Bits and Pieces ...

[mrdreamjeans]

Perhaps because I watched the reboot of "Trading Places" last night, my dreams centered on home redesign. I had purchased a charming stone horse barn and had plans to transform the barn into a residence. At this point, my dream became more an episode of "Fixer Upper". The designer in my dream, my neighbor Steve (LOL!), worked with me to install lapboard, charming fixtures and decor ... Each stall was repurposed ... two for bedrooms, one for a sitting room and one as a bathroom. Our work was stellar and we won awards (as one does when you're in control of the dream's outcomes.) I was particularly enamored of our clever use of bamboo flooring. In my next dream, I plan to move in!

It took me awhile to see The Black Panther movie, but I now clearly see what all of the fuss was about! My friends Jason and I attended the film on Saturday at Southdale Mall. Not my usual cup of tea, this Marvel film was elevated by the especially high quality of the acting, the potent ideas, the amazing cinematography, hair, makeup and costume design. I could have visited this world for even longer! Glad I saw it!! I hadn't been to Southdale Mall in years. The AMC tickets for the matinee were $8.50 and it was assigned seating in reclining seats. When it finally makes it to the second-run theatre, I just may see "The Black Panther" again!

This morning, I met up with a friend for brunch at The Colossal Cafe. I had warned him there would be a wait when we were choosing a restaurant; not to inconvenience him, I arrived early to get us on the waiting list. It took 58 minutes to get seated. I've eaten there many times, the food is superb and for me, worth the wait.

Due to the wait, he was furious. "No restaurant's food is worth more than a 30 minute wait! His omlette looked delicious when it arrived. He said it was just okay. The server was attentive and the hostess apologized multiple times for the excessive wait. Yet, he remained surly to them. I don't like to wait either; but, I had forewarned him. I offered to leave if he wanted to go somewhere else. Is there anything else I could have done? How long would you wait for a seat in a busy restaurant with excellent food?

Because of yet another snowfall, I didn't attend my usual Sunday night two-stepping. I hate to miss; but, I hate driving in snow even more when it's close to rain and the temperatures are below freezing. Instead, I graded essays for a scholarship fund for LGBTQ students in the Houston Area. My friend Casey is a founding board member of an organization called "Out for Education". An essay describing the student's connection to the LGBT community, essentially a biography, is required as part of the application process. I finished scoring all 40 essays about 10:30pm. I really enjoyed reading them. The quality of the essays, the often poignant stories, were of a much higher quality than in past years. It's my third year to help out.

Comments

[billeyler]

Noted that you didn't mention your friend's name. :-) I think you did all you could. I don't like to wait for restaurant service either, but NORMALLY, I'm not crabby about it if I choose to stay. If it's just Danny and me, I leave and find somewhere else; if in a group, I'll stay. Your friend seems unreasonably surly though.

You're getting out and about. That's good!

[mrdreamjeans]

You're perceptive. I didn't mention this friend's name because we have been friends on LJ, FB and in person for several years. He's becoming more and more isolated by choice. I mourn for his literate, insightful posts. The reality is having a conversation with him has become more and more difficult and we disagree on so many subjects (no politics), but everything else. I open a topic for discussion and two monosyllabic answers later, it's shut down. Honestly, it feels like work. :(

I'm trying to be more active socially. It doesn't come naturally to me, but I try.

HUGS!

Waiting

[apparentparadox]

How long I'll wait at a restaurant depends on many factors. The most important ones are how good the food is, how well they prepared you for the amount of time you'll have to wait, and how good the experience is once you're seated. If they've done a good job of setting your expectations for your wait, and once you get seated things go smoothly (I hate being seated and then also have to wait a long time for service), then I consider the waiting time just more time to spend with whomever I'm dining with.

Of course, things change if I have some time constraint. I don't want to have to rush through the eating part just because it took a long time to be seated.

And generally, once you're at a restaurant, it's rarely time-effective to leave and go someplace. By the time you factor in the travel time to another place and the wait there (not to mention the time it takes to make a decision on a new restaurant!), it's rarely worth it to leave.

Re: Waiting

[mrdreamjeans]

Sunday Brunch is often crowded everywhere. Since I offered to let him choose where we ate, I expected more civility. Our service was prompt as was delivery of our food. It's just rough to eat with someone who is irritated and answers every question to any topic with a yes or no, no matter how open ended the question.

Black Panther

[osodecanela]

My husband and I saw it shortly after it opened. Given the special effects we opted for the 3D version which was delightful. I enjoyed it enough that when our goddaughter came to spend spring break with us, I took her to see it, though the 3D version had come and gone from our rural hamlet.

Love the portrayal of strong women through out.

Re: Black Panther

[mrdreamjeans]

My favorite element of the movie was the portrayal of the strong, smart, capable women by equally strong, smart, capable actresses.