We went to Brampton for Christmas, so we were in Guelph for New Year's. We went down on Sunday and exchanged Christmas presents, since it was our first opportunity to do so. We got Mom some reusable, sealable sillicone bags, Duncan a video game, and the kittens some crinkle balls and cat toys.
Our cats have a rainbow weasel, which is basically the only doll-type toy that they will consistently wrestle with. Every time I'd been back to that store they had one and I wanted to get one for Castor and Pollux, but the week before Christmas they didn't have it in stock. I got two dolls made by the same company, and when we gave them, it seemed like both their cats were enjoying a crinkly squid.
They got me the remake of Super Mario RPG, which was cool because it was the video game that taught me how to read. When I was in early elementary school, I was a reading level behind most of the other kids. Then we rented Super Mario RPG from our local Blockbuster Video and I fixated on it. Mom would play the game, and me, her and Duncan would take turns voicing the characters. This necessitated me being able to read the script, prompting a burst in motivation.
It was originally made for the Super Nintendo. Built in collaboration with an outside writing team, the same one that does Final Fantasy, this game was the first, and to me the best, Mario series Role Played Game. The Paper Mario Series was originally supposed to be a direct sequel, and later meant to be a spiritual successor. However, they couldn't get the same writing team back and they didn't have rights to the Mario RPG-exclusive characters, so while they were good in their own right, they weren't quite able to reclaim the magic. This remake for the Switch is likely the closest we'll come to it. It just has touched up graphics, a few new functions, some translation changes, and apparently it has a bit of a post-game.
Playing it as an adult is funny, because I'd previously only ever watched my mom. My favourite character, and probably the main one that I voiced, was Mallow. He was a sentient cloud whose mood effected the weather, who was adopted by frogs and so believed himself to be a tadpole. I remember some adults on early Internet video game guides thinking he was annoying, probably for his naivety and sensitivity, so I wondered if I'd feel differently about him as an adult. I don't know if it's just nostalgia, but so far I still like him.
We played a bit in Guelph. Later, Lee-Anne asked if we always took turns doing the voices. Apparently she thought it was odd.
Lee-Anne got two books, Watership Down by Richard Adams and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, both family favourites. I had a blog before this one, on which I did a lot of book reviews. I had a list of personal favourites, and these were both on it.
Lee-Anne's usually more of a non-fiction reader, and when she branches out, she's not usually into surreality. She says Harry Potter's about as far as she'll wade into fantasy. Since Watership Down is about a group of rabbits and Neverwhere mostly takes place in another dimension, these might be a stretch. I'm happy to have copies of both of them though.
On Monday, me, Lee-Anne, and Mom went to a family get-together in Toronto. My Oma, Granddad, two of my Uncles, two aunts, and two cousins were there. Most of them had traveled from the States, and some I hadn't seen for many years. It was a lunch, hosted at the community they live in.
This is my Granddad that is experiencing dementia, so there was some worry that the amount of people would be overwhelming, but he seemed content. He was mostly smiling, he'd make eye contact when you spoke to him, he seemed to react to what you said, and he even talked a few times. His condition has not continued to worsen at the rate it did when he took a sudden decline a few years back.
After lunch and a walk though their neighbourhood, we went back to Guelph to do our tradition of jumping off the couch into the new year. They live in a basement, so I have to sort of crouch-jump while pressing on the ceiling so I don't hit my head. We decided to hold the kittens as we jumped and I wound up with Pollux. He spasmed and scratched up my arm pretty bad.
Dinner was a bunch of appetizers, meant to eat throughout the night. We brought homemade falafel, fatoush salad, and hummus, as well as store-bought tzatziki and pita. I also brought a bottle of cheap sparkling wine that we'd had in our cupboard for years. I don't remember why I first got it, but I always thought that part of the point of the experience was the excitement that came with the cork popping out and flying around. People were nervous so I palmed the cork and everyone was surprised at how anticlimactic it was. I'd figured that if it stayed subdued when a corkscrew was used, it shouldn't have too much force behind it. I assumed correct, not much pressure backing something that can be pretty theatrical.
I've got to do a post for my New Year's Resolutions for 2024, and I've got to do a tarot reading for a year forward-and-back. I've done the backround work for both topics, I just have to write them up. Hopefully I'll do that relatively soon.
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