the fruitcake enterprises social review -- spring 2019
In the spring of 2019, I engaged in in-person social interaction with the following people on the indicated number of days:
1. Shobhit -- 20
2. Danielle -- 8
3. Laney -- 8
4. Karen -- 4
5. Gabriel -- 3
6. Jennifer -- 2
7. Ivan -- 2
8. Claudia -- 2
9. Lea -- 2
10. Elise -- 2
11. Sean -- 2
12. Casey -- 2
13. Emma -- 2
14. Auntie Rose -- 1
15. Shauna -- 2
16. Heather -- 1
17. Mandy -- 1
18. Dad -- 1
19. Sherri -- 1
20. Lynn -- 1
21. Elin -- 1
22. Mimi -- 1
23. Scott -- 1
24. Janice -- 1
25. Zephyr -- 1
26. Dylan -- 1
27. Tess -- 1
28. Nancy -- 1
29. Tim -- 1
30. Nick -- 1
31. Goldie -- 1
32. Sara -- 1
33. Bill -- 1
34. Matthew -- 1
Total days in the spring with in-person social interaction: 43 (46.7%, a -7.7 percentage point change from winter)
. . . Hmm. Shobhit continues on a downward trend in terms of points-per-quarter for the past three quarters (34 last fall; 26 in winter; 20 now). In fact, this is his lowest point count since fall 2017, when he also got 20 points. But you know what? He is just to blame for this himself as anyone! Usually he gets a higher than average count in spring for two reasons: my Birth Week, and the week of our anniversary, when we usually go on a multi-day trip, which always gives him as many points as there are days of the trip. Well, this year he did participate in 20 days of my Birth Week activities, which is actually a pretty good showing considering the hours he worked at his job -- but! This year the weekend of our anniversary yielded him all of one point. This is very unusual compared to the most recent few years, but because of all the other travel plans I had this year, and the fact that we had to be in town the very next day for Britni and David's wedding (for which he does not get a Social Review point, nor does anyone else who was there; I have never included family gatherings -- which include weddings as well as holidays -- in my counts of days with social activity), we did not plan a large anniversary trip this year. We merely planned a two-night trip to Portland, Oregon, from which we were going to go straight to Britni's wedding . . . and then Shobhit hurt his back and we had to cancel even that, settling for a day in Seattle for our anniversary.
Saturday, March 23: with Laney, double feature at the Braeburn Condos Theatre (Die Hard 2 and Airplane!)
1. Shobhit -- 20
2. Danielle -- 8
3. Laney -- 8
4. Karen -- 4
5. Gabriel -- 3
6. Jennifer -- 2
7. Ivan -- 2
8. Claudia -- 2
9. Lea -- 2
10. Elise -- 2
11. Sean -- 2
12. Casey -- 2
13. Emma -- 2
14. Auntie Rose -- 1
15. Shauna -- 2
16. Heather -- 1
17. Mandy -- 1
18. Dad -- 1
19. Sherri -- 1
20. Lynn -- 1
21. Elin -- 1
22. Mimi -- 1
23. Scott -- 1
24. Janice -- 1
25. Zephyr -- 1
26. Dylan -- 1
27. Tess -- 1
28. Nancy -- 1
29. Tim -- 1
30. Nick -- 1
31. Goldie -- 1
32. Sara -- 1
33. Bill -- 1
34. Matthew -- 1
Total days in the spring with in-person social interaction: 43 (46.7%, a -7.7 percentage point change from winter)
. . . Hmm. Shobhit continues on a downward trend in terms of points-per-quarter for the past three quarters (34 last fall; 26 in winter; 20 now). In fact, this is his lowest point count since fall 2017, when he also got 20 points. But you know what? He is just to blame for this himself as anyone! Usually he gets a higher than average count in spring for two reasons: my Birth Week, and the week of our anniversary, when we usually go on a multi-day trip, which always gives him as many points as there are days of the trip. Well, this year he did participate in 20 days of my Birth Week activities, which is actually a pretty good showing considering the hours he worked at his job -- but! This year the weekend of our anniversary yielded him all of one point. This is very unusual compared to the most recent few years, but because of all the other travel plans I had this year, and the fact that we had to be in town the very next day for Britni and David's wedding (for which he does not get a Social Review point, nor does anyone else who was there; I have never included family gatherings -- which include weddings as well as holidays -- in my counts of days with social activity), we did not plan a large anniversary trip this year. We merely planned a two-night trip to Portland, Oregon, from which we were going to go straight to Britni's wedding . . . and then Shobhit hurt his back and we had to cancel even that, settling for a day in Seattle for our anniversary.
So, in terms of literal point count, the stars just did not align for Shobhit this quarter. But not to worry! Shobhit's points can get knocked down significantly and he still places ahead by a mile at #1 in the rankings.
