Just laughed my way through Keanu, which is as funny as it should be. I caught myself looking in the background more often than I do with this movie and there are plenty of jokes there that tells me a second viewing will be well worth it.
Ordering a beer while watching a movie is something I've enjoyed since the days of doing it at the Castle Theater in Bloomington. That theater didn't last too long, but the building is still there as a music venue these days. It was a one screen theater, just like you would imagine all the old movie theaters to be. You walk in, with your tickets from a ticketing booth outside, and then take a small set of stairs down in to the theater. There was a bar in the back corner of each side, and you sit on a couch and enjoy the show. There was a small balcony above you that had full dinner service and a better view of the screen. For what it was, it was well worth it to see a movie there. They tried to do more indie movies, or at least second run of films.
The first film I saw there was on a date early on in my relationship with Stacey. The story of how we met is a fun one, and I'm debating switching topics to go there and tell that story.
So we met one night at a party playing a game of Egyptian Rat Screw. I know, rather fancy, right? I had two parties I could attend that night. So, off I went to the wrong one. I knew it was the wrong one because a girl that I was last with was there. We ended in a shitty way on my part, as I couldn't get over the idea that her ex looked very similar to me. I was young, let me be stupid in my decisions. The heart of this story comes from the fact that she was parading around in ass-less pants. Not made that way, but after some customization with a pair of scissors, the ass cheeks were hanging out. She had been drinking a lot more than me and was really leaning in to me/showing me that her ass hung out. I got uncomfortable, so I left.
Party number two was a chill place with some people who all knew each other. I got there and sat down to play Egyptian Rat Screw. This is a card game whose rules have faded from my mind for lack of popularity and playing since that time in my life. There I sat and some drinking commenced. I was dealing, and this girl across from me commented on my dealing style. I have this weird thing I do where I essentially throw the cards out using my left hand. She was also the only other person who called the game by the ERS name, instead of Arabian Rat Fuck that others were calling it. We were also the only two winning the game, if memory serves. I don't know how it happened, but we got to be sitting next to other in a couch in another room and were we just talking all sorts of nerdy things. We exchanged numbers before the night was over, and made plays to hang out again.
We did, and it was over at her place. We played some video games and then started making out in her living room. It was a solid connection. She had family that grew up in Alton, which was a few cities away from where I grew up in southern Illinois. She liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and so that comic eventually got on my local comic shop's pull list so I could buy it for her when it came out. She was a big Nintendo fan, and played Pokemon Puzzle League like I played Doctor Mario. We were some good nerds together.
I was the first real boyfriend she had outside of high school. I was also her first. In terms of the big relationships of my life, the ones that I think really count that you will never forget, she was my third. First was BJ, then Abby, then Stacey. It was my first relationship in a long time, and it probably should have been my last. That's probably one of those alt history fantasies I have brewing up in that last sentence.
I bought her a Gamecube for her birthday. I worked it out with her parents so that they could get games and I could get the system. Her family took my to one of their big family vacations. I had to sleep in a different bed than her, but it worked for me. Her parents let me come to visit and sleep in her bed while she slept on the couch. Let me tell you, you really get a chance to learn about someone when you sleep in their bedroom. You get to be next to all their stuff that was them growing up, share in their memories, and see what is important to them. Ninja Turtle sheets.
We ended, and stop me when you catch the theme here, when I was being a stupid idiot. Here me out, because this is somewhat important. She was about to graduate, and her plans as I saw them, meant that near St. Louis was going to be home for her. I didn't want to go there. I had grew up around there, and it wasn't very appealing to me. I used it as an excuse, as I saw that she was also getting in to World of Warcraft as well, and there had been some weight gain. Again, I will emphasize that I was an idiot with the break up. It does remind me of the general thread I had going at the time, where I foresaw all the problems a future in the relationship could be and I ended up never talking to the girl about it until it was way too late and I made the decision to end things.
For those playing the home game, the next big relationship for me was with Betsy, and then Caitlin after that. So five total of the "big" ones. In the last two, I am glad that things ended the way and when they did. Stacey was the last one where I really was a dumb ass in breaking things off. With her I could be myself, something that I didn't appreciate then. I could go crazy full nerd and there was someone just as smart as me. We could of had a lifetime together of playing games, creating games, her immersing herself in her art and me with my writing. She is, to this date, the only girl that I went on a date with where it consisted of me making pizza rolls, and us reading comics together. If I could take the best bits of each relationship and create the perfect relationship out of it with the perfect girl, then going on that date would be included in that.
Funny side note - not too long after we broke up, I started working at Alexander's Steakhouse. My first night there, a girl named Stacy was having her last night. If you put these two next to each other, you would have been looking at twins. Stacy eventually came back to work there, but I was always amazed at how that worked out on the first night. As to my original thought on this post, the movie that Stacey and I went to see at Castle Theater was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
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