a variety

First thing - the weird neighbors across the street, the ones with the overgrown backyard of super creepiness, with the rotating cast of residents? They seem to have vanished. It's been a week since I saw anyone at their house, any cars parked in the drive, any lights or signs of life. I only know a week, because their trashcans went out last Tuesday and were moved back to stand in front of the garage, which is also unusual. I wonder what the story is. Additionally, the people next to them have been largely absent. I've seen one car, instead of the usual three, and only twice. What are the odds of two households next door to each other vanishing in the same week?

Second thing - my weekend was so busy but so fun. I spent way too much money at the farmer's market but came away with lots of meats and beets and even a wedge of cheese. Yesterday I made stock, simmering short rib bones and leek stalks for many hours. Today I'll roast beets and potatoes and make some borscht. Yum. Maybe with bacon. I feel like adding bacon.

Third thing - Had a fun brunch, even though I forgot to actually eat, to celebrate a friend's birthday. Then I had a nap and went to a fabulous concert at European Bistro. Apparently the owners actually fought in the revolution of 1956! The concert was on the anniversary of the Revolution, and the musicians traveled all the way from Budapest to play. The place was packed, and we ended up sharing our table with an older couple. The band played violin, stand up bass and cimbalom and were probably some of the most talented musicians I have ever seen. It was wild.

Fourth thing - Yesterday I stood in line for ages, hoping to get a ticket for an unknown movie. It turned out to be Young Adult with Patton Oswalt and Charlize Theron. Wow. That movie was fascinating and deeply strange. It's hard to write an unlikeable protagonist, harder to have a story that doesn't fall into conventional romantic tropes when dealing with relationships and even harder still to have a character who undergoes revelation without change. But somehow, this movie has all that and more. It's so vivid and dark and really, really damn interesting. Go see it. I need you to see it so we can talk about it, because I have so many thoughts about these characters. Charlize Theron is amazing and masterful in this role. Also, because we showed up for this secret screening, we got amazing posters. Mine is #31, which I sort of secretly love because that's my age right now.

Fifth thing - I signed up for Yuletide candy & book exchanges. Last year was super fun, and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

Sixth thing - I hate cleaning so much. It's not hard. I just hate doing it. Some days I fantasize about hiring a maid. I know that's weird and brings up all kinds of issues about class and status and money and what I do with my time. Because I honestly have the time to clean the house. I just often don't expend the effort.

Ready Player One

I really didn't know anything about this book until I bought it earlier this month. But I just finished reading it in twenty four hours, sometimes almost physically shaking with excitement. I did actually exclaim "Holy shit holy shit!" at one point. I also did cry those tears of crazy fierce happiness and sadness. I could not wait to see the end and I never wanted it to end.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is phenomenal. I thought having already read several excellent books this month (Vaclav & Lena by Hayley Tanner, City of Thieves by David Benioff, After Dark by Haruki Murakami, A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, The Magicians by Lev Grossman) that my run of luck might have ended and all books would seem sort of ordinary and flat. Especially given how magical Tanner's book felt. But this trumped all of it for sheer excitement. I haven't felt so moved by a fight a scene since I was reading fantasy novels when I was about eight years old. I haven't wanted to actually drop everything and become the protagonist of the story so much since the first time I saw Labyrinth or Sneakers or War Games.

I was born in 1980, so a lot of these references are to my early childhood and things I discovered later as an adult. But it is still absolutely enthralling and the story is so damn exciting that I abandoned all plans to do productive, grown up shit today in order to lay on my bed and read. Now I need to go do the laundry and chop some beets while I pine for a real OASIS.