the fruitcake enterprises social review—winter 2024

In the winter of 2024, I engaged in in-person or face-to-face virtual social interaction with the following people on the indicated number of days: 1. Shobhit—21 *
2. Laney—17
3. Alexia—8
4. Tony—7 *
5. Gabriel—4
6. Karen—4
7. Jake—6 *
8. Ryan—6 *
9. Daniel—6 *
10. Danielle—3
11. Ben—4 *
12. Chris B—4 *
13. Chris G—4 *
14. Joe—4 *
15. Tracy—2
16. Gabby—2
17. Lea—2
18. Derek—3 *
19. Dad—1
20. Sherri—1
21. Jennifer—1
22. Gina—1
23. Beth—1
24. Mel—1 **
25. Steve—1 **
26. Matthew—1
27. Noah—1
28. Amanda—1
29. Katy—1
30. Nick—1
31. Britne—2 *
32. Sean—2 *
33. Hope—1
34. Chase—1
35. Ian—1
36. Bob—1
37. Beth—1
38. Tristan—1
39. Benny—1
40. Michael—1
41. Gina—1 *
* Regular attendee at Action Movie Night ** Book Club Total days in the fall with social interaction: 54 (59.3.8%, a -5.5 percentage point change from fall)
Not a lot of new, notable trends this quarter. Even the most significant change is still fairly minor: Tracy went from 4 points in the fall to 2 points in the winter, thus dropping from #8 to #14. Gabriel has the same number of points this time as last (4), but still rose in ranks from #7 to #5. The only reason he wasn't #5 last time was because of unusual time spent with both Faith and Shivy, in Palm Springs. Not that Gabriel of all people gives half a shit about this. No one else does either, truth be told. Only I do! Shobhit, Laney, Alexia: 1, 2, 3—the new normal. Tony only gets to rank so high because of how many Action Movie Nights there have been. Danielle did get 3 points this quarter as compared to only 1 last, thus jumping from #13 to #9. Only four positions, but still not bad, as so often I only see her once in a quarter. We try to make sure we hang out more often but between the distance and our schedules it can be a challenge (the same is the case with Gabriel). As ever, a good nine other people in the top 20 (aside from Shobhit) get their ranking due to being regulars at Action Movie Night. And because I don't directly socialize with most of them individually much, I do rank them lower than some people who technically have fewer points. This isn't an exact science, okay? So how about we get to the who did what with whom where and when . . .
Thursday, December 21: with Shobhit and Laney, to a movie (Wonka) Friday, December 22: with Shobhit and Karen, out for lunch (Saffron Grill) Friday, December 22: with Shobhit and Alexia, Tulalip Lights & Ice, and Olympic Manor Lights Sunday, December 24: with Dad, Sherri, Gina, Beth, Jennifer, Matthew, Hope, Chase, and Ian, out for dinner (Emperor's Palace) Sunday, December 24: with Dad, Oly Lightstravaganza 2023 Wednesday, December 27: with Tony, Jake, Ben, and Daniel, Action Movie Night (The Hills Have Eyes) Saturday, December 30: with Alexia, holiday movie night at her place (Four Christmases) Sunday, December 31: with Shobhit, New Year's Eve at the Space Needle Monday, January 1: with Shobhit, New Year's Eve at the Space Needle Monday, January 1: with Danielle, games and a movie (Barbie) at her place Monday, January 1: with Gabriel and Lea, brief visit at their place Wednesday, January 3: with Noah, Amanda, Katy, Bob, Beth, Tristan, Benny, Michael, and more, out for lunch (Gourmondo) Friday, January 5: with Alexia, movie night at her place (Barbie) Saturday, January 6: with Laney, Braeburn condos double feature (The Road Warrior and Mad Max: Fury Road) Sunday, January 7: with Laney, to a movie (American Fiction) Sunday, January 7: with Laney and Gabriel, out for drinks (La Cocina Oazaqueña) Monday, January 8: with Karen, lunch over Zoom Tuesday, January 9: with Laney, to a movie (All of Us Strangers) Wednesday, January 10: with Shobhit, Tony, Ryan, Chris B, Joe, Derek, Daniel, and Britne, Action Movie Night (Police Story) Saturday, January 13: with Shobhit, out dancing (Massive) Sunday, January 14: with Shobhit, still out dancing (Massive) Sunday, January 14: with Laney, out for drinks (Poquitos) Tuesday, January 16: with Tracy, to a movie (Poor Things) Saturday, January 20: with Laney, Braeburn Condos double feature (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) Sunday, January 21: with Laney, to a movie (The Zone of Interest) Monday, January 22: with Gabby and Nick, Silent