Today is Saturday, October 29th. It’s 3:16 PM and it is snowing in Beverly, MA. And it’s actually accumulating…I can’t believe it. I just took the above photo of the street out my apartment window. I wonder if this weather is indicative in any way of the kind of winter we will have this year? It’s totally crazy, but makes me giddy all the same. I do love snow. :)

I just finished reading The Rice Mother, by Rani Manicka. It’s set in Malaysia, spans from right before World War II to present time, and follows one family down through four generations, which is a trend in fiction I really like. The story is told from many different points of view and in the voices of many different family members. Each character tells their own story and in turn adds to the unfolding history of the family. It reminded me a bit of Amy Tan’s, The Joy Luck Club. The book is filled with vivid characters and events and includes elements of culture, religion, customs, food/cooking and mysticism. Overall it is a sad book, but beautifully written and full of local color.

As most of you know I have been teaching myself to knit. I am happy to report that in addition to mastering the scarf (why yes I did make the one Amy is wearing above), I have also mastered the knitted cap. In the above photo, Peter, James, Aaron, Amy and Joe are all modeling the customized hats I knitted for each of them. I’m not sure what exactly Peter is looking at though. Perhaps he is thinking about how lucky is to have sister as fabulous as me, who also knits. Is that it Peter?

This past weekend the whole family got together at Amy and Joe’s house to belatedly celebrate Joe’s birthday. Amy made a trifle, pictured above, with layers of brownies, fruit and a chocolate mousse-like pudding. It was yummy! After dinner we played Cranium, a board game that is a medley of charades, pictionary, trivia and word puzzles. Some of the highlights: James charading a Coming to America Eddie Murphy (Sexual Chocolate!), Peter drawing a RIVER (with his eyes closed) and Maria interpreting it as the Trail of Tears and my Dad humming Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA (just try to visualize it). Needless to say, there was a lot of laughter.

I’ve created a small album in our gallery. You can click on the above photo to get to it.

Aaron and I have developed the habit of watching entire series of TV shows once they are out on DVD. We usually watch an episode a night with dinner. The benefits are the lack of commercials and being able to watch the next episode the next evening. Recently we have been watching the series Firefly, a kind of space-western that only lasted 1 season before it was cancelled. The show follows the crew (a collection of quirky, but usually likeable characters) of a firefly spaceship as they look for work smuggling or as mercenaries.

So, currently there is a spin-off movie in the theaters called Serenity. We had 3 episodes of the television series left to watch, when Aaron got it in his head that we HAD to see this movie before it left the theaters. And of course the movie is leaving the theater at the end of this week. So… Aaron proposed that we spend Wednesday night watching the last 3 episodes in immediate succession, so that we could then go to the movie Thursday night. And so we did.

I enjoyed both the television show and the movie. I would recommend them both. It’s a fun series with action, humor and a little bit of that cheesy charmingness that reassures the viewers even though they are pirates, they’re still good people. So, here is where my complaint comes in.. NOTE: Those of you who might see the movie should stop reading because this will spoil it for you.…As I was saying, the cast has nine main characters…the captain, the first mate, the pilot, the brute, the mechanic, the preacher, the diplomat/prostitute (long story), the doctor and his sister the government-programmed psychic solider. In the movie last night they killed off my favorite character, the pilot. It was completely unnecessary and frankly, I took it as a personal affront. Clearly his shot of appearing in any sequels is ruined, although I suppose the overused “prequel” concept is still an option. This happens to me all the time, the character I like the most never makes it through. I wonder what this says about me?

This past weekend we saw Proof, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins and Jake Gyllenhaal. Brief plot synopsis from IMDB:

The daughter of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician (recently deceased) tries to come to grips with her possible inheritance: his insanity. Complicating matters are one of her father’s ex-students who wants to search through his papers and her estranged sister who shows up to help settle his affairs.

Overall, I liked the movie. The acting was good and the story held my attention and kept me interested throughout. Casting wise though, both Paltrow and Gyllenhaal are a bit too attractive to play mathematicians, no offense to my friends in academia, but come on.

This past weekend Rita came up from DC for a visit. Although the original plan was for some nice fall foliage walks, the weather necessitated a plan B (yup, it’s still raining). I’m happy to report we had just as much fun going to the movies, playing board games and eating in. As the photo above shows, Aaron and Rita enjoyed a home-cooked dinner of steamed lobsters and clam chowder. The salad of course is mine.

This year was our 4th wedding anniversary and Aaron planned a surprise weekend in Newport, RI. We stayed in a cute inn, Shamrock Farm and had a great time together, despite the rainy weather. We walked the Cliff Walk and admired the mansions, ate some delicious food (ask Aaron about the chicken fried lobster!) and Aaron even accompanied me to a yarn store (without complaint). We took the above photo on Sunday at the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, where we walked along the ocean in the rain. It was a fun weekend and a wonderful surprise.

You can click on the photo (it’s a link) and it will take you to the album of our photos from the weekend.