2046 has become one of my favorite movies. And not just because there are the best stilettos ever that light up when the female character walks in them.
There are three women in the movie, and this perfectly horrible guy, who is a writer. He's also a gambler who isn't good at controlling his impulses.
First, he falls in love with this woman who is married. Or he says he loves her. He says in the movie that you can meet the perfect person, but if the timing isn't right, it won't work out. I don't agree with that. I think if you really love someone, even if the timing is wrong, you can eventually find a way to be with that person. Even though I've had a few relationships that didn't work out because of what I thought was bad timing, I eventually realized the real problem was a difference in goals and what we wanted.
Then the guy falls in love with this totally innocent, sweet girl, who helps him do his work and takes care of him while he's sick. The girl doesn't know he's in love with her though, because she's in love with someone else, though she's unable to express her love.
He helps her get together with the guy she's in love with, even though he claims it broke his heart. But the more I see the movie, the more I think he wants her because he can never have her and he never has to deal with the reality of being in a relationship with her. That's one of the weirdest things about relationships. I think women tend to be supportive of the person they're with regardless of what he does (sleep with someone else, act like an abusive asshole). But men aren't that way. One little thing goes wrong and they turn on you. Like every guy I work with that complains his wife is fat. What did you think was going to happen after she had your fucking kids? These are always the same guys who don't help out around the house, so by the time their wives get done taking care of all the shit they have to do, they don't have time to work out.
While he's in love with the innocent girl, he starts a relationship with an escort. The escort really loves him, and he humiliates her for that. He pays her every time they have sex, and refuses to spend the night with her. She puts up with all this bullshit until she can't take it anymore and then she leaves him. He says he regrets the way he treated her, but when he has an opportunity to do the right thing he fucks her over again. Yet he writes about her in his stories.
The movie is a movie within a movie. The guy is writing a screenplay called 2046, about how people in the future can travel back in time to 2046 so they can live in their memories. In the screenplay, his character decides to leave 2046 and go home. While he's traveling home he ends up having a relationship with a robot. He falls in love with the robot. But then the robot's circuits wear out and she is taken out of service. He says of the robot that he never knew if she really loved him or not.
The conclusion I came to after watching this movie (where, actually, the characters are the same people, watch the watch and the way they smoke) is that guys want the robot. She does what ever he wants and is obedient (a theme that recurs throughout the movie). Also, guys are uncomfortable with emotion so they don't want to be with a partner who is emotional, like the escort. They want someone who's available when it's convenient for them, and they don't want to have to deal with other people's needs.
I guess the difference between men and women really boils down to birthing. Guys don't really have to do anything except get their dick in the right place. Women have to be pregnant, have their body ruined, and then take care of the kid. If they weren't emotional they would do a horrible job at parenthood. Women have to accommodate the needs of their kid whether it's convenient or not. Guys never have to do that, and it makes them emotionally stunted.
And it's funny. Most relationship books counsel women to be more robotic (don't get upset, don't ask him where he's going, don't be clingy). And women put up with this shit because, unlike men, they are capable of really loving someone. That's fucked up.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Cage
Last night I had a dream I was walking down this outside stairwell in Georgetown and I recognized a guy walking up the stairs. So I said hi to him and we started talking. The guy was like "I haven't seen you in 10 years!" and he invited me to go to a party with him. So we started walking to the party and I realized I had no idea who the guy was. But he kept saying how much he had missed me and how glad he was that he had run into me so I kept walking with him.
We came to this dorm building that had loud music coming out of it. We walked through a warren of hallways and through a bunch of messy dorm rooms. Sometimes the guy would move a chair or a trunk in the room and we would have to get down on our hands and knees to crawl through a tunnel to get to the next room. Finally we came to this space that looked like a gym but there were women's clothes strewn all over the place and people standing around drinking beer. They were all really young.
We found the bar and the guy got me a drink, put his arm around me, and said "I want to introduce you to my friends". Just then these three college aged girls came running up to him and said "oh my god, Nicholas Cage!" And then I looked at the guy and realized it was Nicholas Cage. The girls tried to pull him over to their friends but he said he had to take me to meet his friends so they glared at me and walked away.
We went in to a dorm room that led to another room. The first room was full of guys that knew Nick even though they were also college age. They looked at me and Nick told them I was his girlfriend. I started thinking it was weird that he would say that since we had just met. Then he took me to the next room, and there was a full sized bed with a green cover on it. There was nothing else in the room. He said I could lay down and take a nap if I wanted to and that he would be back later.
I laid down on the bed but then started thinking that I should find Nick, so I got up and looked into the room where his friends were sitting. His friends had gotten a lot bigger since I had first seen them and they were really drunk. I was afraid to walk into the room because I thought they might beat me up, so I climbed out a window and ended up in a parking lot that looked the like the parking lot of my hotel in Seoul. I was wondering how I had gotten to Korea since I had just been in DC, but then Nick started walking towards me and was like "I have been looking EVERYWHERE for you!" All these girls kept grabbing him as we were walking through the parking lot but he kept saying to them "please be respectful of my girlfriend".
He took me over to this deserted area of the parking lot that had a chain link fence that was broken and part of it was laying on the ground. I realized if we stepped over the chain link fence we would be back in DC. Nick said "Before we go to DC, there's something I have to tell you. I love you and I want to marry you". I said I wasn't sure it would be a good idea to get married since we had just met. And he said "What are you talking about? We've known each other for 10 years!" I said I didn't remember being his friend, or ever hanging out with him. He said "Don't you remember when we met?" and he was really upset.
I said "Did we meet in college?" and right after I said it I realized that if I had said anything but that, everything would have been okay. His face turned angry and he said "maybe you aren't who I thought you were" and walked over the fence, away from me. I wanted to follow but I looked down and saw the chain link fence was wrapped around my legs and I couldn't walk. I was going to call to him to ask for help but he was talking to a group of about 10 college girls and they were laughing. I didn't want them to look over and see me, because they would laugh at me, so I started trying to untangle the fence by myself.
The more untangled I tried to make the fence the worse it became. I started thinking I would be in Korea forever and never get to go home again. The sun was getting hotter and hotter and I felt like I was going to pass out.
Then I woke up.
We came to this dorm building that had loud music coming out of it. We walked through a warren of hallways and through a bunch of messy dorm rooms. Sometimes the guy would move a chair or a trunk in the room and we would have to get down on our hands and knees to crawl through a tunnel to get to the next room. Finally we came to this space that looked like a gym but there were women's clothes strewn all over the place and people standing around drinking beer. They were all really young.
We found the bar and the guy got me a drink, put his arm around me, and said "I want to introduce you to my friends". Just then these three college aged girls came running up to him and said "oh my god, Nicholas Cage!" And then I looked at the guy and realized it was Nicholas Cage. The girls tried to pull him over to their friends but he said he had to take me to meet his friends so they glared at me and walked away.
We went in to a dorm room that led to another room. The first room was full of guys that knew Nick even though they were also college age. They looked at me and Nick told them I was his girlfriend. I started thinking it was weird that he would say that since we had just met. Then he took me to the next room, and there was a full sized bed with a green cover on it. There was nothing else in the room. He said I could lay down and take a nap if I wanted to and that he would be back later.
I laid down on the bed but then started thinking that I should find Nick, so I got up and looked into the room where his friends were sitting. His friends had gotten a lot bigger since I had first seen them and they were really drunk. I was afraid to walk into the room because I thought they might beat me up, so I climbed out a window and ended up in a parking lot that looked the like the parking lot of my hotel in Seoul. I was wondering how I had gotten to Korea since I had just been in DC, but then Nick started walking towards me and was like "I have been looking EVERYWHERE for you!" All these girls kept grabbing him as we were walking through the parking lot but he kept saying to them "please be respectful of my girlfriend".
He took me over to this deserted area of the parking lot that had a chain link fence that was broken and part of it was laying on the ground. I realized if we stepped over the chain link fence we would be back in DC. Nick said "Before we go to DC, there's something I have to tell you. I love you and I want to marry you". I said I wasn't sure it would be a good idea to get married since we had just met. And he said "What are you talking about? We've known each other for 10 years!" I said I didn't remember being his friend, or ever hanging out with him. He said "Don't you remember when we met?" and he was really upset.
I said "Did we meet in college?" and right after I said it I realized that if I had said anything but that, everything would have been okay. His face turned angry and he said "maybe you aren't who I thought you were" and walked over the fence, away from me. I wanted to follow but I looked down and saw the chain link fence was wrapped around my legs and I couldn't walk. I was going to call to him to ask for help but he was talking to a group of about 10 college girls and they were laughing. I didn't want them to look over and see me, because they would laugh at me, so I started trying to untangle the fence by myself.
The more untangled I tried to make the fence the worse it became. I started thinking I would be in Korea forever and never get to go home again. The sun was getting hotter and hotter and I felt like I was going to pass out.
Then I woke up.
killer sock puppets
Two nights ago I had a dream that I was in England, in the country, and was staying in a hotel in this little village. It was nighttime, and there was a huge wedding going on, but I wasn't invited. The hotel was deserted.
So I decided to sneak over to the church where the wedding was being held. It was a small stone building. I crept through some bushes and looked in one of the windows. The glass was so old my view was distorted and I couldn't make anything out. So I pushed the window open. I could hear wedding music.
When I looked inside I could see that the bride and groom were saying their vows. But, they were sock puppets with no faces. Then I noticed all the people in the church were just sock puppets without faces. They had these skinny wooden dowels coming out from their bodies where their arms should have been, and at the end of the dowels were these round wooden knobs.
I started to get scared that everyone in the village had turned into a sock puppet and that I might turn into one too. I began backing away from the window, but the sock puppets heard me moving through the bushes.
They flew out of the church door and began beating me with their wooden knob arms. At first I was afraid and then I started laughing and said "you can't hurt me with your arms". But they started flying at my face. One sock puppet wedged himself in my mouth, and another somehow was able to block my nose and eyes by wrapping around my head tightly. I started to suffocate. The other sock puppets were holding my arms so I couldn't move. I began to pass out.
Then I woke up.
So I decided to sneak over to the church where the wedding was being held. It was a small stone building. I crept through some bushes and looked in one of the windows. The glass was so old my view was distorted and I couldn't make anything out. So I pushed the window open. I could hear wedding music.
When I looked inside I could see that the bride and groom were saying their vows. But, they were sock puppets with no faces. Then I noticed all the people in the church were just sock puppets without faces. They had these skinny wooden dowels coming out from their bodies where their arms should have been, and at the end of the dowels were these round wooden knobs.
