Jenny and Elizabeth are so excited about the upcoming royal wedding, and I'm learning a lot just by hanging around them. Today, however, I came across this article explaining names of the British well-to-do.
I can't get over how strange and funny these names sound. Tiggy? It really does sound like a character I would have made up for a story when I was younger.
The other thing I found myself thinking was that this isn't really that different in America. The upper crust that goes to say, Yale, usually have double names to help indicate their family ties. If I had to guess, I'd say some of those Ivy Leaguers are related to these people, and "stole" the idea from them.
Showing posts with label other people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label other people. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Approachable
Another meal, another round of strange conversations. At lunch, Predad sat down with me. Later, when Tamar came and Predad was gone, I complained about Predad coming around, saying I don't understand why she wants to be around me when I am not friendly towards her at all. (I mostly didn't talk as she sat there. I would rather eat alone, in silence, then listen to her mostly incoherent babbling.) "Well isn't this a common problem for you?" Tamar asked.
"What's a common problem?"
"Well, you know, since you're easily approachable."
What? I don't agree at all. I don't her I feel like I have the exact opposite problem. People don't want to come anywhere near me. I complained about an episode from several years ago where someone said some nasty things about me, that implied, among other things, that he would rather not go anywhere near me.
"He was just being a stupid boy!" she answered. "He just wanted your attention, so he said those things."
Well, he most certainly got attention from me. The negative kind of course, and then I began to avoid him because I was all "Uh-huh. This guy is awful and mean and really? I can't believe he said those things with absolutely no evidence."
Tamar maintains that he wanted my attention. I'm skeptical. He had plenty of opportunity and could have used all sorts of false reasons to come and talk to me and we had mutual friends and he never used any of it.
The conversation ended with Tamar saying that "I don't know how men think!"
"I can tell you right now," Jenny chimed in. "They don't think."
Oh well good. Another person giving guys a slide on the whole being brainless thing.
I still disagree with Tamar about being approachable. It's not that I generally try to turn people off, though there are time I actively try, it's that I'm not doing anything nice. Really.
I would ask other people what they think but I can kind of guess. Josie would agree, though she would frame it differently than Tamar did. Ashley would probably say something nasty about it. Dan would say something about me being an enigma, which is a whole other thing I am frustrated with right there.
"What's a common problem?"
"Well, you know, since you're easily approachable."
What? I don't agree at all. I don't her I feel like I have the exact opposite problem. People don't want to come anywhere near me. I complained about an episode from several years ago where someone said some nasty things about me, that implied, among other things, that he would rather not go anywhere near me.
"He was just being a stupid boy!" she answered. "He just wanted your attention, so he said those things."
Well, he most certainly got attention from me. The negative kind of course, and then I began to avoid him because I was all "Uh-huh. This guy is awful and mean and really? I can't believe he said those things with absolutely no evidence."
Tamar maintains that he wanted my attention. I'm skeptical. He had plenty of opportunity and could have used all sorts of false reasons to come and talk to me and we had mutual friends and he never used any of it.
The conversation ended with Tamar saying that "I don't know how men think!"
"I can tell you right now," Jenny chimed in. "They don't think."
Oh well good. Another person giving guys a slide on the whole being brainless thing.
I still disagree with Tamar about being approachable. It's not that I generally try to turn people off, though there are time I actively try, it's that I'm not doing anything nice. Really.
I would ask other people what they think but I can kind of guess. Josie would agree, though she would frame it differently than Tamar did. Ashley would probably say something nasty about it. Dan would say something about me being an enigma, which is a whole other thing I am frustrated with right there.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Night of the Zoos
I have been exhausted lately, so I tried to take a power nap. I didn't really fall asleep, but I did feel slightly better. Then I took a shower. I was super annoyed with myself because my complexion has been great all holiday break, and today I woke up with a pimple forming (not quite) on my forehead. It looks super stupid, but I scrubbed it as hard and as long as I could and then put four different medications on it and then makeup.
I had agreed to go out to dinner with Lisa and Tori (and maybe Ashley? Ashley's so hard to pin down these days so I didn't know if she was coming.) I was scheduling things back to back so maybe I wouldn't have time to go home to fix myself up, so I was doing the fixing before hand, before I went out with the girls.
I'm not good at timing. I had an extra half hour before Tori and Lisa wanted to meet, so I sat down at my laptop and tried to take care of some extra things. I made sure my MP3 player was recharging, I caught up on some reading, I worked on some paperwork.
