Good transportation news! I did my yardwork for the day ... watered and weeded and spread a bag of mulch, irritated several hummingbirds and two cats.
Then I had breakfast, just in time. The test pattern over my eyes hadn’t started, but I signed Sally on to the computer and made a phone call in Spanish (she says) which I don’t remember doing. I threw some leftover chicken in my leftover tomato salad, so I should be okay now.
*****
We [Anoreth and a girlfriend from boot camp] did end up going to see Twilight ["Eclipse"], assisted by a small bottle of raspberry Absolut which we smuggled into the theater and mixed with our sodas. It [the movie] was terrible. For a while, finishing the characters' lines with lewd comments was fun, but way too easy. Then we made fun of all the lines in general. Once the vodka kicked in, we just laughed at everything they said, which seemed to annoy the people sitting immediately behind and in front of us. After that we made fun of the character with no shirt on, who turns into a wolf but is not interesting otherwise - doesn't kill people or turn into an uncontrollable, bloodthirsty monster on the full moon.
After THAT we settled for trying to figure out why the chick who is the main character decided to go camping in the Cascades in early spring and didn't bring a coat. I believe the point was so she could snuggle with the 'werewolf', who apparently thought she was dying of hypothermia. She couldn't possibly have been, because she was not going into shock, unconscious, or hallucinating. Having had hypothermia before, on watch, I know what it looks like. Especially the hallucinations. But I digress.
There were some mildly interesting scenes in which the evil vampires (I assume; they had red eyes and mostly dressed in black) killed one or two people and set some cars on fire in the Seattle SODO area. [Further information from Seattle residents would be welcomed, in view of the additional comments on this locale, below.] Apparently random acts of vandalism are the kind of terrible, evil thing one expects from the undead.
The slightly seedy building from the 80's where I may, eventually, if I'm still here this time next summer, get an apartment was in it. (I like that place. Cheap, for downtown Seattle. Looks haunted. Also looks like I may need a handgun for my birthday next year if I decide to rent there. [Can 20-year-olds have a handgun in Seattle?] When I get back to the states I'll email you about the one I've got my eye on. You did promise to get me a pistol one of these days.) I also saw my favorite crumbling highway overpass, but that's not interesting to anyone but me. [You think?] It's also in SODO.
In any case, SODO is creepy enough that one can easily see vampires living there, especially during the winter when it rains all the time and gets dark at 4:30. However, the only character that I found even mildly interesting (the evil minion of someone, who should have quit waffling and killed everyone involved in his big scene, including the 'werewolf,' that annoying Bella person and the weird stalker guy played by Robert Pattinson) ... got killed halfway through. He engaged in some bits of slaughter, and could have been interesting, except that his first scene had him coming out of a chick bar in the Pike's Place area. Also, all the other characters were so gay that he couldn't come across as a violent, evil sociopath no matter how hard I wanted him to. Had potential, though.
(I know a much better place that he could have been in, which is open until all hours. I go by there at any time of night and there's always a bunch of people hanging out in full evening dress...tuxedos and all. Even at three in the morning. Definitely a vampire bar. I never went in, just in case. I'm not kidding. The place is creepy as hell.)[What the FReep is going on in Seattle, anyway?]
There was someone else who was okay for a bit, having been an evil minion and killing people in some scenes, but then he claimed to be the 'youngest Confederate major ever.' I believe the character is supposed to be 15 or 16. He is portrayed as a high school student, after all. I found that ridiculous and said so, loudly. Nobody who ever did anything useful or interesting in life (or unlife) would deign to attend public high school. Plus, he was too young to be an officer. Maybe an enlisted man, considering who-all could be one in those days, but definitely not a Major.
In short, I spent two-and-a-half hours watching a 'vampire' movie with no sex, drugs, or rock and roll, hardly any blood (the scene where Bella cuts a major artery with a rock and doesn't pass out or even get a little woozy doesn't count), and no interesting or even really nasty evil. All the bad guys did was try to kill a character that nobody likes anyway. Nobody with any taste, that is. Granted, they were trying to kill her for no apparent reason that I could pick out of the storyline - maybe it was in another movie that I missed. Or maybe I wasn't paying attention when the reason was mentioned. Still, I wouldn't think of that as the kind of evil that one expects from vampires. Seems rather tame, to me. Also there is the somewhat troublesome idea that a normal person can blithely marry an undead demon and not be even slightly creeped out by the whole thing. Or, in fact, insist on becoming one of said undead demon's species.
Werewolves, at least, are alive, even if these were dumbed-down wuss versions of the original stories. I can understand sexual attraction, as that's part of every vampire story since Dracula. A vampire being in love, however, doesn't quite scan with me. They're supposed to be the ultimate evil, for cryin' out loud. Plus there is the ridiculous theory that a 17-year-old high school girl is capable of being truly in love with anything. Although not everyone is as clear-minded about that kind of thing as I am ... [Cynical child-rearing pat on the back, self.]
In other news, I've gotten four more requests to draw tattoos (and other things) in the past week. I should start making people pay for this stuff. My leg is better. My foot feels the same. Singapore is cleaner than other places I've been, and, therefore, is not that interesting. The only adventure to be had is attempting to flag down a taxi, which must be done by running into the middle of the street and positioning oneself in front of an oncoming vehicle. Hailing from a street corner doesn't work. I'm ready to leave.