I started to get scared that everyone in the village had turned into a sock puppet and that I might turn into one too. I began backing away from the window, but the sock puppets heard me moving through the bushes.
They flew out of the church door and began beating me with their wooden knob arms. At first I was afraid and then I started laughing and said "you can't hurt me with your arms". But they started flying at my face. One sock puppet wedged himself in my mouth, and another somehow was able to block my nose and eyes by wrapping around my head tightly. I started to suffocate. The other sock puppets were holding my arms so I couldn't move. I began to pass out.
Then I woke up.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
who invited the asshole?
Last night Brassy invited one of his friends over for dinner. The friend, here after referred to as X, is a doctor. If his ego were a vehicle, it would surely be a blimp.
X was obviously uncomfortable in my presence, so I asked him about healthcare reform and his thoughts. He proceeded to tell me I'm a horrible patient, and that the reason I get bad care from my doctors is because I don't threaten to sue them. Interesting.
Then X insulted my doctors at Hopkins, and said the cancer treatment I received there was wrong. He said that hospital's reputation is way overblown. When I defended my oncologist, who was brilliant and nice, he wouldn't listen to me. He said my knee doctor was a hack and did a horrible job on my knee scar, and that he would never want to sleep with me because my scar is so hideous. Really. I love the way guys assume every woman wants to sleep with them.
I was getting pissed off, but could see in Brassy's eyes that he really wanted X and I to get along. So I walked outside and had a cigarette, then did the dinner dishes. Brassy and X were talking about the publishing business for a while. I decided to just ignore X the rest of the night because having a conversation with him was impossible.
We ended up on the back porch where I was lectured about smoking, as X took one of my cigarettes without asking and proceeded to light it. Then he did this weird Clint Eastwood impersonation of him doing surgery. I wasn't sure what to make of that. He looked at my shingles and confirmed the diagnosis, and said I must have an unhealthy diet. I mentioned that I eat mostly salads and fruit, as well as edamame, and he said that I am eating all the wrong things. He said "lay off the tea, coffee, chocolate, and milk products". I was like "I don't consume ANY of those things" but he didn't listen.
Then he offered to check out this swollen lymph node I've had for years. It needs to be biopsied (like I have time). He immediately diagnosed it as probably lymphoma, and said I needed to come to his office this week to have it taken care of. I was like, no, not going to do that. This caused him to fly into a rage about how stupid I am to turn down and offer from such a brilliant doctor as himself. He said I was going to die while I was over in the middle east. I was like great, thanks.
Things deteriorated super fast after that. He said smokers have stinky cooches and that guys never tell you. Neither do doctors. He said when he has patients with smelly cooches he puts on two masks with peppermints in them. I was like if that's true why wouldn't you tell them? You're their fucking doctor.
A discussion ensued about how guys would never tell a girl she smelled bad, with me saying that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. They both said they would still go down on a girl even if she smelled. Brassy got the spins and X realized it was 3 in the morning and he had to get up for surgery the next day. I can't say I was sad when he left. And, no offense Brassy, you can keep X as your special friend. Because I'd like to kick him in the balls.
X was obviously uncomfortable in my presence, so I asked him about healthcare reform and his thoughts. He proceeded to tell me I'm a horrible patient, and that the reason I get bad care from my doctors is because I don't threaten to sue them. Interesting.
Then X insulted my doctors at Hopkins, and said the cancer treatment I received there was wrong. He said that hospital's reputation is way overblown. When I defended my oncologist, who was brilliant and nice, he wouldn't listen to me. He said my knee doctor was a hack and did a horrible job on my knee scar, and that he would never want to sleep with me because my scar is so hideous. Really. I love the way guys assume every woman wants to sleep with them.
I was getting pissed off, but could see in Brassy's eyes that he really wanted X and I to get along. So I walked outside and had a cigarette, then did the dinner dishes. Brassy and X were talking about the publishing business for a while. I decided to just ignore X the rest of the night because having a conversation with him was impossible.
We ended up on the back porch where I was lectured about smoking, as X took one of my cigarettes without asking and proceeded to light it. Then he did this weird Clint Eastwood impersonation of him doing surgery. I wasn't sure what to make of that. He looked at my shingles and confirmed the diagnosis, and said I must have an unhealthy diet. I mentioned that I eat mostly salads and fruit, as well as edamame, and he said that I am eating all the wrong things. He said "lay off the tea, coffee, chocolate, and milk products". I was like "I don't consume ANY of those things" but he didn't listen.
Then he offered to check out this swollen lymph node I've had for years. It needs to be biopsied (like I have time). He immediately diagnosed it as probably lymphoma, and said I needed to come to his office this week to have it taken care of. I was like, no, not going to do that. This caused him to fly into a rage about how stupid I am to turn down and offer from such a brilliant doctor as himself. He said I was going to die while I was over in the middle east. I was like great, thanks.
Things deteriorated super fast after that. He said smokers have stinky cooches and that guys never tell you. Neither do doctors. He said when he has patients with smelly cooches he puts on two masks with peppermints in them. I was like if that's true why wouldn't you tell them? You're their fucking doctor.
A discussion ensued about how guys would never tell a girl she smelled bad, with me saying that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. They both said they would still go down on a girl even if she smelled. Brassy got the spins and X realized it was 3 in the morning and he had to get up for surgery the next day. I can't say I was sad when he left. And, no offense Brassy, you can keep X as your special friend. Because I'd like to kick him in the balls.
Monday, August 3, 2009
cake stealer payback
The cupcakes remind me of another story...
There was this total tool of a woman that worked in my building. One of her "jobs" (she never really worked, but walked around talking to everyone) was to order food for customer meetings. She would always order way too much food, and then take it home with her. It was really pretty retarded.
So I was having a meeting and she ordered this cake that I really like (well, not the cake, but the frosting, coconut, yum!). But the cake never made it into the meeting. I asked her where it was and she said she needed it for another meeting. I was like you lying bitch, you're going to steal my cake.
So after the meeting was over I found the cake in the refrigerator and tried to take a piece of it. The woman, Carmela, came in and took the cake literally right out of my hands and walked away with it. So I waited a half hour and went looking for it again. I found it in her private refrigerator. So I popped open the lid and stuck my finger in EVERY single piece of cake, and then closed it back up so she couldn't see that it had been tampered with. When I saw her carrying it out to her car that night I cracked up laughing.
The other thing I did to her was even more mean. She used to walk into my meetings and take soft drinks that were for our customers. So before my meeting started I took a can of diet coke, which is what she drank, and shook it up. Then I kicked it around on the floor. I put it in an accessible place. Sure enough, 5 minutes into my meeting she came in and grabbed the coke. I didn't see the explosion but I did hear her scream.
Unbelievably, my manager yelled at me for the explosion. I played dumb. And then I said, well the guys who brought the cokes in dropped a few on the floor. But none of my CUSTOMERS who were drinking the cokes had a problem.
Point heard. That stupid woman never came anywhere near my meetings again. Though, we always had the WORST food, and she would "forget" to order drinks.
There was this total tool of a woman that worked in my building. One of her "jobs" (she never really worked, but walked around talking to everyone) was to order food for customer meetings. She would always order way too much food, and then take it home with her. It was really pretty retarded.
So I was having a meeting and she ordered this cake that I really like (well, not the cake, but the frosting, coconut, yum!). But the cake never made it into the meeting. I asked her where it was and she said she needed it for another meeting. I was like you lying bitch, you're going to steal my cake.
So after the meeting was over I found the cake in the refrigerator and tried to take a piece of it. The woman, Carmela, came in and took the cake literally right out of my hands and walked away with it. So I waited a half hour and went looking for it again. I found it in her private refrigerator. So I popped open the lid and stuck my finger in EVERY single piece of cake, and then closed it back up so she couldn't see that it had been tampered with. When I saw her carrying it out to her car that night I cracked up laughing.
The other thing I did to her was even more mean. She used to walk into my meetings and take soft drinks that were for our customers. So before my meeting started I took a can of diet coke, which is what she drank, and shook it up. Then I kicked it around on the floor. I put it in an accessible place. Sure enough, 5 minutes into my meeting she came in and grabbed the coke. I didn't see the explosion but I did hear her scream.
Unbelievably, my manager yelled at me for the explosion. I played dumb. And then I said, well the guys who brought the cokes in dropped a few on the floor. But none of my CUSTOMERS who were drinking the cokes had a problem.
Point heard. That stupid woman never came anywhere near my meetings again. Though, we always had the WORST food, and she would "forget" to order drinks.
muffins
HP2.0 and I went to a charity event for denver youth at risk. He introduced me to some of his friends and then had to go talk to someone else. So I was talking to the guys and they had met HP2.0 in a leadership course, and then some of them did Rainier with him.
They were laughing because one day at the leadership course HP2.0 brought in muffins. He forgot the tin and sent an email to everyone looking for it. HP2.0 is one of the few people that is worse than I am when it comes to A type behavior and I guess he was being a little over-reactive about his muffin tin. Yeah, he could have gone out and bought a new one, but he wanted his own tin back.
The class decided to play a joke on HP2.0. They started taking the muffin tin around and taking pictures of it. They apparently even set up an email address for the muffin tin, and the muffin tin kept emailing HP2.0. One of the guys took the tin to Vegas and had a stripper put it between her tits.
The tin was finally returned to poor HP2.0. He laughed about the joke, but I don't think he really thought it was funny. The moral of the story is, of course, muffins suck. I don't even know why anyone would eat them. They have that weird top part that's like a cookie but not good. Then the bottom part kind of looks like a cupcake but tastes like crap, unlike a cupcake. In fact, why make anything that shape that you can't put frosting on. Which is to say, I don't really like cupcakes either, but I do like frosting as long as it's lemon or vanilla - chocolate frosting is disgusting.
In fact, I once had a work meeting and ordered cupcakes. There were 4 left over after the meeting, so I licked all the frosting off them, and called my then boyfriend and asked if he wanted the cupcakes. He ate one but didn't finish the rest after I told him the reason they weren't frosted is because I had already eaten the frosting. But I was like whatever dude. You stick your tongue in my mouth, why should it matter if I licked the cupcake.
I bet he told everyone that story after we broke up.
