Thursday, October 05, 2006

That's a Lot Of Hyphens

My cousin Denisse* who has just moved here from Minnesota has asked me to go to a bash with her on Halloween. But i'll have to dress in costume.

I've been fascinated by Halloween for years, and since i moved to the Bay Area, i've always wanted to hang out in the city at night just to have that experience at least once. But i'm not sure i'm willing to go thru all that trouble of renting a costume and stuff. Where would i even start? And i'll probably feel silly and self-conscious. And old. And out-of-place. When i wanna leave by 11 p.m. and she desires to stay till closing time (Semisonic!!). And let's face it. 11 pm. for me is highballing it.

I realize: i so want to have a life, and yet i so don't want to make an effort. It's a frigging paradox.

Denisse happens to have met this girl at work who's also from the midwest. She's this high-energy, outgoing person, while Denisse is a self-proclaimed shy girl-in-a-shell. In fact one of her many screen names is shygirl.

According to Denisse, social-butterfly-girl pushes her to get out more, and inspires her to be more gregarious. What she doesn't realize is that she in turn grants me opportunities to bust out of my normal restraints and social circles (What social circles?!!)

If an action causes a reaction and so on and so forth, perhaps it's all good karma, i tell Denisse. Perhaps the universe is a better place, i say.

Yep. All because more people are gonna be out to get drunk and stupid. Oh, but i didn't tell her that.


*Not her real name

A Little Self Pity Never Hurt Anyone...

I often jinx myself.

Yesterday, when i called to reschedule the appointment with my psychiatrist (not a first date revelation), she asked me how i was doing. "Really great," I said. And i was telling the truth. I'd been on Lamictal, a mood stabilizer, for a few weeks. I thought it was doing wonders. (Even though, if you've been reading my blog, you'll beg to differ.) For the longest time, i'd had reservations about taking meds, because if i felt better, i couldn't take credit for it. But then i sank and felt so mired that i didn't care.

Anyway, today i come crashing down. Depression sets in like fog over the Northern Californian coast. Oh, wait. I've already said that.

BTW i needed to move things around because i was due for yet another sigmoidoscopy. (Also not a first date revelation.) Ooh, fun. I get to starve myself for 24 hours, on top of which i'll need to take two doses of laxatives to shit my brains out. But I weighed looniness against a bleeding, wall-shedding colon, and decided that the latter was a more pressing matter. And i really didn't want to have to take off early from work twice in the same week. It might be frowned upon. People might start to whisper. She must be really sick!

And they wouldn't have the first clue just how sick, indeed.

Multilingualism

JF my coworker often takes the Lord's name in vain. Everyday she can be heard exclaiming, "Jeeesus!" and "Dios mio!"

This morning, in a playful mood, i repeated after her, "Dios mio!"

To which she responded, "That means 'my God'."

As if i needed tranlation. I was really tempted to reply, "Yo sé. Cuando era niña, estudiaba español. Pero puedes decir 'mon dieu', señora?"

But i didn't. i really speak neither Spanish nor French. And in actuality, it wasn't that long ago when i attempted to become multilingual. I was already not young then.

Peeve

This morning i heard on the news that, according to a new study, death rate decreases in collisions involving vehicles with side-impact airbags, regardless of vehicle size or model.

Really? It took a new study to prove that? Gee, i wonder how many dollars went into the research! I would think the more cushions you have around you when you hit something while encased in metal, the better. Isn't that sort of obvious?!

In fact, in fairyland, every car turns into marshmallow in an accident, and no one ever goes owie.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Hey kiddie kiddie 2

AC turned out to be a real angel after all. We did silly things, laughed, and bonded. It's a wonderful feeling to crack a kid up.

We had Round Table's new Pepperoni Artisan pizza whilst AC's Mom was having her tummy incised by laser so that a human being could be extracted. Elsie would later report that she smelled burnt flesh while hearing intermittent buzzing in a distance.

Nice. I think i'll stay childless.

AC finally fell asleep at a quarter to 11. My brother W got home 15 minutes later. He took a sniff and frowned, "Smells like garbage in here!" Yes, AC had been pungent for hours then. Alas, i was not equipped with the skills to change him.

Even after W changed AC, the odor wouldn't die. I stayed and chatted for half an hour anyway. And willingly so. I did not wish i had been home drinking instead.

Didn't get home till midnight. Then, with all the excitement/commotion going on, i couldn't sleep. With 5.5 hours of sleep in my tank, i still put in a smidgen of overtime at work today.

I drove over to the hospital right after work to see Elsie. She was in pretty good shape. W came by for 5 minutes to drop off dinner and then had to run off to pick up AC from daycare. Then he'd have to stay home with AC for the rest of the night.

I stayed to keep Elsie company. We talked and had such a great time, like we hadn't in ages. Like old times. It's amazing how kids change your life forever. With AC around, Elsie never really relaxes. She always keeps an eye on him. It's like she's never just herself. She's always Mom first, person second. It has to be exhausting. I feel exhausted for her.

The newborn was in the NICU due to labored breathing. But he was improving rapidly. This could be the last time Elsie and i would chat like this in a great while. I took the moment in. This is it. This is history.

