I've discovered something terrible about myself:

When my Sims get old, I get tired of them and can't wait for them to drop dead.

Some of the elderly Sims in my PC are tottering along, still alive, because I tend to play every house in the neighborhood. My sons cannot understand how I can keep track of who lives where, does what, needs what thing and most importantly of all... how in the world can I keep all these households so gosh darn happy?

Even when I visited my sister, my cherubic niece demanded that I help her happi-fy her Sims (which I did) since they were a miserable, surly lot that she despaired of pleasing.

Last night, one of my very first generation Sims passed away peacefully while attempting to make a telephone call. Though I'd agonized about letting her go, it was a little annoying to cater to her demanding love life (she was a romance Sim). Since she lived for so long, she'd partied with someone (sometimes more than one someone) in every single house, leaving me desperately hoping she wouldn't show up some place unexpectedly and ruin the marriages of her conquests.

Her death was a relief for me. That's when I realized that I was actually looking forward to her kicking it. :( Very sad, considering I raised her from toddlerhood and made her the person that she became. Hopefully, my cherubs aren't looking forward to my demise as much as I was waiting for this Sim's, for the stacks of Simoleans I leave behind won't ease their suffering!

I love a dedicated reader, such as this person :) It's folks like this that allow me to enjoy reading our books without having to go around conjuring them into my inventory.

If you missed our most splendid holiday event, please feel free to at least read my only contribution to the cause. While I went kicking and screaming to the keyboard at first, by the end I had been converted. I hope you all will be, too.

Chris has been buying the Full Metal Alchemist DVDs as they come out. Last night, he, Naomi and I watched the most recent release. We laughed, we cried. It's amazing what a nice balance between downright silliness and strong emotions this series evokes.

This morning, I watched the 1934 version of Imitation of Life. Most folks would possibly recall the 1959 version with Sandra Dee and Lana Turner. I had never seen the first version of the film before and it was interesting how some elements of the story had changed between the two films. The first one has our heroines selling pancake mix (shades of Aunt Jemimah!) while the latter version has Lana Turner becoming a famous actress.

In both versions, the black actress, who's the catalyst to their success, turns into the white actress's companion who "keeps to her place" by acting more as servant than friend. I suppose that's as much a product of the times as the other household servants running rampant in the households of the women once they become rich.

While there's some pretty hokey acting going on in the 1959 version, the story works through several layers about prejudice and the sacrifices being a mother can bring. In both films, the actresses portraying the young black girl who wants to pass for white are really good. I was surprised to learn that the original film's young lady, Fredi Washington, actually was a black woman and that because she looked so white, she had difficulty finding work as a black actress...but because she was black, she wasn't cast in white films as a white girl, either. In her case, it wasn't just an imitation, it was life.

Two women I worked with in Seattle recommended the movie. We carpooled together and I liked to joke that I was their token white chick, although Diane would say, "You're not white; you're like us." I cried through the whole second half of the movie the first time I saw it nearly 20 years ago and every time since. If you've never seen either version, check it out.

It took nearly a year, but I have converted Melody into a lap cat :) Whenever I sit, she follows me and will walk across other laps to get to mine so that she can dig in her claws and purr with happiness.

I experimented with drinking yesterday. Our victim: a bottle of the famous Two-buck Chuck of which I've heard many good things. To accompany the pot o'curry simmering on the stove, I opened the gamay beaujolais. It was very tasty. After the second glass, my sister called me and I was apparently more entertaining than I've ever been :) I also observed that playing Katamari was a lot more exciting and that I was able to find more combinations while playing Bejeweled than I had ever been able to before.

But by the end of the fifth glass (or maybe the fourth), the Seahawks had won their game and the ice skating finals were on...and the camera angles in ice skating were giving me a bit of a headache. Also, while chatting with a couple of people online, I seemed to be slurring my words :D

I'm not sure this is the kind of experiment I want to repeat, but at least I can now say that I've a) had Two-buck Chuck and found it good and b) drank an entire bottle of wine by myself. Not sure whether either of those is a glowing endorsement of my Saturday night activities.

