i had a craving for flan and started making it when i woke up this morning around noon. my parents came by to deliver some food they had bought in chinatown, just when rob came back home (out buying some french books). rob was going to his parents' place in hanson to pick up his cat (who by the way doesn't really have a name) and i tagged along for the ride. we snacked on sunflower seeds during the ride, throwing the shells out the window. we went through hanover, his old town, and showed me some of the old neighborhood, including his childhood home. his father, a retired math teacher who bears a slight resemblance to kenny rogers, showed us the bees he was keeping out in backyard. we left with his cat in the car, windows opened only so far so she couldn't jump out.

once the cat was in the house, she went about exploring her new home for the next month. i've never had a cat before. eliza's cat, julie's cat, and katrinka's cat (which she used to bring to the office), are all the felines i've ever known. how rob came about owning this particular cat is a weird story, he sort of inherited her from an old roommate who didn't take care of her very well. i'm a dog person myself, but i admire a cat's independence and they're a lot easier to keep in the city than owning a dog. one thing i learned quick though: when a cat is flashing her tail, it doesn't mean the same thing that it does with a dog. a flashing tail means annoyance, and i almost got bit when my petting became annoying for kitty.

when evening rolled around, we were invited down to jamaica plain for dinner and a movie at eliza's place. originally i wasn't going to go because they were going to go see before sunset, which i had no interest in seeing, but then the plan was changed so that we'd be renting a movie instead. rob and i drove down to jp and waited outside the video store where we'd be renting the movie. minutes later, eliza and jerica, followed by david, all showed up. amongst the five of us it was almost impossible to find a movie we could all agree on. rob liked the art house fares, jerica had a propensity for foreign films, while i drifted towards the ironic or the 80's. waiting back at the apartment, joanne said she didn't want any violent movies. finally, with the help of the video store clerks, we decided on starsky & hutch, my original suggestion before we were even at the video store.

quick who's who for those who're confused as to the cast of characters: jerica is eliza's friend from the office, eliza and david are roommates, rob was their 3rd roommate last month but now joanne is their new roommate. when we got back to the apartment, the dinner promised was a single serving of cold leftover eggplant parmigiana (they had already ate). i had the parmigiana while rob munched on crackers and cheese, with dave whipping up some more food, some fried rice (he was impressed with my "fried rice is like jazz" analogy) with some miso soup. later, we had dessert, slices of cinnamon bread cake joanne had made, served with fresh whip creme and chocolate ice cream.

eggplant parmigiana

fried rice & miso soup

cinnamon bread cake

we all piled into the living room, already crowded with eliza's painting stuff. dave and eliza set up the entertainment system, which composed of eliza's computer monitor attached to dave's dvd-enabled ibook hooked up to a set of stereo speakers (they have no television). an aerobed was inflated for extra seating, as we watched the movie. after it was all over (around midnight), rob and i left to go back to cambridge, debating the validity of being an atheist. we had a talk about jack the ripper while watching cheers before rob fell asleep in the living room, waking up to go sleep in his bedroom. his cat slept on the sofa before waking up herself and disappearing into rob's room as well.