The truly significant change this quarter is Danielle at #2, which really never happens. But, instead of a big trip for my anniversary with Shobhit, I took a six-day trip for a wedding with her, without which she would be ranked far lower on this list. But the Ontario / New York trip with her yielded Danielle six points on its own; the requisite Birth Week activity another point; another day in early April just hanging out at her place bumped it up to eight. This technically ties her with Laney with 8 points, and with just about anyone else I would still rank Laney as usual at #2 because I spend so much more time with her, typically, than anyone besides Shobhit -- just in terms of cumulative hours, rather than just days -- but Danielle is a special case this time as I was with her nearly all day every day for six days. Aside from Shobhit, there is no doubt that in terms of cumulative hours, I spent more time with Danielle than I did with anyone else at all.
So, that bumped Laney down to #3 and Karen to #4. Gabriel's numbers are always all over the map with this -- and he is unique in his open contempt for my even tracking something like this (as well as the very concept of my Birth Week itself, although I have managed to wrangle him into it consistently every year since its inception) -- but his ranking at #5 here is the same as it was last time (in spite of it being one less point) . Next time he is likely to be either right around that same ranking, or much lower. Who knows?
Ivan has usually ranked #3 to #5 even while no longer living with us, with the exception of the last time he got only 3 points, in the spring of last year -- and that only being because he was gone in Europe much of that time. This time he falls from last quarter's #4 spot with 5 points to #7 with 2 points, mostly because of both timing of his visits relative to the changing of the seasons, and the fact that I only saw him the one time this spring -- and I usually see him at least every couple of months. But, his last visit to Seattle was in February; he did not bother coming again before I went to see him in Bellingham during my Birth Week, and I spent time with him for two days there (one evening and then all the next morning). He proceeded to stay busy with work and school and chose to wait for another Seattle visit until he graduated; at first he suggested June and now he's saying July.
In fact, his new hairbrained plan (and these hairbrained plans change every few months) is to go live in New Zealand for a year or two, starting in August. Now he's asked to come visit and stay in the guest room both the first and last weekend of July. He typically stays for three or four days each time, so combined this could yield him between six and eight points for the next Social Review for summer, firmly establishing him likely in the #3 spot again. If all goes to his plan thereafter (and time will only tell about that, I kind of have my doubts, but who knows -- "I just need a change of scenery," he told me, and he's said that more than once before), he'll be disappeared completely from my Social Review posts for up to a couple of years. So whatever the case, I look forward to getting to see more of him for this summer at least.
Jennifer gets a pretty typical minimum of two points for the spring due to my annual overnight stay with her for my Birth Week; Claudia, Lea and Elise round out the top 10 with 2 points each themselves -- Lea (Gabriel's girlfriend) and Elise (Danielle's friend whose wedding in Syracuse I attended) being fairly new people in my life. The only other people also getting two points are people I interacted with both at Elise and Sean's wedding as well as the rehearsal dinner the night before. The total days with socializing has been steadily going down the past few quarters, as has the total number of people to rank, but whatever; I don't mind things quieting down a bit, to be honest.
So how about we now get to the who did what with whom where and when!
Saturday, March 23: with Laney, double feature at the Braeburn Condos Theatre (Die Hard 2 and Airplane!)
Saturday, March 30: with Shobhit, VegFest 2019, and later to a comedy show (Amy Miller at Laughs Comedy Club)
Sunday, March 31: with Shobhit, to a movie (Dumbo)
Thursday, April 4: with Mimi, Janice, Goldie, Sara, and more, Trudy's retirement party
Thursday, April 4: with Shobhit, Mimi and Janice, out for dinner (Bai Tong Thai Street Cafe)
Friday, April 5: with Laney, Happy Hour at Good Bar, then more drinks and food at Zócalo
Saturday, April 6: with Laney, to a movie (Shazam!)
