Although the weekend is only half over, it’s already been a series of ‘firsts’.
To begin with, I bought mushrooms. As far as I can remember, I’ve never purposely bought mushrooms before. Sure, I’ve bought them before, when someone’s asked me, but never on purpose. I just don’t understand them – either they taste of nothing, or they taste too much of mushroom. I was at the vegetable market on Friday and they looked fun, so I bought 3 packs. 3 PACKS! I’m half way through already; not because I like them, but because they interest me.
Then today, when I was preparing dinner, I turned on the TV for company. TV! Now, I don’t watch TV. My television has just one purpose, to play PS2 games, and very occasionally watch DVDs when I’m sick. I think I spent so long at my in-laws that I can’t adjust to my regular life of work and solitude. Normally, I can genuinely stare at the floor for 20 minutes and muse on existence and humanity and consider it a worthwhile experience. I'm really not used to this phenomenon 'loneliness'.
Thirdly, at 2am I allowed myself to go to 7-11 and buy ridiculous snacks for my amusement. Now, I’ve had this impulse plenty of times before, but I’ve never allowed it to manifest itself. It’s kind of like yoga or heroin – if you capitulate and try it, you’re kind of tied to it for the rest of your life, so best to steer clear. I was inspired by Ken-chan, my new brother-in-law (he’s married to my wife’s sister, can I still call him that?). He’s pretty much the man all men want to be, 2nd only to Lyle Lovett. We got a wedding present of Bermuda black rum from Bryan Adams (not THE Bryan Adams) and Straight Richard; and Ken-chan went out in the middle of the night to buy Coke to drink it with, and came back also with instant noodles and various snacks.
Going out in the middle of the night reminded me of when I was younger and I used to come home in the middle of the night. I saw all the odd people who exist only at this time. I saw a young Indian couple walking the street, laughing together (I always see young Indian couples laughing together in the middle of the night, why is that?). On the way to 7-11 I saw a woman sitting in a chair on a street corner smiling, listening to her phone, but not talking. On the way back she was still there, in her pretend conversation. In 7-11 I saw a man eating, reading the paper, and talking to himself. I saw a girl behind the counter who was almost pretty, except something about her face wasn’t quite right. And I saw regular club-goers – guys in flashy shirts that don’t quite suit them, talking on their phone to their guy friends, neither of them found an easy girl … again. I try to walk past them as if I was sober, but I end up tripping on the perfectly flat sidewalk.
Aaaaah, it’s nice to see some things never change.
To begin with, I bought mushrooms. As far as I can remember, I’ve never purposely bought mushrooms before. Sure, I’ve bought them before, when someone’s asked me, but never on purpose. I just don’t understand them – either they taste of nothing, or they taste too much of mushroom. I was at the vegetable market on Friday and they looked fun, so I bought 3 packs. 3 PACKS! I’m half way through already; not because I like them, but because they interest me.
Then today, when I was preparing dinner, I turned on the TV for company. TV! Now, I don’t watch TV. My television has just one purpose, to play PS2 games, and very occasionally watch DVDs when I’m sick. I think I spent so long at my in-laws that I can’t adjust to my regular life of work and solitude. Normally, I can genuinely stare at the floor for 20 minutes and muse on existence and humanity and consider it a worthwhile experience. I'm really not used to this phenomenon 'loneliness'.
Thirdly, at 2am I allowed myself to go to 7-11 and buy ridiculous snacks for my amusement. Now, I’ve had this impulse plenty of times before, but I’ve never allowed it to manifest itself. It’s kind of like yoga or heroin – if you capitulate and try it, you’re kind of tied to it for the rest of your life, so best to steer clear. I was inspired by Ken-chan, my new brother-in-law (he’s married to my wife’s sister, can I still call him that?). He’s pretty much the man all men want to be, 2nd only to Lyle Lovett. We got a wedding present of Bermuda black rum from Bryan Adams (not THE Bryan Adams) and Straight Richard; and Ken-chan went out in the middle of the night to buy Coke to drink it with, and came back also with instant noodles and various snacks.
Going out in the middle of the night reminded me of when I was younger and I used to come home in the middle of the night. I saw all the odd people who exist only at this time. I saw a young Indian couple walking the street, laughing together (I always see young Indian couples laughing together in the middle of the night, why is that?). On the way to 7-11 I saw a woman sitting in a chair on a street corner smiling, listening to her phone, but not talking. On the way back she was still there, in her pretend conversation. In 7-11 I saw a man eating, reading the paper, and talking to himself. I saw a girl behind the counter who was almost pretty, except something about her face wasn’t quite right. And I saw regular club-goers – guys in flashy shirts that don’t quite suit them, talking on their phone to their guy friends, neither of them found an easy girl … again. I try to walk past them as if I was sober, but I end up tripping on the perfectly flat sidewalk.
Aaaaah, it’s nice to see some things never change.
2 comments:
I loved this post- a nice little introspective look...
Thank you kindly.
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