Journey, Life, the Universe, and Everything

It’s been a little while since I last posted. Reasons are difficult, perhaps, to express, but they have something to do with the facts that I can’t post from work and that I find myself with less and less free time once I actually make it home. Much has happened.

Yesterday I saw Journey live in concert.

They were accompanied by Heart and Cheap Trick, a fact that only serves to heighten their awesomeness. Those are by no means small-time bands, after all. The concert was everything I could hope for, but was bittersweet for several reasons I’m no longer sure I can rely in a public forum. As usual, a woman was involved.

A little earlier, the Girl and I spent a day in Annapolis. We talked, we walked, and as usual things were ambiguous. Oh well - at least I got good crab cakes out of it. Also on the weird front - I met her mom. And she cooked dinner for us. Good times.

Various other things have popped up that vex and frustrate me… But I think I’m still processing them. So I leave you with some thoughts:

1. I am now, officially, middle-class entirely on my own. There’s a scary thought.
2. South Ossetians celebrated Russia’s support of their independence… By firing guns into the air. First - way to show your civilized nature, gents. Second - what goes up…
3. Of all the organizations that could use a few consultants, DC Metro probably needs us the most. Dear lord - a train stopped at Federal Triangle shut down the orange and blue lines in both directions, just about. Only they were turning back trains at Arlington Cemetary - WTF? Why not Foggy Bottom? Why not just bounce trains off the stations on either side and run buses to cover the gap? Zero coverage failure, minimal additional cost, hundreds fewer angry customers. Come on guys - this is a no-brainer.

Until next time~

One more thing…

Oh, and can we talk about women for a second?

Totally apart from the sheer mess that is one of my best friends’ relationship with his “ex” who’s currently abroad (who he talks to for HOURS a day - and don’t deny it, you know it’s true!), which stresses me out by proxy, it seems I spend all my time these days trying to figure out just what the hell is up with the woman and I. You know the one - the one I debated talking to about a month ago. Things are coming to an end, and we’re on the same see-saw we’ve been on since day one. You know, the one she probably doesn’t realize we’re on.

I might have sort of told her off last week.

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Wounded Game Theory

The other day I posted a rather long quote on the Tumble about so-called “Wounded Game Theory”. Having had a chance to discuss it with those friends of mine who happen to be of the male persuasion, I’ve discovered that she’s actually startlingly correct.

On some things anyways. It’s like this: far from being a kickback to our dark, primeval past, this phenomenon hints at something which is actually quite a recent phenomenon. With the rise of male image stereotyping in media, guys (especially college-aged guys) are becoming more and more self-conscious. Now days, many of the same self-confidence issues that people stereotype women with are becoming more and more prevalent among men. What does that mean to you? Y’all make yourselves too inaccessible. Especially when you’re all “prettied up”.

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Thoughts on Beginnings and Ends

When I first created this blog (a year ago this week!), I was facing a pretty hefty beginning. I was leaving my native country for the first time to live abroad in a (not so) strange land and, lured by the apparent fame of travel and personal bloggers whose every spare thought is deemed credible by their legions of readers, I had high hopes for chronicling every detail of it.

As much as my time abroad was definitely a beginning, it was also an end. While the actual experience of studying abroad was far from the life-changing experience it’s touted to be (hence the lack of deep, insightful posts while there?), the time I spent there and the time I spent building up to that experience did change me. I began to spend slightly less time online, preferring to talk to people in “real life” instead; I began focusing more on “getting out there” and “experiencing my environment”; and most important of all, I made the decision to be more honest and open with the people around me.

I thought about that decision tonight as I waved goodbye and yelled after her, “Call me if you’re back early on Sunday!” She yelled back that she would as she crossed the street and entered campus proper. The girl in question and I have been friends since day one - the first day of freshman year. There was a time when we saw each other almost every day. Lately, though, with a plethora of excuses like “increased workload”, “job hunting” and “hectic schedules”, we’ve found it harder and harder to make the time. This sort of dodging defines our relationship - or at least my side of it. There have been times when I hoped we might become more than just friends, and times when I knew things would never work out if we were.

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