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Saturday afternoon i headed to the bank to make a deposit before doubling back to the library to visit some people. I'm almost at the bank when a guy in a white truck waves to me. I don't recognize the guy or the truck, but he pulls over, so i go over to check it out, figuring perhaps he's from church or something. This begins a conversation which consists mainly of me vaguely agreeing to a backstory i don't remember. He was here, over the summer, visiting a friend in the hospital. I live down that way, don't i? He's gesturing kinda more perpendicular to where i live, but i'm not quibbling, especially as i'd rather not get into a discussion which would require me actually saying where i live. We met in "the store" (this got me in Puddingstone mode even though i haven't worked there in years, because, like the library, lots of people come in and chat you up) and yeah, by this time i'm fairly certain the guy is making shit up. The clincher comes when he says something about how we were gonna get together. "No, i don't remember that." "No, it didn't actually happen, I had to go meet some people, but you had said you wanted to get together" "I don't think so. Actually i'm just going to the bank and then i have to go meet some friends in Boston." I think this led to where have i been or something, 'cause i remember saying "I've been away at school." "Where do you go to school?" "Smith College, out in Northampton." "Is that far away?" "Yeah, it's a couple hours away." "So you're usually gone on weekends, then?" "Yeah." "When do you think you'll be back here again?" "I don't know. I'm usually out there a lot, i'm just back for the weekend to visit some friends in Boston." Then he asks me my name. Not even in a "your name escapes me" kinda way but the way you ask someone you just met. "Elizabeth." "I'm Eddie." And then i get to leave. This is the way you pick up girls, huh? Act like you've already met. *rolls eyes* I enjoy the fact that the few times i get hit on by guys approximately my own age are rarely shady. This man was probably 50 years old. Age had been good to him, but still, sketch much?
Saturday was National Coming Out Day. I realized in retrospect that i did even, sort of, recognize the day. I was chatting with Terry and he was asking about what i was gonna do after college (He always says, "You wanna be a teacher, right?" and i always say maybe and list off the other possibilities i'm considering.) and i mentioned gay rights activism and he asked about that and we got to talking about same-sex marriage and having intelligent conversations with him always makes me so happy and at one point i said "we" and he startled a bit and said "You said 'we' " and i said "Yeah, we've had this conversation before. That's why i was kinda surprised when you asked if i had a boyfriend, 'cause in my head i thought 'No, and i don't have a girlfriend either.' " In his defense, it's not like it matters that much or comes up that much in my interactions with him, it just amuses me that he forgot. I think people get mental blocks around stuff sometimes.
Wow, pulling up that entry, last summer? I think because i spend so little time in Norwood -- and a small fraction of that time is spent hanging out with Terry -- that sometimes it feels like we have had conversations more recently than we actually have. I know it has come up once or twice since that first time, so it's not like he promptly forgot.
Hmm, in that entry i also talk about money (amusingly the two comments are from people whom no longer have me friended) and then recently i saw this entry from Mia.
I think age is mellowing me. Lack of having-a-plan-ness which would normally make me anxious and irritated didn't bother me too much this weekend.
Previously i had only been through Harvard Yard, but i have now been in a dorm and around much of the campus including down to the river. We saw Lamont Library, named for the husband of the woman for whom my house is named.
I spent some time at the MFA, both with my people and without, which was nice. The John Currin exhibit was interesting. One of the things he said was that European movies are like 2 hour long paintings, while Americans need to have stories in their paintings, can't understand the importance of just an image. I was intrigued and would be interested in learning more about his opinions on art. In the rest of the museum i saw a good amount of stuff i hadn't seen before (as well as some familiar favorites; i don't think i had realized just how much i like John Singer Sargent. and there was some neat stuff like they had The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit back and it was framed by the two actual vases he depicts in the painting. and there were drawings which looked familiar and they were sketches of the MFA murals and i hadn't realized he was the one who did the murals.), and some of it was modern art which i actually liked. JoJo and i talked about needing background information to understand and appreciate a lot of contemporary art and the problems that raises.