Movie Monday at The Paramount (Safety Last) Tuesday, January 23: with Shobhit, to a movie (America Fiction) Wednesday, January 24: with Shobhit, Tony, Jake, Ryan, Joe, Chris B, Derek, Daniel, and Brtine, Action Movie Night (Casablanca) Saturday, January 27: with Laney, Happy Hour at A Pizza Mart Sunday, January 28: with Laney, to a movie (Origin) Monday, January 29: with Shobhit, for a walk Thursday, February 1: with Karen, lunch over Zoom Friday, February 2: with Shobhit and Alexia, out for dinner (Saffron Grill) Saturday, February 3: with Gabriel and Lea, movie night at their place (Sideways) Sunday, February 4: with Laney, Braeburn Condos double feature (School of Rock and Theater Camp) Monday, February 5: with Mel and Steve, Book Club at Cafe Cosmos Wednesday, February 7: with Shobhit, Tony, Jake, Ryan, Ben, Chris G, Derek, Sean, Daniel, and Britne, Action Movie Night (Strays) Friday, February 9: with Alexia, movie night at her place (What Lies Beneath) Saturday, February 10: with Laney, happy hour at Volunteer Park Sunday, Februar 11: with Danielle, out for dessert (Common Ground Coffee & Cupcakes) and hot tubbing at her place Sunday, February 11: with Danielle, Gail, Michell and Nick, Supe Bowl hangout Tuesday, February 13: with Shobhit, for a walk Wednesday, Februar 14: with Shobhit, out for dinner (Kedai Makan) Friday, February 16: with Karen, lunch over Zoom Saturday, February 17: with Laney, Braeburn Condos double feature (The Lobster and Poor Things), and with Shobhit, joning for the second movie Sunday, February 18: with Shobhit and Danielle, Madonna concert at Climate Pledge Arena Wednesday, February 21: with Tony, Jake, Ben, Ryan, Chris G, and Chris B, Action Movie Night (The Host) Friday, February 23: with Alexia, to a standup comedy show (Amy Miller) Saturday, February 24: with Shobhit, Ry, and Ry's friend, SAG Awards viewing party at Elysian Fields Thursday, February 29: with Tracy, to a movie (Dune Part Two) Sunday, March 3: with Alexia, to a movie (Dune Part Two) Wednesday, March 6: with Gabby and Amy, out for breakfast (Portage Bay Cafe) Wednesday, March 6: with Shobhit, Tony, Jake, Ryan, Chris G, Joe, Sean, Daniel, Gina, and Tony and Ryan's work friend, Action Movie Night (Crank) Saturday, March 9: with Laney, Happy Hour at Poquitos Sunday, March 10: with Shobhit, for a walk Sunday, March 10: with Shobhit and (virtually) Gabriel, watching the Oscars Tuesday, March 12: with Shobhit and Laney, to a movie (Dune Part Two) Friday, March 15: with Alexia, movie night at her place (K-19: The Widowmaker) Saturday, March 16: with Laney, Braeburn Condos double feature (Let the Right One In and Let Me In) Sunday, March 17: with Laney, to a movie (Arthur the King) Tuesday, March 19: with Laney, to a movie (Love Lies Bleeding) Wednesday, March 20: with Tony, Jake, Ben, Ryan, Chris G, Chris B, Daniel, and more Action Movie Night (A Scanner Darkly)

lesbians and candidates

— पाँच हजार पाँच सौ अट्ठासी — I had thought I might go home first and then head downtown to meet Laney for the movie we went to see at Pacific Place at 5:40. But, then I decided, fuck it—I didn't want to rush home only to turn right around and rush right back downtown again. I decided I liked the casual approach much better, texted Laney to tell her I'd be downtown around 5:00 and asked if she wanted to come down a bit earlier to hang out for a short while before the movie. She said: Sure! And suggested we meet at Westlake Park. Predictably, she was already there when I arrived, sitting at one of the little two-person metal tables they have arranged around the park. Apparently distractingly loud music from a speaker hung on a tree right above where she sat started right before I arrived, so we shifted over to the north a bit, closer to Westlake Center, and sat under a table with an umbrella. I tilted the umbrella to aim its shadow over us better. And, we just sat there for about half an hour. It was quite wonderful, actually—yesterday was the last of a several-day stint of weather actually perfect for this time of year. I read through my Facebook Memories every morning and there's been a few from 2019 complaining about how unseasonably hot it was, which has to mean it was well into the seventies. Over the weekend