So now I actually get a day off. This past week was and probably will be my busiest all summer. Fun, but— I am an introvert! I need breaks from people!

Yesterday I managed to get some gardening done (heirloom tomatoes! whoo!) but I divided the rest of my time between my uncle's 50th birthday and a small get-together at Ben and Nora's, for the latter's birthday.

Ben and I got about halfway through Deja Vu before Nora finished work, then we stopped the movie and, after a quick detour to Taco Bell, went out to the backyard to try out Nora's new hookah. Maybe I'm just forgetting, but I don't remember ever smoking out of a hookah before, so hurrah for New Life Experiences.

We spent a fair bit of time chatting and passing the nozzle around, Ben and I sipping on our good beers, Nora drinking her good red wine. The idle ended abruptly when a thunderstorm rolled in.

We went inside and watched Pulp Fiction, now joined by Ben's sister.

I can't believe I'd never noticed how coked up Uma Thurman is at the diner, or how ridiculous their disco dance is. Chalk it up to childish naivety. I also caught some of the intentional campiness I'd missed in the past, e.g. the old school background videos when they're driving cars. That is a long movie, though.

Nora's reaction to the film was amusing: I gather that she'd seen bits and pieces, but she was quite surprised by the whole Zed sequence and some other scenes.