I noticed that it was ten minutes past when they were meant to show up. Ashley has a tendency to be late to things, so I thought maybe they were waiting on her. If so, Tori would already be annoyed, so I decided to wait it out. I worked on a short piece I'm writing, trying to edit it down so it's shorter.
Around twenty after, I got a text from Lisa. "Where are you?" Uh-oh.
I texted her back that no one had said where we were going. Last week, Tori just swung by my house and picked me up. I had no idea where we were going until we got there, and I frankly was too busy talking to ask. I had assumed, since no one had said anything about where it was, just had given me a time, that we were having dinner then.
I finally got there, almost an hour late. The place was packed. There were tons of children around, and it vaguely reminded me of what people say when they say something is a zoo.
I finally found both of them in the back. They had politely waited, ordering an appetizer but not food. They apologized.
Tori was telling me about how she had gotten an email by a professor over how angry Tori was with this guy. He had mispronounced her name for months, or something. (It was hard to hear over the zoo animals.) She had replied back that she was going to torture him in this class.
"What are you going to do?" Lisa asked.
"I'm going to sit in front and talk to him the entire time."
"You're going to get tired," I said. I can't imagine talking like that in class. When I'm in a lecture, it's all I can do to get all the information down in my notebook.
Lisa showed me pictures of her new apartment, which is possibly the nicest looking college apartment I've ever seen. The bed spread matches the shower curtain that matches the couch that matches the lights in the dining room. Tori teased her for having so many stuffed animals on her bed.
"They come off when we sleep there," she said. I honestly don't think six stuffed animals are that many, and anyway, they're all smaller.
We headed over to the grocery store. Tori had seen this thing about chocolate beer. I told her how I had chocolate wine once, and it was seriously disgusting. It took us a while, just because Lisa got herself lost and then ran into someone and then called Tori and I asking where we were.
"We told you, we're in the booze aisle," Tori said.
"Tell her it's the large aisle."
We looked around for this chocolate beer, but couldn't find it. We looked through lots of other things, and I was struck by how much I wanted to try certain things.
No luck. After combing the area we gave up. Tori and Lisa decided to keep looking. Tori thought that maybe the grocery store was the wrong idea; we needed to look at an actual "booze-booze store."
"Booze-booze?" I asked, in reference to her choice of words.
As we were driving, I got a text from Philip, asking me to meet him. I had agreed to meet him yesterday, before this whole dinner with Lisa and Tori thing, before the alcohol hunt began.
"I'll drop you off," Tori said.
When I got out of the car, I thanked her, calling her Mom. I went inside.
Again: a zoo. I'd never been here and it not be a zoo, so okay.
"Are you looking for someone?" a waitress asked.
"Yeah, he..." I trailed off. I was about to say his name but I was stumbling for how to describe him.
"Is he tall, dark and handsome?"
"He...he's handsome." I guess. He's not that much taller than me and he's got darkness inside, but it's something he doesn't show people willingly. He barely likes showing me.
She pointed, and he looked up and saw me. Okay, looking at him again, I thought, he was handsome. He has a nice haircut, the kind I tried Chris to get for years.
He hugged me and I sat down. Another waitress approached us and we ordered.
Philip told me all about what he's been up to lately. He's working on his master's. He is trying to find a job, and although he's interviewed for some, there haven't been any offers yet. He said he had just broken up with a girl about a month before.
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said.
"Don't worry; it wasn't meant to be."
What does that even mean? It wasn't meant to be implies that there is a certain amount of fate involved in relationships, and I'm wary of fate as a philosophical concept. It strikes me as intellectually lazy, like not believing in evolution or saying that someone is overanalyzing a piece of literature.
I had agreed to go out to dinner with Lisa and Tori (and maybe Ashley? Ashley's so hard to pin down these days so I didn't know if she was coming.) I was scheduling things back to back so maybe I wouldn't have time to go home to fix myself up, so I was doing the fixing before hand, before I went out with the girls.
I'm not good at timing. I had an extra half hour before Tori and Lisa wanted to meet, so I sat down at my laptop and tried to take care of some extra things. I made sure my MP3 player was recharging, I caught up on some reading, I worked on some paperwork.
I noticed that it was ten minutes past when they were meant to show up. Ashley has a tendency to be late to things, so I thought maybe they were waiting on her. If so, Tori would already be annoyed, so I decided to wait it out. I worked on a short piece I'm writing, trying to edit it down so it's shorter.
