Julie and Paul came down Friday afternoon. They had lunch near my office then went to the Air & Space Museum. After I got off work, we went and had sushi for dinner at Nooshi. On the way home on the train, we spent a LONG time discussing about whether to see a movie and what to see. I bought a newspaper and decided that “Kingdom of Heaven” maybe wouldn’t be that bad, so we saw that. It wasn’t that bad. Parts of it made no sense whatsoever, but it was enjoyable. Ridley Scott really has this “war” thing down. The epic battles in this one were a little too reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, not a favorable comparison, but it was interesting. Leprosy, heads on spikes, that sort of thing. And Orlando Bloom was in practically every scene.

We stayed up late, though I don’t recall what we did. It was a 9:55 movie, so we probably got home between 12:30 and 1, and I know we didn’t go to sleep right away. We probably just watched TV. Saturday afternoon, we got up and drove to Baltimore, eating McDonald’s and listening to David Sedaris on the way. We went to the aquarium, where I took pictures (click on photos above). After a couple hours there (and the dolphin show) we had a drink at Hard Rock Cafe and then went shopping for a bit at the giant Barnes and Noble there.

We discussed for a while about dinner (it being required to eat seafood in Baltimore, but Paul not eating meat, this was difficult and guilty). But majority ruled, finally, and we had the Philips buffet. I luvvvvv the Philips buffet. We sat outside, where it was a little too cold to sit outside, but we had a nice view of all the kids dressed up for prom (not sure, but right age and right dresses and limos) that were swarming the city. After dinner we picked up an apartment guide for Deborah and headed home, listening to Eddie Izzard on the way.

I’m so glad we spent the day in Baltimore. I had a wonderful time. It’s just such a nice city. Charming, one might even say.

Before we’d left, Paul had noticed I had a tape of The State, so when we got home we watched that. I had forgotten how good The State was. We about died laughing. I was amazed that my VCR still worked, as I don’t think I’ve used it once since I moved here. Enjoying the The State tape made me look through my tapes, and I found one with stuff on the label like “Jeff’s birthday” and “Elaine’s concert.” We ended up watching this whole thing! It was birthday parties (Jeff’s eighth and ninth, my eleventh) and school concerts (’84 and ’85 and environs), Christmases (’85, when I got the radio that’s still upstairs, and ’86, when apparently my grandfather was staying with us [I do not remember this]). I made an ass of myself pointing out people I remember and people I do not.

I was saddened to know I’ve forgotten things that certainly happened. A picnic at the playground by Columbia. Bowling for Jeff’s eighth birthday. Grandpa Beckett at Christmas. I did enjoy seeing the day I got that radio, and the day Jeff got that weird green cobra-man action figure he never took out of the package, and so on.

The rest of the tape was the 1984 winter Olympics. We watched some Rosalyn Sumners, even. (1984 silver medalist in figure skating; daughter of one of my father’s old coworkers and friends.) The commercials were the best part: hilarious. Kmart was apparently the #1 sponsor of the Sarajevo Olympics, and their ads were great. There was a Vic-20 in one of them. There was even a Macintosh ad! It was all about the mouse, saying “if you have one finger…” and so on.

We went to bed around 4 am. Sheesh. When I got up today, a little while after Julie and Paul did, I came downstairs to find them watching “Mad About You” on an old videotape they’d pulled out. Apparently my ancient VCR and the tapes I’ve never thrown away are very entertaining. I miss that show, and I’m watching the whole tape now. Right now, in fact, I’m watching the massive NBC marketing juggernaut that was the night of the last “Seinfeld.” Later on this tape, I think, are probably a bunch of the shows I used to tape, like “NewsRadio.” The label also says it has Saturday Night Live with the best of Chris Farley.

But I have a 1984 Macintosh commercial on tape!