we didn't quite hit 70° but rather got into the upper sixties, sunny, absolutely lovely with a light jacket. I actually took my jacket off when I sat down with Laney, although it was time to put it back on again once the sun set behind nearby buildings and we were again in shadow. In any case, I was really glad we did that. It may have been only half an hour but it was sure a rejuvenating thirty minutes. Then, we walked the couple of blocks up Pine to Pacific Place, up to the fourth floor AMC Theater, and we saw Love Lies Bleeding—a solid, B-plus lesbian noir that we were both very impressed with on multiple levels. We both docked it a few points for a very strange turn it takes for a few minutes at the end that neither of us could really make sense of. Laney was of the mind to walk home after the movie, knowing it would be at a pace slower than my usual, but it was fine. We also needed to walk over to Pike Street so we could walk on the side alongside the Convention Center that goes over the freeway and thus blocks the view, as she's afraid of heights and can't stand walking over the bridge on Pine. It was all perfectly lovely, and we said our goodbyes at her building on Broadway between Pine and Pike, an area that seems to be getting sketchier and sketchier, which is too bad. I walked the rest of the way home, dished up leftovers and new food Shobhit had made for dinner, went to the bedroom and wrote my review. I don't usually do this this late in the evening but I didn't want to wait until Thursday to watch this week's episode of Shogun on Hulu, so then we watched that, and it continues to be a great show, highly recommended. — पाँच हजार पाँच सौ अट्ठासी — — पाँच हजार पाँच सौ अट्ठासी — The thing that sets today apart is my participation in an interview panel, conducting three separate one-hour interviews today with candidates for the open Grocery Merchandiser position. There was one at 10:00 and another at 11:00; my typical lunch break is at noon. There will be a third interview at 3:00, that one a hybrid with the candidate calling in via Zoom because they're out of state but apparently willing to move. There's a "debrief" meeting after that at 4:00. With all that and the half-hour team meeting with Gabby and Amy, that's how my meetings total four hours today. I'll be glad when it's all done. Gabby came to my desk this morning, asked how I was feeling. I said I was feeling okay, which was true, even though I was slightly anxious about participating in something like this for the first time. She asked if I wanted to do any practice interview questions on her, and I said (kindly, I think) no; she was clearly disappointed. But, I have too much other stuff to work on today and all these meetings are already taking up too much time. So far, the interviews are going okay. I think it's safe to say I am contributing to the conversation the least, having less direct relevance to the job being applied for than Justine, Steven and Noah—the other three on the interview panel—do. But, we seem to be going through the pre-set list of questions in the same order each time, leaving me to ask the same two questions in each interview, slightly paraphrased from how they are written on the document: "Talk about what it means to you to drive business and how it's achieved," and "Tell me about how you introduce a policy change to your work group" (or, as I rephrased it in the second interview, "the people you work with"). Neither of these are questions I would ever naturally ask anyone in any cirsumtance at all, and there are other questions closer to things I might. But, the interviewees don't seem to notice anything particularly different about questions I ask versus others. I'm already slightly conflicted about the two candidates, who could both be good fits. I got a much better sense of both personality fit, and extent of relevant experience in a similar position elsewhere, with the first person. The second person has a far greater breadth of understanding of the natural foods industry and thus what our company's place in it is. There's still the last interview to happen later. I guess I'll have to follow up about my afternoon experiences in tomorrow's blog post. — पाँच हजार पाँच सौ अट्ठासी — [posted 12:44 pm]