I spent the day randomly smiling to myself. I'd remember the part of yesterday's book which impacted me most as a kid, and the smile would just creep up on me:
Man oh man... I'm a horrible person! But imagine the reaction that would incite!
I'd calm myself down by remembering some of my new favorite lines:
Not that I think of people who are already dead (although JC harassed me about this over the summer. "You're 25? Damn... well... be careful when you reach 27... you know that infamous little club... although you'd be in pretty cool company." I'd tell him I was turning 27 in 2012... you know... when so many people think the world's going to end. Coincidence? ::shudder::), but I really have dealt with that issue where I sit there and contemplate how many years are left of my life. I've been fascinated by that thought since I turned nine. I remember sitting on my living room sofa, staring out the window, drifting into space... thinking "Wow... just think... death is... now closer." Just the thoughts a nine-year-old should be having at her birthday party.
ANYWAY. Wanna hear a funny story?
Sister was mailing some chocolates, peanut butter, and Gobstoppers/Nerds to one of her friends who is living in Manchester (England), when the stoic postman (is that what you call the people who work at the post office?) asked her why she was sending so much junk food. D explained she was sending the goodies (45 bucks worth. That's how much that bullshit cost to mail out. We didn't even do that shit for my brother. My sister got me and my smuggling of jalapeño peppers, poor Rafa didn't get shit... although I did give him £100 which he later used to win a pub crawl... evens out, right?) to her friend who was homesick. Then Sister went off on how she was homesick when she lived in Bilbao so she wanted to do her friend this favor.
That's when the postman (fuck it, that's what I'm calling him) got all excited and explained how his wife was from there. Their conversation was animated, describing different areas in exact detail... they were both really happy.
D swore she had just made a new friend, but just as the lovely exchange was going to end... it all went sour.
Sister was signing the last of the paperwork, and she had to write the date. Instead of asking the postman for the date, she did what is second nature to all of us: she clicked her phone to see the date.
Mistake.
Her homescreen wallpaper?
"Your wallpaper is inappropriate."
He resumed his snooty European persona, quickly turning his nose up in the air and looking away from D... and D lost her new friend.
ALMOST had him, damn it... almost!
"I contemplated, for instance, jostling the blind on the street; and from the secret, unexpected joy this gave me I recognized how much of my soul loathed them; I planned to puncture the tires of invalids' vehicles, to go and shout 'lousy proletarian' under the scaffoldings on which laborers were working, to slap infants in the subway. I dreamed of all that and did none of it, or if I did something of the sort, I have forgotten it."Then I'd feel guilty. But then I'd smile again.
Man oh man... I'm a horrible person! But imagine the reaction that would incite!
I'd calm myself down by remembering some of my new favorite lines:
"Then it was that the thought of death burst into my daily life. I would measure the years separating me from my end. I would look for examples of men my age who were already dead. And I was tormented by the thought that I might not have time to accomplish my task. What task? I have no idea."That sobered me up real quick.
Not that I think of people who are already dead (although JC harassed me about this over the summer. "You're 25? Damn... well... be careful when you reach 27... you know that infamous little club... although you'd be in pretty cool company." I'd tell him I was turning 27 in 2012... you know... when so many people think the world's going to end. Coincidence? ::shudder::), but I really have dealt with that issue where I sit there and contemplate how many years are left of my life. I've been fascinated by that thought since I turned nine. I remember sitting on my living room sofa, staring out the window, drifting into space... thinking "Wow... just think... death is... now closer." Just the thoughts a nine-year-old should be having at her birthday party.
ANYWAY. Wanna hear a funny story?
Sister was mailing some chocolates, peanut butter, and Gobstoppers/Nerds to one of her friends who is living in Manchester (England), when the stoic postman (is that what you call the people who work at the post office?) asked her why she was sending so much junk food. D explained she was sending the goodies (45 bucks worth. That's how much that bullshit cost to mail out. We didn't even do that shit for my brother. My sister got me and my smuggling of jalapeño peppers, poor Rafa didn't get shit... although I did give him £100 which he later used to win a pub crawl... evens out, right?) to her friend who was homesick. Then Sister went off on how she was homesick when she lived in Bilbao so she wanted to do her friend this favor.
That's when the postman (fuck it, that's what I'm calling him) got all excited and explained how his wife was from there. Their conversation was animated, describing different areas in exact detail... they were both really happy.
D swore she had just made a new friend, but just as the lovely exchange was going to end... it all went sour.
Sister was signing the last of the paperwork, and she had to write the date. Instead of asking the postman for the date, she did what is second nature to all of us: she clicked her phone to see the date.
Mistake.
Her homescreen wallpaper?
 |
| Mmm... and it's kosher! |
He resumed his snooty European persona, quickly turning his nose up in the air and looking away from D... and D lost her new friend.
ALMOST had him, damn it... almost!
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