... of random musings for 2005. While this will be dated 2006 by the time I get my thoughts (dis)organized, I thought - why not. That year-end review is taking longer than I would have wanted to - and even though I thought I dropped procrastination like a bad habit some time ago (ha!), it is quite a project assessing the previous year.
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New Year's Eve shindig was a mixed bag of the good, the bad and the interesting.
Good: First time in a few years that there was an actual plan to be somewhere, instead of hopping from one place to another and having the bouncer not budge on comping a $20 cover (or was it $5 last year?) even if it's 20 minutes until closing. Also Good: Because I amazingly got over my bah humbug attitude (comment care-of Marc) halfway through the night and partied with 3-inch heels without screaming bloody high shoes at the end. Overall Good: Because it was spent with great friends.
Bad: The champagne was sub-par ($50 clams for tickets and the champagne was not at all "bubbly"), my tonic water lined my throat a lot more that that did. Also bad: An obnoxious friend-of-a-friend who was a bonafide buzz killer. You gotta have one of those on a given night, right? The "bad" clincher: They had to put a restraining order on me when I was insistent on bringing my car - I budged and we all put our fate in the hands of ever-present cab drivers. Ever present, that is - until you really need them. (El)Tony was the brave one to search for a cab as all others huddled in one corner for heat and some sort of cover from the snow. It was a battlefield out there, and I have not had a chance to ask him how many people did he have to maim.
Interesting: Who would steal a wallet on such an occasion? Obviously someone sober enough to be aware, and sick enough to do such a thing. Also interesting: Because I (errhmm...) I mean - we... made new friends.
Here's a snapshot of this said shindig... any idea what's going on here? Neither do I.
* * *
What better way to start the New Year than to make a stupid mistake?
I locked myself out of the apartment.
I was heading out to meet some people for a few drinks that afternoon of January 1st (yes, because apparently the night before was not enough). The door to our apartment requires either a tricky key-turning trick to lock it, or at least three loud door slams. Slammed it once, moment of clarity made me realize my car keys are still inside. Tried to open the door...
The blasted thing locked the first round.
Went downstairs and after some hesitation, rang the doorbell to my first floor neighbors. Allison answered the door and gave her my quick story, eye contact maintained but almost head down in shame. "... so, I'm hoping I kept my back door open earlier and was wondering if I could get through."
What would have been me "just passing through" turned out to be over an hour of talking about a range of things: from other peculiar co-Poplar residents, our building's oddities, Boston University vs. other institutions... and the beauty of cultural differences along with how the ignorance of others makes it even more so.
Allison and Christina were the newest tenants in our 3-family house building. Smart, funny, insightful women... who, like most people these days, have schedules that require more than the 24-hour day cycle. That Sunday afternoon spent chatting turned out to be a great time - not only getting to know them, but learning from their experiences and how it relates to mine. One of the things that we have talked about were misconceptions, as brought about by surface appearances. Stories were traded, comments were made, opinions were shared. Reminded me of this situation that my sister had experienced with her roommates in her first semester in NYU. (transcript extracted from her blog.)
Episode One: I had only 2 hours of sleep the previous night, so obviously I was extremely sleepy that day. I had to read a book of Plato's, but around 10pm, I gave up and just slept. I decided to just wake up around 3am and start studying then. The book, I left beside my pillow.
Around 12:30am, I somehow woke up. I heard them talk.
Roomie 1: (goes to bed, looks at the book) What the hell does she know, reading Plato? (Um, yes, dear roommate. I'm reading it for fun, not for class. Duh!)
Roomie 2: She doesn't f******* know anything. She's from the Philippines.
Roomies: HA, HA, HA, HA. (Yes, roomies we don't hear about books or Plato in the savage mountains of the Phillipines.)
Bottomline: Yes, I somehow got into the apartment through the back door, several sore knuckles- from-knocking after. More so, while there were times that I find it humorous how some mock or misconstrue those outside of their comfortable circles (albeit sometimes not intentionally, which is more unfortunate for such individuals.), it is a constant battle that, on some circumstances, is not all too funny: How do you convince someone (without wanting to drop an anvil on their head first) that not all Filipinos are nannies, etc. and we actually have some pride to show for?
[Side note - Allison initially thought, from the first time we saw each other at the laundry room, that I was from California. Odd. Not that it was any indication of anything.... I didn't tell them of the San Francisco move that afternoon, though. Maybe on another Sunday, when I go to visit them... hopefully not because I got locked out again that time around.]
