The carnival comes to the Revere Cinema parking lot every Spring. And by "Spring," I mean "the 21st of March, no matter what the temperature is." By the time we'd left the movie theater, the carnival was closing up, so I didn't get the chance to wander inside and take photos like I wanted to.

This is the Skymaster, one of the upside-down rides that I love so much. I probably wouldn't ride this particular one, though, since it is my theory that the reason the fair comes to Revere so early in the season is to test out its equipment. If nobody splats on the ground, they travel during warmer climates to other towns.

Is there any picture more cliche than a Ferris Wheel at night? Ah, well, I'm learning how to take night shots, and I think this one came out pretty well, so I might as well go with what works. The wheel is cut off by the fence I was parked behind. I only managed to get a few shots of the carnival before I felt a little uncomfortable (I always feel like some sort of a stalker when I shoot pictures from my car), but I held my hand steady enough that there wasn't too much blurriness going on.

These shots are dedicated to my almost-wife Carol Elaine, because the title of her journal is "All the Fun of the Fair." It's probably an ironic quote from something, but I thought about her when I saw the fair/carnival tonight.

Sometimes, you just have a good day.

I woke up around 9:15am, thoroughly rested and feeling like staying in bed a little while longer. I booted up the laptop and puttered around the internet for awhile, then grabbed my towel and headed to the shower.

I smell so good today, I want to ravish myself (considering that's the only ravishing available to me, it's worth considering). A while back, I bought a new shower gel from Crabtree and Evelyn called "Cayman Winds," which smells like citrus and some sort of spice. Combine that with Nexxus hair conditioner, and I smelled pretty yummy. I don't wear cologne (with the occasional exception of a bit of Demeter's "Angel Food," which just tends to make me hungry), so well-scented bath products are all I've got.

I did about twelve loads of laundry over the past two days. Sean is in the process of changing wardrobes, and he's been giving me hand-me-downs over the past couple of months. He buys brand names (J. Crew, Ralph Lauren, A&F) and I don't, so even though the clothes are used, they stand up better than my newer clothes bought on the cheap. One of Sean's friends, Robbie D., gave Sean two huge garbage bagfuls of clothes that he was getting rid of (I suspect because he's gone up a waist size), but Heather put her foot down and didn't let Sean keep very much of it, so that was re-handed-down to me. Today, I was wearing a combination of the Sean Cleary Collection and the Robbie D. Collection, which, even though it was just a polo shirt and black pants, made me feel spiffy.

Nothing was scheduled to come in to the department for the morning, so I didn't rush to get in a little early, as I usually do. I landed in the office at 11am on the dot, said hello to Tamra (who starts her Saturday shifts at 9am) and Stephanie. Tamra and I got extremely chatty, a state in which we stayed (along with Laurie and Juan...Stephanie was a little tired from being up most of the night "studying" to chat) all day long.

Work could have been dull, but we discovered that Juan is a perfect fit for "our" department (meaning the Saturday crew, which I think is the best combination of people we have). He's funny and interesting and smart; plus he picked up everything he needed to start being an effective employee within a matter of days. I give him materials that I would normally hold off for more seasoned people, and he completes them almost perfectly. (He still doesn't know all the little Consulting Company's quirky standards, but that will come with time).

At some point during the day, Stephanie started in on an assignment for school where she had to choose a poem to discuss. She said she couldn't find a "good" poem, so I gave her This Is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams, which has long been my favorite poem. She declared it good, but too short.

My next shot was Sonnet #18 by the Earl of Oxford Shakespeare, which I find lovely. She didn't warm up to it.

Laurie suggested Walt Whitman, and I found To You, which I'd read before, but hadn't remembered like the other two. Stephanie really liked that one, but was a little bit worried that the boys in her class might be uncomfortable with Mr. Whitman's homosexual undertones (hey, she's a freshman, what can you do?). Both Laurie and I suggested the polar opposite of Whitman: Emily Dickenson. If Whitman eats great big mouthfuls of life, then Dickenson takes tiny bites grudgingly. I read a few of her poems today (nothing I hadn't seen before), and got an idea for a short play, which is always fun.

