Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Normally, I'd be figuring out what to do when GFJ arrives. But she's away in North Carolina for a wedding, and I have the weekend free to be in Marian Mode. YAY! Now to figure out what to do.
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Looking at the picture above, I don't like what I see. There is way too much meat on the bones, and I stand out by being a large person. To be honest, I need to watch my weight, and that's going to become a priority for me.
Even though I was awakened around 9 am today, I didn't even bother getting out of the bed until the afternoon. I was finally able to confirm that my weekend plans with LK and the former clinical supervisor were off - LK had to work the night before, and would be too exhausted to meet for brunch on Sunday. This made me glad that I booked a meetup for Sunday.
Late in the evening, I got a call from GFJ. Seems like she received an email from an ex-friend that should have been sent directly to me. (I won't go into details here.) I'll have to respond to it shortly, as it deals with a friendship that is over. But it also means that I'll be switching over to a new blog with a new name. (I will supply that name soon, when I make my last post here.)
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Saturday came and I had two things on my docket - Visiting my dad on Long Island, then going to my High School's 45th reunion. Given the mood I was in from last night, I wasn't certain that I wanted to go anywhere.
The first thing I did was to start cleaning up the mess in my room from before I went on my ill fated cruise.. Clutter was to be found all over the bedroom, and it must be organized before the cleaning lady comes next week. One of the byproducts of this cleanup is that I was able to find some dress shoes I haven't worn in a few years - perfect for use in presenting as Mario tonight.
Around 3:30, I started getting ready to drive to Long Island for my high school's 45th anniversary reunion. And I left the house at 4:30, hoping I'd be able to make it to Roslyn by 5:40, so I could see my dad in the nursing home. This was not meant to be. Instead, I hit big time bridge traffic, and ended up killing an hour on Long Island before going to the reunion.
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I arrived at the reunion at 7:00, and accompanied several women on the way into the place. When we were young, the place was known as "Henry's" - a step up from being a dive bar, where the beer was cheap, the pool table $0.25/game, and the grill sometimes open for a burger. Now that it's known as the "Old Trading Post", it has gone upscale, and the food is of a much better quality. We were one of two groups being hosted, and the only one under a tent to the side of the restaurant. Even outdoors, it was hard to have a conversation, and that was just as well. It was better to be forced to have lighthearted conversations than anything serious.
Like my 40th HS reunion, I didn't remember anyone, save the class advisor. But others remembered me for my intelligence. At least two or three people commented on how they remembered me in class, and it made me feel good that others saw that quality in me. Along with my voice, that was the quality that the class advisor remembered most about me. But I got a kick out of meeting my "Name Doppelganger" (both of us share the same name, both of us use the same "familiar" form of our first names in addition to sharing the same last name) - she surprised me by sneaking up behind me to say hello. While there, I got into several good conversations, including one with a former classmate who may try to connect me with one of his friends who might be able to connect me to a job.
All too soon, the night had to end before the place became quiet. When I got in my car, I messaged GFJ, and she was bushed from her party. So we agreed to chat sometime on Sunday.
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My alarms were set to wake me up around 8:00 on Sunday, so that I had the option of going to church before going to the Chuang Yen Monastery. However, the night before, I didn't go to sleep early enough, so I decided to rest as long as possible before getting ready to go to the monastery - and I rested a little too long. Once I got moving, I was rushing at a breakneck speed to get ready, and almost abandoned my plans to drive North so I could go back to sleep.
As you might guess, I went to the monastery, and arrived about 500 feet behind the meetup group. So I was running a little to catch up - and did so, as they reached the lunch hall. Once caught up, I paid for my lunch (a purely vegan meal), and sat down with our crew.
After 45 minutes, it was time to go on our tour. Some of us (including myself) made the mistake of first going to the meditation room instead of the main temple. But a few minutes later, we realized our mistake and joined the rest of the group at the temple. And the tour guide (the same lady who guided us last time) gave a different presentation on how Buddhism "works". She was very interesting, and I wish I had been in a better position to see her when speaking due to the sun being behind her.
When the tour ended, I decided to drive to Carmel and see what was playing at the local theater. Luckily, "Joker" was starting just as I arrived in town, so I didn't have to wait for the movie to start when I arrived. However, I did have to wait on line, as the ticket counter was also the concession stand, and the folk at the registers were doing double duty - selling both tickets and popcorn at the same time. (This slowed down things for people like me who just wanted to see the movie.) But I was able to get into the movie just before the film started.
For those who haven't read any reviews about the movie, "Joker" is a retelling of the origin of the Joker character in Batman films. It isn't a pure retelling, as they change the origin story to reflect a mentally deranged person going off the deep end and turning into Batman's worst enemy. This is a better origin story than the original one, and I hope they reboot the Batman series with the look and feel of this movie.
Eventually, I had to return home. Once back at my desk, I did a minor edit to a last email being sent to FCP, then sent it out. I don't think there is any hope for a rapprochement between the two of us. But if there is, she'll have to make the next move.
