Distracted by my day job

Busy, busy, busy at work with a project that's consumed way too many of my waking hours away from the office. Blogging has suffered, but not nearly as much as my writing and various other personal interests. Where does the time go?

Since I last wrote, I've bought a new washer and dryer (oh, the excitement!), won a few bucks playing Texas Holdem' with friends (patience and slow play really do pay off), watched a few movies (one predictable and one painful), read a friend's completed screenplay (Wow! Can't wait to see it produced!), barbecued with friends (couldn't ask for better weather), and played a vigorous round of Spoons while listening to Cheap Trick perform.

To go into greater detail on a few things:

• Our dryer up and died one day. After debating if it was fixable, and realizing that it was probably vintage to the house, we decided to treat ourselves to the luxury of a new Whirpool Duet front-loading washer and dryer. Have you ever seen adults gathered around a washing machine in fascination as it performs its mundane task?
  

• Went out with a girlfriend to watch The Illusionist, and was disappointed that I pretty much saw all the plot twists. Mid-way through I kept thinking: God, I hope it ends this way. But, God, I'll also be disappointed if it does, because it's predictable.
  

• Joined Netflix and rented the original version of The Wicker Man. If you ask me why, it's because it sounded interesting from a novel research perspective: set in the Western Isles of Scotland, involves pagan worship and fire sacrifice. What we discovered is that it contains everything that is painful about 1970s movies. The music and dancing are scarred on my psyche.
  
  I was intrigued, though, as to how they would update this movie for today. Then I read the reviews of the remake that come out last weekend and that intrigue quickly died. The Variety review made me laughed: "Yet another needless 're-imagining' of a '70s cult fave that, truth to tell, is better remembered than actually viewed, Neil LaBute's folly follows the basic plot outline of the 1974 Brit horror opus of the same title."
  

• Had incredible weather this Labor Day weekend. Saturday we had a barbecue at our house -- about 30 people total -- and I couldn't have asked for a nicer day. Sunny and in the 70s. Perfect. That weather continued on Sunday, when we went to Ravinia Festival to see Cheap Trick. We sat in the lawn, perfectly comfortable, drank wine and played cards by candlelight.
  
  We started out trying to play Gin, but realized we needed a much more simple game. So, out came the spoons, and we taught our friends the simple, but surprisingly competitive game. The first few rounds, we could tell they were thinking "That's it? That's all there is to the game?" but as more rounds went by, they got into the spirit. By the end, in true Spoons form, blood had been drawn.
  

With that basic review out of the way, what's coming up in the next several weeks? A few concerts (Queensryche and Roger Waters), a few birthdays (family and friends) and a few anniversaries (including mine). Need to come up with a new class to take. JC said she'd take one with me. We'll work on it.