They were laughing because one day at the leadership course HP2.0 brought in muffins. He forgot the tin and sent an email to everyone looking for it. HP2.0 is one of the few people that is worse than I am when it comes to A type behavior and I guess he was being a little over-reactive about his muffin tin. Yeah, he could have gone out and bought a new one, but he wanted his own tin back.
The class decided to play a joke on HP2.0. They started taking the muffin tin around and taking pictures of it. They apparently even set up an email address for the muffin tin, and the muffin tin kept emailing HP2.0. One of the guys took the tin to Vegas and had a stripper put it between her tits.
The tin was finally returned to poor HP2.0. He laughed about the joke, but I don't think he really thought it was funny. The moral of the story is, of course, muffins suck. I don't even know why anyone would eat them. They have that weird top part that's like a cookie but not good. Then the bottom part kind of looks like a cupcake but tastes like crap, unlike a cupcake. In fact, why make anything that shape that you can't put frosting on. Which is to say, I don't really like cupcakes either, but I do like frosting as long as it's lemon or vanilla - chocolate frosting is disgusting.
In fact, I once had a work meeting and ordered cupcakes. There were 4 left over after the meeting, so I licked all the frosting off them, and called my then boyfriend and asked if he wanted the cupcakes. He ate one but didn't finish the rest after I told him the reason they weren't frosted is because I had already eaten the frosting. But I was like whatever dude. You stick your tongue in my mouth, why should it matter if I licked the cupcake.
I bet he told everyone that story after we broke up.
rashy and brassy
As if I don't have enough to worry about with my impending departure to the middle east and work, I woke up on Thursday morning with a monster rash on my lower back.
At first I thought it was an allergic reaction to something, so I tried to ignore it. By friday it was so painful that I could barely stand to sit for more than an hour. It literally felt like I had a horrible bruise on my back, like the time I wrecked my mountain bike.
Of course, by the time it occurred to me to call a doctor, I couldn't get an appointment. I thought I would give it the weekend and then maybe it would get better. I put cortizone on it like every hour. Saturday and Sunday the pain in my back was so bad I spent most of the weekend working on white papers instead of getting out and doing something fun. I couldn't even ride my bike because it hurt to have anything like clothes touching my back. And to put this in perspective, I walked around with a broken hand and finger for two weeks without taking any pain meds. I ate a caramel apple two days after I had 4 impacted wisdom teeth taken out. So I'm not a pussy.
Jeffy was surmising that maybe I have an alien growing in my back, or that I've been taken over by a mutant fungus that's going to slowly kill me. Turns out, the truth isn't that exciting.
Finally got in to see a doctor today. I have shingles. Fuck fuck fuck. And because I waited so long to go to the doctor's there's nothing they can do (the rash is starting to heal so they can't treat it). He did give me some drugs in case it comes back again. Bottom line, I'm not looking forward to a 20 hour flight with this shit on my back. I can barely stand to sit on my couch...
But, pain relief is on its way. Joe (aka Brassy) just left for the airport to come here to pick up Jakey. He's going to watch him while I'm gone, along with my cacti, including Tammy Faye Cactus and St. David Thornstein. As soon as we get to my house I'm popping open a bottle of wine. I just know I'll feel better. And so will Joe, who is dealing with a neighbor who's underage kid drove a bronco through Joe's garage on Saturday right as Joe was leaving for work.
To give credit where it's due, Joe came up with the phrase "rashy and brassy".
At first I thought it was an allergic reaction to something, so I tried to ignore it. By friday it was so painful that I could barely stand to sit for more than an hour. It literally felt like I had a horrible bruise on my back, like the time I wrecked my mountain bike.
Of course, by the time it occurred to me to call a doctor, I couldn't get an appointment. I thought I would give it the weekend and then maybe it would get better. I put cortizone on it like every hour. Saturday and Sunday the pain in my back was so bad I spent most of the weekend working on white papers instead of getting out and doing something fun. I couldn't even ride my bike because it hurt to have anything like clothes touching my back. And to put this in perspective, I walked around with a broken hand and finger for two weeks without taking any pain meds. I ate a caramel apple two days after I had 4 impacted wisdom teeth taken out. So I'm not a pussy.
Jeffy was surmising that maybe I have an alien growing in my back, or that I've been taken over by a mutant fungus that's going to slowly kill me. Turns out, the truth isn't that exciting.
Finally got in to see a doctor today. I have shingles. Fuck fuck fuck. And because I waited so long to go to the doctor's there's nothing they can do (the rash is starting to heal so they can't treat it). He did give me some drugs in case it comes back again. Bottom line, I'm not looking forward to a 20 hour flight with this shit on my back. I can barely stand to sit on my couch...
But, pain relief is on its way. Joe (aka Brassy) just left for the airport to come here to pick up Jakey. He's going to watch him while I'm gone, along with my cacti, including Tammy Faye Cactus and St. David Thornstein. As soon as we get to my house I'm popping open a bottle of wine. I just know I'll feel better. And so will Joe, who is dealing with a neighbor who's underage kid drove a bronco through Joe's garage on Saturday right as Joe was leaving for work.
To give credit where it's due, Joe came up with the phrase "rashy and brassy".
Monday, July 27, 2009
tug boat
Painting number 10 is for my friend and colleague Lou. I was telling him about how I made a painting for the UK guys and offered to make one for him. He asked what they wanted and I explained the whole "robo-chicken fighting a were pig with light sabers and binary stars in the background" thing they had come up with. He was hm, how about a tug boat? Lou, as you can see, is much more reasonable than the Brits.
But, when I got ready to paint I realized I didn't know what a tug boat looked like. I did a search on the internet and found this picture:
It seemed like it might be easy to paint. But, I over estimate my skills, greatly. After trying to do a picture based on this photo, I also downloaded this to help since I couldn't get the details right. Also, I wanted a worse picture than the one I was painting to look at to make myself feel better. Even if that painting was done by a 5 year old.
Anyway, here's how the painting came out. It's okay I guess. Maybe he'll throw it away. Probably he will keep it if only because I named the tug boat after our software.
As you can see, the proportions are totally wrong, I tried to make things 3-d and that didn't work out at all, the ocean looks like it's about to engulf the tug, and then there's the matter of the rivets. After I got done painting it I was looking at the picture and realized the boat had no rivets. I'm pretty sure every boat has rivets. So I started putting them on and I couldn't stop. Everything ended up with a rivet border.Oh well. Hopefully he has children and people will think they did it. Or maybe he can say he bought the painting at a charity auction of art made by retards. I think I'll call it tug two.
I should also note here that I was IMing with Jamesy and he said that he would have thrown away the painting I gave him if I wasn't the one who had made it. And that I showed the uranus painting to Eva and Dan and they laughed at it. And that I showed my paintings to my sister this weekend and she laughed so hard she choked on her diet coke.
Maybe I should do a stand up routine of my paintings. I guess I'm happy to bring a smile to everyone's face, even at the expense of my art.
dinosaurs
My sister, her husband, and my niece and nephew came to visit me this weekend. My nephew Michael, 5, is obsessed with dinosaurs, so we thought it would be fun to take him to dinosaur ridge.
At first he was excited about the idea, but as we got ready to leave the house, he suddenly said "I think I'll stay home". I thought that was strange so I said "Don't you want to see some dinosaurs?" He was like "No, I don't want to see them anymore".
After further discussion, which caused him to get VERY upset and almost cry, I realized he thought there were going to be REAL dinosaurs at the park and he was afraid one would eat him. Once we told him that there were no live dinosaurs he got excited about going.
We saw some dinosaur bones in rocks, and some dinosaur tracks. You can touch everything at dinosaur ridge, which is really cool. You can distinguish between a dinosaur bone and rocks because the bones feel waxy when you touch them. Then we went into this museum. There we were accosted by this excitable young lad, age 21, who wanted to give us a tour of the museum (we were the only people there).
He started in on his lecture, which was interesting, but Michael kept farting really loudly. My sister and I had to walk away because we were both laughing so hard. Every time my sister starts laughing it makes me laugh even harder. I used to get in trouble for that all the time when I was a kid because my dad didn't like it when we would start laughing. She also used to do things to make me laugh but she wouldn't laugh.
Anyway, at one point the guy started showing us dinosaur parts and then he would show us these toy dinosaurs the part came from. We saw plates from a stegasaurus and spikes from the tail of a triceratop. The guy mentioned that they've found teeth from a t rex but have never found a whole one in Colorado, though they believe t rex lived here. I suggested that another dinosaur may have eaten the t rex in like Utah or something, and then pooped the teeth out in Colorado. He said "but the t rex was the apex predator" and I was like "maybe they ate it after the t rex died". He made a face as though he had a headache, and then said "um, interesting theory".
He asked if we had any questions so I said "I would like to know how dinosaurs painted their toenails". The guy gave me a look and said "they didn't paint their toenails". Then Michael, who was holding a t rex toy model, held it up and said "yes they did! this t rex has red toenails". The guy took the model away from Michael and hid it behind a display.
"Any other questions?" he asked, glaring at me. I raised my hand, causing my niece and nephew to start giggling. I play a game with them all the time where I raise my hand and when one of them calls on me I ask a ridiculous question. The guy sighed and was like "go ahead, what's your question?".
He had just given my niece the horns of a triceratop to hold, and they were really heavy. So I said "how did dinosaurs used to kiss if they had all these horns and stuff on their heads?" I took a apatosaurus model and pretended it was trying to kiss the triceratops. I made the apatosaurus go "Ow, you poked my eye!" The guy took the models away from me and hid them with the t rex. Then he said "I don't think they used to kiss each other like people".
He suggested that we look at some other display, and excused himself. My niece and nephew said it was their favorite museum visit ever.
At first he was excited about the idea, but as we got ready to leave the house, he suddenly said "I think I'll stay home". I thought that was strange so I said "Don't you want to see some dinosaurs?" He was like "No, I don't want to see them anymore".
After further discussion, which caused him to get VERY upset and almost cry, I realized he thought there were going to be REAL dinosaurs at the park and he was afraid one would eat him. Once we told him that there were no live dinosaurs he got excited about going.
We saw some dinosaur bones in rocks, and some dinosaur tracks. You can touch everything at dinosaur ridge, which is really cool. You can distinguish between a dinosaur bone and rocks because the bones feel waxy when you touch them. Then we went into this museum. There we were accosted by this excitable young lad, age 21, who wanted to give us a tour of the museum (we were the only people there).
