Saturday, 4 January 2003: Once in a while, when Katie and I head out to the movies, we don't always make it on time. Tonight, we were hauling it to the local mall to go see About Schmidt. We both headed to the ticket booth to see if tix were available. The sign that would otherwise read "Sold Out" did not indicate that there were no tickets left. So I jumped in line while Katie ran to the concession stand to buy snacks (when we run late, we find it easier to split up movie prep duties in order to not miss too many of the previews). However, when I got up to the counter, I was informed that About Schmidt had just sold out. The sign still wasn't changed, either. So I ran to the concession stand to tell Katie not to buy anything. Too late. She already had. And there was literally nothing else we wanted to see. Do you know how stupid we felt walking out of the theater with a full contingent of movie-going snacks? Pretty damned stupid. I think we have vowed to never split up like that again. I guess the positive thing is that we got dinner out of the exchange.

Wednesday, 1 January 2003: How weird it is to now type "2003." I'm not sure I like it. This century is already speeding by far too rapidly.

Well, Katie and I did, in fact, just stay home and watch a "Sex and the City" marathon on HBO for New Year's and we had a champagne toast. Not a whole heckuva lot to talk about with it. Neither of us are really partiers, so staying home suited us just fine.

I did go out and see The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers yesterday while Katie was at work. It was incredible. No question about it. I was just disappointed by the ending. Don't worry, I will reveal neither the book nor the movie ending in this entry suffice it to say that I preferred the book ending because it was just that much more of a cliffhanger. I do feel that the ending of the second film will still draw people in to see the third and final film, but I feel the book's ending would have done an even better job of that. Oh well, I guess that's why I'm only a lowly Web developer and not a Hollywood bigwig, eh?

Oh yeah, and I gotta say that I love this time of year because stores are so intent on ridding themselves of their inventory, that clearance pricing makes shopping fun. I've been wanting this particular Lego set for a while now. It's a World War I British Sopwith Camel biplane (actual Camel | the Lego set). Lego released it as one of their big Model Team sets and it looks absolutely incredible with a wingspan of 18" and fuselage of 16". The only problem was the pricetag... $50. That's not exactly cheap, but I was nearly ready to pay it. Tonight, Katie and I found the set at Target clearance priced at $25. Couldn't say no this time. I was up until 1 a.m. building it. I felt like a little kid afterwards flying it around the apartment. Good thing Katie was asleep or she would have been shaking her head in despair moaning "why me, God?" Next up, if I can get it for the right price, is the Red Baron's Fokker Dr 1 triplane.