Being Good

Looks like a good weekend, which I needed after a hellish week. Lots of work stress and frustration, plus a pretty definitive period placed at the end of my last relationship. No big scene or anything; I just told her that I missed a certain closeness we had before, and she said she liked things the way they are, so there you go. Ironically, I saw her and her mom yesterday out shopping, while my kids and me were feeding some koi in a pond at the shopping center. So I did get to meet her mom. It was fine. One of those situations where you can take it as some example of the cruelty of the universe, or just kind of laugh about it. I took the latter approach.

One thing that I'm finding really helps is to get exercise much more regularly now, and to get some work done. I'm starting to lose my spare tire, and that feels good. I did a couple hundred situps while watching The Prisoner last night--I'm up to episode 5. I played episode 3 for my kids Saturday morning and they were pretty interested. They didn't want to watch more, but they were kind of into it. They then watched some of the original King Kong that was on TCM.

Got them some books and myself some music magazines. I read the latest Uncut pretty much cover to cover yesterday at the gym and then before bed. There's a good McCartney interview about Wings, a remembrance of Joe Strummer by friends, bandmates and Jim Jarmusch. The new Julien Temple documentary on Strummer is well reviewed. There are shorter but good interviews with Jeff Tweedy, Rufus Wainwright, and Kurt Russell, as there is a film section. Lots of reviews. Also, apparently Mick Jones has a new project brewing with his old pal Tony James, and Damon Albarn wants to get Ginger Baker into The Good, The Bad and The Queen. Also, OMD are apparently performing their 1981 Architecture & Morality album live, at least in England, which I think is odd but cool. That's a very good album, spare but not too chilly synthpop that's much less pop than they would become.

Went to the Padres game with my son as an early Father's Day present from his mom, letting me use her company's Sony Dugout seats on the first three rows on the first base side. That involved free parking, a free buffet and drinks, and then a pretty good menu once you were in your seats that runners would get for you. The only problem was none of it was all that great. The buffet was really limited and the meat in the carving station was dry. Maybe it had to do with us getting there in the first, but still, I think there should have been more choices. It was kind of weird, like there was smoked salmon and capers, but no bagels. Bread but no cheese or crackers. A bit of fruit. Then in our seats we ordered sushi rolls and a hefeweizen for me, nachos for my son. This was in the top of the 3rd, and I finally had to ask a runner by the 5th inning where it was, and clearly the order hadn't been placed. Get our food and it's good. Then order bottled water, another beer, a Sprite and ice cream sandwiches by the 7th. By the bottom of the 8th, the beer and Sprite comes, and a runner has two bottled waters he hands out as if having them by accident. I manage to snag one and another patron gets the other. I ask about the ice cream sandwiches and the runner tells me they ran out, but of course if I hadn't asked he would never have said anything. I know it's customary to tip in this area, as well as the buffet, but I only tipped the buffet, which had good service (aside from a very youthful server who said his shift was over, but if I needed anything else, to ask "that shmuck over there," meaning the next server buddy of his. He also enjoyed a blooper reel with a player getting hit "right in the nuts!!"), as I figured it was my own fault for being late and maybe the buffet is really great early on. But I didn't tip in the seats because I really felt it was substandard service. Granted, it was free, but still, it should feel like a great, pampery luxury, right?

This put me in a weird position where I had to tell my ex that it wasn't that great, and then she jumping to say "you're welcome" before I thanked her (I thanked her when the offer was made two days before, why I needed to thank her on the phone after recounting the bad service and Padres loss didn't make sense to me). If anyone's grateful for the little treats that come their way, it's me, but whatever.

Trying to get through some more files now to have a good start for Monday and the rest of the week, but my eyes are dry and tired. Try to put in another half hour.