From firinel: Five things, times four

Five things I really liked when I was a teenager but that I don't care for much now:
Christianity & youth group events
daily makeup & curling my hair
CCM
baseball
stamp collecting

Five things I didn't care for when I was a teenager but that I really like now:
coffee
women
Amber
pumpkin pie
politics

Five things I've always really liked and very likely always will:
reading
singing
creativity
hiking
travel

Five things I've never much cared for and very likely never will:
liver
watching television
xenophobia
crowds
heat & humidity

(no subject)

I may like coffee now, but not the burnt tongue that comes from drinking it too hot.

(no subject)

Bounce, bounce, bounce...

Dinner with computerchix and indyansel today!

(no subject)

I don't know whether this was original to the author of the forwarded email, or not. But it was groaningly funny. However I'm having the devil's own time keeping my inner editor from fixing the tenses and punctuation. (Dammit Fiona, if you're going to quote people you have to leave what they said in their own words!)

Far away in the tropical waters of the Caribbean, two prawns were swimming around in the sea - one called Justin and the other called Christian. The prawns were constantly being harassed and threatened by sharks that patrolled the area.

Finally one day Justin said to Christian, "I'm bored and frustrated at being a prawn, I wish I was a shark, then I wouldn't have any worries about being eaten..."

As Justin had his mind firmly on becoming a predator, a mysterious cod appears and says, "Your wish is granted", and lo and behold, Justin turned into a shark. Horrified, Christian immediately swam away, afraid of being eaten by his old mate.

Time went on (as it invariably does...) and Justin found himself becoming bored and lonely as a shark. All his old mates simply swam away whenever he came close to them. Justin didn't realise that his new menacing appearance was the cause of his sad plight. While out swimming alone one day he sees the mysterious cod again and can't believe his luck. Justin figured that the fish could change him back into a prawn.

He begs the cod to change him back so, lo and behold, he is turned back into a prawn.

With tears of joy in his tiny little eyes, Justin swam back to his friends and bought them all a cocktail. (The punch line does not involve a prawn cocktail - it's much worse). Looking around the gathering at the reef, he searched for his old pal. "Where's Christian?" he asked.

"He's at home, distraught that his best friend changed sides to the enemy and became a shark", came the reply. Eager to put things right again and end the mutual pain and torture, he set off to Christian's house. As he opened the coral gate the memories came flooding back. He banged on the door and shouted, "It's me, Justin, your old friend, come out and see me again."

Christian replied "No way man, you'll eat me. You're a shark, the enemy and I'll not be tricked.

Justin cried back "No, I'm not. That was the old me. I've changed. ( wait for it... )

(no subject)

Very ambivalent about tomorrow. ( 75% chance of noodling, followed by 50% chance of whinging later )

But all that ambivalence notwithstanding, I'm feeling quite good this evening. Dinner with computerchix and indyansel was a lot of fun, even if I did forget that evenings at Joe's Crab Shack get very loud and stupid sometimes. We might have talked for hours if they hadn't needed to drive to Kansas City tonight.

And then on the way home I called Kirk. Finally reached him, after six or eight weeks of trying on and off. The growth was benign, and he's recovering well from the surgery. We talked for an hour about everything under the sun, and it felt like old times again. "Love you lots." I mentioned to him that Christine had told me to go out to bars to meet more people, and he said, "I go to the bagel shop." Now that sounded more like me. I might try going to Mokabe's once a month or so. After all this time we still know each other very well. The day-to-day facts might be missing, but the emotional connection is very much alive. It has survived a lot; with encouragement and communication it will again flower.

Resolutions:

• To call an old friend once a week
• To get out and make some new friends
• To call Mom & Dad and Kathy tomorrow.
• To make a written accounting of my blessings