Around twenty after, I got a text from Lisa. "Where are you?" Uh-oh.
I texted her back that no one had said where we were going. Last week, Tori just swung by my house and picked me up. I had no idea where we were going until we got there, and I frankly was too busy talking to ask. I had assumed, since no one had said anything about where it was, just had given me a time, that we were having dinner then.
I finally got there, almost an hour late. The place was packed. There were tons of children around, and it vaguely reminded me of what people say when they say something is a zoo.
I finally found both of them in the back. They had politely waited, ordering an appetizer but not food. They apologized.
Tori was telling me about how she had gotten an email by a professor over how angry Tori was with this guy. He had mispronounced her name for months, or something. (It was hard to hear over the zoo animals.) She had replied back that she was going to torture him in this class.
"What are you going to do?" Lisa asked.
"I'm going to sit in front and talk to him the entire time."
"You're going to get tired," I said. I can't imagine talking like that in class. When I'm in a lecture, it's all I can do to get all the information down in my notebook.
Lisa showed me pictures of her new apartment, which is possibly the nicest looking college apartment I've ever seen. The bed spread matches the shower curtain that matches the couch that matches the lights in the dining room. Tori teased her for having so many stuffed animals on her bed.
"They come off when we sleep there," she said. I honestly don't think six stuffed animals are that many, and anyway, they're all smaller.
We headed over to the grocery store. Tori had seen this thing about chocolate beer. I told her how I had chocolate wine once, and it was seriously disgusting. It took us a while, just because Lisa got herself lost and then ran into someone and then called Tori and I asking where we were.
"We told you, we're in the booze aisle," Tori said.
"Tell her it's the large aisle."
We looked around for this chocolate beer, but couldn't find it. We looked through lots of other things, and I was struck by how much I wanted to try certain things.
No luck. After combing the area we gave up. Tori and Lisa decided to keep looking. Tori thought that maybe the grocery store was the wrong idea; we needed to look at an actual "booze-booze store."
"Booze-booze?" I asked, in reference to her choice of words.
As we were driving, I got a text from Philip, asking me to meet him. I had agreed to meet him yesterday, before this whole dinner with Lisa and Tori thing, before the alcohol hunt began.
"I'll drop you off," Tori said.
When I got out of the car, I thanked her, calling her Mom. I went inside.
Again: a zoo. I'd never been here and it not be a zoo, so okay.
"Are you looking for someone?" a waitress asked.
"Yeah, he..." I trailed off. I was about to say his name but I was stumbling for how to describe him.
"Is he tall, dark and handsome?"
"He...he's handsome." I guess. He's not that much taller than me and he's got darkness inside, but it's something he doesn't show people willingly. He barely likes showing me.
She pointed, and he looked up and saw me. Okay, looking at him again, I thought, he was handsome. He has a nice haircut, the kind I tried Chris to get for years.
He hugged me and I sat down. Another waitress approached us and we ordered.
Philip told me all about what he's been up to lately. He's working on his master's. He is trying to find a job, and although he's interviewed for some, there haven't been any offers yet. He said he had just broken up with a girl about a month before.
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said.
"Don't worry; it wasn't meant to be."
What does that even mean? It wasn't meant to be implies that there is a certain amount of fate involved in relationships, and I'm wary of fate as a philosophical concept. It strikes me as intellectually lazy, like not believing in evolution or saying that someone is overanalyzing a piece of literature.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday Night Prograstination
I realize most people my age go out to party on a Saturday night, but I'm mostly stuck inside, writing.
I have some papers due and I have been working on them on and off, but I've been also typing up some poems I wrote Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. (Again, I wrote poems at work. I am going to probably get caught, so I try desperately not to.) The first poem I typed up this night is rather silly and possibly terrible, but since I share my writing with people so infrequently anyway, it doesn't seem like a big deal.
Then I tried to get back to editing a shorter essay. And then I got an idea for something I wanted to write, so I stopped to write down the draft of a poem. (I know! Another one.)
After I had gotten that out of my system, I sat down again to edit another one of the essays. I realized I had made a note to myself to look up something in Wide Sargasso Sea, which I was referencing in the essay. Of course I've left the book at home. I went last night to the library, couldn't find it. So I tried online, just because I just need one tiny reference. No luck, there's no online edition either. I could probably leave it, since it's too big of a deal, but I wanted to check that I was remembering a set of allusions correctly.
Then I started preparing a little to go home. I still have a little less than a week to pack but I'm so busy that I'm afraid I'm not going to have enough time.
