The December Archives
Better than a whoopee cushionDecember 21, 2003:
  • We're back from our visit to Alabama, where we saw Renée's grandparents and several uncles and aunts. Last night we stayed up until about 3am playing dominoes, slap solitaire, and nickel poker. Every time Renée's dad leaned over during the game, Aunt Wanda triggered a remote controlled fart machine, much to the amusement of Chris and Renée.
  • We also went through Tinglewood, which is a park where Uncle Tim has made many carvings in the trees. We posed for a few pictures next to some of the carvings, and will hopefully have them up on the website soon.
  • Renée and Chris went for a walk to see Renée's old house, where a small dog that looked like a cross between a Dachshund and a Chow came rushing towards us, barking vigorously. As a result, we didn't get to go too close to the house, but at least Chris has now seen it.
  • Finally, we had a very tasty meal at Cracker Barrel today, braving the Sunday morning Church and shopping crowds. Though the restaurant was a bit of a madhouse, the food itself was great and well worth the wait.
December 19, 2003:
  • Today we saw the new movie Lord of the Rings Smile, a drama set in 1953 Middle Earth. It tells the story of how an enlightened ranger named Aragorn comes to Wellesley College to teach the women there that instead of becoming housewives, they can reforge the sword that was broken and ascend to the throne of Gondor. Or something like that -- it got a bit confusing. However, there was plenty for both of us to enjoy.
  • Actually, Chris saw The Return of the King while Renée saw Mona Lisa Smile. We both liked our movies, and Renée even had time to do some shopping for Chris's birthday, as her movie was about 90 minutes shorter than his.
  • Tonight it was Twinkie's turn to get into the holiday spirit. We sent out another batch of Christmas cards, which meant that she got to put pawprints in gold ink on each card. She also posed for a few pictures wearing a Santa hat. If they turn out well, maybe those pictures could be our Christmas cards next year :-)
  • Tomorrow we are going to Alabama to visit Renée's family, so there will probably not be an entry for the day. Rest assured, though, that we will return to update the page as sporadically as we have been doing it.
One girdle to rule them all...
Wild as the TalibanDecember 18, 2003:
  • It's been a week of ups and downs. On the good side, Chris had a job this week 2nd AC-ing a music video -- "Rubberband Man" by T.I. (Click here to listen to the song, but be advised -- it contains some very strong language.) He got to see Usher (whom he recognized) and Michael Vick (whom he did not). The job paid well and Chris did pretty good work too.
  • We also began listening to a new audiobook called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time which Renée had wanted to read. We're up to Chapter 41 (which is really the 13th chapter, but they are numbered in primes -- 2, 3, 5, and so on) and so far we are both enjoying it, especially compared to our last audiobook.
  • On the bad side, Chris, Renée, and Kate were thwarted by an attempt to go to trivia night, as the Pizza Cafe is apparently not holding it anymore. We then tried to rent a video game at Blockbuster, but that too was unsuccessful, as all copies of Britney Spears' Dance Beat were checked out.
  • Then Chris managed to spoil Renée's Christmas present for him. Unbeknownst to Chris, Renée had gotten him a nice winter coat since his other coat was spewing stuffing out of the back. Chris, however, knowing that he would be spending time outside in the rain for the music video, went to Target and bought himself a coat. This forced Renée to tell Chris what she had gotten him, thus ruining the surprise. However, it is a very nice coat and Chris likes it very much (he returned the other one). It kept him warm and dry in the cold December rains and even though it won't be under the tree on Christmas day, Chris is glad that he gets to enjoy it in the days leading up to Christmas.
  • The final straw in this not-so-great week occurred yesterday. While on the way to go see Return of the King, Chris's car broke down in the middle of the road. It had to be towed away (after being pushed out of the road by a cop) and early indications seem to point to a bum transmission, the repair of which could cost more than the car itself. So Chris is carless for now and he has still not seen his movie, though his dad did invite him to go tonight. So yeah, it hasn't been the best week of all time.
Chris's coat, though it looks better on him
I'm an action figure -- how commercialDecember 13, 2003:
  • We've been in the Christmas mood over the past few days. We finally got our Christmas tree, a 7-1/2 foot Leyland Cypress that just barely fits in our den. It's all decorated with Pez dispensers and Star Wars figures and, oh yeah, a few actual ornaments. It's very festive and Twinkie has yet to eat a single ornament.
  • We also got some lights for the outside, though we need to get additional extension cords so that they all actually light up. Also, the 18-foot strands of icicles don't quite make it across the length of the garage, so they stop somewhat abruptly. Still, it's a good start.
