![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
New Cat, Old Catacombs
Mar. 12th, 2024 08:35 pmWe're getting another cat! We were supposed to bring Nellie to meet another cat or two at a shelter, but they had a sickness going around, so that happened today instead. The cat we met today, Felix, was shy but affectionate, really leaning in when we pet him. Nellie was nervous, but didn't appear to have any real objection to him, no hissing or anything. We could have brought him home today, but he's getting another vaccination tomorrow, so the new plan is to pick him up on Friday. Nellie still seems out of sorts; she hid under the bed for a while when we got back home.
In other news, Beth and I have now been married for sixteen years. And since we got married on Leap Day, you could say we've had four actual anniversaries, if you wanted to be weirdly technical. It's a most ingenious paradox. We didn't actually celebrate on the day, though, aside from going out to eat. Instead, we took the day off on Friday, 1 March, and went on a tour of the catacombs at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral.
This isn't the same as the St. Patrick's near Rockefeller Center, although they're related; that one was built as sort of a replacement, although the old one is still open. It's on Mulberry Street in Nolita, and it's where they filmed the baptism scene from The Godfather.
John Hughes, the Archbishop of New York, was the one who proposed the building of the new cathedral, and also founded Fordham University. He was nicknamed Dagger John due to his aggressiveness.
The catacombs weren't as expansive as I might have figured. That's not to say they were small; I think they were about the same size as the church. It's just that, when I hear "catacombs," I kind of think of an underground labyrinth.
We were considering going somewhere else afterwards, maybe a museum or something, but it was already evening when we had finished with the tour. So instead we went to a few record stores and had dinner at a place called Bastard Burgers, mostly because Beth liked the name. It was one of those places where they smash the beef patties, and while I'm not entirely sure how that affects the taste, I did like it.
Last Saturday, we went to the Monster-Mania Convention in Cherry Hill, as we generally do twice a year. This one was Number 58, but that's counting some in other locations. Still, we've been to a lot of them. As usual, we mostly just attended the celebrity panels, although we did take a look at the dealer rooms. The first panel we saw was a cast reunion for Starship Troopers, which I did see in college, but don't remember particularly well. While I think I realized it was satirical, it was still too much of a war movie to really hold my interest. The room was already packed by the time we got there, so I didn't get any pictures of this one. Next was Michael Gross, whom I knew as the dad from Family Ties, but he was also in the Tremors films, which neither of us have seen.
Among other things, he talked about Tom Hanks playing his alcoholic brother-in-law. Then came actors from the 2013 version of The Evil Dead, another one neither of us have watched as of yet.
The first panel in the larger room was with Brad and Fiona Dourif, and I'm not sure we'd seen any other father and daughter sessions, although maybe I'm forgetting something. Somebody in the audience had him do the Chucky voice, even though he didn't want to, which I feel wasn't fair to him.
And the reunion for Children of the Corn, which we just saw, had John Franklin, Courtney Gains, and John Philbin.
After the convention, we ate at Friendly's. They brought back the mini mozzarella sticks, but they're even smaller now.
I hate that there are a few stories I have largely planned out, but trying to actually do the writing just feels tedious. But then, I've also pretty much finished with a few things and haven't done anything with them yet. I guess I haven't been particularly motivated, but I also feel there are ideas I want to get out and haven't figured out how to do so in an interesting way. Does anyone else know how that is? There's stuff I thought of when I was a kid that I think might be usable, but maybe I'm flattering myself.
In other news, Beth and I have now been married for sixteen years. And since we got married on Leap Day, you could say we've had four actual anniversaries, if you wanted to be weirdly technical. It's a most ingenious paradox. We didn't actually celebrate on the day, though, aside from going out to eat. Instead, we took the day off on Friday, 1 March, and went on a tour of the catacombs at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral.
This isn't the same as the St. Patrick's near Rockefeller Center, although they're related; that one was built as sort of a replacement, although the old one is still open. It's on Mulberry Street in Nolita, and it's where they filmed the baptism scene from The Godfather.
John Hughes, the Archbishop of New York, was the one who proposed the building of the new cathedral, and also founded Fordham University. He was nicknamed Dagger John due to his aggressiveness.
The catacombs weren't as expansive as I might have figured. That's not to say they were small; I think they were about the same size as the church. It's just that, when I hear "catacombs," I kind of think of an underground labyrinth.
We were considering going somewhere else afterwards, maybe a museum or something, but it was already evening when we had finished with the tour. So instead we went to a few record stores and had dinner at a place called Bastard Burgers, mostly because Beth liked the name. It was one of those places where they smash the beef patties, and while I'm not entirely sure how that affects the taste, I did like it.
Last Saturday, we went to the Monster-Mania Convention in Cherry Hill, as we generally do twice a year. This one was Number 58, but that's counting some in other locations. Still, we've been to a lot of them. As usual, we mostly just attended the celebrity panels, although we did take a look at the dealer rooms. The first panel we saw was a cast reunion for Starship Troopers, which I did see in college, but don't remember particularly well. While I think I realized it was satirical, it was still too much of a war movie to really hold my interest. The room was already packed by the time we got there, so I didn't get any pictures of this one. Next was Michael Gross, whom I knew as the dad from Family Ties, but he was also in the Tremors films, which neither of us have seen.
Among other things, he talked about Tom Hanks playing his alcoholic brother-in-law. Then came actors from the 2013 version of The Evil Dead, another one neither of us have watched as of yet.
The first panel in the larger room was with Brad and Fiona Dourif, and I'm not sure we'd seen any other father and daughter sessions, although maybe I'm forgetting something. Somebody in the audience had him do the Chucky voice, even though he didn't want to, which I feel wasn't fair to him.
And the reunion for Children of the Corn, which we just saw, had John Franklin, Courtney Gains, and John Philbin.
After the convention, we ate at Friendly's. They brought back the mini mozzarella sticks, but they're even smaller now.
I hate that there are a few stories I have largely planned out, but trying to actually do the writing just feels tedious. But then, I've also pretty much finished with a few things and haven't done anything with them yet. I guess I haven't been particularly motivated, but I also feel there are ideas I want to get out and haven't figured out how to do so in an interesting way. Does anyone else know how that is? There's stuff I thought of when I was a kid that I think might be usable, but maybe I'm flattering myself.
