We got the weekend off to an early start on Thursday when we hit the town with Justin. We hit the usual places — Nine Maple, Gaffney’s, DA’s — and topped off the night with some glow-in-the-dark bocce ball in the yard. A super-fun school night out.
Since we did that partying on Thursday, we took it easy Friday night, chillin’ the night away at home.
Yesterday was non-stop action. Justin and I saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, an interesting movie, if nothing else, with countless visual allusions to other classics, including Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.
I took the WRX to the dealer for a couple minor recalls (cruise control switch and driver’s seat rail), then Jen and I rode our bikes to the local brewery (first time we’ve ever ridden together and what’s our first stop?), where we’ve been a number of times but hadn’t gone on the tour until yesterday. Our local brewery is a contract brewer for California-based Mendocino Brewery. We got to sample Black Dog ale right out of the giant fermenting tank. Mmm mmm good. We saw the Laverne and Shirley style conveyor belts and bottling equipment.
Then we went to a MoveOn.org fundraiser at the home of some people here in Saratoga. We were the youngest folks there, but had a good time meeting everyone, including the former mayor of Saratoga Springs, which is one of the cool things about living in a small town (we never met Willie Brown at any party in San Francisco); we talked to him for quite a while. He served two two-year terms, ended in 2003 with a loss to our current Republican mayor by a mere 80 votes, many of those likely the result of Republican intimidation at the Skidmore College polling place, where Republicans placed a suit to tell out-of-state students that they had no right to vote in New York state (of course they did).
Last night we then hung out with Justin at Ken’s place, where we chilled for a while and watched Kill Bill in the background.
This morning we went for the first time to the monthly Doughnuts and Democracy in the Driveway brekfast meeting at our neighbor’s place, and had a really good time. We met some cool people, including another San Francisco transplant. (I’m telling you, people, Saratoga Springs is a great alternative to San Francisco!)
Today the air is crisp and the sky is blue. Jen is on the porch doing the Sunday crossword with a Sam Adams Octoberfest brew. And now I shall replace my OJ with a brew and join her.