He started in on his lecture, which was interesting, but Michael kept farting really loudly. My sister and I had to walk away because we were both laughing so hard. Every time my sister starts laughing it makes me laugh even harder. I used to get in trouble for that all the time when I was a kid because my dad didn't like it when we would start laughing. She also used to do things to make me laugh but she wouldn't laugh.
Anyway, at one point the guy started showing us dinosaur parts and then he would show us these toy dinosaurs the part came from. We saw plates from a stegasaurus and spikes from the tail of a triceratop. The guy mentioned that they've found teeth from a t rex but have never found a whole one in Colorado, though they believe t rex lived here. I suggested that another dinosaur may have eaten the t rex in like Utah or something, and then pooped the teeth out in Colorado. He said "but the t rex was the apex predator" and I was like "maybe they ate it after the t rex died". He made a face as though he had a headache, and then said "um, interesting theory".
He asked if we had any questions so I said "I would like to know how dinosaurs painted their toenails". The guy gave me a look and said "they didn't paint their toenails". Then Michael, who was holding a t rex toy model, held it up and said "yes they did! this t rex has red toenails". The guy took the model away from Michael and hid it behind a display.
"Any other questions?" he asked, glaring at me. I raised my hand, causing my niece and nephew to start giggling. I play a game with them all the time where I raise my hand and when one of them calls on me I ask a ridiculous question. The guy sighed and was like "go ahead, what's your question?".
He had just given my niece the horns of a triceratop to hold, and they were really heavy. So I said "how did dinosaurs used to kiss if they had all these horns and stuff on their heads?" I took a apatosaurus model and pretended it was trying to kiss the triceratops. I made the apatosaurus go "Ow, you poked my eye!" The guy took the models away from me and hid them with the t rex. Then he said "I don't think they used to kiss each other like people".
He suggested that we look at some other display, and excused himself. My niece and nephew said it was their favorite museum visit ever.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
a short question about penises
I've wondered, for a long time, when guys' penises stop growing. I find it a bit odd that no guy I've talked to can ever answer this question. Joe suggested I ask the question on my blog.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
actually, that wasn't what I was going to say...
I never tell a guy I love him first. I always wait until they say it, and then usually wait a while to say it back to them. I would never tell someone I loved them if I didn't.
But, sometimes I find myself in strange situations. Take, for instance, this guy that I dated a while ago. After I got divorced I didn't go on a date for two years. Then I met this guy at the gym and he bugged me until I went out with him. Our first date was kind of strange. When I met up with him for dinner the first thing he said to me is "I'll give you 20 IQ points for free". I was like what the fuck are you talking about? He assumed I guess, because I'm a woman, that I'm stupid. Even though he hadn't even graduated from high school and had a college "degree" from some unaccredited university in Colorado.
But, I was bored, and he seemed like he was really in to me, so I went on another date with him the next night, which was christmas eve. We went to the gym and then back to his apartment, where he made dinner. We were sitting on the sofa and he started talking about how he had been in love with this girl who died climbing. Then he started sort of crying. I wasn't sure what to do so I said that I was going to leave.
He didn't want me to leave, and, as fate would have it, it had just started snowing really hard. He suggested that we retire to his bedroom (the sofa was tres uncomfortable) to watch the snow from the huge window in there. So I sat down on the side of the bed and watched the snow while he excused himself to go to the bathroom. It was cold in his apartment so I put a blanket from the bed over my legs. He came out of the bathroom but I didn't turn around. Then he slid under the covers and pulled me under with him.
That's when I realized, I seriously am NOT making this up, that he was naked. Totally naked. I was like "Dude! What are you doing????" He thought he had made it obvious what "going to watch snow in the bedroom" meant. Apparently I missed the message.
As if things weren't already strange, he started making out with me. I hadn't made out with anyone for two years so I decided to play along for a while. But things weren't right. In fact, they were, shall we say, flaccid. I am not used to kissing a guy and not having his tackle poking me in the stomach. I wondered what the fuck was going on.
After about an hour of making out, I decided to ask him. Earlier in the evening he had made this dramatic declaration that we were going to be together forever and that I should be able to tell him everything and not keep secrets from him. It seemed like an ideal time to test his sincerity about that.
But, first I decided to go to the bathroom and compose myself. I splashed my face and then drank some water, trying to figure out the best way to phrase my question. I had decided that I kind of liked the guy, and I didn't want to screw up my second date in two years.
So I went back into the bedroom and crawled back into bed. The guy had propped himself up on some pillows while I was gone. I tried to put my head on his chest but he grabbed my shoulders so I couldn't hide my face.
He looked at me and he said "You. Are. A. Coward." I tried to look away but he wouldn't let me. Then he said "Since you won't say it, I'll say it first." Thank god, I thought. Now I don't have to ask what's wrong with his penis.
He said "I love you."
I was so shocked that nothing really came to mind to say. He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. He said "You don't have to say it back to me now. Because I know some day you'll say it." He kissed the top of my head and I started giggling uncontrollably. I tried to stop but I couldn't. Finally, realizing I was on the verge of laughing hysterically and not being able to stop, I told him I had to go home.
He said he would walk me to my car, and if there was more than an inch of snow on the pavement that I would have to stay. We got outside to discover that the wind had been blowing so hard no snow had accumulated on the pavement. He raised his hands up to the sky and yelled "Fuck you snow!" For some reason, I found that incredibly charming.
It was 3 in the morning by this point, and he insisted I talk to him on the phone the hour drive back to my apartment because he was worried about me. Then he told me he would come by to see me in the morning. We were having christmas dinner with my friends Eva and Dan, a dinner we called "three jews and you". I got to bed at 430 in the morning, and was awakened by him knocking on my door at 8 in the morning. I was like what are you doing here, and he told me he came as soon as it was morning because he missed me.
I'd never dated anyone who seemed so dedicated and who wanted to spend time with me. I got sucked in, especially because he would say things like "30 years from now we're going to do (whatever)". Every guy I had ever dated was incapable of making plans even a week in advance.
But, later everything went to shit. He dumped me by email and then married someone else 4 months after we broke up. I saw him twice after that. The first time he said to me "I'm pretty sure that when I said I loved you I meant it. But only at the time I said it." The second time I ran into him at a deli near my work, and he offered to buy me a salad, but he did it in an insulting way, as if buying my lunch was going to make up for him breaking my heart.
Guys. Fucking stupid.
But, sometimes I find myself in strange situations. Take, for instance, this guy that I dated a while ago. After I got divorced I didn't go on a date for two years. Then I met this guy at the gym and he bugged me until I went out with him. Our first date was kind of strange. When I met up with him for dinner the first thing he said to me is "I'll give you 20 IQ points for free". I was like what the fuck are you talking about? He assumed I guess, because I'm a woman, that I'm stupid. Even though he hadn't even graduated from high school and had a college "degree" from some unaccredited university in Colorado.
But, I was bored, and he seemed like he was really in to me, so I went on another date with him the next night, which was christmas eve. We went to the gym and then back to his apartment, where he made dinner. We were sitting on the sofa and he started talking about how he had been in love with this girl who died climbing. Then he started sort of crying. I wasn't sure what to do so I said that I was going to leave.
He didn't want me to leave, and, as fate would have it, it had just started snowing really hard. He suggested that we retire to his bedroom (the sofa was tres uncomfortable) to watch the snow from the huge window in there. So I sat down on the side of the bed and watched the snow while he excused himself to go to the bathroom. It was cold in his apartment so I put a blanket from the bed over my legs. He came out of the bathroom but I didn't turn around. Then he slid under the covers and pulled me under with him.
That's when I realized, I seriously am NOT making this up, that he was naked. Totally naked. I was like "Dude! What are you doing????" He thought he had made it obvious what "going to watch snow in the bedroom" meant. Apparently I missed the message.
As if things weren't already strange, he started making out with me. I hadn't made out with anyone for two years so I decided to play along for a while. But things weren't right. In fact, they were, shall we say, flaccid. I am not used to kissing a guy and not having his tackle poking me in the stomach. I wondered what the fuck was going on.
After about an hour of making out, I decided to ask him. Earlier in the evening he had made this dramatic declaration that we were going to be together forever and that I should be able to tell him everything and not keep secrets from him. It seemed like an ideal time to test his sincerity about that.
But, first I decided to go to the bathroom and compose myself. I splashed my face and then drank some water, trying to figure out the best way to phrase my question. I had decided that I kind of liked the guy, and I didn't want to screw up my second date in two years.
So I went back into the bedroom and crawled back into bed. The guy had propped himself up on some pillows while I was gone. I tried to put my head on his chest but he grabbed my shoulders so I couldn't hide my face.
He looked at me and he said "You. Are. A. Coward." I tried to look away but he wouldn't let me. Then he said "Since you won't say it, I'll say it first." Thank god, I thought. Now I don't have to ask what's wrong with his penis.
He said "I love you."
I was so shocked that nothing really came to mind to say. He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. He said "You don't have to say it back to me now. Because I know some day you'll say it." He kissed the top of my head and I started giggling uncontrollably. I tried to stop but I couldn't. Finally, realizing I was on the verge of laughing hysterically and not being able to stop, I told him I had to go home.
He said he would walk me to my car, and if there was more than an inch of snow on the pavement that I would have to stay. We got outside to discover that the wind had been blowing so hard no snow had accumulated on the pavement. He raised his hands up to the sky and yelled "Fuck you snow!" For some reason, I found that incredibly charming.
It was 3 in the morning by this point, and he insisted I talk to him on the phone the hour drive back to my apartment because he was worried about me. Then he told me he would come by to see me in the morning. We were having christmas dinner with my friends Eva and Dan, a dinner we called "three jews and you". I got to bed at 430 in the morning, and was awakened by him knocking on my door at 8 in the morning. I was like what are you doing here, and he told me he came as soon as it was morning because he missed me.
I'd never dated anyone who seemed so dedicated and who wanted to spend time with me. I got sucked in, especially because he would say things like "30 years from now we're going to do (whatever)". Every guy I had ever dated was incapable of making plans even a week in advance.
But, later everything went to shit. He dumped me by email and then married someone else 4 months after we broke up. I saw him twice after that. The first time he said to me "I'm pretty sure that when I said I loved you I meant it. But only at the time I said it." The second time I ran into him at a deli near my work, and he offered to buy me a salad, but he did it in an insulting way, as if buying my lunch was going to make up for him breaking my heart.
