Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Now that my computer is finally back online and I'm back to a more normal work schedule, I can catch up a little.

Last Monday was The Gryphon's birthday, and to celebrate, we invited some friends to join us on Saturday at a local restaurant, Buca di Beppo. This is a family style restaurant that features immigrant southern Italian cooking, and it's the sort of place you almost have to have a group. That way you can order different dishes and share them all.

Our group included The White Rabbit, The Dormouse and three of The Gryphon's female friends, whom he has known for a long time, meeting them through a mutual friend. Some of our friends had met each other before, and everyone got along together really well.

The conversation was wide-ranging: everything from Buffy and Angel, to political commentators to our meals to Otakon, to our jobs.

It seemed I got teased quite a bit, in part because I had a couple White Cosmos, and they probably thought I was drunker than I was, and partly because of the stream-of-conscious nature of my contributions to the conversation. I jokingly explained that my brain works a little like a cable news channel: there's a scroll of random information that runs along under the picture, as everyone else is talking, and I pull out things from that scroll and say them.

At one point, we were talking about Buffy, and one of The Gryphon's friends, whom we'll call The Editor, is a publishing professional and editor of a series of official Buffy books. The subject of Buffy came up, and the friend I've previously referred to as The Beatlemaniac joked that she knew so much about the series because she and creator Joss Whedon are really the same person.

First, I said, "You look much different in person." But then I took it further: "Actually, she's had Joss Whedon tied up in her room for the past six months."

She said, dryly, "I believe I've just been compared to Kathy Bates, and I'm trying to concentrate on the fact that she's an Oscar winner."

I jumped to apologize, not sure whether she'd misinterpreted it as an insult. But I'm fairly certain she knew better; after all, she has one of the most brilliant wits I've ever known.

At the other end of the table, The White Rabbit and The Dormouse seemed to be getting along well with The Beatlemaniac and his other friend, who blogs under the name Esmerelda Chubb.

At one point, the conversation had been revolving around Otakon, and to change the topic, The Editor asked The Dormouse, "So, what do you do?"

"Well, this year, I'm working with LARP and a couple years back I was con chair..."

"No, no, no," someone corrected him. "What do you do for a living?"

He reddened. "Sorry. We have Otakon on the brain this time of year." The misunderstanding was laughed off.

I was happy to see everyone getting along. I've always thought our separate groups of friends would get along well if they ever met. They'll get another chance to connect when The Gryphon and I host a housewarming party about a month from now.

Afterwards, we suggested continuing the fun by catching a movie together. All the women, except myself, bowed out, but The White Rabbit, The Dormouse, The Gryphon and I dropped off our leftovers in The White Rabbit's refrigerator and then drove to a nearby theater to see The Fantastic Four.

The movie was OK, but it's definitely not in the top echelon of superhero flicks, partly because, as The Dormouse summarized, there simply wasn't enough emotional development of the characters. I also think that the plot wasn't big enough. Usually, superheroes have more at stake than to prevent one evildoer's personal vengeance on the superheroes themselves.

When the movie was over, we hung out at The White Rabbit's for awhile. We had some fun passing around some of the books and magazines on his coffee table, things like the Buffy Companion and some SF magazines and the like.

After he cleared the magazines off the table, he suggested a game of Carcassonne. I forget who won, but it might have been The Dormouse. We had fun strategizing while trying to complete the most medieval villages and roads.

As a surprise, The White Rabbit gave both The Gryphon and I birthday presents (mine about a month and a half early). He had brand new, unopened expansion packs for Carcassonne, which he'd just bought to help out a friend whose comic store was closing. We thanked him, appreciative of the spontaneous gift.

The Gryphon also took him a couple other birthday goodies, including a quirky refrigerator magnet and a gift certificate to a cooking store. I even had some extra swag, as The Editor gifted me with two Marilyn Monroe purses she'd received as freebies through her work in the publishing industry.

Of course, the real present was getting to celebrate The Gryphon's birthday with some good friends in a fun, relaxing way.

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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