Saturday night we had a WAR MOVIE! dinner party here at Pagan House. It was couples galore: Ray & Christine, Daniel & Heather, Scott & Jane, and Karen and I. Ray brought over two obscure WWII movies: Anzio and The Halls of Montezuma. Christine and Jane made a WWII dinner: bratwurst, spaghetti carbonara, sushi, and baguette & pate to represent the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, Japan, and Vichy France. They jammed little American flags on toothpicks into the various food items to proclaim victory, then served good old U.S.A. hot dogs to wrap it up and free-French sorbet for dessert.
There was no British food because, in reality, there is no such thing as British food. There’s just stuff that British people eat.
It was a good thing the dinner was so entertaining, because the films were not. Anzio was a dreary, dull crapfest, an early Dino de Laurentiis project starring Robert Mitchum and Peter Falk. We did our best to make fun of it, but after an hour or so we gave up and fast-forwarded through the rest looking for explosions. After suffering through that much Anzio, we only looked at a couple scenes from Montezuma before ejecting that puppy, too.
Instead we sat up late talking and watching an old horror flick called Dark Intruder that’s quite a treat. It’s reviewed in the Lurker in the Lobby book we published a couple years ago.
As a special treat the day before, my car died. It’s now sitting in the parking lot at my studio, looking mournful. Tomorrow I call one of those “We Take Your Dead Car As Is Where Is For Cash!” places and send it to its final resting place. That 1990 Ford Thunderbird came here from Florida in early 1998 when Scott Glancy drove out here in it, and came into my possession last spring. It was not long after I turned 30, and it’s the first car I’ve ever owned. Now it’s gone. Ah well! I only paid a dollar for it.
So now I need to buy a car. I’ve never bought a car before, except from Scott, so I’m full of half-remembered advice. I’ve sorted out the decision into two options:
1) Buy a disposable POS car for $750 or less.
or
2) Buy a decent car from a reputable dealer for $3000 or so.
Anyone in Seattle got a car to get rid of? No? Oh well.
To my shock, horror, and eventual glee, Karen helped me clean my room on Saturday. She even vacuumed. To say that she vacuumed isn’t sufficient, so let me explain: she spent the afternoon on her hands and knees, using the vacuum cleaner’s hose attachment to scrub over every accessible square inch of carpet in the room. It was so filthy with ground-in dirt that normal vacuuming didn’t stand a chance. I can’t believe she did it, but at least now my bedroom is as neat as hers. It’s like the last dust motes of my bachelorhood have been swept away, and now I’m living in a strange and wonderful world of clean sheets and clean carpets. How bizarre. My room hasn’t been this clean and orderly since the carpet installers finished their job and walked out the door more than five years ago. I’ve lived as unto a pig, oink oink. But thanks to this amazing and patient woman, life looks good.
I’m just glad she only has a twin bed at her place, so that she has no choice but to spend the night here when we’re together. If she had a larger bed, she’d probably never darken the door of my room again. Hah hah! My superior bed technology has triumphed and now I’m reaping the rewards.
Scott and I stayed up past 5am the other night playing Grand Theft Auto 3 on his Playstation 2. (Hmm…5=3+2) It’s an amazing game.
Speaking of which, yes, we’ve made a deal for a Delta Green computer game and work is underway. The project is going to take about a year and a half, so be patient. I believe we’ll have stuff to show off at the E3 computer-gaming expo in Las Vegas in the spring. It’s an X-Com style game, with both strategic and real-time tactical-combat modes. More than that I cannot say, but we’ll get the word out when the time comes. I’m having a blast so far.
Karen and I had dinner tonight with her housemate Ned and his girlfriend Sarah. Today is Ned’s birthday, and dinner was his parents’ gift to him. So he and Sarah took us out to the Noodle Ranch, a terrific Asian noodle place in Belltown that Karen and I have eaten at numerous times. Their red bean ice cream is superb. They also make a great martini with sake, vermouth, and a slice of cucumber.
A good meal is a glorious thing.