Saturday, April 6: with Shohhit and Danielle, hanging out at Danielle's place
Sunday, April 7: with Shobhit, out to lunch (Grand Central Bakery)
Monday, April 8: with Shobhit, out for dinner (Wedgwood II Vegetarian Thai)
Thursday, April 11: with Karen, out to lunch (Six-Seven at the Edgewater Hotel)
Thursday, April 11: with Shobhit, out for dinner (Papas Hot Potatoes)
Saturday, April 13: with Shobhit, Tulip Festival 2019 and then out to lunch (Mirkwood & Shire Cafe)
Sunday, April 14: with Shobhit and Laney, Braeburn Condos Double Feature (Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men)
Saturday, April 20: with Shobhit, Birth Week Prologue: Day trip to San Juan Island
Saturday, April 20: with Gabriel, Mandy and Lea, hanging out at Lea's apartment
Wednesday, April 24: with Elin and Scott, out to lunch (Little Thai)
Thursday, April 25: with Karen, out to lunch (Six-Seven at the Edgewater Hotel)
Friday, April 26: with Laney, Birth Week 2019, Day One: Fremont Happy Hour Brew Cruise from South Lake Union, and out for dinner (Rooster's Bar & Grill)
Saturday, April 27: with Heather and Tim, Boating across Puget Sound, Des Moines Marina to Gig Harbor
Saturday, April 27: with Jennifer and Matthew, Birth Week overnight at Jennifer's place
Sunday, April 28: with Jennifer, hanging out at her place
Sunday, April 28: with Auntie Rose, lunch (Howell's Sandwich Co) and strolling through downtown Port Townsend
Sunday, April 28: with Ivan, for a walk and out to dinner (On Rice) in Bellingham
Monday, April 29: with Ivan, out for breakfast (Little Cheerful Cafe); visiting Larrabee State Park and Fairhaven Park (to walk to Hoag's Pond) in Bellingham
Tuesday, April 30: with Shobhit, picnic lunch at Greenlake Park, then pedal boating on Greenlake
Wednesday, May 1: with Danielle, out for dinner (Water's Table)
Thursday, May 2: with Dad, Birth Week Bike Ride (Chehalis Western Trail)
Thursday, May 2: with Dad and Sherri, out to lunch (Tugboat Annie's)
Thursday, May 2: with Shobhit, wine tasting at Total Wine & More
Thursday, May 2: with Shobhit, Lynn, Zephyr and Nick, out for dinner (Demitri's Woodstone Taverna) and walking the Edmonds boardwalk
Thursday, May 2: with Shobhit, Gabriel and Lea, "Comedy & Science" Q&A at Laughs Comedy Club
Friday, May 3: with Shobhit, Argosy Cruises Locks Cruise, then An Evening with the Clintons (WaMu Theater)
Saturday, May 4: with Shobhit, out for brunch (Maggie Bluffs)
Sunday, May 5: with Shauna, Nancy and Bill, Sunday Public Sail from The Center for Wooden Boats
Sunday, May 5: with Shauna, out to lunch (Veggie Grill)
Wednesday, May 8: with Shobhit, to a movie (Avengers: Endgame)
Friday, May 10: with Laney, dinner and drinks at Mountaineering Club at the Graduate Seattle Hotel
Saturday, May 11: with Shobhit, out for dinner (Wedgwood II Vegetarian Thai)
Monday, May 13: with Karen, out to lunch (Six-Seven at the Edgewater Hotel)
Wednesday, May 15: with Claudia and Dylan, out for Happy Hour dinner and drinks (Navy Strength)
Friday, May 17: with Gabriel and Tess, to a movie (Pokémon Detective Pikachu)
Saturday, May 18: with Shobhit, out for brunch (Cafe Pettiroso)
Thursday, May 23: with Karen, out to lunch (Six-Seven at the Edgewater Hotel)
Sunday, May 26: with Shobhit, out for brunch (Maggie Bluffs)
Sunday, May 26: with Laney, Braeburn Condos double feature (Blood Simple and No Country for Old Men)
Tuesday, May 28: with Danielle, adventurous travel to Toronto; out for drinks (The One Eighty)
Wednesday, May 29: with Danielle, Day in Toronto (Toronto Islands; out to lunch (Pai Northern Thai Kitchen); exploring The PATH and Toronto Eaton Centre; CN Tower; out for dinner (The Loose Moose))
Thursday, May 30: with Danielle, travel to Niagara Falls and Embassy Suites by Hilton; out to lunch (Smoke's Poutinerie); Journey Behind the Falls; Hornblower Cruise; out for dinner (Vittorio's Italian Eatery)
Friday, May 31: with Danielle, walking Rainbow Bridge to American Falls; travel to Syracuse via Buffalo
Friday, May 31: with Danielle, Sean and Elise, Emma, Casey and more, Sean and Elise's rehearsal dinner (Dinosaur Bar-B-Que)
Saturday, June 1: with Danielle, Sean and Elise, Emma, Casey and more, Sean and Elise's wedding (The Orchards at Rocking Horse Farm)
Sunday, June 2: with Danielle, Clinton Square, and travel home from Syracuse
Saturday, June 8: with Laney, to a movie (Rocketman) and to the Volunteer Park Pride Festival
Sunday, June 9: with Shobhit, out for brunch (Jimmy's On Broadway)
Wednesday, June 12: with Shobhit and more, Braeburn Condos barbeque
Friday, June 14: with Shobhit, 6th / 15th anniversary dinner (Mondello Ristorante Italiano) and to Golden Gardens Park
Wednesday, June 19: with Clauda, lunch on the patio