Guys. Fucking stupid.
the broken vase
Last night I had a dream that I was in a tv show. It was supposed to be a comedy. The first part of the show I had signed up to do a bouldering competition at my ex's gym, but it wasn't really his gym because it was outside and it was on this small jut of land that had cliffs on all three sides. But I couldn't climb because every time I touched the holds on the wall they would fracture into a million pieces. Everyone was yelling at me that I was ruining the competition. My ex told me I should have known I couldn't touch plastic since I had frost bite. So he grabbed me and threw me into this copper metal pipe and I was falling through the pipe not sure where I was going to land.
The pipe finally dropped me into a huge metal tub full of water. Drew Barrymore was there, and she told me she was going to be on the show with me. I told her I didn't know how to act and that I didn't watch TV and she said "look, I can blow bubble bath out of my mouth". She started blowing these weird iridescent bubbles out of her mouth. I was like "can we talk about the show please?" but she kept blowing bubbles and just giggling instead of talking.
Then I looked over and saw my friend Joe riding a unicycle on this metal railroad tie that was a fence to keep people from falling off the cliff. He was in a contest to juggle three green tennis balls while riding the unicycle on the narrow railroad tie. Also, they made him wear these glasses that were a swirl of white and black (like the cover of Vertigo) and every time he pedaled the swirls in the glasses would start turning. There were other people in the contest too but all of them fell off the cliff and died immediately. I could hear them scream when they fell off the tie and down the cliff. Joe was the only one who was able to ride the unicycle and juggle. Everyone was clapping and cheering, but I was yelling at him to take the glasses off and stop riding because he had won the contest. Then Joe fell over the cliff.
I was afraid he might have died so I ran over to my ex, who was reading a clipboard. I asked him to help me find my friend Joe but he ignored me. I got mad and started yelling at him. Then he looked up at me and I realized he was my co-author. He smiled at me and I saw that his teeth had grown together and he couldn't talk. I was scared so I ran away and found a producer for the show, and told him I wouldn't be on the show anymore if he kept changing people on me and killing my friends. So the producer told me to go to another set of the show, which was a house not on the cliff, but somewhere else.
In that house there was a couple from Jamaica. They had a vase made of black glass. The bottom of the vase was a black woman's head, and then there were all these pipes coming out of her head that went almost 6 feet up. Between the pipes were tied these off white china ovals, and each of the ovals had a face painted in water colors. They told me the faces were their relatives and the vase was sacred and had special powers.
There was a laugh track for a while because Drew Barrymore and the Jamaican man were joking back and forth, and then the Jamaican man accidentally bumped the vase and broke one of the pipes off. His wife got really mad and said that Drew Barrymore had to be punished for the vase. I said I thought it was unfair because her husband was the one who broke the vase, but she pulled out a huge knife and told me to shut up.
Then Drew said the woman could cut her hair off with the knife as punishment, and she leaned over and put her forehead on the table where the vase was, and pulled her hair forward so that her neck was completely exposed. The wife pulled back the table cloth on the table, and I saw that the table was actually a grave full of dirt. I realized the woman was going to kill Drew. And then I heard the producer whisper "you see, it isn't a comedy at all".
Then I woke up.
The pipe finally dropped me into a huge metal tub full of water. Drew Barrymore was there, and she told me she was going to be on the show with me. I told her I didn't know how to act and that I didn't watch TV and she said "look, I can blow bubble bath out of my mouth". She started blowing these weird iridescent bubbles out of her mouth. I was like "can we talk about the show please?" but she kept blowing bubbles and just giggling instead of talking.
Then I looked over and saw my friend Joe riding a unicycle on this metal railroad tie that was a fence to keep people from falling off the cliff. He was in a contest to juggle three green tennis balls while riding the unicycle on the narrow railroad tie. Also, they made him wear these glasses that were a swirl of white and black (like the cover of Vertigo) and every time he pedaled the swirls in the glasses would start turning. There were other people in the contest too but all of them fell off the cliff and died immediately. I could hear them scream when they fell off the tie and down the cliff. Joe was the only one who was able to ride the unicycle and juggle. Everyone was clapping and cheering, but I was yelling at him to take the glasses off and stop riding because he had won the contest. Then Joe fell over the cliff.
I was afraid he might have died so I ran over to my ex, who was reading a clipboard. I asked him to help me find my friend Joe but he ignored me. I got mad and started yelling at him. Then he looked up at me and I realized he was my co-author. He smiled at me and I saw that his teeth had grown together and he couldn't talk. I was scared so I ran away and found a producer for the show, and told him I wouldn't be on the show anymore if he kept changing people on me and killing my friends. So the producer told me to go to another set of the show, which was a house not on the cliff, but somewhere else.
In that house there was a couple from Jamaica. They had a vase made of black glass. The bottom of the vase was a black woman's head, and then there were all these pipes coming out of her head that went almost 6 feet up. Between the pipes were tied these off white china ovals, and each of the ovals had a face painted in water colors. They told me the faces were their relatives and the vase was sacred and had special powers.
There was a laugh track for a while because Drew Barrymore and the Jamaican man were joking back and forth, and then the Jamaican man accidentally bumped the vase and broke one of the pipes off. His wife got really mad and said that Drew Barrymore had to be punished for the vase. I said I thought it was unfair because her husband was the one who broke the vase, but she pulled out a huge knife and told me to shut up.
Then Drew said the woman could cut her hair off with the knife as punishment, and she leaned over and put her forehead on the table where the vase was, and pulled her hair forward so that her neck was completely exposed. The wife pulled back the table cloth on the table, and I saw that the table was actually a grave full of dirt. I realized the woman was going to kill Drew. And then I heard the producer whisper "you see, it isn't a comedy at all".
Then I woke up.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
freedom to fall
In August of 2005, I had just moved into my house. I had spent 3 days, at the tail in of my last chemo treatment and defense of my thesis, running around trying to unpack and fix things because my dad was coming to visit me. I had gotten maybe 10 hours of sleep in those three days, and then had a party. I rolled into bed at 4 am, and had to get up at 8 am to pick my dad up at the airport.
I woke up before my alarm, and found a guy sitting on the edge of my bed. I was startled and asked who he was. He asked "you're a climber?" and I said yes. He said "I used to be a climber, but I died." Then, he was gone.
The dream was so vivid that I wrote it down, and that's when I started documenting my dreams. Anyway, 2 years later I had taken over as the president of my HOA and was talking to a woman who lives two doors down from me, Carol Hampson. I had only really known her as a neighbor, sharing only idle chit chat with her. I have a lot of climbing pictures up in my house, and she was asking me about them. She told me she was writing a book about her son, Chris Hampson, who died climbing in Yosemite in 2003. The book is called Freedom to Fall. I am sure that the guy sitting on the edge of my bed that morning was her son, and I was able to describe him to her even though I had never seen a picture of him. It created a sort of bond between us.
Today, we had an HOA meeting, and she brought me a copy of the finished book. We were looking through it and she was showing me some pictures taken by Jonny Copp. Jonny climbed with her son, and when Chris died Jonny and Carol had formed a close relationship. As we waited for the last person to show up at the meeting, she told me Jonny had died in China two weeks ago.
This is how small the climbing community is: a friend of mine, Mike Pennings, was good friends with Jonny. Though I didn't know him personally, I was shocked by his death. I wonder how Mike is doing. There is a fund for Jonny set up at adventurefilms.org.
It seemed appropriate this afternoon to start reading Carol's book, although in a way I was dreading it. It's never easy to talk about loss and death. Carol said to me today "You guys have friends die, and you just keep trucking. But there's a process you need to go through to grieve." I thought about friends I had lost not just climbing, or doing other sports, but also at work and in the war, and how I normally just try to forget about them rather than crying and being sad. The third chapter of Carol's book is about dealing with loss, and it's very raw emotionally, from journal entries and letters about her son's death.
I decided I couldn't read that chapter, so I just started randomly opening the book and reading. The first thing I opened to was a story about the first year after Chris' death, on his birthday. Carol had gone to J tree thinking she would climb because she felt she had to do something for his birthday. In the end she didn't climb, but watched two of Chris' friends climb. The passage moved me to tears:
"One twenty-eight. I am waiting for a sign. I yell up to Greg and Sarah, "In ten minutes Chris was born!" They say, "Oh." It is a tense moment on the wall. Sarah, a newcomer to climbing, is frightened. She can't find a hold. Greg is standing on the ledge above, encouraging her. They can't hear each other because of the overhang. I yell their messages back and forth, thinking Chris will help her up. She will step on the ledge at 1:38-that will be the sign!
The wind and cold are fierce. More yelling as Sarah lifts, descends, pulls, gropes, and hugs the immense, unyielding rock. I am mesmerized, waiting for the next words to shout. I'm part of the team. I glance at my watch. One forty-five. Sarah is not going up, not this time.
I meander a long sandy trail, then go back to the car and weep.
...Chris gave up his attachments for a higher truth. He loved all earthly things and being, and still he let go. That was the greatest achievement of his life."
Carol has self published the book. You can buy it, and read more about Carol, at www.morningsongpress.com. Her purpose for the book is not to make money, but to use it as a way to help people deal with loss. I think the book has a very important message, even for people who aren't climbers. She has been on a road trip, and will continue on her trip, to share Chris' story and to talk to people who are going through the same process she went through when she lost her son. I think what Carol is doing is amazing, and want to support her any way I can. I hope you will tell everyone you know about the book so they can check it out.
I woke up before my alarm, and found a guy sitting on the edge of my bed. I was startled and asked who he was. He asked "you're a climber?" and I said yes. He said "I used to be a climber, but I died." Then, he was gone.
The dream was so vivid that I wrote it down, and that's when I started documenting my dreams. Anyway, 2 years later I had taken over as the president of my HOA and was talking to a woman who lives two doors down from me, Carol Hampson. I had only really known her as a neighbor, sharing only idle chit chat with her. I have a lot of climbing pictures up in my house, and she was asking me about them. She told me she was writing a book about her son, Chris Hampson, who died climbing in Yosemite in 2003. The book is called Freedom to Fall. I am sure that the guy sitting on the edge of my bed that morning was her son, and I was able to describe him to her even though I had never seen a picture of him. It created a sort of bond between us.
Today, we had an HOA meeting, and she brought me a copy of the finished book. We were looking through it and she was showing me some pictures taken by Jonny Copp. Jonny climbed with her son, and when Chris died Jonny and Carol had formed a close relationship. As we waited for the last person to show up at the meeting, she told me Jonny had died in China two weeks ago.
