I feel as though I thoroughly sucked the marrow from the Gateway City this weekend. After an early morning road trip to Lambert’s in Sikeston Saturday morning (they give you free refills on your meal, you understand, which even my mom doesn’t do) I got home just in time to walk over to a nearby park and watch the aforementioned Balloon Race for the first time ever.

(Well, that’s not exactly true. Usually, I inadvertently watch it from the highway while on my way to doing something vastly lamer. “What the–?! Oh yeah, the Balloon Race is today! Damn. Oh well; off to TGI Friday’s and a Vin Diesel movie.”)

Watching balloons “race” is outstanding, since you’re essentially cheering for the direction the wind is blowing. I felt like a little kid who liked balloons.

The race inspired me, because it started in nearby Forest Park. I always thought the Zoo was too far away for me to get to on foot from my apartment; the day after the race, I woke up determined to test that hypothesis, and the damn zoo is about ten feet from my front door. I almost did a dance, but my legs hurt.

This weekend I also skipped the Balloon Glow Friday night to see the worst movie ever made about werewolves and vampires instead of demanding we see Lost in Translation like I should have. I think it is safe to say that the days of keeping the peace with friends who don’t read reviews are over. (Yes, that #1 at the box office is partly my fault. I could have been at the balloon glow! And walked, apparently! So much time wasted.)

Every few days, I think about adding a movie review section to this site. Then I think, “Jim, people don’t care what you think about Finding Nemo.” Then I think, “Well, it’s not like they’ve been caring about the rest of this crap.” Then I turn off my computer and go outside.