Zoë was home for the weekend, and last night she rented "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." My parents didn't like it so much, but I thought it was hilarious. A good chunk of it was bad stuff happening to deserving or at least stupid people, which can be pretty damn funny if done well. There was a little actual intelligence in there, and the rest was shlocky moralizing after-school special stuff, and while that sounds pretty bad, it's vastly preferable to the contents of teen movies like "She's All That" and "American Pie." And it's the source (or at least an early example) of a lot of the clichés that get both parodied and used in earnest, like that thing at the end of the movie where the character freezes in a pose and a caption tells you their future and ties up all the plotlines nice and neat.

But maybe mostly importantly of all, I've always liked this parody/homage, and now I can appreciate it even more.

Fun facts: Cameos in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" include Ralph Macchio (better known as the Karate Kid) and Nicholas Coppola (better known as Nicholas Cage, he started going by Cage to get out of the shadow of his uncle Francis Ford.)

Non-movie update. Right. Thanksgiving was fun and relaxing. Two aunts came over here and left our place with almost as much food as they'd brought, so we won't be eating leftovers for very long at all. No Christmas shopping happened - not protest, at least not on my part, just no need or desire to do it. I've started making plans for a surprise gift for a cousin of mine, but that's it. We visited family Friday afternoon - extended family: my mom's cousin and his wife, their two sons and their wives, and their two cute little babies. My cousin Anne had to work that day and her son Aidan was at a babysitter's, unfortunately, but her older brothers have also been breeding.

Personally, emotionally, socially... it feels like I hit bottom in some senses last week. I shouldn't say that, of course - lots of people have it much worse than me, let's hope I don't really hit bottom, etc. - but things were bad, and in some ways (followed by the qualifiers I can't stop myself from adding), they're getting better because of that.

So, that seems as good a segue as any into
What I'm Thankful For:
1. A good job. For who I am and where I am in my life, I couldn't ask for a better one.
2. Family and friends that know me, understand me, and put up with me - gosh, even love me. :)
3. Stuff like, well, this. Things like this with a certain balance of private and public. This and certain similar things have probably kept me from going crazy here and there. (Heh. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Cue H2G2 reference.)
4. Our cats. Gray is on his last legs, which is sad, but Panda, Felix and Lucas are still fat and happy. And funny, whiny, and cute.