Transplanted Life
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
 
She has the time, but I have the will
Long-time readers probably know how fond I am of the Brattle Theater, a Cambridge landmark that has had to up its fundraising goals over the past few years to try to stay around. Right now, they're engaged in another "Movie Watch-A-Thon", in which the participants pay an entrance fee, try to get sponsors to pledge a certain dollar amount per movie or a flat fee, and he who raises the most money and/or sees the most movies by the end wins.

As you might imagine, Kate and I signed up roughly the first day we could. I'm pretty sure that there's no way I can beat her in dollar amount, but I think that I can pull ahead of her in movies seen by the end. It's easier for her to get more movies, working in the city and thus not having to commute back and forth to Waltham, but since we've agreed to a "no repeats" rule, I can probably pull ahead of her in numbers, since I'll eventually swallow my pride and go see the likes of Night at the Museum to get my numbers up. Besides, she's got other interests, like theater and music, that might pull her away from maniacally seeing films.

(We also agreed to a "no strangers" policy, so if you want to donate, here's a neutral party and his progress. And you do; it's a good cause and if you own any Criterion Collection DVDs, remember that Janus Films begat Criterion and the Brattle begat Janus)

Naturally, a bunch of films are on both our lists to see, and we have been hitting the theater at the same time when we can. I suspect she makes last minute changes to plans to try to trip me up - we were going to see The Case of the Grinning Cat tonight, but she put it off until tomorrow. I just switched gears and went to Notes on a Scandal instead, where I met the aforementioned neutral party. The contest is also going to make Oscar catch-up a bit more thorough, as I might otherwise dismiss The Pursuit of Happyness, but if it gets me a stamp on my card...

The last time our paths crossed was Saturday, when we met up to see Letters from Iwo Jima. Pretty darn great film - I think it would be amusing and justified if Clint Eastwood were to swipe another Best Director Oscar from Martin Scorcese, although Kate disagrees. She isn't quite as attached to Infernal Affairs as I am, so she's more impressed with The Departed. Anyway, we both liked it a lot, talking about it non-stop over dinner.

I'm not sure who's idea it was to go out dancing afterward, I'm just sure that it indicates too much wine was consumed with dinner. Because, let me tell you, while pantyhose is warmer than it looks, it's not exactly as warm as it needs to be, if you get my meaning. Also, even if you've got a warm coat wrapped tight, somehow the wind finds a way to blow up your dress and down your cleavage. I almost passed out when we got to the club, going from the ridiculous cold to the room heated by both central heat and human bodies. Once we got past that, it was fun. It's been a while since either of us did this sort of thing, and I don't know how often we've ever been single at the same time. It was fun, not paying for drinks and having each other's backs.

I think the most entertaining part of the evening was when a couple guys came over to talk to us and Kate looks at them sweetly and asks them which of them is the wingman. Because what's the odds of two guys together being attracted to the two of us with our opposite body types. I think she really got a kick out of making them squirm. I honestly don't know if I could do it; I've got a little too much sympathy for a guy trying to get somewhere with a girl who's there with a friend. Still, I kind of appreciated it; it helped to weed out the guys who weren't genuinely interested in us both. Besides, I don't know how much either of us really felt like meeting guys that night; we'd been hanging together all day and weren't really looking to go separate ways.

-Marti

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Note: This blog is a work of fantasy; all characters are either ficticious or used ficticiously. The author may be contacted at JaySeaver@comcast.net