This is how small the climbing community is: a friend of mine, Mike Pennings, was good friends with Jonny. Though I didn't know him personally, I was shocked by his death. I wonder how Mike is doing. There is a fund for Jonny set up at adventurefilms.org.
It seemed appropriate this afternoon to start reading Carol's book, although in a way I was dreading it. It's never easy to talk about loss and death. Carol said to me today "You guys have friends die, and you just keep trucking. But there's a process you need to go through to grieve." I thought about friends I had lost not just climbing, or doing other sports, but also at work and in the war, and how I normally just try to forget about them rather than crying and being sad. The third chapter of Carol's book is about dealing with loss, and it's very raw emotionally, from journal entries and letters about her son's death.
I decided I couldn't read that chapter, so I just started randomly opening the book and reading. The first thing I opened to was a story about the first year after Chris' death, on his birthday. Carol had gone to J tree thinking she would climb because she felt she had to do something for his birthday. In the end she didn't climb, but watched two of Chris' friends climb. The passage moved me to tears:
"One twenty-eight. I am waiting for a sign. I yell up to Greg and Sarah, "In ten minutes Chris was born!" They say, "Oh." It is a tense moment on the wall. Sarah, a newcomer to climbing, is frightened. She can't find a hold. Greg is standing on the ledge above, encouraging her. They can't hear each other because of the overhang. I yell their messages back and forth, thinking Chris will help her up. She will step on the ledge at 1:38-that will be the sign!
The wind and cold are fierce. More yelling as Sarah lifts, descends, pulls, gropes, and hugs the immense, unyielding rock. I am mesmerized, waiting for the next words to shout. I'm part of the team. I glance at my watch. One forty-five. Sarah is not going up, not this time.
I meander a long sandy trail, then go back to the car and weep.
...Chris gave up his attachments for a higher truth. He loved all earthly things and being, and still he let go. That was the greatest achievement of his life."
Carol has self published the book. You can buy it, and read more about Carol, at www.morningsongpress.com. Her purpose for the book is not to make money, but to use it as a way to help people deal with loss. I think the book has a very important message, even for people who aren't climbers. She has been on a road trip, and will continue on her trip, to share Chris' story and to talk to people who are going through the same process she went through when she lost her son. I think what Carol is doing is amazing, and want to support her any way I can. I hope you will tell everyone you know about the book so they can check it out.
Friday, July 10, 2009
a greenland shark in the red sea
Last night I had a dream that I was on a yacht in the red sea, and I wanted to get in the water for a swim but all people on the boat told me not to get into the water because there were 3 huge sharks. Everyone went inside for lunch or something so I jumped in the water and started snorkeling. Then a guy came out to see why I hadn't come in for lunch and he started screaming at me "the shark is coming to bite you!"
So I surfaced and saw a huge object coming towards me. I went back underwater and saw it was a greenland shark. It was huge. There were 2 others as well.
I was puzzled because greenland sharks are only found in frigid waters. In fact, it's one of my goals to some day do an ice dive and maybe see one. They are big sharks but not dangerous.
Anyway, I asked the shark what he was doing in the red sea. He kept answering me but I couldn't understand him because his voice was all messed up, like when you really try to talk underwater. He kept swimming close to me and finally I realized he was saying "pet me". So I started to pet him and then the other sharks came over and wanted me to pet them as well. But then I accidentally cut my hand on one of the shark's skin. I told them I'd have to go back to the boat and they were really sad.
So I swam back to the boat and everyone could see I was bleeding. They told me to get away from their boat. I tried to explain that I had just been petting the sharks and had cut myself but everyone was really afraid and wouldn't let me back on the boat. Then I heard this guy yelling in arabic, and I turned around to see the three greenland sharks swimming towards me in an aggressive manner. Then a guy said "you see, that's just a trick they play, so then they can bite you". I tried to tell them they were wrong when I was suddenly pulled under the water by a huge force.
Then I woke up...Shut up Jeffy. How else am I supposed to end my dream blogs? So spare me the text message after you read this making fun of me.
So I surfaced and saw a huge object coming towards me. I went back underwater and saw it was a greenland shark. It was huge. There were 2 others as well.
I was puzzled because greenland sharks are only found in frigid waters. In fact, it's one of my goals to some day do an ice dive and maybe see one. They are big sharks but not dangerous.
Anyway, I asked the shark what he was doing in the red sea. He kept answering me but I couldn't understand him because his voice was all messed up, like when you really try to talk underwater. He kept swimming close to me and finally I realized he was saying "pet me". So I started to pet him and then the other sharks came over and wanted me to pet them as well. But then I accidentally cut my hand on one of the shark's skin. I told them I'd have to go back to the boat and they were really sad.
So I swam back to the boat and everyone could see I was bleeding. They told me to get away from their boat. I tried to explain that I had just been petting the sharks and had cut myself but everyone was really afraid and wouldn't let me back on the boat. Then I heard this guy yelling in arabic, and I turned around to see the three greenland sharks swimming towards me in an aggressive manner. Then a guy said "you see, that's just a trick they play, so then they can bite you". I tried to tell them they were wrong when I was suddenly pulled under the water by a huge force.
Then I woke up...Shut up Jeffy. How else am I supposed to end my dream blogs? So spare me the text message after you read this making fun of me.
a robot chicken and were pig fight over uranus
So I finally finished the painting that my friend in the UK requested. He asked for a painting of a robot chicken fighting a were pig with light sabers. I think it may be the worst painting I've ever done. This is the first draft of it.
I started it when I got back from the software conference. But, I ran out of paint. Then I had to stay in DC, then go to Korea, blah blah blah, so I just returned to it this Wednesday.
It was really hard to finish because I had custom made the colors for the sky and grass and then couldn't replicate them. Also, I wanted to put some binary stars and planets in the sky, but it turns out those things are pretty hard to paint.
I was trying to fix the painting and it just kept getting worse and worse. Finally, I added uranus in the corner and said fuck it, it's done.
The good thing is, my friend has kids, so if anyone ever sees the painting he can just say one of them did it.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
"look at my penis" - my male behavior postulation
During a brief email exchange with a friend of mine, during which my blog about married guys was discussed, my friend, who is male, told me that I'm probably not as hot as I think I am, and that guys get into this state where they will fuck anything, including, to paraphrase, and elephant or a knot hole. That for some reason triggered a memory of a line from my super ex-girlfriend (but not my favorite line from the movie, which is "why did g girl throw a great white shark at us?") where this asshole guy is telling this bartender that the two happiest days of his life were when he graduated from harvard law school, and when he met her.
And that's when I finally realized something, which was maybe what that book he's just not that into you was about, but I missed the point. Guys talk shit. All the time. Especially about sex. I think it might even be fair to say that 99% of what comes out of a guy's mouth is bullshit. Which explains why guys always say they love you but then fuck someone else or turn out to be married.
And, I would guess, this behavior is caused by guys not being able to process their feelings. If you intimidate a guy, he says he loves you in the hopes of bringing out your softer side. If a guy doesn't like you, he'll say he loves you so he can brag to all of his friends about how much he doesn't like you and how much you like him. If a guy wants to fuck you, he'll say he loves you because he thinks that will get you into bed, or he is not sophisticated enough to realize there is a difference between lust and love. If a guy does something horrible to you, he'll say he loves you because he thinks that will make you feel less hurt.
This goes for everything guys say, not just the I love you bullshit. So, from now on, when a guy says something to me, I'm going to attempt to translate it into what he is actually trying to say. I think that will make things less confusing for everyone. Body language may be a good indicator.
One thing I've noticed is that guys will try to bring your attention to their penis if they are trying to make a connection with you, sexual or otherwise. They do this by sitting with their legs open, resting their hands on their thigh (likely thinking the whole time "watch my hand move over here, and now look! it's resting near my penis! okay, just look over a little more...maybe I should move my fingers...yes! you're looking at my penis!"), putting their hands near their pockets when standing, etc.
But, just because a guy is doing that doesn't mean he is being sincere, so maybe body language won't work. I think I'll start observing facial tics and involuntary eye spasms.
And, on a side note, maybe I should start a new business venture where guys can log on to a web site and show their penis. I'll hire women from China to look at the penises. Maybe I'll give them some phrases that they can send back to the guys about their penises.
And that's when I finally realized something, which was maybe what that book he's just not that into you was about, but I missed the point. Guys talk shit. All the time. Especially about sex. I think it might even be fair to say that 99% of what comes out of a guy's mouth is bullshit. Which explains why guys always say they love you but then fuck someone else or turn out to be married.
And, I would guess, this behavior is caused by guys not being able to process their feelings. If you intimidate a guy, he says he loves you in the hopes of bringing out your softer side. If a guy doesn't like you, he'll say he loves you so he can brag to all of his friends about how much he doesn't like you and how much you like him. If a guy wants to fuck you, he'll say he loves you because he thinks that will get you into bed, or he is not sophisticated enough to realize there is a difference between lust and love. If a guy does something horrible to you, he'll say he loves you because he thinks that will make you feel less hurt.
This goes for everything guys say, not just the I love you bullshit. So, from now on, when a guy says something to me, I'm going to attempt to translate it into what he is actually trying to say. I think that will make things less confusing for everyone. Body language may be a good indicator.
One thing I've noticed is that guys will try to bring your attention to their penis if they are trying to make a connection with you, sexual or otherwise. They do this by sitting with their legs open, resting their hands on their thigh (likely thinking the whole time "watch my hand move over here, and now look! it's resting near my penis! okay, just look over a little more...maybe I should move my fingers...yes! you're looking at my penis!"), putting their hands near their pockets when standing, etc.
But, just because a guy is doing that doesn't mean he is being sincere, so maybe body language won't work. I think I'll start observing facial tics and involuntary eye spasms.
And, on a side note, maybe I should start a new business venture where guys can log on to a web site and show their penis. I'll hire women from China to look at the penises. Maybe I'll give them some phrases that they can send back to the guys about their penises.
stop that hole!
As if things aren't hectic enough with my impending departure to the middle east, travel, work, and requests for paintings, I got home from Korea to discover a hole in my back yard.
At first the hole appeared to be just a foot or so out into my yard. I was hoping it was caused by the rain we've been having, but after my dad decided to dig into the hole, we discovered a much worse problem. It turns out there is an old sewer pipe in my yard that cracked. I had to dig almost 5 feet down to find it. And it was cracked in two places.