I told Stephanie to check out Dorothy Parker, as she might appeal to Steph's sense of irony. A half-hour or so later, Steph came to my desk with a printout of The Lady's Reward, which I thought was perfect for her. We talked about the book "The Rules" and changing ideas about what it meant to be "ladylike." It was really fun to discuss poetry (of which I don't know very much) with Steph. I still forget at times that she's not a Jr. High school student anymore. She's whip-smart and very funny, and I think her choice of Dorothy Parker for her assignment shows just what kind of sense of humor she has.

After work, Laurie and I went to Tiki Island to meet with our friend (and former co-worker) Jenn, because Jenn's birthday was last week, and we needed to give her presents.

Jenn is one of my favorite people I've met through work. Actually, she's one of my favorite people, period. She's funny and bubbly and silly, but also acerbic and catty. Just the kind of person I like.

Jenn left the Consulting Company to go work for a major clothing design company, and she's had a number of positions there. Right now, she's doing their catalog, but is interested in possibly branching out to other companies. I suggested Abercrombie and Fitch, where she could find an excuse to go on photo shoots and take me along to see all the pretty naked men, but she said they don't do those kinds of catalogs anymore. Such a pity. Though the billboard over the bridge that connects Cambridge to Charlestown has a nearly-naked A&F guy holding onto his crotch, which is scandlous because he's so young-looking ("I'm sure his parents signed all the proper consent forms," said Laurie when we were both in the car passing by the billboard), but also very much appreciated by me.

I never get my picture taken with friends, and I'd like to stop that trend, so I handed Laurie my digital camera and told he to snap a few photos of Jenn and me. She got three nice shots. This is the one I like best:

I'm not fully smiling in this photo (I hate my smile), but we look happy, I think. Jenn is pretty much incapable of taking a bad picture.

After dinner, we decided to go see Robots at the Revere Cinema, which is where the carnival was.

Robots isn't getting a heck of a lot of critical praise, and I'm at a loss as to why. It's certainly not as good as the worst Pixar movie, but it's far better than anything Dreamworks has come up with.

The characters aren't fully three-dimensional, and Halle Berry is as underutilized as she was in X-Men, but I liked the message, I found it funny (this film features the one and only fart joke I've ever laughed at) and it was visually impressive.

Mostly, it has heart, which is what I like in a children's movie. I cared whether or not Rodney Copperbottom made it through his journey in Robot City. I think Jennifer Coolidge is a riot in everything she does, and her Aunt Fanny wasn't at all a disappointment.

I'd recommend the film to anyone who liked A Bug's Life, since it's very close to that level of story. It's not Finding Nemo or The Iron Giant, but it's very, very good.

The previews made me want to take my nieces and nephew out to the movies. I thought that the new "Herbie the Love Bug" movie was going to be awful (and it still may be), but the trailer made me want to see it. Zathura might as well be a remake of Jumanji set in space, but it looked like loads of fun. And the mini-movie for Ice Age 2 was almost as good as a Pixar short, and made me want to see that.

One of these days, I'll get around to seeing Million Dollar Baby and independent films and "good cinema," but I'm more interested in seeing The Ring 2 and Fever Pitch (that's most likely a Boston thing) and light fare like that right now.

Finally, I got a call today from my friend Eric, who is an actor and now a playwright. He told me his monologue "The Wedding Consultant" was picked for a festival in Cambridge, and he'll be here in May to perform it.

Unfortunately for me, I'll be performing during the night he's doing his show, but I know he'll have a tech rehearsal before the show itself, which I can most likely make. And, of course, I can see him while he's in town, which will be great since I haven't met him in-person yet, and it's high time I did so.

Everyting was so pleasant today, I kept wondering when the other shoe would drop, but it never occured, so I guess it was just my turn to have a very good day.