More Random Thoughts Than Usual

Or rather, More thoughts than usual that don't have much to do with each other.


We went to Bug's birthday party at Benihana last night. There were three tables of us; Zirpu and I got to sit next to the birthday girl. On the other side of Bug was a friend who has celiac disease and can't ingest soy sauce, so she asked the chef performer to cook hers separately and leave out the soy. as a result, the chef didn't put soy sauce on any of our dishes, and I left with the taste of the food, not the soy sauce, in my mouth. I wonder if anyone else noticed.


Bug is attending a college where almost everyone lives within a couple hours, and the campus empties out on Friday afternoons as students go home to do laundry, eat their moms' cooking, and visit their local friends. She pointed out that family is really important to her as she gestured at the two dozen people sitting around the restaurant, and that Long Beach is really far away from home for her. She's going to decide if family is still that important at the end of spring term.


This made me realize that I arrived at Puget Sound and didn't looked back. She never would, but Mrs. P can take the credit for that - it's because of her that I met almost everyone else I hung out with that first year. Things change - I did return to the Bay Area in '98.


After dinner we went to Dave & Buster's, a combination arcade and restaurant. It's like a casino but much louder and without any escape from the noise (in a casino, you can go into a mall hallway). However, you don't have to be 21 to go there and we had three underage folks with us. Zirpu and I Hyperbowled, with the San Francisco lane theme. I'd forgotten how hard it was and regretted selecting it since the game took our last couple of credits.


I was introduced to Hyperbowl at the Metreon when Mick Squirrely and I were dating in 2001. After work we would sometimes walk down there and have burgers and go to the arcade. One of the things that was fun about dating Mick was doing stuff like that. I didn't date in high school and going to the arcade felt like the perfect "high school date" (other than going to a movie and making out for a long time afterwards, which I also never did). We raced cars and Hyperbowled. It was a goofy way to spend an evening, but I haven't been back in an arcade by choice since then. Now I want to go back and try another lane theme with Zirpu, one that would be a little easier.


In a minute we'll be leaving for my mom's house for a Games Night, with No's in-laws/KT's folks in town. Tomorrow there's a n anniversary party for Paulo and Dre: This has been a party-heavy Thanksgiving weekend. It was lovely to go to bed last night and know I wouldn't have to get up to go to work today, and it's lovely that this is true about tomorrow, too. I've been sleeping a lot, or at least staying in bed. On Thursday Zirpu loaned me his laptop so I didn't have to get out of bed until 1130.


Off for more partying. We'll be playing the best games tonight!