accounting for a walk

— पांच हजार आठ सौ आठ — Last night, I watched a movie at home, and I went for a walk. And that about sums up my evening. The movie I watched was The Accountant, my second time since seeing it in theaters in 2016. I really enjoyed it then, and I enjoyed it again now. A rare movie with very mixed reviews (51 on MetaCritic) that I really enjoyed, in spite of its clear imperfections. It's just incredibly watchable and entertaining, and I got a few good laughs out of it too. I wanted to brush up on the original before finally getting out to theaters to see The Accountant 2, which I plan to do tomorrow. I'll be finally seeing Thunderbolts after work with Laney, today—my first movie in theaters since Sinners, a solid two weeks ago today (also with Laney). While catching up with Noah at work this morning—who told me he just saw Sinners last night—I noted that my Birth Week is one of few 10-day stretches in the year when I typically have no time to go to movies. So now I'm catching up a bit. — पांच हजार आठ सौ आठ — — पांच हजार आठ सौ आठ — Shobhit watched all his news programs on his laptop while I watched the movie in the bedroom on my computer. He had just watched The Accountant himself recently, maybe the week before last. But, once I was done, around 8:00, I went ahead and went for a walk with him. We just walked up to the north end of Broadway and back, although we stopped at his p-patch plot in our condo complex first. I was looking at the buildings surrounding that area, and wanting to get better visual context, because it kind of looked like there were buildings in the center of the block that do not reach the street, only the alleyway that comes about 2/3 of the way in from E Olive Street. So, at my request, for the first time in the 17 years we've lived there, we walked up 14th and around to that alley, to come inside and check it out. The building with a sky blue wall overlooking the north side of our p-patch is actually the end of a narrow building that does go all the way to Olive. I did not realize that. But! Especially after comfirming on Google Maps Satellite View, there are two structures, which basically look like houses dwarfed by all these residential complexes surrounding it, at the end of that alleyway and which do not go to any of the main streets. They're unusually secluded there. I did count 14 separate structures on our block alone, though. Or I guess I should say, 14 separate rooftops—counting The Braeburn West as one, even though it looks very much like two from the overhead view (it's one building). By the looks of the other rooftop designs on Google Satellite View, though, I'd guess there are 11 separate residential complexes on the block, at most. If the two secluded structures at the end of the alley in the middle of the block are considered one complex (I actually have no idea), then that number would go down to 10. I did find myself wondering how many people live on our block alone—it would have to be a lot. The Braeburn Condominiums' two buildings account for roughly one-fourth of the block, and we have a total of 154 units. None of the other buildings would be as densely populated, though. My best, broad guess would be a population of somewhere between 400 and 500 on our block alone. Fascinating stuff! Anyway we then walked up to Broadway. We came back via Pike Street and back to Pine again. I was rather struck by how many people seemed to be out on a Monday night, but then it registered that it was Cinco de Mayo, so that would explain it. — पांच हजार आठ सौ आठ — I seem to have developed a minor cold. Who I got it from, I haven't a clue, but it must have happened over my Birth Week. I'm just grateful that, if it had to happen, it's happening now and now actually during the past week. Laney and I agreed to wear masks at the movie tonight, and mostly because I was meeting up with her, I took a covid test this morning as a precaution and it was negative. Also, if I have to have a cold in the spring, I'd rather it be now than later as well: I should hopefully therefore be fine on the weekend trip to Fox Island with Gabriel and his brother and friends May 30 to June 1; and then for Shobhit's and my trip to World Pride Washington, D.C. June 4-10. I like it when viruses and ailments work out strategically. I do hope to get better sleep tonight, though. I slept horribly last night, and not because of the cold—I clearly put too much of the loose tea into the chai I made yesterday evening, and it kept me from sleeping very deeply all night. There's a bit of a trick to getting just the right amount of tea so it doesn't keep you wide awake all night, and I guess I'm still perfecting it. — पांच हजार आठ सौ आठ — [posted 12:30pm]

returns

— पांच हजार आठ सौ सात — Back to work! I thought I would be really overwhelmed catching up this morning, but even though I had over 400 unread emails, it actually hasn't been all that bad. I was relieved to find that May ad change went relatively well last Wednesday, in stark contrast to April ad change. So of course, I also find myself reflecting on the past week, and how I have organized it on Flickr. Total photo albums: 13
Total number of Observation Decks & Viewpoints: 14
Total number of photos (including video clips): 470 Last year, I had 12 photo albums but 13 islands visited (last year's theme being Washington State Islands), and a total of 666 photos and video clips. Two things offered an advantage there, though: I counted the three-day trip with Gabriel, Garret, Andy and Brian for a weekend trip to Lopez Island early in the month that covered three days; plus a return to Jetty Island with Lynn and Zephyr in August whose photos I added to the same album. If I counted only shots taken strictly during my Birth Week last year, there would have been 11 photo albums, still 13 islands visited, and 431 shots total. Oh, and I should mention again my plan to meet up with Lynn and Zephyr next weekend, photos for which I will likely add to this year's Birth Week collection, and that will increase this year's photo albums to 14, the Observation Decks & Viewpoints to 15, and probably a couple dozen more shots than the current total of 470. Obviously I fudge this stuff a bit. Marie came by my desk this morning and, somewhat to my surprise, she had already read the "Part Two" email travelogue I had sent last night. She even commented on the number of times I had to reschedule plans. She was just as astonished as I was, though, by the Smith Tower ticketing snafu where they just rebooked me for one day later than my originally booked date of Friday evening. I'm still annoyed that, had that never happened, Shauna would likely have been able to make it. How many Birth Week album collections do I have now, anyway? 23! I should take note of the fact that, after I celebrate turning 50 next year, 2027 will be my 25th one celebrated as a "Birth Week." And I will continue it until the day I die! Or at least I get dementia. What was I talking about? Who are you? Who am I? — पांच हजार आठ सौ सात — — पांच हजार आठ सौ सात — I just had a ten-day stretch with no space for movie-going, as tends to be the case during my Birth Week. I also feel like coming back to work is giving me some space to breathe. I suppose it would be different were I not so obsessed with written documentation and photography, but between the activities themselves, the daily blog posts I wrote, the photo organizing and uploading on Flickr, and on top of all that the travelogue emails I sent out (always split into two for my Birth Week, as it covers ten days), I have time for almost nothing else all week. I barely managed to stay on top of TV shows still currently releasing episodes (The Last of Us, The Righteous Gemstones, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver all releasing episodes both Sunday nights; the twin rerun episodes of As Time Goes By on KCTS Saturday nights; the three-episode release of Andor on Disney+ Wednesday evening). Shobhit and I did a couple of stints of minor shopping. Otherwise, I would say the only other thing I did all week was sleep. It was nice not having to get up at 5:15 every morning, I must say. My evening is free tonight, but I'm hoping to rewatch the original The Accountant, as I want to go see The Accountant 2 on Wednesday. Laney and I are seeing Thunderbolts tomorrow evening. I'm still debating whether to see The Legend of Ochi on Thursday, as it's not playing at AMC and I'd have to pay an extra ticket price at Regal—it's not even playing at SIFF Cinemas. The reviews are merely mixed-positive, so maybe not. In any case, I'm back to the regularly scheduled movie programming this week. At least Laney and I have our next Happy Hour on Saturday, and then I have the meetup with Lynn and Zephyr on Sunday. That'll change up the scenery a bit. — पांच हजार आठ सौ सात — [posted 12:30pm]