I have been on fall break since last Friday. It was a welcome vacation from schoolwork and, unintentionally, this weblog. I managed to fit more fun stuff into those four days than a month of summer. I'm still amazed. One doesn't usually think of fall break as a rip-roaring good time.
One of the perks of having an early class on Friday is that I got home earlier than I had expected. The weather was warm enough to drive with the windows down, and the trees were just on the edge of bursing into color. It was a beautiful but uneventful drive.
Dad and Sue were celebrating their tenth anniversary (Happy Anniversary, you two!) so I was left to fend for myself on dinner. I siezed the opportunity and asked Laura if she would like to grab dinner at an unbelievably good noodle restaurant. She did, so we met, ate, and drove around a bit afterward. In an unequalled display of geekyness, we stopped at a comic book store at one point. I explained to Laura that it has become a almost a ritual every time I come home. I'm a fan of an independent comic called that I haven't been able to find anywhere else.
Saturday was the relaxation day. I surfed, played some video games, and read a bit. I finished Sue's copy of that I had started reading when I was home the previous weekend. Great story, but I found the writing annoying and grating in places. Flashback, explanation, flashback, explanation, etc...
I also made a run to the video game store to pick up . The the has been , so I wanted to try it out. I like it. The game plays like a internet Flash game on steroids: simple premise, simple controls, addictive gameplay, and— as evidenced by its spread online— it lends itself to becoming a . Eric and I have already logged an hour or two now that we have returned from break.
Sunday was the Big Day. Eric, Mel, Laura, and I saw around midafternoon. We all agreed was far, far better. I hated how the fish in Shark Tale were basically humans with fins swimming through a disturbingly human cityscape. The characters in Nemo actually seemed like they could be fish.
After the movie and a quick stop at Eric's, we played some mini golf. Grand fun. Laura got a hole-in-one (again!) and I seemed go get nothing but 3s. Despite that, Eric won. Italian dinner, then the four of us hung out at Eric's for a while. Laura and I finished off the evening by watching an anime called back at my house.
Monday was uneventful with one exception: Michael invited Doug, Jason, and me to go indoor rock climbing. As usual, Jason and Doug were completely unreliable and decided not to climb. Mike and I did, though, and we stayed for almost two hours. I had never climbed, but I found it was both more fun and more tiring than I had expected. We tried almost every wall. One overhang got the best of both of us. I managed to get halfway over the first stairstep, Michael, just shy of the second. We left with dead arms and hands raw from holding on to the tiny handholds. I can't wait to try it again.
Like Sunday night, I finished my last full day of break hanging out with Laura and watching anime. She has a huge collection of Japanese DVDs and we chose to watch an unbelievably bizarre film whose title was an oddly-chosen swear word. It was a low-key but thorougly enjoyable way to finish off break. I wish it had lasted longer.