A Lovely Looong Weekend

So, it was Easter. A big thing if you subscribe to any vaguely Christian belief. Luckily, I don't (let's not get into that now) ... so for me it was just a nice long weekend off work :)

It started off well. I went to my first Bikram Yoga class on Thursday. Which was so much better than I expected and I'll definitely be going back for more, and probably dragging Loulou along with me too ;) And I think that was about that on Thursday evening. Kept an eye on my new bird-pet and watched the usual tv while my body recovered.

Friday we headed off to FreeMe to deliver the Crested Barbet. He seemed to be better (before the car-ride) and even ate some of the banana they'd told me to give him. Thanks to an update from She, I found out he was just stressed and was released on Saturday. A job well done.

Later that afternoon, and I truly do mean afternoon, Loulou and I headed off to Newscafe in 4ways for sundowners ... Which swiftly got out of hand. There were many shooters being bought, the first few by us, the next lot by the neighbouring tables of boys ;) Phlippy, Chew the Cud and some of their mates eventually showed up and I know a good time was had by all. Although I can't explain why most of us woke up with a signature in black marker pen on our body the next morning.

Oh, and there might've been a late night drunken phone call to Varen, but at least I (apparently) didn't say anything too regrettable!

Blegh, Saturday morning. The worst hang-over I've had in ages. Luckily Loulou was there with Panado's and Energade. Eventually I was feeling well enough to emerge from my bed. And then we headed off to the KES Rugby Festival.

I'm not entirely surewhy we went, it seemed like a good idea at the time, a way to spend the afternoon ... it certainly wasn't about the rugby. We spent the afternoon in the beer tent. It was not fabulous. It had some nice sociable bits, but mostly I would've rather been back in bed reading my book!

And then there was the idiot. Now, I'd love to blame my fragile state, but I can't. When I am in the vicinity of a moron, I cannot help but drip contempt and utter nothing but sarcasm. It's a curse. So this idiot showed up attached to an ex-colleague of Loulou's. He was long passed drunk. He reached that "Girls want me more if I'm vulgar and crude" stage of alcohol poisoning. It was more than unpleasant but fairly good sport since he was too far gone to follow most of my biting retorts ;)

After that, Loulou & I went home and watched The Sweetest Thing on dvd.

This plot begins with Christina Walters (Diaz) and Courtney Rockcliffe (Applegate), all-around party girls, attempting to ease their roommate Jane Burns (Blair) relationship-induced depression by taking her on a girls' night out. During that evening Walters meets Peter Donahue and falls for him. However, having missed her chance that evening, Walters and Rockcliffe spend the rest of the movie chasing him down, driving a Saab 9-5 station wagon.

It was okay. Typical Cameron Diaz chick flick. Nothing requiring a brain for this movie ... perfect for the way we were feeling ;)

Sunday we woke up late and headed off for all-you-can-eat sushi at Sakura for lunch :) Always fabulous. And then we decided to head over to the Rosebank Craft Market for the rest of the afternoon - neither of us had been in ages.

It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, wandering between stalls :) I must find time to go back to the Bryanston Organic Market and the Irene Country Market sometime too.

That evening we watched a couple more dvds. Derailed and The Covenant.

The protagonist, Charles Schine (Clive Owen), is an advertising executive married to a schoolteacher in Chicago. The introductory scenes of the movie reveal that Charles' marriage is deteriorating due to the stresses of caring for a teenage daughter who is seriously ill with diabetes, while the parents both have busy careers.
While on a commuter train, Charles encounters an alluring woman named Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston) — he had forgotten his fare and was about to be thrown off the train when Lucinda offers to pay for it. The attraction is mutual, and the two begin meeting more frequently. Ultimately, the two are intent on consummating their affair in a shady hotel. Just as Charles and Lucinda are about to have sex, an armed man later named as Philippe LaRoche (Vincent Cassel) bursts into the hotel room, beats Charles and brutally rapes Lucinda. Charles and Lucinda agree not to report the crime, as they do not want their spouses to learn of the affair. Shortly after the incident, Charles is blackmailed by LaRoche, who demands money in order to keep quiet about the situation.

In 1692, in the Ipswich Colony of Massachusetts, five families with untold power formed a covenant of silence. One family lusting for more was banished, their bloodline disappearing - without a trace.
Until now.
The Covenant tells the story of the Sons of Ipswich, four young students at the elite Spencer Academy who are bound by their sacred ancestry. As descendants of the original families that settled in Ipswich Colony in the 1600s, the boys have all been given amazing powers, by the right of their heritage.
When the body of a student is discovered after a party, secrets begin to unravel which threaten to break the covenant of silence that has protected the families for hundreds of years.

Derailed turned out to be fabulous with a wonderful twist even I didn't see coming. And then, of course, there's yummy Clive Owen! Definitely worth renting.

The Covenant was rubbish. Admittedly it doesn't sound brilliant from the write up, but it was way worse than I was expecting. Although there is some pleasant eye-candy. So if you're looking for story-line, this is not the movie for you. If you'd rather watch mindless boys, then definitely rent it ;)

And then it was Monday. Got a bunch of admin sorted out ... went thru the boxes I brought back from Bean's. Didn't cause much emotional upheaval, so that's a good sign, right? And did some shopping ... although the cute little shops I wanted to check out were all closed, typical. But Cresta was buzzing and that many people wandering aimlessly tends to drive me nuts, so I went home and finished my book (more on that tomor!)

And then Varen came over. It was planned. He'd sneakily got his manager to okay him taking his laptop home for the weekend to clean off all his stuff because I would deliver it safely this morning. So really, I had to see him. But it was also lovely to see him. And we're still officially broken up and free to continue on with our lives, where ever they may lead. But I think we'll forge some sort of friendship, mostly over email, no doubt ... but with the occasional dinner or movie ;) It's better that way. I do really like him, but as I discovered this weekend, he really was correct in figuring out that I was just not in a relationship space right now. I'm enjoying being single and doing whatever I want.

Anyway, he spent the afternoon and we watched Garden State.

California Waiter/Actor/Pill-popper Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) recieves a call from his psychiatrist father (Ian Holm) to learn that his paraplegic mother has died. After nine years Andrew returns home to New Jersey for the funeral and the life he thought he had left behind. Set to a soundtrack hand-picked by Braff, Andrew befriends a rather unusual girl who just happens to be his polar-opposite, Sam (Natalie Portman), reconnects with his now grave-digging buddy (played by Peter Sarsgaard), his father, and eventually himself. Through his escapades with new and old friends Andrew heals parts of himself he hadn't realized were even broken- leaving himself and everyone else asking should he return to California or stay home in the Garden State?

It was alright. I do like Zach Braff. It had some truely hysterical bits, but Natalie Portman was just annoying ... no one's that zany in real life, are they?

And then we got Ghazal's Indian take-out - yummy! And that was that, a marathon weekend with a good dose of relaxing, going out and having fun all round :)