Anti-Tsunami

I have a ton to write about. I feel like I can only be superficial about a lot of serious stuff, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

Israel
So I’m about to leave for Israel and I’ve vowed to leave the electronic
age behind for a bit, so this is my last rant for a while. I think I’m
so nonchalant about Israel because I not excited about the flight,
there are so many law students on my trip, and I have already been to
Israel (even though it was in pre-puberty). There’s something about
going somewhere entirely new that’s very invigorating. I used to think
travelling was worthwhile because it helps you identify with people.
But, another thing that makes Israel less exciting to me is that most
people I know have been there. Call me a hypocrite b/c I’ve been known to criticise others for making travel decisions based on the "wow" factor. Anyway, I know I’m going to have a blast because my expectations are so low. And, I know I’m an ingrate b/c this trip is free!

Mail Order Brides
Most of you probably don’t know much if anything about my dad. You should because I’ve started thinking about him a lot lately. This is partly because one of my most vivid memories of him is from our trip to Israel when I was a wee lad of 5. This memory is so prominent because it marks the beginning of the sabbatical in our relationship. He wasn’t in my life from about age 7 to age 17 - which was both of our faults. I have stories for many blogs, which range from a kidnapping, to inflatable boats. But, I’ll spare you (for now). Ted is 79. He’s scrappy. He likes women of color. He designed the cardboard display cases for Leggs panty hose. He pinches waitressess asses. He was once shot because he refused to give up his gold jewelry to armed robbers. He’s always (well, usually) the Plaintiff. He isn’t much for fidelity.  I’ve been thinking about him because when I talk to him on the phone I hear him letting go… little by little. He’s in this awful place in life — which he’s pretty much created for himself — a prisoner of his bad decisions and lack of follow-through. He’s told me that he pretty much lives to stay alive. Anyway, the one thing he hasn’t given up on is entrepreneurship. Yesterday we spoke and he told me his newest business idea: to start a mail order bride catalog. This is stuff I used to talk about in my Birmingham classes and look at with absurdity. But, I now only know, but am cut from the same cloth as a person who wants to sell women from developing countries. I don’t hate him for it. He’ll never get it off the ground. But, that’s not the point.

Meet the Parent
My mom and Basil just came to visit. It was quite a successful visit. The weather sucked big-time, but we made due. We ate basically every type of Asian food you could imagine, from Thai to Vietnamese, to Korean. The week was characterized by lots of parties. I was the emcee at the staff holiday party, which they came to (where my mother made quite the problematic assumption). The next day, my mother cooked for 50 of my closest friends at a party we hosted at my old apartment. I called the party "Meet the Parent" and the response rate was higher than anticipated. It got a little stressful at the end and I thought I was going to cancel it. Steve told me that the members of the house were all complaining about the number of people and that my mom wouldn’t be able to cook the food and how they should all be able to bring all their friends. This was stressful to me because I hadn’t anticipated that the turnout would be so high, and it involved my mother, and my old apartment. I hate knowing that people are talking about me. Even if I know they do, it just makes me feel creeped out. I’d rather not know.

Sidebar: Andrea and I had this conversation about the traits people show after you get to know them, and she thinks mine is that I am much more private than you would think I am. It makes me uncomfortable that so many of my friends have hooked up with one another — and I am not talking paddling parties.

Anyway, I didn’t cancel and it went really well, and they were gracious hosts, and it was just lots of fun, and included lots of rice and salsa dancing. My mom said that unlike Jessica’s friends, my friends were "sincere" and "didn’t talk for the sake of talking". I like that. I rarely get to see most of my friends in one room together. And that felt nice. It’s the company you hope to keep in Heaven.

Sidebar: One problem with my hosting parties is that I feel like I am at work.

Anyway, my mom redecorated my apartment and now Joanna’s looks pretty good! She’s going to come back without Basil, which will be nice. That’s the interesting part about relationships. That partners become affixed, which changes the nature of every affiliated relationship.

Oh, and my mom and Basil didn’t mind the prostitutes (including the transvestite ones) in my neighborhood. (They are in Austin right now checking out our houses and investments in South Padre).

Sublet
I subletted my apartment again. It’s a pretty addictive thing to do; the easiest way to make money ever. I think I am furthering an illicit affair. The subleasee told me he was going to buy me new sheets after his German female visitor leaves (his wife is in Scottsdale).

Movies
I saw three movies recently: Rent (again for the 5th time), Jesus is Magic, and Brokeback Mountain. Jesus was pretty funny. Some of the stuff was super edgy, but it was a strange movie to see with your parents. Brokeback Mountain was pretty good, mainly because we bought popcorn and Scharffenberger semi-sweet chocolate. I bumped into an old colleague at the firm I worked out. It makes me feel so awkward to see the lawyers there and brings back all these feelings of misery and failure. It plagues me. Anyway, the movie went a little slow, and was a tad melodramatic (and the aging wasn’t convincing). But, it was a movie that promotes reflection — like Fight Club. It’s a lot more than gay cowboy flick, but rather it seems to be about men’s repressed feelings, and marriage. And, in retrospect it was good. I think it conveys a lot more about men than a movie like Sideways.

Interesting Survey

4. Alumni Director at a Law School

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER
1. Flirting With Disaster
2. Rent
3. Bring it On
4. Une Liaison Pornografique
(and Bamboozled and the Secretary)

FOUR CITIES YOU’VE LIVED IN:

1. St. Paul, MN
2. Plantation, FL
3. Hartford, CT
4. Berkeley, CA

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH
1. Trading Spouses
2. Golden Girls
3. Family Ties
4. Elimidate

FOUR PLACES YOU’VE BEEN ON VACATION:

1. Iceland
2. Greece
3. Botswana
4. Jamaica

FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY:
1. calbar.ca.gov (the irony)
2. gmail.com
3.
friendster.com
4. drudgereport.com

FOUR OF YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE RESTAURANTS:
1. Lahore Karahi
2. Chino Latino
3. Spicy Green Bean Deli
4. Pollo Tropical

FOUR OF YOUR FAVOURITE FOODS:
1. Saag Gosht
2. Tom Kha Ga soup
3. Saganaki
4. Dole Whips

FOUR PLACES I’D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. On a massage table
2. The Himalayas
3. The Blue Lagoon
4. In the spiritual vortex in New Mexico


Parking Lot:
– I attended a paddling party a couple weeks ago. It was very interesting. Check out the website: www.loveplaysf.com
– I need to go to Glide more often. It makes me feel good!
– Recently I’ve developed the urge for an SUV
– I now have a digital camera
– I know how to reupholster a chair seat
– I haven’t yet purchased holiday gifts. Somehow it just didn’t happen.
– I keep on bumping into people; I wish SF were the size of NY
– I really want to buy a house in New Mexico or Oregon
– I drank a lot of kombucha this week

This entry was posted on Monday, December 26th, 2005 at 6:38 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.