I'll Come Running

Turns out my post from last night didn't say what I meant. Here's take two.

When Holly and I started talking again, it was through the jolt-I think I asked her about lung cancer prognoses, or something along those lines. I know she got a lot of flak for talking to me again, as things last spring didn't end so well. I had missed her every day, and as much as talking to her seems now to have been the only good option, it was really hard for both of us. My visit out there in September simplified things in some respects, but also greatly complicated things. I realized that I couldn't walk away, and since she was still in a relationship, I made it clear that I would wait, if need be. Turned out I did have to, at least for a little while. I know it was a very hard decision for her, not only deciding if I was worth the risk of possibly getting really hurt again, but also trying to make that decision while giving some amount of respect to her boyfriend. I, on the other hand, was terrified that after letting my guard *way* down and laying it all out for her to see (at least figuratively), I had to face the possibility that because she was still dating someone, and no one knew about me, it would be (it seemed) very easy for her to just walk away from me and not give me another chance. I had been involved with someone who was in another relationship before, and I knew how easy it would be to tell me she was going to choose me and then not do it.

It turns out, however, that we did choose each other. The part about the story that I really love is that she chose me not because it was easy for her, or convenient, or simple, but because she loved me and needed me in her life. I think that's a big part of why I trust her so much more than I can trust anyone right now-knowing that in the end, I was worth the risk.

(no subject)

The dog is walked and fed, the dishwasher's running, and I have showered and dressed. Maybe I won't be too shabby at this whole adulthood thing.

Now to get breakfast and catch the bus.

(no subject)

Oh Lore!

Soda Flavors
by Lore Fitzgerald Sjöberg

Cola
It says something about modern society that our most popular soda doesn't taste like anything in particular. I mean, I imagine there might be a passing resemblance to cola nuts, but I don't know anyone who'd be in a position to verify such. I once read an ingredient list of flavorings that supposedly go into the cola experience, and it was ungodly long and obscure. It made those complex food magazine recipes for stuff like pheasant au goulet--the ones that require you to have a separate knife for each body part of the pheasant and that require you to know that Bulgarian coriander is actually a breed of sheep--look like boxed mac and cheese by comparison. C-

Lemon-Lime
Actually, there's a wide variety of sodas which I lump carelessly under the "lemon-lime" category with no regard for whether they actually contain lemons and/or limes. Basically, if the bottle and the liquid inside are both greenish, and it's not ginger ale, it's lemon-lime. Fresca is lemon-lime in spite of tasting like grapefruit, and Mountain Dew is lemon-lime in spite of being made out of squeezings from the adrenal glands of snowboarders. C

Orange
When I was working at McDonald's as a teenager--I had a computer to pay for and some sins from a past life to work out--I noticed a cup of orange soda sitting next to a cup of orange juice. The soda was an intense, bellowing shade of orange, the sort that keeps crossing guards safe. The juice, by comparison, was a limp yellow, the shade of yellow that tells you the arm's going to have to come off. That's when I realized that we, as a culture, have no tolerance for natural colors. We want our whites to phosphoresce, our pinks to vibrate, and our orange soda to humiliate our orange juice. B

Grape
I actually drink more diet soda than sugar soda, not so much out of a desire to diet than a desire to not be on a sucrose high every moment of every day. As a lover of all things grape and artificial, I have been constantly disappointed by the difficulty of getting diet grape soda in California. One of the few perks of moving to the South is that you can get diet grape soda here, but only Diet Rite white grape soda, which tastes right, but it's not purple! What, I ask you, is the point? Whom, I ask you, are we fooling? It's grape soda, I neither want nor need it to look good in a champagne flute. A

Cream Soda
I like foods that don't actually contain the ingredients in their name. Grape Nuts don't contain grapes or nuts, cream soda doesn't contain cream, Ritz crackers don't actually contain an upscale hotel, and so forth. The neat thing about cream soda is that it actually tastes vaguely creamy. Vaguely. B

Root Beer
My big problem with root beer is that someone informed me a while ago that it tastes like toothpaste. I wish she hadn't said that. I had gone some twenty someodd years without noticing the connection, but once I was enlightened, there it was. I still like root beer, sure, but now every time have I have one there's that brief moment of wary recognition. C+

Oh David

Answering The Eternal Questions
by David Neilsen

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Yes it does. It cries out in fear and trepidation as it nears the ground. "Hey! I'm falling! Oh Lord Christ Almighty I'm gonna hit the ground! This is going to hurt! Won't someone save me! The pain! The pain!" At this point, the tree has usually hit the ground and is now writhing back and forth in agony, crying like a big sissy. Trees are wimps.

Why is there air?

There isn't. It's a myth. Scientists invented the concept of 'air' to calm the masses. No telling what would happen if it became known that there's absolutely nothing between you and the stars. Utter chaos.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

This question has mutated over time into its current ridiculous format, but it has its roots in a real question. The original question was "How much wood would Chuck Woolery chuck if Chuck Woolery could chuck wood?" As we all know, Love Connection host Chuck Woolery began life as a lumberjack in British Columbia, and was lured away from his first love but the promise of Hollywood stardom. But he still longed to go back to his trees and to return to his life of chucking wood, and according to sources, on a good day, Chuck could chuck over 4 pallets of wood. Not bad, eh?

What caused The Big Bang?

Midgets.

Which religion is the true religion?

This is a misleading question, as it assumes one religion actually got everything right. The truth is that you need to take a few of the Jewish traditions, combine them with some of the more rigorous Muslim edicts, stir it up with the sermons of Jesus (only the first few, before he got all big on himself), mix in the lessons of ancient Egypt and top it off with a healthy dose of the teachings of Buddhism. Sprinkle with the wisdom of Confucius and cook in the ovens of Hinduism for about twenty minutes to get your perfectly prepared salvation.

Is there intelligent life in the Universe?

That really depends on your definition of intelligence. The beings of Deneb VI have evolved intellectually with the capacity to understand particle physics, and yet they have failed to invent shelter, and so spend all of their time trying to avoid the rain. Therefore no true civilization has evolved on Deneb VI, and their knowledge of particle physics is used primarily to amuse their young or impress a date.

Also, the beings of Solaris III have created a society much like our own in many ways, and yet have voted Republican in every election for over four hundred years, which puts any claims of actual intelligence in doubt.

What is the meaning of life?

We can't tell you, but it has an awful lot to do with waffle irons.

One months salary doesn't go very far

My last form is getting sent in to Smith, my credits should be all lined up this time next week. Well, aside from the transcript for my current classes, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, mmkay?

This week I must:

finish the reading for Thursday's history test

finish looking at the pictures he emailed us for said test (hello migraine!)

finish two projects at work

read for my econ quiz Wednesday (yes, she just announced it today

sleep eat and breath

have lunch with limenal

Okay, so the last one's not a chore, but I like having something nice up there.

My current house/dog sitting gig ends Wednesday morning, but I might be doing another one this weekend, if they get back to me. Very last minute, but they give me lots of money. I'm a whore. Also known as broke college student.