just a blur...

is what this weekend has been.

friday night was spent at our favorite Thai restaurant with Lois' Edmonton counterpart, Marcus, who was in town to update the AS400 at PCL. if i hadn't told you before, Lois is the (computer) network administrator for the U.S. HQ of PCL Constructi*n...which still earns much more money than a graduate degree in anthropology ;)

i don't think he got much work done though. we stayed there until 9:30 and didn't get him back until about 10:30. luckily, he could get some set-up done via remote at the hotel. that is, if he just didn't put it off until the morning...

saturday was mexican food, Targettt, and a cheapie. although there is a plethora of mexican restaurants out there, we frequent only a handful. and la cocina de marcos is one of 'em. it's out on Yale and Havana. they have some of the best tomatillo salsa in town...and damn hot...excellent smothered green...perfectly cooked beans...everything is just so fresh. one of these days, i may even try the rosemary chicken. yep, the owner has an occasional 'non-mexican' special; he cooked for Grisanti's Italian restaurant for 10 years before they went under.

Targettt wasn't much of a coup for sales. i did find a short sleeved henley for half price and some magazine files. unfortunately, i only bought four files when i probably needed ten times that. i sorely need to get rid of some magazines. for years, i subscribed to Volleyball Magazine, Consumer Reports, Nat'l Geo., Men's Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Popular Photography, Archaeology Magazine, and Budget Travel. i certainly have enough issues to fill a couple large bookcases...ugh.

as for the cheapie, it was the first time that we were a little disappointed with our movie selection. we saw Barry Levinson's Envy, which stars JackBlack and BenStiller, with an over-the-top cameo by ChristopherWalken. overall, the movie was pretty good...until the last twenty minutes or so, when it unraveled a bit and became disjointed. it was like the writer either hashed it out while hung over or the editing went straight to hell; some of it just did not make sense. anyway, i'm not sure if i'd recommend this as a rental. it's too bad because i'm a huge fan of JackBlack and like BenStiller. Cindi, if you were wanting to see this, definitely go on a tuesday.

sunday was a banner day. we picked up Yani for the second to last Cirque show, had a late lunch, and basically hung out for the rest of the evening.

varekai is the fourth (in addition to Dralion, Mystere, and Alegría)cirque show that lois and i have seen. and of the four, dralion was still the best. this latest offering was quite beautiful and artistic, but a little less breathtaking than dralion and a less captivating story than Mystere. nevertheless, as any cirque show, there was lotsa acrobatics, great juggling, good humor, dazzling colors, and a cacophony of music. i dunno...maybe i'm getting a bit jaded. still, i wonder what the other five cirque shows (Saltimbanco, Quidam, O, Nouba, Zumanity) offer... can't be critical about varekai though; it was Yani's first cirque show and she was simply wowed.

our late lunch was at the newest(?) Sonoda's, which took over the space that Fins had occupied on 6th and Bdwy. usually, i get my sashimi...teriyaki...handroll fix at either Mori or Osaka, but this was on the way home. glad we stopped in. we had some extra cold Kirin Ichiban, excellent spicy yellowtail and spider (soft shell crab)rolls, and superb tempura and halibut. and the service was quite attentive without being intrusive, if you know what i mean.

after our massive lunch, we stopped by the *$$, three doors down. there, we gabbed while we sipped on our iced latte, mocha, and caramel macchiato. for once, i strayed from my usual almond latte and had a mocha (Yani's fave even though she had the macchiato) instead. i see that the 'bucks has introduced 'lite' frappucinos. one question, why bother? people who drink that are also the ones who want half regular and half decaf, like it's gonna make a difference...

fully gorged and buzzed, we crammed ourselves into the car and made our way to the house. took care of the critters and lounged in the basement, watching one of my all-time favorite flicks. ever see it? in fact, the first time we saw it (in '97 at the Mayan), we saw Lowa in the lobby afterwards. anyway, if you haven't seen it, definitely do so. the acting is top notch...the humor will have you rolling...and the soundtrack is unforgettable. you may also want to see this before the american remake is released - scary!

we finished watching the movie a few minutes before sundown. not wanting to end the seemingly perfect day, we took a stroll to the local safeway and secured one of those wonderfully sweet dulcinea watermelons. on the way there, we scrutinized all the newer condos/townhomes in North Cherry Creek and asked Yani's opinion (since she's an architect) regarding all those fancy overpriced behemoths which no one can afford. it was interesting to hear what she had to say since mexican construction methods are less logical but more structured. she went off on a huge tangent about the roofs, which (not to be punny) was a bit over our heads.

as the perfect ending to the perfect day, we spent about an hour on the back porch, drinking herbal iced tea and scarfing down about 3/4 of the watermelon. we had four candles going and a gentle breeze. as denny would say, "life is good. we sure are lucky bastards." you said it, brutha.