove from LA to Chicago (no mean feat!): a Barbie doll that's a pen, a crayon coloring pad, a box of crayons, a tiny hot pink notepad with flowers on it, some Dove chocolates, and two light-up plastic swords, so that they can duel in the car. They loved their gifts, but I still felt sheepish because of what they got for me.
From them I received a mix CD they made for a bunch of friends and family, and then I unwrapped this gorgeous embroidered cloth-covered box. Inside, lined in velvet, was a Chinese calligraphy set. It's ... beautiful. There's a stone and a pot of ink goop for stamping works, there's an ink stone and an ink stick, there's 4 brushes, their bristles hardened and shaped into delicate points. Wow.
It almost makes me want to resurrect the ghost of Jo Burgess again for a little while, with more authentic painting materials. Heh.
I felt more centered after a few hours in their presence. Things have been so intense lately that it was good to sit and drink cold water and talk about Hollywood and about the Lord of the Rings movies and and and ... it felt like (as I am currently discussing this concept with a good friend) coming home. Jon and Tom are always in my heart.
I'm exhausted today, though. I need a good night's sleep. I've been having too much fun lately. (Oh, poor me!)
