Monday *yawn*

I'm not feeling very energetic this morning. I blame this on the Family
Birthday, which was last night (my late grandparents, my mother, my two
uncles and my aunt all have/had birthdays in January and February, so we
do a giant party for everyone). The menu:

Champagne, wine, etc.
Prosciutto and melon
Asparagus
Beef Wellington (made by my aunt) with roast potatoes, carrots, snow peas,
and cherry tomatoes on the side
Pear, walnut, and feta salad
Chocolate cherry cake (made by moi) with vanilla ice cream
Coffee for them as wanted it

Festivities started late and went later, including going through Granny's
jewellery and roughly sharing out the items each of us wanted (some of it
didn't suit any of us, alas -- notably the most valuable piece, which
we're selling, a diamond brooch that probably someone who is into that
kind of vintage jewellery will ADORE). Early on in the proceedings Tilde
got locked out and forgotten, but I found her at the bottom of a rather
tall step around the side of the house, squeaking. She was rather sucky
for the rest of the evening.

Spent most of the weekend prior to this over at my aunt and uncle's and/or
the house. Friday night, cousins' evening out at the Gull and Firkin.
Saturday, the House (me up a ladder shoving Safe 'n' Sound into Jen's
kitchen ceiling, Jen scraping goo off the floor -- quite companionable
really) followed by dinner chez la famille monkeycommando.
Baby is almost half as tall as his mother and very cute. I got to read the
bedtime story. Then drinks at Fitzy's with crankygrrl. Then
back to my aunt and uncle's and an hour or so of working on the extremely
addictive 2000-piece puzzle (the
picture is Raphael's "The School of Athens", a nice mix of regular and
irregular, also HUGE).

Also spent much of Saturday bitching about the truly evil weather, a
mixture of snow and rain in the morning followed by torrential rain most
of the afternoon and evening. Ugh.

(no subject)

So I now have another* potential DVD double bill: Movies With Characters That Remind Other People Of Me.

Occasionally, moonlightjoy mentions that the title character in Kissing Jessica Stein reminds her of me. And today, raithen told me that the Toni Collette character in In Her Shoes reminded both her and her mother, independently, of me. I think this probably means I need to see them.

DISCLAIMER to moonlightjoy and raithen: the following is not meant to imply that you freaked me out, or that I don't appreciate being thought of, or was actually especially disturbed or anything, because that is not the case -- I just thought it was funny, and my brain being what it is, this is the direction it headed in.

Either way, this kind of intrigues/disturbs me if I think about it hard. I like to feel that I am unique and special (just like everyone else in the world). Movie characters so rarely remind me of anyone I know, so what is it about me? Why TWO movies? No, seriously, is this a good thing or does it mean that my personality is a mere pale knockoff of a couple of figments of a screenwriter's imagination? Please, share your thoughts! Has anyone ever told you that the main character in Alien, or Four Weddings and a Funeral, or Run Lola Run, or any other movie reminded them of you? And how did you take the news? And did you see the movie, and were they right? And am I just crazy?

*To go with my Summer of '05 Never Get On A Plane Again Ever double bill of Red Eye and Flight Plan.

(no subject)

No house email today, but I learn through the family grapevine that the inspector came and was pleased with the 3rd floor fire separation, so we can go ahead and finish that room. Hurray! According to my dad, the conversation then went something like this:

INSPECTOR: Hm, that's a new door. Was that on the plans?
MY UNCLE: Oh, yes.*
INSPECTOR (looking outside): I see your neighbour's deck isn't up to code, though.

So the building inspector is going to narc on our neighbour (who is selling her house). I feel so guilty.

My dad also wondered if Bill was there and then decided probably not. This is for the best, I think; Bill (who, I'm told, not infrequently shows up for work somewhat stoned to spend an hour or so explaining what other people have done wrong in his absence; and who is also very good at what he does, but dislikes having expectations put on him) and the inspector would make for a hilarious but probably toxic combo.

*Fortunately, this is true.