“Be excellent to each other.”

The Movie: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, 1989 (Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, screenwriters; Stephen Herek, dir.)
Who says it: Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esq., a San Dimas High School senior; George Carlin as Rufus, an Emissary from the Future
The context: Bill says this to the ruling cadre of the society of the future, thus forming the basis for a new world religion.
How to use it: Another perfect wedding toast, bafflingly under-used.

Happy anniversary to my sister Peggy and her husband Scott, and happy birthday to my uncle Gerry McLaughlin. It's getting to be birthday season in my family, but that will be the subject of another post.

This morning I may be slightly impaired by fumes... finished painting the bathroom last night, then put up a new shower curtain. If someone could manufacture a new shower curtain that didn't smell like a new shower curtain, they'd make a million dollars.

No snow last night, though it was bitterly cold. My air mattress was a little too close to the window, and I woke up around midnight because the back of my neck was so cold I was having muscle spasms.

But it could be worse. My friend Eileen was living in St. Petersburg in the early 1990s, researching her dissertation, and I went to visit toward the end of her stay. She had in-laws in Moscow, so we took the overnight train to see them. We splurged on a first-class sleeper compartment; at the absurd exchange rate of the time, I think it cost us about $12. Unfortunately, that sum didn't guarantee us any heat. I've never been so cold in my life. By the end of the night, Eileen and I were wearing every piece of clothing we had, and were curled into balls at the edge of the compartment, trying to catch the draft of warm air coming from the passageway.

I believe that was the night that ended my moral objections to fur.