Thanks, giving, etc.

Gobble gobble. Gobble gobble gobble, gobble gobble, gobble.

Thanksgiving was excellent this year. With the return of my dad's sister's ex-husband's brother's family, the conversation and company was all much more interesting and genuine and warm and squishy. A bit strange not having my sister there, as I think she would have appreciated the change in atmosphere, but she's off in Salzburg reenacting Sound of Music with her straight male friend, so I don't feel too bad for her. The food was fabulous as usual, and this year Freud even came down and checked things out without completely freaking out. My cousin-in-law thinks she might want to take violin lessons, so we tried a mini-lesson on my sister's violin (thanks, Lynn, it was the only one in the house and I figured you wouldn't care) and now I'm hoping to find someone who knows someone who would be a good violin teacher in the Boston area. Know any great violin teachers in Boston?

Today I saw Rent with the family. I enjoyed it very much, though I am always a sucker for musicals. I need to write a good musical. I really want to do a variation on the Golem stories, but we'll see if that ever actually happens. I'm still young. My mom was fairly critical of the movie (though she also enjoyed it), thus reminding me why I'm so fucking annoying to go see things with. Not even I rip things apart as badly as she does, but she also enjoys chick-flicks and manipulative sob-fests (often the same things), so perhaps I'm no better overall. I also thought that Jesse L. Martin was much better suited for the Rent role than as Detective Green on Law & Order. Not that I don't love Law & Order, but his tough-guy thing always seems off to me. They just need to have him sing and dance more while he solves cases. Anthony Rapp is very good and attractive (and an Interlochen alum), but he seems too WASPy to play "Mark Cohen" and make bar mitzvah references, while Idina Menzel seemed very Jewish though her parents in the movie were total WASPs and her character's last name was "Johnson." Then again, New York drug addicts don't burn their eviction notices and sing in the streets, so it's an odd thing to be picky about.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get together with Diana for a bit and then head back to my apartment. My bed, shower, and solitude are all missed.