December 28, 2007

While I wouldn’t describe my mother as anti-social, I would argue that she is much, much, MUCH more comfortable socializing with people she knows. Which is why she was of two minds about going to visit her old friend Carla last night. On the one hand, she hadn’t seen Carla in years and, now that she was in Vancouver, here was a rare chance to catch up. On the other hand, Carla had recently married which meant mom would be spending the evening with her friend AND her friend’s new husband. Not a big deal to most but, like I said, my mother can be very particular about certain things. In the end, she decided “What the hey” (not “What the Hell” as she is a former minister in the United Church), figuring she would probably be spending most of the evening talking to Carla anyway.

The dinner invitation was for 6:00 p.m. and, since Fondy was still at work, it fell on my sister and I to drop mom off. We were, I should mention, kindly invited as well and while the thought of sitting down to a vegetarian feast ranks right up there for me alongside playing Santa at the nearest home for wayward youth, joining a roving choir for a boisterous round of caroling, and visiting my local botanical garden for its seasonal Christmas light show (see yesterday’s entry), it was Andria’s last night in town and she really wanted to go out for something extra special (read: non-vegetarian).

So we dropped mom off and, on her insistence, accompanied her to the door so that we could say our hello’s. I rang the bell and, as I waited for someone to answer, I peered in through the window and could make out two couples inside. Then, glancing back up the walk, noticed another woman making her way toward us, wine bottle in tow. “Hey, I didn’t know it was a dinner party!”I remarked. It was clearly a surprise to my mother as well who murmured “Neither did I!” before adopting a not-wholly-convincing grin for the welcoming host and hostess.

We left her amidst the whooping hilarity of strangers and headed over to Vij’s, my sister’s favorite Vancouver restaurant. Unfortunately, Vij’s doesn’t take reservation (legend has it they made Harrison Ford wait the last time he was in town) and neither of us really felt like sitting around for 2 hours for a table to free up, so we headed over to Tojo’s where we met up with Fondy and ran into Stargate Writer-Producer-Director Robert C. Cooper and his wife Hillary who were out with Rob’s parents. After a great sushi dinner, we stopped off at a nearby tea house, Steeps, for some matcha eggnog and carrot cake - which took us to a little after 9:00 p.m. Mom had been there three hours. Surely more than enough time to bond with her new friends. Hopefully, she was ready to go.

As we pulled up in front of Carla’s house, Andria noted: “They’re watching t.v.” I assumed she was mistaken but, as I headed up the walk, I could see that she was right. There they sat, all gathered in the living room, watching t.v. “I wonder what’s on?“I wondered aloud. Turns out the entire dinner party was watching a home video of Carla and her hubby’s recent visit to Wreck Beach, one of Vancouver’s best known nude hang-outs. “Hi, mom!”I waved, drawing her attention away from the naked 50-something fellow. She waved back, wearing the same forced grin she’d been sporting three hours earlier. I assume her jaw was very sore. As the naked people flounced about onscreen, I couldn’t help but think back to that afternoon when mom had asked me to turn off a steamy daytime soap scene she’d pronounced “pornographic”. “Ready to go?” The fact that she was already in the hallway, putting her boots on told me “Yes!”

So we said our goodbyes, politely ignored the fact that the place smelled like at least one of the revelers had apparently paid the price for drinking far too much wine, and left.

Well, that was that. With another day drawing to a close, I was looking forward to catching the news, crawling into bed, and reading a couple of chapters of Hal Clement’s Mission of Gravity before lights out. It wasn’t until we rolled into the garage that my mother cried out: “My purse!”

We turned the car around and went all the way back, parking the car out front so that Andria could hop out and reclaim the purse mom had left behind. She did and, for the second time that night, we were on our way. Once again, I was looking forward to the news, a little reading, and my nice warm bed. Until I heard my mother cry out: “My glasses!”

Today’s pic: Mom.

Today’s mailbag:

Susiekew writes: “I really liked Peter DeLuise’s work on SG1 over the years. Any chance he will direct any SGA in season 5?”

Answer: Alas, Peter will not be directing SGA in season 5.

Vv0472 writes: “1) Who is your favorite Arrested Development character? 2) Who is your favorite Boston Legal character? 3) Who came up with the name Puddle Jumper?”

Answers: 1) Buster. 2) Alan Shore. 3) Brad Wright.

Annie from Freemantle writes: “Gilligan’s Island was constantly repeated- you call them reruns and it always left the questions begging in this then 10 yr old..

1- Why did they take all those suitcases for a three hour tour? 2- Seeing as Gilligan and the skipper wore the same clothes all the time, were they naked on wash day? 3- Why didn’t they fix the hole in the boat?”

Answers: 1) I believe the Howell’s had the huge wardrobe (as everyone else wore pretty much the same thing) and only because they were incredibly eccentric. 2. Yes, they were. Don’t you remember the naked laundry episode? 3) The Professor was tech smart, not handyman smart.

PG15 writes: “When are you guys going back to the studio to continue production for Season 5?”

Answer: Production on the show’s fifth season begins in mid-February. We (the producers) will be in about a month earlier to prepare (ie. Clean out the coffee filters and such).

Thornyrose writes: “Are we going to see the Travellers again in season 4, and if so any hints as to which episode/s?”

Answer: Yes and VERY soon.

Morgia writes: “do you ever read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”

Answer: Haven’t read it yet but loved Blade Runner.

OregonJenwrites: “Who is older - you or your sister - and do you have other siblings?”

Answer: It’s just my sister and I, and I’m a year older.

AnneTeldy writes: “Could your dislike of the Christmas lights be — in part — because of the location’s connection to “Irresponsible”?”

Answer: I believe you’re confusing The Van Dusen Gardens with the far more garish Fantasy Gardens.

Anais a ecrit: “1) Vous aimez les macarons? a quel parfum? 2) lequel de vos chiens est le plus gourmand?”

Reponses: 1) Oui. Crème de marron. 2) Ils sont tous gourmands?

Sort of translation: I prefer chestnut cream macarons and all of my dogs are gourmands.

shiningwit writes: “Do you or have you ever watched Doctor Who and if so what do you think of David Tennant’s portrayal?”

Answer: I think Tennant is a great Doctor. I’ve watched the first two seasons but have yet to get around to the third.

Claire writes: “Is there any chance of us seeing Ba’al in the Pegasus galaxy?”

Answer: There’s always a chance but, at present, no plans.

Carwyn writes: “I haven’t yet braved any other series (except SG-1) but I plan on doing so soon. Do you have any recommendations for a newbie sci-fi fan?”

Answer: Hmmm. Let’s see. Well, if you enjoyed SG-1 there’s another series you might enjoy called Stargate: Atlantis…

Emily writes: “Your site meter is confusing me…”

Answer: I’ve switched background themes because the one I was using wouldn’t allow me to use site meter. The count is low because it is only counting that first day. The count at my former blog site (when I last checked) was a little over 800 000 visits and over a million page views. I’ll update the numbers when I have time.