At the end of the three-day weekend, Nicole thought it’d be fun to watch a movie she liked that I’d never even heard of: Disney’s Meet The Robinsons.
Y’all, it was surprisingly good. The animation is definitely of its time, that time being the “the late 00s,” which isn’t my favorite look, so I was a little grumpy when it started. But, the thing chugged along like a freight train with an absurd amount of goofy energy, silly set-pieces, the odd celebrity voice, and a pretty solid overall message to go with an off-the-rails story. I’d heard nothing about it and apparently, it did nothing at the box office despite a pretty hefty budget, and that’s a shame because it’s a better film…check that, I’m not sure it’s a “better” film, but it’s more fun than other far more famous (and profitable) Disney properties.
Today I learned: One of my favorite bands helped finance Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Actually, it was a bunch of them, but I hadn’t heard Genesis were involved prior to today. It doesn’t mean a lot, I suppose, but I’ve always loved it when two unrelated things I like intersect in unexpected ways. Anyway, while we were talking about movies, I thought I’d bring it up.
Hrm…I started at the end, so let’s go backward (counter-clockwise?) through the weekend. Before settling in for a film, Nicole made generous use of my favorite seasoning in making dinner. I’m a sucker for ras-el-hanout in just about anything, and the lack of Moroccan food around here hurts. She fried up some garlicky meatballs, made roasted veggie ragout, and some homemade hummus and it was all spectacular. The ras-el-hanout was the primary seasoning for the meatballs and used to great effect in the veggies too. If you’re a fan of Mediterranean food and have tried any Moroccan meals, I cannot recommend the cuisine highly enough.
I spent most of yesterday working on a song that’ll be my first complete effort in years. It’s a full production of the little melody I used to sing to my cat when he was struggling. I wanted him to hear my voice, so I just came up with something I could sing over and over for an hour at a time. I’m reasonably sure it’s the last thing he heard, and I feel like completing this song is important to honor him. I think all the tracks are in place; we’re just mixing and mastering now before calling it complete. Felt good to finally get back into the groove and produce something rather than just “writing” (which could easily be confused for just unfocused noodling on the keys to distract me from actually completing anything).
Since I couldn’t eat anything beforehand, around noon we popped up to San Marcos to get yet more blood drawn and schedule an appointment with the GP. I’m sure this has been building for a long time, but it still feels as though “visiting doctors on a very regular basis” became a thing for me very suddenly. There’s probably nothing of note happening, but the doctors are very keen on collapsing the state of that probably to a certainty. It would be lovely if more of this were covered by my insurance, but it’s lovely to actually have insurance. Here’s hoping for very positive results and the unlikely avoidance of a nasty little procedure.
We’ve taken to getting up early (by my standards) and going to the park to play a small amount of basketball or soccer and do some walking. Just 30-40 minutes a day at this point as some of us aren’t in peak athletic condition, but that brief exercise is starting to pay dividends. I’m definitely feeling stronger and more energetic, at least when I’m not feeling sleepy from getting up early.
It was a good day. With the world seemingly collapsing around us, I’ll take a good day.
-RK