04 December 2016

Into December 2016

It was an afternoon at the movies last Sunday (27 November), when I went to the AMC Chesterfield 14 (https://www.amctheatres.com/movie-theatres/st-louis/amc-chesterfield-14). There, I joined with seven others from the STL Screeners Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/STLScreeners/) to see a presentation of the 1961 classic "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (http://www.fathomevents.com/#event/breakfast-at-tiffanys/more-info/details), presented by Turner Classic Movies (http://www.tcm.com/) and Fathom Events (http://fathomevents.com). This was the first time I saw this romantic comedy on a large screen with an audience, and it was a wonderful experience. After the movie, we gathered in the food court at Chesterfield Mall (http://www.chesterfield-mall.com/) for dinner and discussion. A good time was had by all.

Work at the rental branch this week went well, with returns from Thanksgiving holiday travelers early in the week, plus quite a few customers at the repair shops needing loaners.

After work Monday night (28 November), I was off to St. Louis Community College-Meramec (http://www.stlcc.edu/MC/) for my annual futsal referee recertification clinic. We reviewed local league policies and concerns, and saw video clips of high level game situations. I had paid my registration fee and passed the test online, so I received my 2017 futsal referee patch at the clinic's end, along with the others (some 20 colleagues with me).

I was back at STLCC-Meramec two nights later for my Beginning Portuguese class, the first in two weeks (we were off the night before Thanksgiving). We reviewed more items to help us understand the language a bit more. Just two more sessions to go in this course.

Off work Thursday, I took care of my laundry at home. That night, I was at Big A's on the Riverfront (http://www.bigasontheriverfront.com/) in St. Charles for a Pre-Dating Speed Dating (http://www.pre-dating.com/) event. I and nine other single males, in our late 40s and 50s, each had six-minute dates with women in our age range. It was a chance to size each other up and see if each was a good fit to further pursue. I felt nervous going in, not having done this sort of dating in a long while, but it went well. However, none of the ten ladies I talked to expressed interest in me. Oh, well, maybe next time.

Last Friday being pay day, I stopped by Krispy Kreme (https://www.krispykreme.com/) in Fenton on the way to work and bought a dozen doughnuts for my colleagues. They appreciate the every other Friday gesture.

I drove to Clayton yesterday morning for this month's meeting of the Missouri Professional Communicators (MPC) (http://www.mpc-nfpw.org/cpsiteframepage.lasso?-token.lpuserref=113815.113118) at the St. Louis Artists' Guild (http://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/new/). Laura Peters, director of archives at The Muny (https://muny.org/), spoke about her efforts to pull together nearly 100 years of The Muny's history. She showed (via PowerPoint) photos of the Muny's Forest Park facilities over the years, actors of note who performed in Muny productions, and advertising in Muny show programs. A most interesting talk.

Then, I headed to the St. Louis Bread Co. (https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html) in Brentwood Square. I parked in the lot to co-host by phone this month's edition of "Writer's Block" (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/autistic-people-/2016/12/03/connected--writers-block-10am-pstradio-drama-the-princess-8-11am-pst), the online radio show about writing and storytelling from the autistic perspective. Host Tim Pylypiuk and I talked about Christmas Myths and Stories, touching on such classic tales as "A Christmas Carol" and "It's a Wonderful Life." I had printed off the show's script and several online articles mentioned in that script, and had that with me in the car as I contributed my part of the discussion. This show (paired with Radio Drama in the second hour) is now archived online, for streaming or downloading for podcast.

After the show, I had lunch at that St. Louis Bread Co., then shopped at a few places on my way home.

Later.