11:42 a.m. - 2002-09-15
meat! meat! meat! meat! meat!
First of all and MOST importantly: EVERYONE GO CONGRATULATE Ivy and her wonderful boy!
Secondly, the LOTR sisters kick ass. I just needed to make sure you ALL know that.
Thirdly, in another entry or two I shall be posting a Template Request. In case you didn't notice, the diaryland templates suck. I think I want an Eowyn template (after all, Dernhelm = Eowyn), but I'd really be happy with any LOTR character. I don't know who to ask, but I'll do an official Request in, like I said, an entry or two.
Fourthly, an update...
So Friday night the next-door neighbors came over for dinner. Boring as all hell, and a shitload of dishes. Fortunately they didn't bring their dog or their three young children. That's all I have to say about that.
Saturday morning, Kelsey and Alexa's musical theater class was cancelled. We went instead to go get skis, which meant I had to get up early anyway. Oh well. I'm keeping the same Volant skis that I had last year, and same poles, same helmet ("Your helmet is soooo big!"), but I'm getting different boots. I always have serious boot issues, last year I was miserable, they hurt so badly I couldn't ski. During our December trip, there were numerous times when I simply had to quit skiing because I was in so much pain. So now I have the reputation for not being aggressive and for avoiding high speed and moguls, neither of which I would normally avoid. Dad told the guys at the ski place that the youngest (Alexa) is the most aggressive. Kelsey obviously isn't, but, hello, do they remember how I USED to ski when I didn't have such bad foot issues? Damnit! So now this year I absolutely have to ski aggressively, it's a point of pride, no days off for me. They got me a pair of size-smaller boots, 24 instead of 25, which they say will push me to be more aggressive; when David was racing competively he always wore boots a few sizes too small. (Actually, it's kind of gross. His toes are all curled over and shit. Matt's are the same way.) And I've got kick-ass skis, and they're setting the bindings on a higher level, so they don't pre-release (I've never had a problem, but I don't want to). We're going to Utah in December and February, but not spring break (we're going to Mexico then), so I'll have a chance.
Anyway... we weren't home until 11:30, and Jackie's line was busy forever. I finally got through at 12:30 to see if she wanted to come over and see "The Matrix Revisited," but we decided to wait another weekend because we wouldn't have much time and she couldn't do Elvish braids in my hair (I had to put it up). I can't remember what I did for the rest of the afternoon, but I'm sure it wasn't work. haha. No, actually, I read some of an issue of Time, and started trying to read the psych module on neuroscience but found it too boring, and made a birthday card for Scott on Photoshop Elements (which sucks ass, by the way, they gave it to me for my birthday because the real Photoshop is $600, but this version has nothing!), and lay around on my bed a lot, and then got ready to go out. Scott took the train here, and we picked up Dr. Joan too, which was a surprise. She finally got her patent, and apparently she had called Mom asking to have dinner or something to celebrate because she was too excited to eat alone, and Mom couldn't say no, so she told her she could come to dinner with us. Joan can be pushy like that. I mean, when Mom was telling her about the possibility of having my Bat Mitzvah in Israel, Joan said "oh, I've always wanted to go, I'll come with you" and that was that -- she came.
Anyway, DINNER... AMAZING.
We went to this restaurant, and all I can say is that it's a carnivore PARADISE.
You start out with the salad bar. Then they bring some appetizers to your table -- the best cheeseballs ever, asparagus, rice, fries, all kinds of stuff. Then the meat. Then dessert.
But it's not that simple.
See, in front of every place setting is a simple circle. One side is green, the other side is red. As soon as you turn it to green, you are bombarded with waiters carrying huge skewers of MEAT! Rib roast, prime rib, lamb, turkey, pork, flank steak, you name it, they had it, and it was amazing. They carve it off right for you and onto your plate. When you're full, you flip the circle back to red.
The funniest thing ever was watching the people who hadn't paid attention to the waiter's explanation at the beginning, and who are playing with their circles, and accidentally turn them to red instead of green, and then look shocked when waiters brandish huge skewers of meat in their faces.
