Roommate From Hell Hates Me. A Lot.

I have this really fun text box at the bottom of the site where I ask you what the best part of your day has been so far. Normally it’s a hoot. The other day someone shared:

“My fresh peach and pineapple smoothie . . . made by me!”

Peach and pineapple! I need that recipe.

Normally, I get a lot of this:

“Finding your great website!”

Which is probably my mom or aunts visiting my website over and over, but each and every time it makes my day.

The other day, though, I got this:

“Seeing you still are a sad sack of crap.”

Now, that wasn’t a very nice thing to say, was it? I was kinda down in the dumps about it for a day or two. And, to be sure, when I remember someone took the time to make my day worse, I can be sad.

The thing is, that I am 99% sure it’s that Roommate From Hell that Will and I had last winter. See, he was never a very happy person, and it would make sense if he got his rocks off by cyber bullying me.

Is my cyber bully our old Roommate From Hell?

I know that he’s not the only person in this world to dislike me. But the tone and timber of the comment scream him. Most of the other people (that I know of) that don’t like me are more poetic and dainty in their language. Or so I’d like to think.

Regardless, of who it was — though I’m sure it was that old Roommate From Hell — I’m taking a page from one indigenous culture in my attitude towards this.

Important People Have Nemeses

I know very little about this particular indigenous culture. I know they are indigenous to North America and some part of California and that Heyday Books may or may not be covering their culture in an upcoming publication.

But the part that’s relevant here is that in this indigenous culture, everyone that’s anyone has a nemesis.

Imagine that! There goes the grocer grinding his teeth about his nemesis the postal worker. Oh poor Dennis the dentist will never get over how his nemesis Frank the obstetrician stole his woman back in 98. I love it.

Like a Quinceañera or a Bat Mitzvah, as you age, you earn a nemesis. I don’t know much about how or why that happens–maybe by speaking your mind in the face of adversity, blogging about horrible roommates or instigating bar fights–but it’s so important that everyone gets a nemesis that if you don’t have one, people don’t think you’re important.

“Oh there’s Mick. Did you hear, he doesn’t have a nemesis??! What a loser!!”

So, let it be known. I am important enough to have a nemesis!

And that nemesis is my old Roommate From Hell. But he’s not my nemesis. No, I’m saving that for someone far more important than he.

Though I do appreciate how good he is at providing fodder for this here blog. Thanks for that Roommate from Hell! And thanks to Albrecht Durer for the post photo, an engraving titled “Nemesis.” I guess nemeses were big back in the 16th century too.

What about you? Who is your nemesis?

A Valentine’s Day Tale from Days of Our Lives

On this day of celebrating things we love, I’d like to take a moment and celebrate one of the best moments in Days of Our Lives history (in my opinion).

Back in 2003 (I think), Salem was stalked by, well, the Salem Stalker. Gotta love that alliteration.

Anyway, many main characters were killed, and here’s a video of the first of the seven murders. I love youtube.

On New Years Eve, Roman was killed at his and Kate’s wedding*. What followed was a very, very long day filled with police investigations and a lot of talking. Hey, there was a murderer in their midst. Everyone was a suspect and no one was safe.

This day lasted straight through the February 13th episode, in which Brady walked into mansion and said to Nicole, “Is it just me or has this day felt like weeks?!”

It was a rare moment where Days of Our Lives made fun of its very soap opera-esque nature. I loved it, and I love it to this day.

The next day was the Valentine’s Day episode (that probably itself lasted a week) in which all the Salemites were busily expressing their undying love and devotion to their partners. AND, it must be noted, every Valentine’s Day on Days of Our Lives, the men perform dizzying feats of romance — rooftop candlelit dinners, engagement rings in champagne glasses, miraculous returns from being held hostage.

On this day of recognizing love, let’s recognize the idiosyncrasies that make the things we love (like Days of Our Lives) what they are. And let’s be reasonable. A rooftop candlelit dinner is probably not in the cards, but a tender embrace and a pastry probably are. Life is perfect if you love it as it is.

*I know! Roman and Kate!! CRAZY.

Conversation with a Stranger

Scene: BART from SF 16th St to Oakland. I’m tired and a little worn out. My dinner date had said, “I just want to give you a big hug! You look like the world beat you down.” This is after I went as far as to curl my hair to appear bright and chipper.

The man sitting next to me is really, really into his iPhone. I can tell that from the first second I sit down. He asks me a question about iPhones I don’t really know the answer to but I answer anyway.

Then he shares with me this cool looking astrology app and we both marvel at photos from the Hubble telescope like this:

Source: hubblesite.org

He tells me about this Nova you can see right now…brighter than all the stars in the Universe. The light we can see left that star before our galaxy was even born.

“It makes you feel pretty insignificant,” I say.

“Yes. I think that’s right,” he replies.

The Story of My Four Deodorants

Awhile ago my deodorant ran out. I reluctantly purchased a new deodorant (when did they get so expensive??).  That’s how I wound up with one deodorant again.

About a week later I went down to Bakersfield with my friend Mike to go to one of our college friend Laura’s amazing parties. It rocked, but I forgot my new deodorant.

Luckily, we stopped a TJs along the way and I picked up another one. That’s how I came to have two deodorants.

A few weeks later we left for Europe, and again I forgot my deodorant!! What is it with me and forgetting my deodorant?? I finally broke down and bought some in a Schlecker in Berlin after borrowing my hosts’ deodorant for a few days*. Now I owned a total of three different deodorants! Continue Reading

the truth of the matter is

I had a wonderful 17 days wandering around and having adventures with Will.

I came home, had a whirlwind-back-at-work 4th of July weekend and week after before heading out to Colorado for my grandmother’s postponed memorial and ashes scattering.

I’d never scattered any ashes before.

My grandmother had a computer. It was large and boxy and took up half of the room I used to sleep in with the water bed. She used it to write, as I often use mine to. She never had to use her computer to work.

Whether I’m writing or working or having fun with art, most of the time it’s at the computer. And it’s hard to work at the computer all day, every day. It was hard to come back to a life like that after walking for 6+ hours a day and exploring and swimming when I felt like it. Continue Reading