Friends, family, and cinema continue to rally to
mitigate any thought of loneliness during my last winter of geographic
bachelorhood. The biggest treat yesterday was catching up with a very old friend
over lunch. He was my fraternity brother and scheduled to be the best man at my
ill-fated 1979 wedding to my college sweetheart. That, of course, never occurred
but we’ve stayed in touch over the years although not so much in the past few.
He contacted me out of the blue last week, stated we needed to do better and yesterday’s
lunch in Leominster was the result. Leominster was chosen as it is half way between our
two locations. The best thing about old friends is the complete lack of awkwardness,
even if you haven’t seen each other in over five years. I count my fraternity brothers
as some of the best people I’ve ever met. The two years I spent with that very
eclectic bunch were two of the best of my life. We spent the time catching each
other up on our various families and events. He’s expecting his first grandchild
shortly and his “kids” are also widely spread about this great country. I
couldn’t believe when I finally checked my watch and saw that more than an hour
had passed. Even though we talked in the shorthand of old friendship the time
had flown. The best outcome was that we both realized how easy/fun this was and
committed to another lunch in short order, not to mention my retirement party
and November’s pub crawl.
 |
| My Brother and I Yesterday |
The granddaughters were in fine form last night. The
BRS finally seems willing to expel the pacifier and that has resulted in a near
torrent of words. Not many of those words make sense yet but she’s very vocal.
Last night she was lecturing the Christmas cards posted on the basement door
before adjourning to the living room and directing my Favorite Son to provide
her with cookies. The ABFA related that the BRS had also gotten in trouble at
school for picking on the boys despite being much smaller. We have a mini-Napoleon
in the works. The FBR did not want to communicate with me initially last night
although she professed genuine excitement that I was coming for a visit this weekend.
My Favorite Panamanian and I theorize this behavior is due to her disapproval
of us for not being closer to her geographically so she punishes us. She
eventually relented and we had a very good time goofing around with each other.
I’m already signed up for a game of hide and seek upon arrival Saturday. The
FBR however refused to divulge what new hiding places she had discovered. She’s
learning.
Back at the cinema last night, of course. Like a Boss
should have been very funny and while it was at times it was hard not to
acknowledge the disappointment that it wasn’t funnier. Both Tiffany Hadish and
Rose Byrne have proven comedic credits but they couldn’t lift this buddy plot
out of the quagmire. Hadish played her typical over the top strong woman but Byrne
wasn’t funny as a timid waif. I saw the movie because, well, Salma Hayek, need
I say more, but she was wasted as the villain despite being in full cartoon
mode. The funniest scenes are when the two friends join a bunch of other gal
pals but if you’ve seen the trailer you seen all the funniest bits.
Predictable, mildly amusing, but in the end very disappointing given the talent
employed.
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RECURRING
CHARACTERS
BR3
– inbound
granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel
- second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog
Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA –
Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt = my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since
grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to
attract women; Pittsburgh College
Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two
close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd musquetera
(musketeer); Riggins - also known as
the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the
BRS; PanaGals – female
relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood
Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); First Friday – celebrations
to mark the First Friday of the Week; Deckzilla
Dude – senior citizen carpenter/contractor; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every
Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with
demeanor issues
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