"Well, I can't deny it. I'm a little relieved."
"Why?"
"Well, you know...I thought it might be something worse."
"Worse then the total agony of being in love?"
Yeah, sounds about right.
Lots of warm fun for Justin's birthday yesterday. We talked, we ate, we duetted Backstreet Boys' Millenium, which I haven't heard in forever. Toby and I performed snippets from Rent for all the late-night shoppers at Reston Town Center, after which I was duly assaulted by this season's production of "Fags on Ice!" Sweet, though they were.
We used our words this evening:
"Ho-ly shit. Have a magical day? That is the gayest thing I have ever heard in my entire life."
--Justin, on my voicemail message
"Haha, it's Magical Meghan...hey, where's your magic wand?"
"Oh, look! Here's my wand RIGHT HERE."
--Toby, getting flipped my partridge-in-a-pear-tree
*****
In unrelated news, I officially completed shopping yesterday as well. Something needs to be done about this system. I nearly had yet another breakdown being smothered by commercialism, aggressive sales clerks (fortunately selling massage equipment), and ludicrous self-expectations of finding the perfect, most meaningful gift EVER for all on my list. But I think Dave Barry expressed the sentiment best:
"I knew that if he didn't finish shopping soon he'd start throwing money directly into wastebaskets."
Although I will add, on the lighter side, Santa and Mrs. Claus (yay equality!) stopped by our house last night. And Clay Aiken brought even more joy via "An American Idol Christmas." Of course, he would have had more screen time had he actually won. What were you thinking, America?
( 8:57 PM ) Meghan
Saturday, December 20, 2003
Amy, together with Roger Ebert, voiced concern over interest in the world of Middle Earth in lieu of interest in the world we live in. Being all for practical application, I share only this as an example of the sheer power of this tale for my world...
What a relief...I really needed this weekend just to chill and have a couple of drinks with friends. Nice change of pace. Kicked it old-school Friday night at Hard Times with Eileen. Good folks, decent beer. Receiving "friend seniority" was quite the honor, since I was the only one, save her brother, who's known her since the first grade.
Saturday night was the Christmas party, hosted by one of my grad school friends. Excellent time, great food, Southern Comfort punch. Oh, yeah. Most of the party-goers were older than I was, which was slightly awkward. Urgh, I ended up having The Conversation again.
"So, where did you go to high school?"
"Thomas Jefferson."
"Oh, so you're one of the smart ones."
"Uh, well, that's...what they tell me."
To be honest, I'm a little ambivalent about this moment. I'm proud of the fact that I went to TJ because it's a personal accomplishment and it gives me some credibility. But I don't want to boast about it unnecessarily. I just wish people wouldn't steer the conversation that way. "Oh, how did you like it there?" creates a much more feasible response for my end. Do any of you all encounter this? If so, have you thought up the most witty and perfect response for dealing with it?
I might add that this was the same guy who guessed that I was Catholic because of my name and because I have some abstract quality about me. Which I suppose is flattering, but also extremely creepy.
The rest of the evening was much more interesting, gossiping and vicing with the girls. I admit, part of my motivation to attend was scoping the scene for guys. Which I did--had two attractive, young gentlemen selected from the crowd, ripe for enchanting...
Yeah, both gay.
How do I keep doing this?! It's like I'm one of the X-Men with accidentally identifying gay men as my mutant power. Oh, well. As far as superpowers go, at least I'm making friends with this one.
Sunday, I ended up not going to Harrisonburg as planned. I'd be a sad panda, except that I ended up flirting for two hours with a boy that I had a bit of a crush on my senior year in college and who I could potentially see next weekend. Yay!
This entirely makes up for most of the rejection I've gotten from the Catholic dating site, which thus far consists of:
No response (jerk)
No response (jerk)
No response (wake up and log in)
Not at this time (yeah, you're a lawyer)
Too young (maybe so, but I'll have my Master's before you will)
Pfft. Boys.
( 1:29 PM ) Meghan
Friday, December 12, 2003
I've noticed the season developing a thin layer of cynicism. Best realized on the latest "Peanuts" Christmas special the other day.
Lucy, on the weight of Snoopy's brother Spike: "He's as thin as a promise!"
This was right after they addressed "sexual harassment" by schoolchildren in Rerun's kindergarten classroom. Good grief.
So everything is finished for the semester...well, sort of. I still have to go into practicum every so often to make sure my clients are getting their needed doses of social work. Aside from that, freedom! To shop, to frolic, to clean up my room that I'd like to justify as the epicenter of the earthquake.
Why do I bother? It's not like I can talk about how I'm really feeling.
( 12:26 PM ) Meghan
Friday, December 05, 2003
Even stoplights blink a bright red and green...
Hooray! Functional Christmas blog!
That and my exceptional practicum rating almost make me forget about all the self-pitying depression I was going to report.
There really is something about Christmas. When you extract all of the ballistic shopping expectations, the whole season...well, it really does take the edge off.
Except for the other day when they were playing "Rudolph" on the radio just as I was passing a dead deer on the side of the road. That was just sad. Although, admittedly, it did hit my dark irony streak pretty hard.
Fortunately, I had a more comforting musical experience on the way back home as I got myself lost on the haunted roads of hell-knows-where in rural Northern Virginia. Honestly, I know I do a lot of whining about the general lack of rural-ness around here.
"Oh, Northern Virginia just isn't Harrisonburg! So busy and so noisy and the vapors are just wearing me to a nub!" WOE IS ME! Whatever shall I do?!"
But, truth be told, rural isn't so great either when it's 40 degrees and you have half-a-tank of gas, a non-charged cell phone, the agency car, no map, no signs of civilization, and you were dumb enough to be non-conformist and wear open-toed shoes that day. And when I finally found the main road, the message couldn't have rung more true.
There is no place like home for the holidays... ( 12:59 AM ) Meghan