Incredible.
I think I ate more than I've ever eaten in my entire life.
I do want to be a vegetarian, but... damn. I just loooove meat. Actually, to be crude, I like cow. I don't like lamb and I won't eat veal or duck or venison and I sometimes but not always like turkey and pig, depending on how they're made.
But omg... it was soooo yummy. And there was so MUCH! Scott is an absolute meat freak, so he kept his circle on green longer than anyone else, and tried everything. I loved the flank steak and the rib roast and the prime rib. It was delicious. I told Mom that I want to go there for my half-birthday and my birthday and my graduation and my wedding and all my anniversaries.
Afterward, we walked around a little, because we were right near Broadway, which is always a fun place to walk. We went into Virgin Megastore because Dad's going to France next week (leaving Tuesday), and he needed presents to bring to Emma and Clemence. We got Emma Madonna's greatest hits volume 2 and we got Clemence a compilation of Broadway music. Mom let each of us pick out a cd, so Kelsey got "Flood" by They Might Be Giants, Alexa got the soundtrack from "Hairspray" (she heard the music at her dance camp, and we're probably going to see it for her birthday in April, but as of now they're only selling tickets up to March), and I got the soundtracks from Moulin Rouge. SQUEE! Actually, they only bought me one. The other one I bought, $18.99, and it's going to be the product of last week's allowance (which we never received, because we were having the whole allowance debate) and this week's, which means I do need to clean up my room. Damn. But I'm so happy! I wanted those cds so badly! I also got a cd case which fits 64, which makes me happy, because I was getting tired of having to bring two cases everywhere.
The best part, though, was when we walked into Virgin Megastore and looked at the huge television and THEY WERE SHOWING LOTR:FOTR. SQUEEEEEEEE! Kelsey, Alexa, and I grabbed each other and started hyperventilating. They were at the Council of Elrond, and Boromir was just standing up to say, "It is a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor!" Of course, you couldn't hear anything they were saying because the stupid store was blasting music, so we had to say the lines for them. It was beautiful! Picture ten televisions lined up next to eachother showing Legolas' face. "Havo dad, Legolas." We got some fairly strange looks going down the escalator reciting lines, but it was awesome.
After that wonderful stop, we stopped at a Broadway merchandise store, where Kelsey got a shirt, and then went home. We got home around 10, and Scott decided to sleep over, so Mom suggested that we watch a movie. We watched "Road Trip." No, actually, we watched the uncensored, unrated "Road Trip." Dear God, there was a lot of nudity. It doesn't bother me, but watching it with my nearly-fifteen-year-old cousin was a little awkward. Our virgin eyes! ;) The only nudity you see is naked women, so it was obviously nothing *I* hadn't seen before, but, uh, he's not female. That pisses me off in a way. No, I'm not pissed off that he's not female, but I get pissed that so many movies show naked women instead of naked men. I don't particularly need/want to see either, but can't they make it fair? Show an equal number of each! Instead, they completely exploit women, showing their naked bodies as beautiful prizes, and don't ever show the males. I think the only time I've ever seen a naked male in a movie was in "Boogie Nights," and that's a movie about the pornography industry, so it's only to be expected.
Anyway, we didn't go to bed until after midnight, and then I woke up at ten, and he'd already taken the train back. He's fifteen today. Happy birthday!
Alexis and I are going to go see "Blue Crush" at the 2:50 viewing, so I should probably go get dressed. Also, since Dad is leaving on Tuesday, I want to write or at least draft my French essays today. Plus, I need to do a practice French SAT II for Lisa, because we have a phone conference tomorrow at 8:30.
We decided not to go to the Yom Kippur service tomorrow. This is good, as I'll have some time to work, even though Maggie is coming.
A'ighty. That's enough for now. Off I go, to listen to Moulin Rouge, get dressed, and clean my room! (And no, I am not equally excited about all three of those things.)