I was thinking back to two summers ago when the same thing happened to my next door neighbor. So when I saw him outside I called over to him and asked what he had done to fix his hole. He looked into my yard, where I had, by that time, a huge gaping hole that I had to dig to find the cracked pipe, and he said to me "are you going to bury a body there?" ha ha ha ha
Anyway, he paid someone a million billion dollars to fix his hole. But after conferring with my dad, Jeffy, and my UK genius Pascal, I decided I would fix the hole myself. The experts all recommended tar paper, concrete, and some gravel.
So I went to home depot. I couldn't buy tar paper because it came in these huge rolls larger than the back seat of my car. I asked the guy if he could just cut off a little piece for me and he said "There's no such thing as a little piece of tar paper". Then I got the concrete which was heavier than fuck. It was so heavy I could barely steer my cart. My grocery store mishap kept playing through my mind as the front wheel of my cart spasmed out every time I got near a display.
Anyway, I used the old tar paper I found in the hole, dumped the bag of concrete into the hole, added water and started stirring. The directions on the bag weren't too clear because the amount of water used was in proportion to how elastic the concrete was supposed to be. I had no idea how elastic it should be, so I just guessed how much water was enough. Then I put gravel on the concrete and went back into my house to check my email...
Only to find an email from Pascie recommending I "check with the authorities" before blocking up a sewer pipe. Oops. But I'm pretty sure it's not a pipe used for anything because I had to have an inspection done before my garage was built, and there were no water or sewer lines going from my house into my back yard. Oh well, I'll be out of the country if everything goes to, hee, shit.
When my neighbor got home last night I showed him what I had done and he said it looked fine. He also introduced me to his new puppy, and said that someone from the government came by his house asking about me. Nice. No wonder why I can't get a date in denver...
At first the hole appeared to be just a foot or so out into my yard. I was hoping it was caused by the rain we've been having, but after my dad decided to dig into the hole, we discovered a much worse problem. It turns out there is an old sewer pipe in my yard that cracked. I had to dig almost 5 feet down to find it. And it was cracked in two places.
I was thinking back to two summers ago when the same thing happened to my next door neighbor. So when I saw him outside I called over to him and asked what he had done to fix his hole. He looked into my yard, where I had, by that time, a huge gaping hole that I had to dig to find the cracked pipe, and he said to me "are you going to bury a body there?" ha ha ha ha
Anyway, he paid someone a million billion dollars to fix his hole. But after conferring with my dad, Jeffy, and my UK genius Pascal, I decided I would fix the hole myself. The experts all recommended tar paper, concrete, and some gravel.
So I went to home depot. I couldn't buy tar paper because it came in these huge rolls larger than the back seat of my car. I asked the guy if he could just cut off a little piece for me and he said "There's no such thing as a little piece of tar paper". Then I got the concrete which was heavier than fuck. It was so heavy I could barely steer my cart. My grocery store mishap kept playing through my mind as the front wheel of my cart spasmed out every time I got near a display.
Anyway, I used the old tar paper I found in the hole, dumped the bag of concrete into the hole, added water and started stirring. The directions on the bag weren't too clear because the amount of water used was in proportion to how elastic the concrete was supposed to be. I had no idea how elastic it should be, so I just guessed how much water was enough. Then I put gravel on the concrete and went back into my house to check my email...
Only to find an email from Pascie recommending I "check with the authorities" before blocking up a sewer pipe. Oops. But I'm pretty sure it's not a pipe used for anything because I had to have an inspection done before my garage was built, and there were no water or sewer lines going from my house into my back yard. Oh well, I'll be out of the country if everything goes to, hee, shit.
When my neighbor got home last night I showed him what I had done and he said it looked fine. He also introduced me to his new puppy, and said that someone from the government came by his house asking about me. Nice. No wonder why I can't get a date in denver...
Monday, July 6, 2009
the general's banquet
Well, the first two meetings I had on Thursday were a waste of time. Me sitting there doing nothing while everyone talked in Korean. People talking trash about the tool. The sales guy didn't even know what an audit ID was so he asked me in the middle of the discussion. I was getting totally aggro at everyone for talking shit about my software in front of me (I love the software I support). I wanted to bitch slap one of the customers into next year because he said the tool wasn't working and the problem was not the tool, it was him.
Then we went to talk to a gov agency in Korea. I walked in exhausted, because it was 5 in the evening and really hot (no air conditioning in most of the offices). I figured I'd be sitting around waiting for the translator to ask me a question in English as I had the previous calls. Instead, I walked into a packed room and there was a presentation I had never seen before. The colonel running the meeting was like "you can begin doing the presentation". I was like shit shit shit! But what's a girl to do?
So I cranked through the slides, fearing for my life every time I hit the "next" button because I had no idea what was on the next slide. I was sweating bullets. The presentation lasted 2 hours.
At the end the colonel I presented to said that the general was so pleased with my presentation that he wanted to take me out to dinner. All I wanted to do was go back to my hotel, take my shoes off, and collapse. But instead they took me to a traditional korean restaurant. All the sales guys were psyched we got asked out to dinner. Then I told the general I couldn't eat pork, so we got beef. Later the sales guys were like "Nice job! Beef is 5 times as expensive!"
We were in this room with sliding doors, a low table, and mats on the floor that we were supposed to sit on. The general made me sit in the center of the table as the guest of honor. He sat across from me and stared at my legs while I tried to find a way to sit in my skirt and not pull a Sharon Stone. One of the korean sales guys gave me his jacket to cover up. The general and I had a conversation, but I have no idea what he said because his english wasn't that great, even before he started drinking. Alcohol was flowing like the rain we had had all day.
I started to worry the general was trying to get me drunk, so I used a ruse that I learned about reading a book on Korean etiquette. You're never supposed to fill up a glass of alcohol until it's empty. The general caught on to this and started filling my glass, saying "we do this american style". So I started shifting my glass around with everyone else's. The sales guys were more than happy to drink my drinks since the general wasn't putting out for them, and it saved me from getting drunk.
As a side note, one of the sales guys told me Korea consumes the second largest amount of alcohol in the world. Russia is first. I totally believe it. I couldn't understand how everyone drank so much and was still standing.
I was sitting on my bad knee in a tremendous amount of pain. The food was great, marinated beef (cut with scissors because the koreans think having knives at dinner is rude, perhaps they worry about sharp instruments and drinking), this corn thing, tofu with hot peppers, some vegetable that was a really cool acid green color, 8 kinds of kim chee, and what was described to me in english as "vinegar soup". It's impossible to describe the taste, which was kind of like vinegar, but it's the coolest soup I've ever had.
The only real bad thing I did at the dinner was say something inappropriate to the general. He was telling me how he had been stationed at Lowry AFB and how he missed the winters in Colorado. I started to get excited about snow (it was so fucking hot in the room) and I said "DUDE! You should have SEEN the snow we got two years ago!"
The room went dead silent. The officers attending the dinner all paused, mid eating, and stared at the general. I was suddenly like oh my fucking god, did I just call the general dude???? Shit shit shit.
But, he laughed and told his troops that "dude" is an english term of affection, and that I called him that because he was so americanized I forgot he was korean. Uh. Nice excuse. The rest of the night everyone called each other dude because the general was doing it. One of the sales guys said that is my mark on korea and the government will never forget me because I did that at dinner.
Then the dinner was finally over. As I was standing outside the room putting on my heels (even in bare feet I was the tallest person there) and the general grabbed my arm to "help make steady of you". Then we went outside and I tried to shake the general's hand and thank him for dinner. He said "No shake, american style (the phrase that preceded all the inappropriate things that happened to me in korea)" and then he suctioned himself on to me like a little bear. I looked at the sales guys, unsure what to do since I couldn't move my arms. They finally peeled him off me and his troops escorted him back to the base.
We got back to the hotel and the sales guys insisted we get a drink. Because I was with them they could drink and eat for free. They were really psyched that the presentation went well (they were probably worried after the previous day's little shit show). More drinking. I had one beer and then tried to stay awake waiting for everyone else to finish their evening because it's considered rude to leave people when you are out with them.
But, I finally deserted everyone for the hotel because I was tired as hell. I got lost getting back to the hotel from the bar. Seoul is such a difficult city to get around in everyone has 3D GPS. There are all these side alleys and unmarked streets and it's easy to lose your way.
The final result of my trip is that the general wants me to come back and train his staff. My liver would never survive. Plus, I'm bad at the fake smiles when people talk to me and I have no idea what they are saying. Or so the sales guys tell me.
And, a quick word about them. They were the absolute sweetest, most thoughtful people I have ever worked with. They called me "the iron woman" because my computer bag was so heavy. They insisted on carrying it for me and had to switch off turns with it. They were always worried to get me the best food in any restaurant we went to. They ordered a huge thing of fruit at every bar we went to so I could eat dragon fruit (one of my favorite, except when it's dried out). They even called me on the bus back to the airport to make sure I got on the right bus.
They told me I should move to seoul and marry a guy there because they treat their women like they are queens. There's none of the chauvinism you find in some countries. So far seoul is my favorite country I've been to in Asia.
Unless you consider Turkey Asia. Which I don't.
Then we went to talk to a gov agency in Korea. I walked in exhausted, because it was 5 in the evening and really hot (no air conditioning in most of the offices). I figured I'd be sitting around waiting for the translator to ask me a question in English as I had the previous calls. Instead, I walked into a packed room and there was a presentation I had never seen before. The colonel running the meeting was like "you can begin doing the presentation". I was like shit shit shit! But what's a girl to do?
So I cranked through the slides, fearing for my life every time I hit the "next" button because I had no idea what was on the next slide. I was sweating bullets. The presentation lasted 2 hours.
At the end the colonel I presented to said that the general was so pleased with my presentation that he wanted to take me out to dinner. All I wanted to do was go back to my hotel, take my shoes off, and collapse. But instead they took me to a traditional korean restaurant. All the sales guys were psyched we got asked out to dinner. Then I told the general I couldn't eat pork, so we got beef. Later the sales guys were like "Nice job! Beef is 5 times as expensive!"
We were in this room with sliding doors, a low table, and mats on the floor that we were supposed to sit on. The general made me sit in the center of the table as the guest of honor. He sat across from me and stared at my legs while I tried to find a way to sit in my skirt and not pull a Sharon Stone. One of the korean sales guys gave me his jacket to cover up. The general and I had a conversation, but I have no idea what he said because his english wasn't that great, even before he started drinking. Alcohol was flowing like the rain we had had all day.