This weekend i was reminded that i don't do socializing-through-shared-activity well (e.g. shopping, watching a movie). I would much rather just sit down and talk with people. I realized on the subway back to South Station to go home on Monday that one reason the whole Boston weekend had felt a bit odd was that when Jonah and i go to Boston, we talk all the time, literally almost constantly. So sitting in a subway with friends and not talking nonstop, while perfectly fine, is just foreign to me.
I did so little work this weekend, which is of course coming back to bite me in a serious way. I did get a lot of sleep, though, which is always good.
I ended up watching a lot of TV with my brother. I saw the series premiere of The X-Files at 1am and realized i had never seen it in full, only in flashbacks.
Saw the new Practice Sunday night.
( Do i need to spoiler cut? )
I went back to the high school Tuesday morning, which is always nice.
I enjoy when teachers show me off.
To me: "Thank you for the postcard." Turning to the class: "I got a postcard from out of the country." This prompts lots of "Where did you go?" type questions.
I had really good timing hitting teachers during study periods and so on. Ms. Fisher's class was Latin 4, with kids from the Latin 1 class i took my senior year. That means this year's graduating class is the last class wherein i know anyone. (Okay, my brother graduates next year please pause for a panic attack at the reminder that my brother and i are both graduating in a year and a half, and i know a few kids in his class.) Wow.
My parents told me that at PTA Ms. Fisher asked about "Augusta" (my name in that class) and needed a minute to remember my real name. This amuses me immensely because 3 years later i barely remember my name in that class and every time i have visited she has called me by my real name.
I told Mrs. Derrane that i'm taking a García Lorca class and she said she did "Romance sonámbulo" with her Spanish 4A. That's hardcore. We just did that last week, and that's one of the harder poems.
Ms. Pelaggi was envious that i was studying Lorca. For once she didn't have her super-excited voice that she gets when she's teaching or when she's doing SADD or Spirit Club or whatever. I hadn't realized she had any other voice, but she actually has this lower-pitch voice and she sounds like a different person.
I bumped into Jonah which was lovely because i'd been meaning to drop him a line. And Liz was nice to me, which was disconcerting, but pleasantly so.
I e-mailed Joe a couple weeks ago about the work we want to do at our old high school to make it more gay-friendly. In my e-mail i basically said "We've been trying to work together, but we both are so insanely busy, and i really want to do this, so i'm just gonna do it, help me out if you want." I don't think i came off like a bitch, but not having heard from him i worry he's mad at me. (If i had the time to spare i would call him and we would chat and i would feel better.) I also still haven't done anything with the NHS stuff, which makes me feel bad on multiple levels.
The things i need to do this week alone keep piling up, not to mention the next few weeks and things (like NHS) which have been on the back burner for far too long.
As Josh says, "You can sleep when you're dead!"
Family Weekend: There are large gaps of time in between activities my family and i will actually be attending. I am working on filling up these gaps. I know many of my housemates are excited about their parents and their friends and their friends' parents all meeting. Does anyone have any exciting plans?
Saturday was National Coming Out Day. I realized in retrospect that i did even, sort of, recognize the day. I was chatting with Terry and he was asking about what i was gonna do after college (He always says, "You wanna be a teacher, right?" and i always say maybe and list off the other possibilities i'm considering.) and i mentioned gay rights activism and he asked about that and we got to talking about same-sex marriage and having intelligent conversations with him always makes me so happy and at one point i said "we" and he startled a bit and said "You said 'we' " and i said "Yeah, we've had this conversation before. That's why i was kinda surprised when you asked if i had a boyfriend, 'cause in my head i thought 'No, and i don't have a girlfriend either.' " In his defense, it's not like it matters that much or comes up that much in my interactions with him, it just amuses me that he forgot. I think people get mental blocks around stuff sometimes.
Wow, pulling up that entry, last summer? I think because i spend so little time in Norwood -- and a small fraction of that time is spent hanging out with Terry -- that sometimes it feels like we have had conversations more recently than we actually have. I know it has come up once or twice since that first time, so it's not like he promptly forgot.
Hmm, in that entry i also talk about money (amusingly the two comments are from people whom no longer have me friended) and then recently i saw this entry from Mia.
