baggage's Diaryland Diary

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One Night With Napoleon

Turning 37: One week in a few chapters

One Night With Napoleon

The vacation started a little late.
A malfunctioning train door took me one stop east of Uma (That's my car. Yes, I named it. So there). But, I was pulling in my driveway by 8 thanks to a benevolent stranger in a classic white mustang. "I've seen you both before," she said to me and the other stranded passenger beside me-as if familiarity alone made us trustworthy. I was grateful for the ride, but doubtful of her judgment.
The plan was to be at a friend's house by 8 pm to watch Napoleon Dynamite. We were 20 minutes late, but thankfully our friends waited for us. I don't like to be late. But more importantly, I wanted Girl-Unit to see Napoleon in its entirety-specifically the ultra-clever opening credits sequence.
Despite our history together, I've repeatedly failed at predicting what movies she would like. For example: Sex, Lies and Videotape-no. Lord of The Rings-yes. Star Wars-no. Rocky-no. Titanic-yes, Moulin Rouge-no, Knight's Tale-yes. It's not that we disagree about movies all the time-we both loved A.I., disliked "Like Water For Chocolate" and loved "Chicago." But, Napoleon? I wasn't sure. I didn't have high hopes.
Most of our companions for the evening were friends dating back to puberty. Troy and Rachel married long after high school -- surprising since they didn't exhibit any obvious attraction to each other in class or otherwise. Tim married a stranger: Julie-a lady of impeccable taste and questionable personality. Despite knowing her for years, I still feel like I'm looking up her nostrils every time we cross paths.
If commissioned to do an illustration of Julie, I'd render her towering over the rest of humanity--eyes cast downward in disapproval at the poor, downtrodden hoi polloi. But, hey-that's just me.
Rachel is what Girl-Unit and I refer to as a talker. Her chatter is like the buzz of a florescent light-constant, unwavering and not too troublesome. Conversation with Rachel is easy, so long as you feel comfortable playing the role of listener. It requires very little work. And, should you decide to play a larger role in the conversation, she's more than willing to quiet down and listen.
Not for long though.
True to personality, she chattered through the movie. Between her ceaseless commentary and the incessant squeaks from Tim and Julie's two daughters (one is a foster child so she's not officially a member of the gene pool), I effectively missed half of Napoleon Dynamite's wonderful dialogue. I was grateful I had seen the movie before. There's no way I could have appreciated it under the circumstances. Not sure how Girl-Unit did it. But, she heard enough to think the movie was cute. It is cute-and so much more-but, again, hey, that's just me.
Overall, the evening passed pleasantly-almost like a nice omen for our upcoming boat trip to the Channel Islands, which, unfortunately, didn�t go as, planned.

10:01 p.m. - 2005-05-24

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