Weekend Recap

[nekosensei]

Let's see, Friday night was dinner with the in-laws at Amada's Cafe. Once again, I ordered chilaquiles. Mmm...chilaquiles.

Saturday afternoon was doomsey's Christmas party at Maggiano's. Like past years, the food was delicious. I particularly liked the sponge cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate. Mmm...sugar coma. I got the chance to geek out with two daughters of doomsey's co-workers about knitting. Apparently, they've both taken up knitting and were interested in learning more. They knew the knit stitch, but they didn't know how to purl. I gave them a quick demonstration and then suggested that they should find some how-to videos on YouTube. I also pointed them to Ravelry.

Late Saturday evening, doomsey and I watched "Let the Right One In." I've been wanting to see that one for a while now. "Let the Right One In" is a Swedish movie about a boy, Oskar, who befriends the vampire-girl, Eli. It was a movie that really got me thinking. On the outside, it was presented as a romance of sorts, but I don't think that's exactly what it was. When I reflected on the movie later, the romance part left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. Was it a genuine romance or was she merely manipulating Oskar? doomsey didn't pick up on this until I mentioned it, but the middle-aged man who accompanied Eli and did some of her killing for her must have been another boy she seduced decades ago for exactly that purpose. (I don't remember the character's name off-hand, so let's call him Renfield). Oskar was being groomed as Renfield's replacement. You could tell that Renfield loved Eli a great deal. In one scene, he seemed jealous of the friendship Eli formed with Oskar, and he asked her to do him a favor "and not see that boy again tonight." When Renfield was caught trying to collect blood from a potential victim, he poured acid over his face to conceal his identity and, ultimately, shield Eli from discovery. At the hospital, he invited Eli to drink from him, and then went to his death happily because he had died protecting Eli. In those two scenes, it was obvious that Renfield worshipped Eli. Also, I noticed that Eli took a ring from Renfield's finger during the hospital scene. Later, when Oskar visited Eli in her apartment, she offered that same ring to the boy. Essentially, she was passing the torch to Oskar.

I also find it interesting that she chose to approach a boy who was vulnerable and an outsider that she could easily influence. I can't help but think that Eli knew exactly what she was doing when she picked him. Oskar's parents were divorced and he was constantly being picked on at school. She taught Oskar how to stand up for himself by telling him that he had to hit harder, and lo and behold, the next time his tormentors try to attack him, he sent the main bully to the ER. (Maybe she was also teaching him how to become a killer too, no?) Ultimately, Eli saved Oskar's life when the bully's older brother tried to drown Oskar in the swimming pool in retaliation for what he did to his younger brother. By the end of the movie, Oskar is indebted to Eli and he really doesn't have any choice but to skip town with her. How exactly was he going to explain two or three dead (and horribly maimed) boys at a swimming pool, especially after a witness-- his swim coach who had to step outside to deal with a burning dumpster-- could place him at the pool at the time of the murders?

On Sunday, doomsey went to see "The Christmas Carol" at the Goodman Theater with his folks, and I went to my parents' house to celebrate my sister's birthday. It was fun spending time with my nieces. E is surprisingly verbal, and watching her use language and learn new words is entertaining. Oh, remember how I said that E learned the word, putz, on Thanksgiving Day? Well, last week, she called the furnace repair guy a putz. Fortunately, she didn't say it to the poor guy's face. I knew that was going to happen one of these days.