now that the tryptophan has worn off...

I meant to blog about my Thanksgiving weekend. Is it too late? It's the first weekend of December and I'm listening to Christmas music right now. I'm probably exceeding the statute of limitations on this one.

Really briefly, let me just say that I love Thanksgiving, but I don't really enjoy Thanksgiving dinner (What? Turkey, again? *sigh*). So it was especially fun to go out for Thanksgiving this year. The 'rents and I hit up Magleby's for their annual Thanksgiving buffet. The line was long and homeless-like, but it was good food. Unfortunately, I'm now going to associate crab legs with Thanksgiving dinner from now on.

Other Thanksgiving tradition upheld: seeing a movie. Maria was in town and we saw Twilight. The parents were supposed to come as well, but things came up and mom was feeling goofy sick anyway. I strangely liked the movie. Maybe it was because the trailer was so lame and the movie was actually better than the trailer. I doubt the studio execs did such a thing on purpose, but it totally worked. Everybody was going to see it anyway, so it only helps spread the word when everybody coming out says, "It was way better than I thought it would be!" I think it's a good idea. Of course, I seem to be the only one actually saying that it's better than expectations. Anyway, I seriously found it more enjoyable than the book on several occasions -- most notably in providing some humor. The girl wasn't very good (of course with a lame character like Bella, how could she be?), but I thought the Pattinson guy who played Edward was plenty cool. I know all the girls are saying he's not hot enough, but think about it this way: Stephenie Myer constantly wrote about how beautiful the guy is, but she hardly ever delivered some non-subjective descriptions. When she did, however, she was totally describing Robert Pattinson. Anyway, the movie wasn't horrible. Probably won't make my year-end top ten, but it wasn't horrible.

My final Thanksgiving necessity was catching up on some overdue dvds.

First up: Square Pegs. I probably know only two people who are aware of this tv show from the early 80s. 'Twas a high-school sitcom starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Jami Gertz and the guy who played Kirk's son in Star Trek II. As my brother put it (my brother Andy is a HUGE fan), it was way ahead of its time. In many senses it was. It was a single-camera show, which means that it didn't look as staged as most traditional sitcoms at the time. It looked a lot more like The Office, 30 Rock or Scrubs. Another plus: it was definitely a product of its time. Most people would call that a minus, but it's a plus for me. It's like a fascinating study of the specific trends and attitudes of 1982. It wasn't Duran Duran that guested on the first episode, it was The Waitresses -- a perfect image of that exact time. Some annoying things: yes, there's a single camera, but there's also a laugh track, which makes no sense. They're obviously filming in a real school and not a studio audience. The kids are also VERY stereotypical. Maybe this is a plus, because it's so very very obvious. We got the shy girl, the girl who wants to be popular above all else, the weirdo music lover, the hopeful stand-up comedian, the bossy student government (pep squad) chick, the valley girl and (embarrassingly the most stereotypical of all) the sassy black woman.

Next: Star Trek: The Next Generation. I've started watching the entire series of TNG on behalf of another project. Now I don't care what you say or what your so-called credentials are, but Next Gen is pretty sweet. The first season, however, is howlingly not sweet at all. Fortunately, there's plenty of unintentional comic relief. Eventually, this show grew to a really great franchise, but how it got past the first season is beyond me. I guess it had the luxury of non-network syndication in 1987, plus legions of fans clamoring for a new Star Trek series for nearly 20 years. Those same fans will mistakenly bestow more accolades on TNG than on the original series (whatever).

Veronica Mars. I've only seen the first ten or so episodes, but it's becoming an absolute delight. I was really worried at the beginning. Unfortunately, I'm probably less of a fan of Kristen Bell than I was before. It's not that I dislike smart girls, but what I really hate is when a girl gets smart girl attitude. You know, the kind of attitude where everything you say is dumb and her tiny self is just standing there with an annoying smirk and her head cocked to the side. Yeah. Sass. I hate it. On everybody. Also alarming when I first started watching was how I had the assumption that it was a super smart, under the radar show that the mainstream simply didn't get. Imagine my horror, when the stunt casting of Paris Hilton occurred on, like the second episode. Quibbles aside, it's an awesome show. Funny, sad, thrilling and all that. I also love having a mystery to solve every time. The theme song "We Used to be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols is an awesome song. Fortunately it was done first on The O.C. I also love Logan Echolls. He plays the jerk. Veronica fans keep asking me if I "like" Logan yet which I think means "has his heart softened and has he won the heart of Veronica Mars yet?" The answer to that is no. I think I'll actually like him less when that happens. Sad to hear that the show only lasted for three seasons.

So next holiday plans: MLK Day! What're we doin'?