Where the Shriners and the lepers play their ukeleles all day long

I actually wrote this yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to post it until now.

So, bethje and I are in Albuquerque now, visiting my dad and his wife Barbara. Yesterday morning, we flew in from Philadelphia, with a layover at Midway Airport in Chicago. I hadn't flown since going here and back again after my sophomore year of college, and that was my first time flying commercial (I had been in a private plane once before that). That time, my dad was with me, and he led us through everything. This time, we had to figure everything out for ourselves, and I probably annoyed the airport employees with some of my questions ("Do I have to take a Game Boy out of its case?"). Anyway, the planes didn't have assigned seats, which was kind of annoying. I hate trying to find seats on a crowded bus, and this was pretty similar to that. On the flight to Chicago, we got some of those peanuts to eat, and the bags really were as hard to open as all the lame stand-up comics say. Beth actually opened mine for me. The flight was boring. I spent most of it playing Final Fantasy II and reading an interview with David Cross in an airline magazine. I found out that he gets annoyed when people recognize him from Just Shoot Me (which I've hardly ever watched, so I certainly wouldn't have recognized him from that), and that he had an argument with some Fox executive about whether his character on Arrested Development would be allowed to have a mustache. Apparently the executive didn't like mustaches on TV characters, for whatever reason.

At Midway Airport, I bought a piece of ridiculously overpriced pizza, and then we waited for the flight. This was a longer flight (well, obviously, considering the distance we had to cover), and they gave us snack packs in addition to the peanuts. These contained Ritz crackers with cheese, Jell-O fruit snacks, and golden Oreos. Neither Beth nor I enjoyed the flight very much. I don't think I could ever become a frequent flyer.

When we arrived at Albuquerque, it was raining, which isn't really very common here. Otherwise, it's pretty much how I remember it, with everything being brown and dry, and the Sandias being easily visible out the window of the room where Beth is staying.

This entry had a lot about airline food, didn't it? That probably wasn't very interesting for anybody. Oh, well.

The Phantom Menace

So, as I indicated in my last post, I think I might be sick. I threw up earlier this morning, which was kind of weird, because I don't think I had eaten anything weird. We all went out to Bennigan's last night, and I just had what I usually do, which was never made me sick when I ate it in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. The strange thing is that I also got sick last time I visited New Mexico, so maybe it's something in the area that makes me feel that way. I think I'm feeling better now, but I don't know for sure.

On a less disgusting note, after eating last night, my dad, Barbara, bethje, and I all went to see The Phantom of the Opera at the movies. I'd heard the music for the show, but never actually seen it on the stage. I know my dad and Beth both had seen it. I'm not sure about Barbara. Anyway, it was pretty good, but they added in some odd stuff.

( Spoilers for the film )