I think age is mellowing me. Lack of having-a-plan-ness which would normally make me anxious and irritated didn't bother me too much this weekend.
Previously i had only been through Harvard Yard, but i have now been in a dorm and around much of the campus including down to the river. We saw Lamont Library, named for the husband of the woman for whom my house is named.
I spent some time at the MFA, both with my people and without, which was nice. The John Currin exhibit was interesting. One of the things he said was that European movies are like 2 hour long paintings, while Americans need to have stories in their paintings, can't understand the importance of just an image. I was intrigued and would be interested in learning more about his opinions on art. In the rest of the museum i saw a good amount of stuff i hadn't seen before (as well as some familiar favorites; i don't think i had realized just how much i like John Singer Sargent. and there was some neat stuff like they had The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit back and it was framed by the two actual vases he depicts in the painting. and there were drawings which looked familiar and they were sketches of the MFA murals and i hadn't realized he was the one who did the murals.), and some of it was modern art which i actually liked. JoJo and i talked about needing background information to understand and appreciate a lot of contemporary art and the problems that raises.
This weekend i was reminded that i don't do socializing-through-shared-activity well (e.g. shopping, watching a movie). I would much rather just sit down and talk with people. I realized on the subway back to South Station to go home on Monday that one reason the whole Boston weekend had felt a bit odd was that when Jonah and i go to Boston, we talk all the time, literally almost constantly. So sitting in a subway with friends and not talking nonstop, while perfectly fine, is just foreign to me.
I did so little work this weekend, which is of course coming back to bite me in a serious way. I did get a lot of sleep, though, which is always good.
I ended up watching a lot of TV with my brother. I saw the series premiere of The X-Files at 1am and realized i had never seen it in full, only in flashbacks.
Saw the new Practice Sunday night.
( Do i need to spoiler cut? )I went back to the high school Tuesday morning, which is always nice.
I enjoy when teachers show me off.
To me: "Thank you for the postcard." Turning to the class: "I got a postcard from out of the country." This prompts lots of "Where did you go?" type questions.
I had really good timing hitting teachers during study periods and so on. Ms. Fisher's class was Latin 4, with kids from the Latin 1 class i took my senior year. That means this year's graduating class is the last class wherein i know anyone. (Okay, my brother graduates next year please pause for a panic attack at the reminder that my brother and i are both graduating in a year and a half, and i know a few kids in his class.) Wow.
My parents told me that at PTA Ms. Fisher asked about "Augusta" (my name in that class) and needed a minute to remember my real name. This amuses me immensely because 3 years later i barely remember my name in that class and every time i have visited she has called me by my real name.
I told Mrs. Derrane that i'm taking a García Lorca class and she said she did "Romance sonámbulo" with her Spanish 4A. That's hardcore. We just did that last week, and that's one of the harder poems.
Ms. Pelaggi was envious that i was studying Lorca. For once she didn't have her super-excited voice that she gets when she's teaching or when she's doing SADD or Spirit Club or whatever. I hadn't realized she had any other voice, but she actually has this lower-pitch voice and she sounds like a different person.
I bumped into Jonah which was lovely because i'd been meaning to drop him a line. And Liz was nice to me, which was disconcerting, but pleasantly so.
I e-mailed Joe a couple weeks ago about the work we want to do at our old high school to make it more gay-friendly. In my e-mail i basically said "We've been trying to work together, but we both are so insanely busy, and i really want to do this, so i'm just gonna do it, help me out if you want." I don't think i came off like a bitch, but not having heard from him i worry he's mad at me. (If i had the time to spare i would call him and we would chat and i would feel better.) I also still haven't done anything with the NHS stuff, which makes me feel bad on multiple levels.
The things i need to do this week alone keep piling up, not to mention the next few weeks and things (like NHS) which have been on the back burner for far too long.
As Josh says, "You can sleep when you're dead!"
Family Weekend: There are large gaps of time in between activities my family and i will actually be attending. I am working on filling up these gaps. I know many of my housemates are excited about their parents and their friends and their friends' parents all meeting. Does anyone have any exciting plans?