  • After almost three years of hearing Chris rave about it, Renée has seen Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. Chris was even good and didn't cry at the end, when Ma and the jug-band sang together.
  • We also watched A Charlie Brown Christmas tonight and read a book called Santa's Twin about how Santa's evil brother Bob tries to ruin the holiday. See? Didn't we say we've been in the Christmas mood?
December 11, 2003:
  • It's been a busy week, so we'll just touch on the highlights. We've been finishing up our Christmas shopping, placing our orders online and braving the crowds. But we're almost done with two weeks still to go. Hooray for us!
  • Renée's car started acting funny on her way home from work the other night. As it turns out, the radiator was cracked, which in turn caused other things to fail. Many hundreds of dollars worth of repairs later, the car seems to be running fine now.
  • Chris has a job coming up this Tuesday, loading film for another music video. More details on that as they come.
  • We've got to admit, we're hooked. Let's be clear: The Simple Life is probably a terrible, terrible show, but it's just so darn entertaining! Tuesdays at 8:30 on Fox -- give it a try :-)
  • Tomorrow we will finally get our Christmas tree. But let it not be said that we are not festive -- we have a little candy bowl full of holiday M&Ms, both regular milk chocolate and mint. Chris was initially skeptical about the combination, but he has become a convert.
  • Last night we went to dinner with the Carusos and the Zehners. When we came back, we intended to update the webpage, but instead we fell asleep at 10:30. We're such an old married couple.
1/2 Price Anal Salty Weiner Bugers
They see you when you're sleeping...December 6, 2003:
  • Tonight we attended the WEDA Christmas party, where we ate tasty food, were repeatedly described as "The Newlyweds," and learned much about important figures in the history of African-American hair care. It was an enjoyable evening.
  • On the way home, we were treated to the odd sight of a group (gang? gaggle?) of Santas walking down the streets of Atlanta. You know, it's not quite Christmas until you've seen 20 people in Santa suits shuffling through town.
  • While Renée was at work, Chris met his dad and grandfather at the movie theater to see Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Everybody enjoyed the film and it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
December 5, 2003:
  • Sorry for the sporadic updates as of late. On these cold evenings, it's always tempting to just skip the update and head straight for the comforting warmth of bed.
  • Today was a bleak, dreary day. We intended to go get our Christmas tree today, but it was so cold and gloomy that we couldn't bring ourselves to leave the house. Instead we stayed in, drank hot chocolate, and watched Spider-man.
  • Twinkie gave us a little scare the other day. Late one night, her right eye began twitching and she was having trouble keeping it open. We tried to flush her eye, but this didn't solve the problem. The next morning, she was still twitchy (it was very sad -- Chris tossed her a piece of a Twizzler and she missed it entirely, due to her bad eye) so Chris tried to take her to the vet. Unfortunately, while the vet's office opened at 7:30, no doctors would be in until 9:30. Chris had to go to a shoot, so he brought the sad doggie home and went. By the time he got back home, the eye problem seemed to have resolved itself, and there have been no recurrences since.
  • After several long nights of reading, we have finally finished the epic Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 2: The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers. It was quite good and we highly recommend it.
  • Though we were thwarted when we attempted to purchase our blender at our local JC Penney's, we have managed to get it through the wonder of the internet. It is lovely and shiny and looks very nice in our kitchen (and makes a pretty tasty pina colada, we might add).
  • Due to computer glitches beyond our control, no image tonight. But it was either going to be a picture of a blender or a picture of a mug of hot chocolate, so use your imagination.
December 1, 2003:
  • It's late and we got up way too early this morning and ate way too much this evening, so this will be brief so that we can go wallow in the aftermath of our own gluttony. Tonight we went to trivia night at the Pizza Cafe with a secret weapon: Kate. We were in 2nd place going into the final question, which was "Arrange these in order of land mass from largest to smallest: Vietnam, Japan, Denmark, Portugal." We blew it and ended up in 4th place again. Do you know the answer? Highlight here for the correct order...Japan, Vietnam, Portugal, Denmark...alas, it was too tricky for us.
  • In other news, Chris has begun work on a short film entitled "Just Asking For It." Non-paying, but hopefully good for making some much needed contacts in the Atlanta film scene.
  • Renée has been very productive lately and has finished the majority of her Christmas shopping. Chris, ever the procrastinator, has just started.
  • The page will be archived shortly, so worry not, ye of the slow computers.
Bah I say.
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