I started to worry the general was trying to get me drunk, so I used a ruse that I learned about reading a book on Korean etiquette. You're never supposed to fill up a glass of alcohol until it's empty. The general caught on to this and started filling my glass, saying "we do this american style". So I started shifting my glass around with everyone else's. The sales guys were more than happy to drink my drinks since the general wasn't putting out for them, and it saved me from getting drunk.
As a side note, one of the sales guys told me Korea consumes the second largest amount of alcohol in the world. Russia is first. I totally believe it. I couldn't understand how everyone drank so much and was still standing.
I was sitting on my bad knee in a tremendous amount of pain. The food was great, marinated beef (cut with scissors because the koreans think having knives at dinner is rude, perhaps they worry about sharp instruments and drinking), this corn thing, tofu with hot peppers, some vegetable that was a really cool acid green color, 8 kinds of kim chee, and what was described to me in english as "vinegar soup". It's impossible to describe the taste, which was kind of like vinegar, but it's the coolest soup I've ever had.
The only real bad thing I did at the dinner was say something inappropriate to the general. He was telling me how he had been stationed at Lowry AFB and how he missed the winters in Colorado. I started to get excited about snow (it was so fucking hot in the room) and I said "DUDE! You should have SEEN the snow we got two years ago!"
The room went dead silent. The officers attending the dinner all paused, mid eating, and stared at the general. I was suddenly like oh my fucking god, did I just call the general dude???? Shit shit shit.
But, he laughed and told his troops that "dude" is an english term of affection, and that I called him that because he was so americanized I forgot he was korean. Uh. Nice excuse. The rest of the night everyone called each other dude because the general was doing it. One of the sales guys said that is my mark on korea and the government will never forget me because I did that at dinner.
Then the dinner was finally over. As I was standing outside the room putting on my heels (even in bare feet I was the tallest person there) and the general grabbed my arm to "help make steady of you". Then we went outside and I tried to shake the general's hand and thank him for dinner. He said "No shake, american style (the phrase that preceded all the inappropriate things that happened to me in korea)" and then he suctioned himself on to me like a little bear. I looked at the sales guys, unsure what to do since I couldn't move my arms. They finally peeled him off me and his troops escorted him back to the base.
We got back to the hotel and the sales guys insisted we get a drink. Because I was with them they could drink and eat for free. They were really psyched that the presentation went well (they were probably worried after the previous day's little shit show). More drinking. I had one beer and then tried to stay awake waiting for everyone else to finish their evening because it's considered rude to leave people when you are out with them.
But, I finally deserted everyone for the hotel because I was tired as hell. I got lost getting back to the hotel from the bar. Seoul is such a difficult city to get around in everyone has 3D GPS. There are all these side alleys and unmarked streets and it's easy to lose your way.
The final result of my trip is that the general wants me to come back and train his staff. My liver would never survive. Plus, I'm bad at the fake smiles when people talk to me and I have no idea what they are saying. Or so the sales guys tell me.
And, a quick word about them. They were the absolute sweetest, most thoughtful people I have ever worked with. They called me "the iron woman" because my computer bag was so heavy. They insisted on carrying it for me and had to switch off turns with it. They were always worried to get me the best food in any restaurant we went to. They ordered a huge thing of fruit at every bar we went to so I could eat dragon fruit (one of my favorite, except when it's dried out). They even called me on the bus back to the airport to make sure I got on the right bus.
They told me I should move to seoul and marry a guy there because they treat their women like they are queens. There's none of the chauvinism you find in some countries. So far seoul is my favorite country I've been to in Asia.
Unless you consider Turkey Asia. Which I don't.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
almost death by power point
So the main reason I came to Seoul was to do a seminar today on a military framework I support. I put together some slides, which were revised all Sunday night, which is why I didn't get any sleep. I thought I was presenting to 50 people.
I show up at the seminar and find out there's 200 people. I only had half the time I thought to do my presentation because it was being interpreted. My computer mouse died right as I was revising my presentation, 10 minutes before I had to give it. The interpreter was freaking out that she didn't have a paper copy to translate from because I couldn't get the copy off my computer without a mouse.
Anyway, those issues were overcome, but then right before my presentation they showed this cartoon about a knight slaying a dragon. I was standing at the podium like what the fuck is going on? At the end of the cartoon the woman running the seminar looked at me and was like "Go!" because the time schedule was so tight.
I fully admit to bungling my way through the presentation. Because of the computer problems and slide changes I didn't get to practice doing the presentation with the interpreter, and it was really hard. She was translating me almost sentence for sentence, and would sometimes interrupt me before I was finished talking to interpret and I would lose my train of thought. Not that I blame her and she did a very good job, it was my lack of experience presenting with an interpreter that was the problem. They did laugh at the one joke I made, and, when I realized the audience was totally confused by my presentation, I ended it and opened the floor to discussion.
It turns out, the audience's confusion was caused because they thought I was presenting on some other topic. Seems my compadres at the company I work for switched my topic without telling me.
The interpreter had warned me beforehand that no one would ask questions so not to even ask if anyone had a question. But, with time left over and the audience looking at me in a confused manner, I figured, why not? The first question was "why didn't you present on X topic and why did you present on Y topic". Yeah. Don't know the answer to that one...
Surprisingly, I got a lot of good questions, and that was really the best part of the presentation. I got the interest of a colonel whom I'm meeting with tomorrow. And I think it was more entertaining for the audience than the other presentations which didn't have questions.
Everyone else on my team seemed happy with the way things went. So I'm trying to not feel too badly about it. And at least I learned what to do in the future.
The highlight of the seminar was getting to try 5 different kinds of kim chee at lunch.
I show up at the seminar and find out there's 200 people. I only had half the time I thought to do my presentation because it was being interpreted. My computer mouse died right as I was revising my presentation, 10 minutes before I had to give it. The interpreter was freaking out that she didn't have a paper copy to translate from because I couldn't get the copy off my computer without a mouse.
Anyway, those issues were overcome, but then right before my presentation they showed this cartoon about a knight slaying a dragon. I was standing at the podium like what the fuck is going on? At the end of the cartoon the woman running the seminar looked at me and was like "Go!" because the time schedule was so tight.
I fully admit to bungling my way through the presentation. Because of the computer problems and slide changes I didn't get to practice doing the presentation with the interpreter, and it was really hard. She was translating me almost sentence for sentence, and would sometimes interrupt me before I was finished talking to interpret and I would lose my train of thought. Not that I blame her and she did a very good job, it was my lack of experience presenting with an interpreter that was the problem. They did laugh at the one joke I made, and, when I realized the audience was totally confused by my presentation, I ended it and opened the floor to discussion.
It turns out, the audience's confusion was caused because they thought I was presenting on some other topic. Seems my compadres at the company I work for switched my topic without telling me.
The interpreter had warned me beforehand that no one would ask questions so not to even ask if anyone had a question. But, with time left over and the audience looking at me in a confused manner, I figured, why not? The first question was "why didn't you present on X topic and why did you present on Y topic". Yeah. Don't know the answer to that one...
Surprisingly, I got a lot of good questions, and that was really the best part of the presentation. I got the interest of a colonel whom I'm meeting with tomorrow. And I think it was more entertaining for the audience than the other presentations which didn't have questions.
Everyone else on my team seemed happy with the way things went. So I'm trying to not feel too badly about it. And at least I learned what to do in the future.
The highlight of the seminar was getting to try 5 different kinds of kim chee at lunch.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
bulk head breakers and other seoul adventures
Well, this has been one of my more...interesting...trips.
To start off, I got to LA and was trying to take a bus to the international terminal. The problem is, I got on the wrong bus, and only realized when we started heading into downtown LA. I had mis-read the sign on the front of the bus. Blame it on being really tired. Anyway, the bus driver let me off about 15 minutes away from the airport and called one of his other bus buddies to pick me up. Then another bus passenger, who is a security guard at LAX gave me a free bus pass.
So I got on the other bus and the guy completely skipped his route to take me back to the airport. The catch is he was an adventist and kept trying to convert me. I listened politely since he did me a favor.
Then I got on the plane and luckily business wasn't that crowded. And I had a seat that reclined all the way back. That was great fun to play with until I broke it. I accidentally closed one of my shoes up in the chair and it took two stewardesses to pull it out. The guy sitting across the aisle from me was doing god knows what and ripped his plastic magazine holder off the wall. They couldn't fix that.
The kosher dinner that Korean Airlines had was crap. And it was the same dinner twice. The stewardesses brought me a bunch of fruit and cheese to eat. I was surprised as the kosher food is usually better than the regular stuff. I don't think I'm going to order it on the trip home.
Then I got into Seoul and had to take another bus to my hotel. The problem is, there are two intercontinental hotels. I went to the wrong one. They directed me to the right one but it took a while for me to find it. I ended up going to another wrong hotel, and a convention center with the same name as my hotel before I got here.
But, I'm here. The air conditioning is working. They have US plugs. And I don't have to leave for the office until 9 am. I might try to find the gym, or I may just go to the bar...
To start off, I got to LA and was trying to take a bus to the international terminal. The problem is, I got on the wrong bus, and only realized when we started heading into downtown LA. I had mis-read the sign on the front of the bus. Blame it on being really tired. Anyway, the bus driver let me off about 15 minutes away from the airport and called one of his other bus buddies to pick me up. Then another bus passenger, who is a security guard at LAX gave me a free bus pass.
So I got on the other bus and the guy completely skipped his route to take me back to the airport. The catch is he was an adventist and kept trying to convert me. I listened politely since he did me a favor.
Then I got on the plane and luckily business wasn't that crowded. And I had a seat that reclined all the way back. That was great fun to play with until I broke it. I accidentally closed one of my shoes up in the chair and it took two stewardesses to pull it out. The guy sitting across the aisle from me was doing god knows what and ripped his plastic magazine holder off the wall. They couldn't fix that.
The kosher dinner that Korean Airlines had was crap. And it was the same dinner twice. The stewardesses brought me a bunch of fruit and cheese to eat. I was surprised as the kosher food is usually better than the regular stuff. I don't think I'm going to order it on the trip home.
Then I got into Seoul and had to take another bus to my hotel. The problem is, there are two intercontinental hotels. I went to the wrong one. They directed me to the right one but it took a while for me to find it. I ended up going to another wrong hotel, and a convention center with the same name as my hotel before I got here.
But, I'm here. The air conditioning is working. They have US plugs. And I don't have to leave for the office until 9 am. I might try to find the gym, or I may just go to the bar...
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