And, it must be said, I always struggle when it comes to what I should pack and what I shouldn't. I decided to take home my comics and some books and leave them there. I have more books than I know what to do with here, and they're just so heavy. In addition to writing here, I do keep a diary. I finished one of my diaries up while here, so I'm taking that home and leaving it. I'm probably going to take the current one I'm writing in home to so I can write in it. I have a third diary that someone left on our community donation table. It looks like the front set of pages was torn out and there's a small red stain on the side of the pages, but it's otherwise useable and the leather is very soft. I am going to leave that here so I can write in it when I come back. I have some postcards and letters I was meant to send that I'll just take home with me and post when I get back there.
I did make the decision to leave some of my study materials here. On the off chance I do get enough time to do some studying, I made myself a very long list of things I want to read up on, all of them English-centric, a good deal of them obscure ancient Greek mythology that I probably once knew but no longer remember.
At the very end of the night I chatted with Madison (who was working on a paper) about what the plans were for Christmas. So far it's unclear if we're exchanging gifts or if someone is having a party, etc.
I have some papers due and I have been working on them on and off, but I've been also typing up some poems I wrote Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. (Again, I wrote poems at work. I am going to probably get caught, so I try desperately not to.) The first poem I typed up this night is rather silly and possibly terrible, but since I share my writing with people so infrequently anyway, it doesn't seem like a big deal.
Then I tried to get back to editing a shorter essay. And then I got an idea for something I wanted to write, so I stopped to write down the draft of a poem. (I know! Another one.)
After I had gotten that out of my system, I sat down again to edit another one of the essays. I realized I had made a note to myself to look up something in Wide Sargasso Sea, which I was referencing in the essay. Of course I've left the book at home. I went last night to the library, couldn't find it. So I tried online, just because I just need one tiny reference. No luck, there's no online edition either. I could probably leave it, since it's too big of a deal, but I wanted to check that I was remembering a set of allusions correctly.
Then I started preparing a little to go home. I still have a little less than a week to pack but I'm so busy that I'm afraid I'm not going to have enough time.
And, it must be said, I always struggle when it comes to what I should pack and what I shouldn't. I decided to take home my comics and some books and leave them there. I have more books than I know what to do with here, and they're just so heavy. In addition to writing here, I do keep a diary. I finished one of my diaries up while here, so I'm taking that home and leaving it. I'm probably going to take the current one I'm writing in home to so I can write in it. I have a third diary that someone left on our community donation table. It looks like the front set of pages was torn out and there's a small red stain on the side of the pages, but it's otherwise useable and the leather is very soft. I am going to leave that here so I can write in it when I come back. I have some postcards and letters I was meant to send that I'll just take home with me and post when I get back there.
I did make the decision to leave some of my study materials here. On the off chance I do get enough time to do some studying, I made myself a very long list of things I want to read up on, all of them English-centric, a good deal of them obscure ancient Greek mythology that I probably once knew but no longer remember.
At the very end of the night I chatted with Madison (who was working on a paper) about what the plans were for Christmas. So far it's unclear if we're exchanging gifts or if someone is having a party, etc.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Run Rabbit Run
Had a dream this morning. In it, I had a rabbit that roamed around outside. And then it was captured. I went through the fields looking for it, and then broke into a cabin and found it smushed in a box. And then woke up before I had a chance to free it.
I still don't dream as much as other people do, but I am dreaming more now than I was about a year ago.
I still don't dream as much as other people do, but I am dreaming more now than I was about a year ago.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Real Person Fanfiction
I told this story to Dan, Jimmy and Kristina, and I thought I'd share it with some of my other readers, since it's based on my experiences with real people.
"So, Alex is going to be a director and make movies. Every time there's a premier, Nick is going to be all 'God! Do we have to go to this movie!?! Alex is a terrible director, and he's an even worse writer.'"
'He's not that bad.'
'Oh, please, you have no taste.'
But Nick will always still go, along with everyone else who likes Alex. And every movie, there's going to be a character that is clearly based on Justin. The person who will hate these characters the most? Justin.
'That Trustin character was hella annoying. And fugly. If I knew someone like that, I would just slap them in the face.'
I would turn to look at Dan and we would exchange a look. 'Justin,' I would say, as gently as possible. 'Trustin was based on you.'
'No he wasn't! You're just being mean!'
