Because seeing the last Star Wars movie didn't make me feel old enough...
So, Revenge of the Sith made this little geek gal happy. I have to admit, I liked the other prequels too, but this one was better, mainly because of "order 66". If you've seen it, you know what I mean; where the other movies have some remarkable visual moments, and a nicely simmering and well-plotted story, Order 66 punches you in the gut even though, of course, we've sort of known this was coming for 25 years or so.

Crap, Michelle wasn't even born when Star Wars first came out. You know, usually the age difference between by body and mind isn't a big deal, and this shouldn't be, but it nevertheless boggles my mind.

I admit, I was the most excited of the group; Chet was stoked, but not shaking like a four year old who had just sucked down enough Mountain Dew to burst a grown-up's bladder. Kate and Carter were doing the "we're way too cool to be excited" thing, but I could tell that Carter, at least, was looking forward to it. Kate made some derisive remarks about the other prequels, and was basically more interested in wondering what Lucas's next movie would be, now that this was all behind him, since he is, after all, one of the few independent filmmakers out there who can make anything he wants and screw the studios.

I said it was too bad Jen and Carlos weren't with us, and Kate responded that, yeah, right now, those poor guys are probably just having sex. Fair enough, I said, but for all its great qualities, sex isn't exactly a great hanging out with your friends and talking about it afterward activity. Kate clucked and said she'd make a real, detail-sharing gossipy woman out of me yet, with Chet saying he'd really rather Kate didn't. I laughed, and did allow that it was probably at least nice outside when Jen and Carlos left their hotel room, as opposed to our wet nor'easter. True enough, Carter said, what a waste.

Then the previews started (I think I may like Fantastic Four), and then a thoroughly kick-ass open, from the crawl the the reveal of the gigantic space battle (Lucas makes bigger movies than anybody else, doesn't he?), to Artoo being a complete badass. Seriously, don't screw with the little blue droid - he will cut you and then fucking burn you.

Two and a half hours later, we were all pretty happy as we left - Chet, Carter and I were geeking out, and even Kate was happily admitting that "it didn't suck". We argued some of the finer points of Leia saying she remembered her mother in Return of the Jedi, and that maybe, if Lucas were going to follow Episode III with Episode IV, it wouldn't be the same Star Wars we know (insert "Special Edition" joke here). A grand time was had by all.


I was talking about how weird it was that I'd seen my last new Star Wars movie with Maureen this morning, since the "looking forward to more" thing has been one of those constants, when I stopped, went "huh", and pulled a hair out. Mo'd been sort of half-listening, not really responding until I stopped. Then she asked what it was, and I said I'd found my first grey hair.

She said I didn't sound too torn up. I told her it wasn't my first first grey hair. Yeah, she said, but that other one was for a guy, and had meant I was on the road to looking distinguished. For a girl, it just means getting old and Chet had better not find out about it

I said it wasn't that big a deal, and she stuck her tongue out at me and said those were the words of a woman old enough to have grey hairs and I should know better. I said laugh it up, it's coming, and she says, yeah, but she's not dealing with guys.

I was going to respond, but I'll let her figure out that the very fact that she's so catty about it is a big hint that it's not just a guy thing. Besides, it's one hair, and it's gone now.

-Martina
- posted 9:15 PM - (0) comments - (archive use only)

 
Drama-free wedding
And I'm not just holding information back this time. No hysterics, no sleeping with anyone inappropriate, nothing like that. It was Jen's & Carlos's day, and they were welcome to it.

It was kind of a daunting production, and from what I can gather, a little contentious behind the scenes. The wedding is traditionally sort of the bride's family's show, which is wacky because it's the groom who proposes, so the way I figure it, that makes it his idea and thus his responsibility, but tradition is under no obligation to make sense. Anyway, Jen's family is supposed to be the ones throwing this party, but Carlos is the one whose family is Catholic, so his mother wanted it in a Catholic church, which is expensive and elaborate and seemed to involve a whole lot of extra people from the church, whose job appeared to be trying to get Jen to convert. Lord only knows how they would have reacted had Maureen tried to bring her new maybe-girlfriend, but they've only been seeing each other a week.

Fortunately, I didn't have to get involved in any of that, I just had to show up at the hotel at 9:30, and supposedly help Jen with getting changed and doing her hair and makeup. Yeah, I wound up having Kate work on me while Jen's cousin Jenny (why, yes, that was confusing at times) and sister Olivia worked on the bride. And there were crazy errands to run - I barely even remember them now, but they seemed incredibly urgent at the time. One involved gum, I know - Jen suddenly got really concerned that her breath would be awful when she kissed Carlos in front of everyone, and he'd react, so I had to run to CVS in my bridesmaid dress because only Jenny had gum or mints or anything in her purse and it was hyper-strong cinnamon which just wouldn't do.

I made Kate promise to shoot me if my wedding, should I ever had one, became this much of a production. She said okay, but she's buying the gun tomorrow, because, come on, two mothers? Even if you don't talk to your biological mother, she says, you can't keep her out of it. It's not like you've got anything against her.

Then there was the wedding, which was long, and had bible readings, and was bilingual. But it was kind of great, too. Ritual is important, I guess, although I'd prefer rituals that took less time - after a while, I find standing in heels to be trickier than walking in them.

Chet acted just an itty bit jealous of Carlos's brother who was paired with me for the walking in and out of the church and the first couple dances at the reception, which was kind of gratifying. I think he was mostly amused, though, since Carlos didn't tell Manny all about me. I have to admit, he is big on the machismo, and he probably would have been mortified if he knew everything there was to know about the girl whose butt he kept "accidentally" brushing.

So, I didn't embarass myself on the dance floor, but kind of disappointed Chet when I didn't have much staying power that night. Hey, my legs were killing me and I'm not used to being up that early on a weekend. He did dig the bridesmaid dress, although not so much because I looked hot (a quarter-inch of cleavage can only balance the big old bow over your butt so much), but for the guy incognito aspect. Not sure what I think of that.

Anyway, Sunday was spent helping Kate and Jen's family take apart the reception hall, bringing all the wedding gifts to Carlos & Jen's place, and such. Wiped me out again.

But, we should all be rested up by the time Chet, Kate, Carter and I finally get to Star Wars tomorrow. I'm ready to burst, because, you know, I don't think that Palpatine guy is really trustworthy.

-Martina
- posted 4:20 PM - (2) comments - (archive use only)