2004-02-23 - 2:32 p.m.

On the internal soundtrack: "Africa", Toto

I did some suburban-type shopping this weekend (i.e., I drove, and parked in a parking lot). While I was out, I saw two interesting things:

1. There was a huge group of moms and kids -- 4 moms, and too many kids to count -- crossing the parking lot in front of me. As I was trying to count the children, I got sidetracked, because one of the kids (a young, small one, granted) was sitting IN THE BASKET IN THE BACK OF THE STROLLER. You know, the place where parents usually put the diaper bag, bottle,s snacks, etc. He was curled up in a little ball, and he was facing forward, so he had nothing to look at but the back of the stroller. Too funny.

2. There were a bunch of seagulls in a group in the parking lot, standing perfectly still on the pavement, facing west. I looked at them for a bit (I just saw "Finding Nemo" and was irrationally waiting for them to start saying, "Mine? Mine? Mine? Mine?"). Then I noticed that one of 'em only had ONE LEG. He was standing there, perfectly still. He'd worked out his balance problem perfectly.

BTW, I absolutely loved "Finding Nemo". I LOVE PIXAR. This movie should be seen in the theater or on a large screen of some kind, or else you're missing how incredible the animation and "lighting" really are. We watched some of it on the plane on a laptop, and finished up on our 3'x4' screen at home (that's with a projector like people hook up to computers to make presentations; it's not a TV). I was STUNNED at how beautiful the visuals were.

Also, if you people are not watching the "special features" on the LOTR DVDs, GO WATCH THEM RIGHT FUCKING NOW. I AM NOT KIDDING. Particularly great (so far!) are the perspectives and "Bigatures" features on FOTR and the Gollum feature on TTT. They are beautifully done, full of "Wow" moments, and actually enhanced my appreciation of the films.

Also, Viggo Mortenson in interviews is distressingly boring. How can someone so hot as Aragorn not be hot in person? I don't get it.

In the past, Poindexter has had cussing fits in the kitchen because he couldn't find the lid to the tupperware. We have a two-tier lazy susan in a corner cabinet, and I had the lids on top and containers on the bottom, just scattered wherever. I recognize lids so I never had any trouble, but Poindexter uses them less so he's unfamiliar with some of the pieces.

On Saturday morning, I woke up at 9:30 and he was still sound asleep, so I went downstairs, ate breakfast, and emptied the dishwasher. While doing so, I had AN IDEA. AN ORGANIZING IDEA.

I put all the similar types of containers (big square, small square, big round, Chinese takeout round, etc.) together and placed them on the bottom tier. Then I took the associated lids and stacked them neatly on the top tier, directly over the associated container, so they were easy to find. It was SO ANAL, and it made me SO HAPPY.

Then I went upstairs, found Poindexter awake, and got back in bed. (We like to snuggle in the mornings, even if we wake up at different times.) I said, "I did something today that will save you lots of aggravation. And it only took ten minutes. I think you'll like it."

We snuggled for about half an hour, while he tried to guess what it was.

Poindexter: Tell me what it is.
Evelynne: I can't. You have to see it to get the full impact.
Poindexter: What if I don't notice it?
Evelynne: Don't worry, I'll show it to you. It's just a very visual thing.

Finally he leapt out of bed and said, "OK, let's go find out what you did."

Now, I figured he'd laugh, and then he'd make fun of me for being so anal. But that didn't happen. He *LOVED* it. He said, several times, "That is fan-fucking-tastic." And, "Wow. WOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!" That was nice.

When people daydream about doing nice things for their spouses, I don't think too many people think "organize the tupperware". But this one really went over well. :)

Gratuitous photo of the day is the full-size photo from which my LiveJournal icon is derived. There was a discussion about this in comments for the last entry, and I thought more people might want to see it. Notice the rifle on my lap. This was the first time I handled any firearm. Both are unloaded, but I am aiming at the garage under the kitchen because I researched the rules before I asked to see the guns:

1. Every gun is loaded.
2. Don't point a gun at anything you don't want to put a bullet into.
3. Keep your figner off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
4. Be certain of your target and what lies beyond.

And while we're talking about safety around firearms, I'm drinking water, not Bass. I was at a party at a cop's house and asked to see his guns.

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