Pondering the imponderable

Is it just me? Really? 

Was holding an event during a cold, wet, hazardous storm system REALLY as wonderful as all those people on the kingdom e-list and Facebook are making out? 

I got to stand in the back of a dim, crowded* hall and witness the backs of a great many heads and backs because who wanted to kneel on concrete through two peerage ceremonies?  (Have I mentioned I'm agoraphobic since way back and crowds make me uncomfortable?)

I'm happy to see you too, but was it necessary to press my linen and silk to your completely sodden wool bosom so that I could be wetter than I was before you hugged me? 

Raise your hand if you enjoy falling down in the mud. I know I'm not the only one who had a wipe-out yesterday.

Raise your hand if you're limber enough to change clothes and shoes in driver's seat of a cab of a light pick-up. Without getting the dry stuff wet as you take the wet stuff off.

How much stuff now has to be dried out, cleaned, checked for damage, repaired, repacked? How long will that take? How much canvas is getting moldy while people wait for it to stop raining long enough to lay it out to dry properly?

How much more did folks have to spend on this event for motel rooms and hot meals?

While we're all congratulating ourselves for our companionship in "adversity" we voluntarily subjected ourselves to in the name of a hobby, there are people experiencing real adversity in Libya. In Japan. In Haiti. In other places.

We few. We happy few. We band of loonies without the sense to come in out of the rain.

And now, the rest of the weekend

Met up with layla_lilah  and Geoff this morning to catch a matinee of "Rango."  If you like Westerns, go see it. If you like animation, go see it. If you want to swoon over Johnny Depp's cheekbones and baby browns, well, you're kinda out of luck. It's bloody brilliant. Clever references abound, the music is marvelous and my breath was taken away by a shot of Rango looking out the window onto the street: the animators had captured the play of light against a wavy old pane of glass and Rango's scales and, just wow. It's also the only Western I've ever seen with bats that explode like TIE fighters. Just go see it.

We had a late brunch at the Actual Cafe, a joint in layla_lilah 's neighborhood. Waffles all around. I had mine with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, Geoff opted for the chocolate chip and layla_lilah  had bacon with parmesan (yes, really). Neat little place on San Pablo at Alcatraz, they do movie nights, live music, clothing swaps and other neighborhood-friendly activities, including laptop free weekends. One corner is set up as a vertical bike rack, there's art by local artists on the wall. Oh, and the ginger lemonade with champagne is darned good.