Tom & Alissa

. . . words so far. Not quite “on track” by the 1,667 words per day standard, but Anne Lamott would be proud of me (by the by, Bird by Bird has been quite an encouragement to me).

I had a relaxing birthday weekend. We spent Friday evening mostly at home; I had turned in my article before my deadline (this is a breakthrough, friends), and I wasn’t going to be NaNoing this weekend, so Tom picked me up from work in his big work van and we went home and watched The Simpsons before bed. We are on Season 2, now. At this rate we’ll finish by next year.

We got up somewhat late for us (we’ve both been doing early mornings lately, Tom obscenely so) on Saturday and ate some breakfast before heading out to see American Gangster (as apparently everyone else did). Perfect film? No. But very enjoyable. (Though, read a review before you go; definitely for mature audiences.) Afterwards, I remarked to Tom that it was refreshing to see a movie in which the cop was not only the good guy, but he stayed the good guy throughout the whole movie.

Came home, and Tom edited pictures while I cooked up a storm of cheese grits, chicken poached in white wine, and glazed parsnips & carrots. Delish. We will be eating a lot of grits in our household, I think, though our only real connection to the south is through family and neither of us have ever lived there. I made them with mozzarella and jalapeno jack cheese, which wasn’t quite right (mozzarella is too stringy and jack too Mexican), but we do think that bits of hot peppers might be a good idea. So I’ll try cheddar next. They were just as good the next day, too.

Ate dinner over an episode of Battlestar Galactica (okay, so, this sci-fi hater is totally addicted to this show now and if you’re sneering then you’re only just proving your unenlightened state), and then we headed out to BAM for the Sufjan Stevens extravanganza.

Which was a ton of fun. It was the third night, completely sold out. I really adored the musicality of the first half, which was a commissioned half-hour “cinematic suite” on the theme of the BQE with a good-sized orchestra and three separate reels of footage and hula hoopers throughout. That all sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it worked wonderfully, especially after reading in the program that Robert Moses (who designed the monstrosity that is the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) opposed any sports that were not competitive, and obviously, hula hooping is the antithesis of that.

Tom loved the second half more, where Sufjan broke out a bunch of hits (he said they were “songs of civic pride”) and performed them with the orchestra and his band. Excellent stuff. It’s true; he’s not the best or most groundbreaking musician, but watching him, you just feel happy. He is definitely up there playing the music that he hears in his head, and it seems a lot like he’d be ok if you didn’t like it. He’s offering what he has to offer and not trying to be anyone else. And that is wonderful to see, especially in a young guy who’s had great success.

Sunday was my birthday. (I’m 24, lately a fact that scandalizes everyone.) I had about fifty Facebook “happy birthdays” from everyone (thanks, guys!) and a bunch of phone calls from the family. We were out to church, then to home to eat our leftovers and watch more Battlestar Galactica before meeting up with some friends at Union Hall. And of course, my sweetheart had gotten me the Piano of Awesomeness and some much-needed and lovely clothes, so I am spoiled and happy.

Hectic work week, and not just at work.