{"id":57,"date":"2009-01-10T14:25:14","date_gmt":"2009-01-10T19:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/?p=57"},"modified":"2009-01-14T17:26:21","modified_gmt":"2009-01-14T22:26:21","slug":"long-posts-journey-into-yikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/?p=57","title":{"rendered":"Long post’s journey into yikes!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, the week that was got off to a bit of an uneven start. <\/span>Without getting into too many details, suffice it to say that I remain a strong proponent of the \u201cDon\u2019t shit where you eat\u201d rule of dating. <\/span>Of course, it\u2019s harder to pull off when everyone in your world lives in the same place. <\/span>(I realize that last sentence loses the metaphor, but I think to keep it, I would have had to say that we all live in the toilet, and given the context, I thought it best to avoid the dark imagery. <\/span>Apologies to the metaphor. <\/span>Oh, and as long as I\u2019ve already got the brackets going, let me assure the gossip mills I was the only Second Cityer involved.) <\/span><\/p>\n

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As it turned out, not too big a deal, though I did indulge myself in a quick session of teen-style wallowing, only with more irony, with a soundtrack of Bob Dylan\u2019s Blood on the Tracks<\/span> <\/span>and The Decemberists\u2019 Five Songs<\/span>. <\/span>It wasn\u2019t until the second time hearing \u201cOceanside\u201d that I realized the lyrics I was voicing were \u201cOh, if I could only coax you overboard\u2026\u201d, which, while normally beautifully poetic, becomes wickedly funny in the context of girl problems on a cruise ship. <\/span>Having laughed at myself, I was back on the Road to Wellness, with fond memories of and anticipation for all the detours and roadside attractions on the way. <\/span>(Satisfied, metaphor gods?)<\/p>\n

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In terms of cast of characters, there were cameos, some new additions, and a couple of exits. <\/span>Mike had some guests, two fellas by the names of Danny and Sly. <\/span>They were a lot of fun, charming fellows both, and they will be missed. <\/span>For those potentially interested in visiting, Danny proved to us that those seasickness bracelets only have limited success in preventing seasickness (though who knows what would have come out of him without them), but are useful for pretending to be Spiderman. <\/span>And for those interested in modern history and politics, Sly is going to be at Obama\u2019s inauguration, so if you\u2019re reading this, the most degrees of separation you are from that event is two. <\/span>Pretty nifty, no?<\/p>\n

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Joining the entertainers onboard, we now have the Cat\u2019s Pyjamas, a capella group extraordinaire. <\/span>Very nice guys, but mostly I\u2019m excited because I think I\u2019m finally going to get the basketball game I\u2019ve been hankering for. <\/span>Man, am I going to get my ass kicked!<\/p>\n

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And in terms of goodbyes, we lost cruise director Rich to vacation this week. <\/span>We gave him the royal sendoff, inviting him to play Hero Freeze with us in our last show. <\/span>A pretty unsatisfying show for me all in all (the crowd too drunk and too dirty for my tastes \u2013 yes, I\u2019m old), but everyone left happy, including Rich. <\/span>Haven\u2019t met the new cruise director yet, and don\u2019t know if anything will change for us, but if it does, I\u2019ll let you know.<\/p>\n

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Alright, on to funny interactions. <\/span>We\u2019ll open with a faux pas. <\/span>So there\u2019s a party, and one of the guests, a flamboyant young man in a pink vest, has been hitting on the male dancers all night. <\/span>Later on, as I\u2019m talking to his sister, I notice that he\u2019s got Ashley cornered. <\/span>Thinking of the irrepressible Pearce Visser, I ask her \u201cHey, does your brother get straighter when he drinks?\u201d <\/span>To which she replies \u201cMy brother\u2019s straight.\u201d <\/span>Now, clearly she\u2019s wrong, in denial, or in possession of an excellent deadpan, but either way, I backpedaled like a triathlete near the end of Superman<\/span>. <\/span>Awkward!<\/p>\n

