Halloween WAS indeed quite fun, which is indicated by the fact that I found no time to write last weekend. Fred was recognized as Ali G. from HBO by nearly every foreign person in the Castro and a decent amount of Cable-savvy Americans, and they LOVED him. He had over twenty people come up and want a picture with him, not to mention those who just wanted to shake his hand. Leslie and I, having had some arrangements fall through at the last minute, scrounged together a pretty decent J-Lo and Ben Affleck ensemble: I was Ben, and though forced to wear a hundred pounds of facial tanner and an equally large amount of hair gel, I was pretty comfortable in Ben's slouchy jeans and t-shirt over a long sleeve shirt outfit. (Note, if I have not yet sent you the link to the pictures and you are interested in seeing them, email me.) The Castro was people-watching central, with the most popular costume being Siegfried and Roy -- people dressed in all white with stuffed tigers and fake blood attached to their necks. The atmosphere was jovial and lacking malice (good thing too -- apparently there were FOUR stabbings in the Castro last year!) and of course a little bit bawdy at times, but in good fun if not in good taste. Fred and I also took in a couple parties, the sea lions at the wharf (which we had to tear Mom away from after over an hour, but it took Fred five minutes to feel he'd "gotten the gist of it"!!), the Vtech game v. Miami at a Union street bar (the at the time 11th ranked Hokies romped on the 3rd ranked Miami -- awesome to watch), In 'N Out, reunited with some of Fred's St. George's friends and Will, his best friend from childhood in CT, dealt with a dead battery in my car (though I have to say, not very well!) and basically on the whole tried to stay hydrated, keep moving, and pounce when we saw the whites of their eyes.

This work week flew by and was great fun, thanks to it being our Team Lead's birthday on Thursday. We bought her a "hotel survival kit" filled with indulgent goodies we'd thrown together -- lotion, bubble bath, a stuffed bear, a buttercream scented candle -- and a lemon meringue pie (her favorite), and then the utility company employees surprised the pants off her with a SpongeBob SquarePants party!! Then when we got back to the hotel, the front desk clerk (whom we are on very familiar terms with at this point) had come by on her day off to drop off a cake she'd baked especially for A., complete with fancy roses and sparkling sugar accents. We were STUFFED when that day was over, especially since we took her to a delicious Italian restaurant for her special dinner. It was a great day. Plus, our latest dealing-with-repetition-and-windowless-confinement theme right now is to address each other as "Comrade," and speak in our best stiff Russian accent, which, especially when it is extended to song lyrics, makes for endless hilarity.

Finally, I saw the third Matrix movie on Friday night down at the Metreon, and I can't say that I recommend it that highly, though it does its best to wrap things up. I thought at the very end they concluded it as well as they could, but the clunky dialogue and inevitable plot twists that it took to get there, plus some seriously hokey acting and an overdose of religious imagery, made it a bit easy to disdain and detach from on the whole, which doesn't bode well for a movie. (But really, how could they have possibly followed up such a groundbreaker as the first Matrix? They have my deepest sympathies...) The group agreed that the nicest thing about the movie was hanging out as a group before hand (we went an hour and a half early, since it was opening weekend), and for me it was also the long walk home afterwards -- James, Dan, Denny and I decided to walk the entirety of Market Street from Fourth all the way to the Castro. About an hour and a half's walk at 2am, but flanked by three guys and amped by the action sequences, it was a good (and ultimately uneventful, safety-wise) way to unwind.

This weekend brings two extra days off thanks to Veteran's Day, so I won't be heading to Auburn until Tuesday night. I relish the break, and wish you all similar rest and relaxation, Comrades!! Take care...