'No, really, I think that-'
'You're wrong! You're just trying to make me feel bad!' And then Justin would march out, slamming the door behind him. And then-"
And then I stopped telling this story, realizing I was basically writing real person fanfiction. Dan once told me that I read too much fanfiction and that it was affecting how I looked at people, and I must admit, it is changing how I view things. But whereas Dan was viewing it as a bad thing, I'm thinking it's actually both a good and bad thing. It's bad because, well, there's something really random and potentially creepy about these thoughts. But it's also good because it allows me to take another angle at the people in my life. It gives me a way of analyzing them but in a more creative way. If that makes any sense. Possibly this is one of those things that makes sense only to me, like my surreal poetry.
And I think we should all be grateful that story was G rated. I think we all know I'm capable of writing stories that are totally not.
"So, Alex is going to be a director and make movies. Every time there's a premier, Nick is going to be all 'God! Do we have to go to this movie!?! Alex is a terrible director, and he's an even worse writer.'"
'He's not that bad.'
'Oh, please, you have no taste.'
But Nick will always still go, along with everyone else who likes Alex. And every movie, there's going to be a character that is clearly based on Justin. The person who will hate these characters the most? Justin.
'That Trustin character was hella annoying. And fugly. If I knew someone like that, I would just slap them in the face.'
I would turn to look at Dan and we would exchange a look. 'Justin,' I would say, as gently as possible. 'Trustin was based on you.'
'No he wasn't! You're just being mean!'
'No, really, I think that-'
'You're wrong! You're just trying to make me feel bad!' And then Justin would march out, slamming the door behind him. And then-"
And then I stopped telling this story, realizing I was basically writing real person fanfiction. Dan once told me that I read too much fanfiction and that it was affecting how I looked at people, and I must admit, it is changing how I view things. But whereas Dan was viewing it as a bad thing, I'm thinking it's actually both a good and bad thing. It's bad because, well, there's something really random and potentially creepy about these thoughts. But it's also good because it allows me to take another angle at the people in my life. It gives me a way of analyzing them but in a more creative way. If that makes any sense. Possibly this is one of those things that makes sense only to me, like my surreal poetry.
And I think we should all be grateful that story was G rated. I think we all know I'm capable of writing stories that are totally not.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The Romantic Life
Last night, I was at a poetry reading and ran into my friend Mandy. While we were talking, she said "your life is so romantic!"
Huh?
That's not how I see my life at all. I mean, for the most part, I like my life. I feel like I'm doing important things and I'm, within reason, generally pretty happy. But I've never seen my life as romantic. It just kind of is. When I imagine a romantic life, I imagine that would mean being rich and famous and wealthy and talented. I wouldn't mind being some of those things, but right now, what I have is what everyone needs: purpose, support and freedom. And I'm really grateful.
Everything I have in my life is the result of hard work. Sometimes, I think that hard work isn't obvious to everyone around, because I don't think a lot about it and I don't really talk about it because that's considered a faux pas. I think sometimes everyone just sees my smiling face and don't realize that some days I'm actually miserable, but I smile and try to be cheerful because I don't want to bring my friends down. I'm stressed all the time, and I don't like it, but that's the price we pay when we're perusing something we believe in.
I don't usually think of my life as being inherently better than other's. There are some people in my life who I believe I am happier than, but not everyone. In fact, I would say that the majority of people in my life are at about the same level of happiness.
Maybe I should just be grateful someone near me thinks there's something admirable about me. Even if I kind of disagree.
Huh?
That's not how I see my life at all. I mean, for the most part, I like my life. I feel like I'm doing important things and I'm, within reason, generally pretty happy. But I've never seen my life as romantic. It just kind of is. When I imagine a romantic life, I imagine that would mean being rich and famous and wealthy and talented. I wouldn't mind being some of those things, but right now, what I have is what everyone needs: purpose, support and freedom. And I'm really grateful.
Everything I have in my life is the result of hard work. Sometimes, I think that hard work isn't obvious to everyone around, because I don't think a lot about it and I don't really talk about it because that's considered a faux pas. I think sometimes everyone just sees my smiling face and don't realize that some days I'm actually miserable, but I smile and try to be cheerful because I don't want to bring my friends down. I'm stressed all the time, and I don't like it, but that's the price we pay when we're perusing something we believe in.
I don't usually think of my life as being inherently better than other's. There are some people in my life who I believe I am happier than, but not everyone. In fact, I would say that the majority of people in my life are at about the same level of happiness.
Maybe I should just be grateful someone near me thinks there's something admirable about me. Even if I kind of disagree.
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