At the Indian Restaurant Sunday evening
Oh yeah, while it’s still the 24th, I should probably mention — it’s my birthday today!! 😀 It was a good day — first me and the crew from work went out for lunch at Pad Thai (I had Duck Red Curry, mmm, soo good) — Jeff’s treat — and then, this evening, upon discovering Sarasota Country had YET AGAIN screwed up the field bookings (so we didn’t have lights to practice by), went to Applebee’s where I was treated to a couple 23 oz Fosters AND received six very nice beer glasses (which I so desperately needed!). Thanks Cam and Melissa!
In other news, looks like Cam’s going to be a Dad soon 🙂 Congratulations you two, I’m so excited for the both of you. 😀
-
-
Charley, housewarmings, and Garden State
So the weekend was much fun. Three things.
The first is about what Hurricane Charley foisted upon Port Charlotte and the surrounding area. The second is about my Saturday night housewarming. The third is about Garden State, a movie I saw on Sunday.
Charley. Boy, it really hit Port Charlotte hard. I went with Cam, Melissa, Ron and a handful of others to help Elba (another coworker) clean up her yard. She was luckier than her neighbour (whose roof came apart). Elba only had a tree fall on her house. And her boat.
Driving into the area gave me the feeling of those shots some of you might have seen a few months back about driving through the remains of Chernobyl. First, I saw a few branches on the ground. Then, bent trees. Then street signs bent over. Then an upside-down tool shed (on the tip of its A-frame). Then blown-out billboards, with their signs dangling towards the ground. Then gas stations without numbers for gas prices. Or fluorescent bulbs for that matter. Finally there were buildings you could see right through. Cam’s got pictures up (look for the “catalog” link at the end of his entry).
On the positive side, there were power trucks everywhere I looked, so hopefully people there will be getting their power back soon. I know Elba didn’t have it when we got there.
That night I had my housewarming/Greg’s going-away party. The house was indeed warmed. Note for next time: don’t leave the TV on, it will become the focal point of the room (especially if the Olympics are on). Much fun, think it went quite well, very relaxing.
Sunday I went to see the movie Garden State, which I very much enjoyed. I’d describe it as a complicated, 20-something coming-of-age story. Folks in their 20s and 30s will get much fun out of this film — there are loads of pop culture references going on. It stars Zach Braff (of TV’s “Scrubs”), who also wrote and directed the movie. The soundtrack is great too, including Frou Frou‘s track “Let Go”. (Frou Frou is amazing by the way, but that’s another post).
Update, 12:08pm: Zach Braff has a blog! Nifty. (via NSLog) -
Two
Whoa whoa, before we get any further… yesterday was krishenblog’s second birthday! I had two goals when I got started: (1) to bring people back home a better understanding of what Florida is like, since none of them had ever spent any time here, and (2) to record life’s findings. I hope I’ve succeeded with goal (1), with the pictures I’ve been posting from around the area. I took quite a few photos before I got my G3, but having a digital camera kept it fun, allowing me to improve more quickly (no development) and more cheaply, too (no development). As for goal number 2, well, I don’t think that’s gone quite as well. I really do want to share my findings, but that takes, well, a bit of reflection, which I don’t think I’ve spent enough time doing. Lots of present-coasting. But that’ll change soon — in fact, I think it’s starting to already.
Tonight I try madly to clean things up in preparation for the housewarming tomorrow night. Tomorrow morning I’ll be heading down to Port Charlotte with a group from work to help clean up the yard of a coworker who was hit badly by Hurricane Charley. We’ll have a Cat bulldozer and guys with chainsaws! Heavy machinery to the rescue. 🙂