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There was also an encounter with a passenger with great comedic timing, who deserves to be immortalized here. <\/span>So I get onto an elevator, and this man\u2019s wife was futzing with his hair, as he protested \u201cIt looked better before.\u201d <\/span>He then turns to me, and with perfect timing, says \u201cDon\u2019t you hate it when a woman messes with your\u2026never mind.\u201d <\/span>Luckily, I was going to 13, and the only button pushed when I entered was 12, and the timing worked out so that just as he said that, the doors opened on 12, and I was able to deliver a perfectly calm \u201cGet out.\u201d <\/span>Laughs all around, my one regret being that I was unable to tell him that he was awesome.<\/p>\n

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Wow, this post is long! <\/span>But damn it, I\u2019ve been keeping you up-to-date on my readings and watchings so far, and I\u2019m not going to stop now. <\/span>In terms of watching, I finally made a trip to Jewelbusters (the onboard DVD collection) and snagged the first season of Gilmore Girls<\/span>. <\/span>Yes, I\u2019d be judging me too. <\/span>But I was also scared of the girliness of Buffy<\/span> and Veronica Mars<\/span>, and was proven wrong there too. <\/span>So far, Gilmore Girls<\/span> isn\u2019t quite at that level of superbness, but it\u2019s definitely watchable. <\/span>Seven seasons watchable? <\/span>I\u2019ll keep you posted.<\/p>\n

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In terms of reading, I finished The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat<\/span>. <\/span>Interesting cases, but the writing was too academic for my tastes, i.e. it made me feel stupid. <\/span>(Yes, yes, \u201cthere\u2019s a difference between ignorance and stupidity.\u201d) <\/span>But hey, at least now I know (vaguely) what \u201cproprioceptive\u201d means. <\/span>Though I\u2019ll probably forget\u2026it\u2019s not like I\u2019ve got hypermnesis! <\/span>Then I spent a day reading Tom Stoppard\u2019s The Invention of Love<\/span>, which was good, but certainly no cure for feeling stupid. <\/span>Next up, Thomas Pynchon\u2019s The Crying of Lot 49<\/span>. <\/span>(That\u2019s right. <\/span>Pynchon. <\/span>I\u2019m going to have to read Twilight<\/span> after this just to keep my brain cells from revolting!)<\/p>\n

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Also, a sad note in terms of my reading. <\/span>I saw that Ron Asheton, guitarist for The Stooges, died just the other day, at age 60. <\/span>He was one of my favorite \u201ccharacters\u201d in Please Kill Me<\/span>, and I remember thinking as I was reading that I was glad he was one of the ones who survived. <\/span>Gather ye rosebuds while you may, folks.<\/p>\n

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Which reminds me of a lovely moment I had at the internet caf\u00e9, as I was uploading those pictures. <\/span>So I\u2019m chatting with a friend from high school, a friend from Vancouver, and a friend from my return to Toronto, and visiting the wedding announcement site of a friend from McGill, and it dawned on me that every chapter from my adult life was represented. <\/span>And while I\u2019d never claim that life has all been puppies and whipped cream, it made me appreciate how lucky I\u2019ve been to know the people I\u2019ve known in my life. <\/span>And if you\u2019re reading this, chances are you\u2019re one of them. <\/span>Thanks for existing.<\/p>\n

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Of course, most of you probably stopped reading paragraphs ago. <\/span>\u201cOooh, sorry, we have to shovel our walkways\u2026\u201d Fine, go look at the pictures again, they\u2019re worth a thousand words anyway. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Bastards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, the week that was got off to a bit of an uneven start. Without getting into too many details, suffice it to say that I remain a strong proponent of the \u201cDon\u2019t shit where you eat\u201d rule of dating. Of course, it\u2019s harder to pull off when everyone in your world lives in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61,"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions\/61"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scatteredflurries.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}