Now that I'm safely home, I will say that today was Close Shave in the Car day, more than once and not always with me driving :/

Matt, Liz and I were in my car in the parking lot and had already pulled out of the stall. As I readied to shift into drive, I noticed a car backing into us and let out a shriek. They probably heard me since my window was down and stopped in time to avoid bumper kissing. Then as we pulled out into the street, a stray truck aimed for us, but I managed to speed up and get out of its way.

You'd think that would be enough excitement for the day, wouldn't you?

In the afternoon, since SteveD had promised he'd be nice to me for an entire day (a calendar day, unfortunately, not 24-hours), he offered to drive to Sbux. We pulled out into the street. I happened to be looking out the passenger door window when I observed a car speeding away past our nose. Steve managed to stop and I let out a good, if tardy, yip of terror. Not because I saw the near collision, mind you, but because I realized upon observing the excessive rate of fastness of the other car that Steve and I would have been toast if it had hit us.

I'm home. My car is in its stall. I deserve some chocolates tonight.

I'm curious about the dynamic of couples after a cute little lunch incident with Matt yesterday.

We went to Chipotle and ordered burritos. We told them to ring them up together. Back at the office as he's peering into the bag to see which one is mine, Matt rolled his eyes and said, "They labelled our burritos 'his' and 'hers.'" True enough, the foil wrappers were marked with big black letters so we'd know which one was which.

While that doesn't necessarily mean anything about couples, since it was pretty obvious that we were a he and a her and it was a handy way to label them quickly, it made me think about how a guy and a girl out in public together can be perceived. A boy. A girl. Together...why, they must be a couple!

But if the scenario is: A girl. A girl. Together...they're usually considered just friends (unless there's any obviously coupled behaviours like smoochering or hand holdering or something). And girls will often say, "My girlfriend and I went shopping," and no one will think they mean anything but "My female-gendered friend and I..." whereas if a boy says "My girlfriend and I..." it means they're a couple.

Guys seem to travel in packs more so than in pairs. They don't say, "My boyfriend and I went bowling..." they just say, "Mike/Bob/Fred and I..." A few weeks ago, a guy introduced me to his boyfriend by saying, "This is my partner." That always makes me wonder when they're opening up their practice because it doesn't sound very coupled. It sounds clinical and business-like.

The guy at the sandwich shop often teases me and Matt when we go in, telling Matt he should be driving us (but of course, even when Matt offers I won't let him drive us anywhere) or buying my lunch for me. One time the sandwich guy said something that made it sound positively as though Matt and I were dating and I just laughed. As we walked out I asked Matt why he hadn't corrected the guy. Matt said, "Well, why didn't you?" I couldn't think of a good reason other than, it's nice to be thought of as part of a couple even if it's just one that hasn't got its own label other than "friends."

Chris and Naomi are baking cupcakes. Naomi asks me, "Do you have a muffin pan?"

"A muffin pan?"

"A muffin pan."

"Do I have a muffin pan?..."

Oy.

Happy new year!

Phil is winging his way northward tonight. Although we both were rain-soaked between my front door and the car, the weather cleared up as we headed toward the airport and his flight wasn't delayed...though if wishes came true, he wouldn't have left.

I'm also feeling much better, which is fairly rotten timing. Last week, I'd venture out with Phil for a couple of hours one day and it would then take me the whole next day to recover. :/ Oh, well...perhaps next time he's down, we'll be more energetic and less full of golf balls.

The good side of being kept inside was that I got to play We <3 Katamari to its conclusion. :) Phil gave it to me for Xmas and it was so much fun. When he came home from work tonight, Chris and I went about rolling up the world. Very addictive!

Tomorrow it's back to work! Hope everyone had a nice new year's weekend!