I stayed a lot longer than i'd planned. She seemed glad. And I was happy to be there for her.

Last Sunday i'd written to my best friend IA about wanting to be part of something greater, wanting my existence to count somehow. I considered volunteering at a soup kitchen or something. JD and i used to laugh at this notion. As if we could muster up enough strength, and make it stick, we proclaimed.

Well perhaps i don't have to look far to make a difference. Maybe i start small. Maybe i start with the people closest to me. After all, it's a big world comprised of small parts.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Hey kiddie kiddie...

I've noticed that, when i mention sex in a post, i get a lot more visits than otherwise.

In that case, sex sex sex sex sex!

This is kinda sick, cos this piece is about my babysitting experience today. And no, no sex involved, no siree bob. Sorry to disappoint.

Elsie my sister-in-law is going in labor two days early. I have to go over to their house to babysit my nephew AC so that my brother can stay at the hospital with Elsie until later tonight.

When i got the news this morning, i totally panicked. I've never babysat AC before. Heck, i've never babysat before, period.

I take off from work early to get to their house in time for their departure.

I figured AC was gonna start bawling as soon as his parents headed out the door.

"What do i do if he doesn't stop crying?" I asked W my brother.

"Just cover your ears and let him cry," W replied.

But AC hardly even noticed they snuck out, he was so engrossed with Blue's Clues.

Which also meant that i didn't get to hug my sister-in-law goodbye like i wanted to. : (

I am really amazed by how easily entertained kids are. When they're paying attention to something, their heart and soul are in it. They couldn't be more content and at peace. Now that's living in the moment.

Five minutes into the one-on-one situation, i started having doubts. If i have to use the bathroom, and close the door behind me, will AC fret? At dinner time, how am i supposed to lure him to the table and put him in the high chair? And boy, I should've taken a kiddie CPR class!... This is a HUGE responsibility, for God's sake!

But AC couldn't be happier just watching his DVD on repeat play. I occassionally clap and dance with him, and he smiles broadly, and the whole living room brightens up.

I suppose i should stop blogging and check on the kid...

Sunday, October 01, 2006

A Farewell To Arms (And Legs, And Shoulders...)

Dating always leaves me a little anxious and gaseous. And anal sex only aggravates matters.

Last night i had my last date with York II. No sex then. What a waste of black lacy underwear!

He said the word "repertoire", and then defined it in context. That would be the last time he insulted my intelligence. JD knew that i knew what repertoire meant. Well, he wouldn't remember, but there's a difference.

With York (i think i can drop the suffix now), I think, from the get-go, deep down we knew we didn't have all that much in common, and it was never gonna become a long-term thing. But still, it was sad to ultimately end it.

For a couple of weeks now i sensed that York had dwindling desires to engage in daytime activities with me. I joked that all we did was fuck. I could see that nervous smile. He was not good at hiding emotions.

I imagined confronting him about it. I imagined drawing his attention to the fact that this was going nowhere. And i couldn't live with feeling like a frigging concubine.

But i couldn't do it. I just grew resentful and restless.

When he brought up seeing other people again, i said, "If something has potential, you won't want to pursue something else. " He tried to be diplomatic about it, naming my qualities that he liked. But i cornered him.

"Basically, you need to see other people because our connection is not complete," I said.

Silence.

"Right?" I needed a concrete stance on the issue at hand.

"I guess," he answered. "If you have to put it that way."

I sighed in partial relief. "It's okay to say that," I said. I think he was bewildered by my need for brutal honesty.

I never thought i'd coin the expression "an incomplete connection". That was JD's monopoly.

But it's true. What are the chances you'll meet someone who fulfill all your needs? It's pretty rare.

He was a little disappointed that i wouldn't hang around while he continued his search. Wow. Guys really do think differently than women.

He wanted to know if we could stay friends. With someone who's been in daylight with me only once in the 45 days i've known him? Chances are not good, i'll say.

Perhaps i should thank the heavens above i didn't get more emotionally invested before things became blatantly clarified. But i had developed some feelings for him. A woman can't snuggle up, press her breasts against the hollow between someone's shoulder blades, smooch the back of his neck, take in the cool of his buttocks on her crotch, and not feel a thing. Such is the curse of the female gender. Sex always tugs on the heartstrings.

And thus hearing that speech was still not fun. Even though i felt the same way as he. Wanting someone to fall for me is all about validation. Boy do i have rejection issues to deal with .

So this morning when i woke up all i wanted to do was to go to the gym and feel some pain. Transforming emotional suffering to physical pain can be therapeutic. Beats cutting and making gastric ulcers bleed, i realize.

Even though i'd been wanting to drink since 1 a.m., i tried to remember a couple of things i'd learned in therapy. "Action precedes motivation", and "When you feel depressed, do the opposite." In other words, don't sit home all day and loop the tracks of the likes of Elliott Smith and Damien Rice.

So I went to dim sum with my brother's family. This is gonna be our last dim sum session in a while, as Elsie is giving birth to their second boy on Wednesday.

And folks, that was all i could handle. On the way home i still feel a little teary. But i refuse to cry. Perhaps it's not a loss when you can look forward to experiencing something else. Something new. Someone new. And perhaps, for a change, that someone new will be me.