So, Christmas is done for me. Nice relief. We opened presents Saturday morning. I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what my sister got me. My mom said the people at work seemed very confused that she bought it for me, and knowing her, I had a feeling it was Punky Brewster on DVD. And I was right. She gave me a hard time about watching the show when I was a kid, and I'd claim I hated it, but then she'd ask why I was watching it, and then the debate would degenerate into childish namecalling. Fun times. She said when I sent her an e-mail about the 20% off promotion Deep Discount DVD had a month or so back, she couldn't resist. I've already watched a few episodes, and it's kind of neat to have, but I somehow doubt it will be one of those DVDs in heavy rotation in my home. The other DVDs she got me might, though, especially the Lyle Lovett Soundstage DVD, featuring Randy Newman (Lyle gave Randy a lot of stage time, playing his own stuff, as well as their duet of "You've Got a Friend In Me"). She also got me some bootleg MST3K DVDs, including "Ring of Terror" and "Santa Claus" (this is in addition to the Vol. 6 boxed set my mom got me). And some other little trinkets. Mom got me several things, mostly stuff I'd asked for, including a book on the making of the Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison album, the Badder Santa DVD, and some random things I didn't ask for. I got Michelle Freaks & Geeks on DVD (I gave her the standard version that was originally mine until I decided to buy myself the deluxe fan edition), Eric got Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story, due to his interest in unusual music, and a card informing him that I am getting him The Greatest American Hero when it comes out on DVD (he dressed up as the Greatest American Hero at Comic-Con last Summer). I got Mom the first season of Columbo on DVD, a DVD documentary on Jim Croce, and some of her favorite films on DVD (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Harvey). All my gifts were well-received, always nice.

After opening gifts, we went out for breakfast, then I ventured out to the post office to mail some packages. That was hell. By the time I found out how much they cost, I had just given up, agreed to pay whatever they wanted. But at least I got them out.

We went to a 3:30 screening of A Series of Unfortunate Events at the Grossmont Trolley theaters. That place is dead, which is sad, since I can remember it was considered quite the fancy theater when it opened, and well into my young adulthood. I forget when exactly they expanded the Grossmont Center theaters, but I think I was at least in high school, if not college. In fact, I remember now running into someone from high school there, well after graduation. In fact, I believe I was working at the Village at the time, and that was at the theater's previous location, so it must be even more recent then I think. But now the trolley theater, neglected compared to the mall location up the hill, is almost as slow as the Cinerama 6. But it's not a bad theater, the auditoriums are fairly large. And it was nice not to have to deal with mall traffic. I'll comment on the movie later today, if I have time (I liked it).

We then went out to dinner. Mom had suggested sushi, and asked me to select a place, so I selected Sui Shin, a sushi place I'd only been to once, but liked very much. We went down to Hillcrest, only to find they had gone out of business. Of course, being in Hillcrest and looking for a sushi restaurant only leaves one with about fifty choices, but Mom still got all worked up, what will we do, and so on. But rather then eat in Hillcrest (which seemed pretty jumping, so parking and getting into a restaurant might have been an issue), we went to Chef Taka's on El Cajon Blvd., right by our house. I'd been there before, and enjoyed it, though it was a bit expensive, mainly because I got suckered into something expensive each time. But again I was really impressed with it, and by sticking to the basics, found it reasonably priced. Michelle and Eric are a bit more on the sushi snob end of the spectrum, and they both seemed impressed. So all was well in the end.

We concluded the evening watching some DVDs that were gifted that morning. Elf was okay, too fluffy to really be hated, but I don't understand why Michelle raves about it so. We watched a best of Will Ferrell DVD, which had its moments, but I think they really do a poor job putting those DVDs together. The menus leave you in the dark about what sketch you are about to see (sometimes you can deduce that from the extreme close-ups provided, but often you cannot), and the actual choices seem odd at times. But Charles Nelson Reilly on Inside the Actor's Studio will silence the toughest critic. I just wish they would release older material. Like best of DVDs for the original cast members, or what I would really love, a compilation of short films that appeared on the show, especially, again, from early episodes. The Albert Brooks films, and the original Folksmen sketch that later gave birth to A Mighty Wind. That would rock.

So Michelle and Eric are back home, now. Eric's sister recently had a caesarian section, and the incision got infected, so that is putting a bit of a damper on the holiday plans up there, but she is doing a bit better, and I think is supposed to be home soon. And down here, I keep forgetting Christmas isn't over for everyone else, yet. Though a trip to the post office today reminded me. I still need to pick up a few little gifts for people, but mostly, I'm just waiting for the new year. That's one advantage of having Christmas early--this feels like the longest Christmas vacation from school I've ever had.