Good: First time in a few years that there was an actual plan to be somewhere, instead of hopping from one place to another and having the bouncer not budge on comping a $20 cover (or was it $5 last year?) even if it's 20 minutes until closing. Also Good: Because I amazingly got over my bah humbug attitude (comment care-of Marc) halfway through the night and partied with 3-inch heels without screaming bloody high shoes at the end. Overall Good: Because it was spent with great friends.
Bad: The champagne was sub-par ($50 clams for tickets and the champagne was not at all "bubbly"), my tonic water lined my throat a lot more that that did. Also bad: An obnoxious friend-of-a-friend who was a bonafide buzz killer. You gotta have one of those on a given night, right? The "bad" clincher: They had to put a restraining order on me when I was insistent on bringing my car - I budged and we all put our fate in the hands of ever-present cab drivers. Ever present, that is - until you really need them. (El)Tony was the brave one to search for a cab as all others huddled in one corner for heat and some sort of cover from the snow. It was a battlefield out there, and I have not had a chance to ask him how many people did he have to maim.
Interesting: Who would steal a wallet on such an occasion? Obviously someone sober enough to be aware, and sick enough to do such a thing. Also interesting: Because I (errhmm...) I mean - we... made new friends.
Here's a snapshot of this said shindig... any idea what's going on here? Neither do I.
* * *
What better way to start the New Year than to make a stupid mistake?
I locked myself out of the apartment.
I was heading out to meet some people for a few drinks that afternoon of January 1st (yes, because apparently the night before was not enough). The door to our apartment requires either a tricky key-turning trick to lock it, or at least three loud door slams. Slammed it once, moment of clarity made me realize my car keys are still inside. Tried to open the door...
The blasted thing locked the first round.
Went downstairs and after some hesitation, rang the doorbell to my first floor neighbors. Allison answered the door and gave her my quick story, eye contact maintained but almost head down in shame. "... so, I'm hoping I kept my back door open earlier and was wondering if I could get through."
What would have been me "just passing through" turned out to be over an hour of talking about a range of things: from other peculiar co-Poplar residents, our building's oddities, Boston University vs. other institutions... and the beauty of cultural differences along with how the ignorance of others makes it even more so.
Allison and Christina were the newest tenants in our 3-family house building. Smart, funny, insightful women... who, like most people these days, have schedules that require more than the 24-hour day cycle. That Sunday afternoon spent chatting turned out to be a great time - not only getting to know them, but learning from their experiences and how it relates to mine. One of the things that we have talked about were misconceptions, as brought about by surface appearances. Stories were traded, comments were made, opinions were shared. Reminded me of this situation that my sister had experienced with her roommates in her first semester in NYU. (transcript extracted from her blog.)
Episode One: I had only 2 hours of sleep the previous night, so obviously I was extremely sleepy that day. I had to read a book of Plato's, but around 10pm, I gave up and just slept. I decided to just wake up around 3am and start studying then. The book, I left beside my pillow.
Around 12:30am, I somehow woke up. I heard them talk.
Roomie 1: (goes to bed, looks at the book) What the hell does she know, reading Plato? (Um, yes, dear roommate. I'm reading it for fun, not for class. Duh!)
Roomie 2: She doesn't f******* know anything. She's from the Philippines.
Roomies: HA, HA, HA, HA. (Yes, roomies we don't hear about books or Plato in the savage mountains of the Phillipines.)
Bottomline: Yes, I somehow got into the apartment through the back door, several sore knuckles- from-knocking after. More so, while there were times that I find it humorous how some mock or misconstrue those outside of their comfortable circles (albeit sometimes not intentionally, which is more unfortunate for such individuals.), it is a constant battle that, on some circumstances, is not all too funny: How do you convince someone (without wanting to drop an anvil on their head first) that not all Filipinos are nannies, etc. and we actually have some pride to show for?
[Side note - Allison initially thought, from the first time we saw each other at the laundry room, that I was from California. Odd. Not that it was any indication of anything.... I didn't tell them of the San Francisco move that afternoon, though. Maybe on another Sunday, when I go to visit them... hopefully not because I got locked out again that time around.]
* * *
New Year's Eve/Day 2006, 3am.... while waiting for a cab by State Street:
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