I had much fun yesterday. Greg and I took a walk down by Henson Creek (after I went back to get socks), and then met up with Thomas and Alanna at the bowling alley on Andrews. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going, but we made it there without getting hopelessly lost. Andrews is only so big, after all. And my mom's vague directions worked. I bowled terribly, as usual. As team, "Talanna" wiped the floor with us. The alley was half empty, so we could play leisurely. Badly, but at least we weren't rushed. And our movie didn't start for hours, so we had time to laugh at each other between frames.

After we ate (they have pretty good food), Thomas and Alanna disappeared (ahem), so Greg and I sat around outside the base theater before we left for Hoffman. The movie (Pirates of the Caribbean) was really good, but very long. It started at 8:30 and we didn't get out until 11. But I didn't even notice the time passing because it held my attention so well. There was lots of action, some humor, some romance, and a very tiny amount of scary. You know, what with the undead pirates and all. I think that when the audience responds to a movie so often (by laughing and gasping, when appropriate), that raises the movie's Good factor. There was lots of that. Go see it.

It turns out that the hotel messed up my parents' reservations, so they left yesterday afternoon for Virginia Beach. That could mean they'll be back a day early, I'm not sure. I might have to reschedule that secret party I'm throwing. Based on my experience just today, I don't think I would like living alone. It's so quiet. And I was trying to take a nap when I got home from work, and I kept getting interrupted. (One of the rugrats' friends came knocking, the phone rang, the mailman brought my Amazon package.) But I have this little nagging feeling on loneliness.

I read Starting with Alice (Phylllis Reynolds Naylor) today. I love the Alice series. This one was a prequel: Alice's life as a third-grader. The idea is to backtrack and fill in some gaps up to The Agony of Alice, the original first book. It was an okay book. I mean, I can't quite identify with third-grade Alice anymore, so I was detached as I read. I'm just working on reading the whole series, so.

Today's Final Jeopardy question made me think. Not about the answer, though. The question was "This magazine had its first swimsuit issue in 2003, on 100 years of the swimsuit, featuring a photo of topless island women." I knew it couldn't be Sports Illustrated, because they've had swimsuit issues for ages. Then I though, why? Is there any justification to that issue? Yeah, swimming is a sport, but those are not the kind of swimsuits one wears to compete in. And does the swimsuit issue have other articles in it? I was just thinking. (The answer, by the way, is National Geographic.)

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