Strange character...
Last Sunday night (not last night, but the Sunday before) I came home to the sight of a couple suitcases in the hall. I stood there, half-way done untieing my shoelaces, contemplating the strange scene. It was only eleven... but ... no Dood in the kitchen appeasing his normal midnight cravings. The lights in the apartment were off, even though his keys were hanging on the door. And the suitcases.
Taking in the new scene in my state of after-work-blur, I didn't immediately look towards the living room - but when I did, I saw that there was somebody sleeping on the sofa. Oh! I turned off the lights in a hurry...
So, one of Sarinda's friend's stayed with us from last Sunday night, and he left yesterday.
Interesting character... wasn't sure quite what to make of him. Terrible listener, and really rubbed me the wrong way most of the time, with comments such as "You look Philipino or Ozzie" or "You would make the ideal housewife", "Only Australia has people of mixed ethnicity", "Everyone in that part of the world just looks Asian", "All the Singaporeans are Chinese."
Here are a couple dialogues from the past week:
[scene: Monday night, watching Emmies, having a beer]
Me: That woman has nice skin.
Him: Oh, that's Eva Longoria - she's one of the most beautiful women in the world
Me: Ummm.... I don't watch T.V., wouldn't know who that is
[discussion continues about something else]
Him: So what's your favourite T.V. show?
Me: I don't have one. I told you - I don't watch T.V. at all. As in - I haven't myself picked up the remote control in the past ten years in order to watch T.V.
[silence]
Him: So how many hours of T.V. do you watch per day?
Me: I don't watch T.V.!!! ZERO!
Him: What? You don't watch T.V.?! How about per week?
Me: ZE - RO!
[...]
Him: What do you do in your leisure time?
Me: Not much of that - I tend to keep myself busy
Him: What are you running away from?
Me: Huh? Nothing...?
Him: But everyone who keeps themselves busy is running away from something.
Me: What, did you do a crash course in psychology recently or something?
Him: Come on - You clearly are hiding some dark secrets!
Me: [ooohhh myyyy godddddd - Dood, why did you leave me alone with this moron?!]
[scene: Tuesday morning, I'm trying to study in the living room cos I fell asleep studying in my own room]
Him: I can tell your study hard.
Me: Not always - I just have a lot of work to do this semester.
Him: No, I can see from your palm.
Me: What, you can read my palm while I'm writing?
Him: Oh - I can see some lines. Would you like me to read your palm?
Me: [...] um...
Him: [takes my right hand, looks at it for a long time]
Me: [getting uncomfortable] Aren't you going to be late for work?
Him: It's ok. [Continues looking at hand]
Me: Right... so what can you tell?
Him: [getting up] I'll tell you later. I've got to go to work now. [leaves]
[scene: Tuesday evening, having dinner. Dood is not home yet]
[Phone goes on screensaver, picture of Sid pops up]
Him: Is that your boyfriend?
Me: Yes.
Him: How long have you been together?
Me: About a year and a half
Him: It's all good?
Me: Yeah.
Him: Do you really love him?
Me: Yeah.
Him: Do you fight a lot?
Me: Sometimes - You ask too many questions!
Him: Do I make you nervous?
Me: No. But you really piss me off!
Him: Huh?... What? I piss you off?
Me: Yeah, but it's ok. It's alright to be pissed off sometimes. It doesn't mean that I really dislike you.
[scene: kitchen, Tuesday night as I'm cleaning up from dinner]
Him: I have a gift. I can tell a person inside out straight away.
Me: Yeah, a lot of guys think that.
Him: Yeah, but I really have a knack for it.
Me: [oh god, it's this f***ing male ego/instinct thing again] Oh, yeah? So tell me about myself.
Him: Ummm...
Me: Well?
Him: Don't you know about yourself?
Me: So you don't know any you're just trying to cover up
Him: [...]
[Wednesday night, Dood has gone out, I've just opened the door for our guest and excused myself, saying I have an essay to write. He called me earlier to ask if I'm home and whether we should go out for dinner. I said I've got an essay I'm working on and that I've already eaten]
[door knocks]
Him: FOooOON?
Me: [opening door] Yes?
Him: I'm going out to get dinner, care to join?
Me: I've already eaten.
Him: Do you want me to bring you something?
Me: No, I'm fine, thanks. I'm just gonna get back to my work [close door]
[door knocks again]
Me: Yeees? [get up and go open door]
Him: Are you mad at me?
Me: No! I'm just in the middle of a thought! [yeah, but now i'm getting to being mad, dammit!!]
[Scene: Friday night, I've just come back from work]
Him: Fon, what do you know about cold feet?
Me: You already asked me this on Tuesday night... And I told you, I've never been married, I don't know!
Him: But you must know. How do girls behave when they get cold feet?
Me: Honestly, I don't know! And why would all girls behave the same anyhow?
Him: What are the symptoms?
Me: I don't KNOW.
[this goes on for quite a while]
But, despite all this frustration, and rubbing the wrong way, etc... I'll miss him! He definitely was an entertaining character. He probably just arrived during the wrong week, cos I was super-grumpy, writing up my 5000 word piece (which ended up being 6500 words).
Oh... speaking of that super-essay... I feel sad. I worked so hard on it, and came to love it so much that I felt wrong shoving it in Julie Bradshaw's mailbox... like I was sending out a little child to be judged by the world. I wonder if that's what a mother feels like when she sends her child to school for the first time?
One last thing: Thanks for a beautiful Sunday afternoon:)
Taking in the new scene in my state of after-work-blur, I didn't immediately look towards the living room - but when I did, I saw that there was somebody sleeping on the sofa. Oh! I turned off the lights in a hurry...
So, one of Sarinda's friend's stayed with us from last Sunday night, and he left yesterday.
Interesting character... wasn't sure quite what to make of him. Terrible listener, and really rubbed me the wrong way most of the time, with comments such as "You look Philipino or Ozzie" or "You would make the ideal housewife", "Only Australia has people of mixed ethnicity", "Everyone in that part of the world just looks Asian", "All the Singaporeans are Chinese."
Here are a couple dialogues from the past week:
[scene: Monday night, watching Emmies, having a beer]
Me: That woman has nice skin.
Him: Oh, that's Eva Longoria - she's one of the most beautiful women in the world
Me: Ummm.... I don't watch T.V., wouldn't know who that is
[discussion continues about something else]
Him: So what's your favourite T.V. show?
Me: I don't have one. I told you - I don't watch T.V. at all. As in - I haven't myself picked up the remote control in the past ten years in order to watch T.V.
[silence]
Him: So how many hours of T.V. do you watch per day?
Me: I don't watch T.V.!!! ZERO!
Him: What? You don't watch T.V.?! How about per week?
Me: ZE - RO!
[...]
Him: What do you do in your leisure time?
Me: Not much of that - I tend to keep myself busy
Him: What are you running away from?
Me: Huh? Nothing...?
Him: But everyone who keeps themselves busy is running away from something.
Me: What, did you do a crash course in psychology recently or something?
Him: Come on - You clearly are hiding some dark secrets!
Me: [ooohhh myyyy godddddd - Dood, why did you leave me alone with this moron?!]
[scene: Tuesday morning, I'm trying to study in the living room cos I fell asleep studying in my own room]
Him: I can tell your study hard.
Me: Not always - I just have a lot of work to do this semester.
Him: No, I can see from your palm.
Me: What, you can read my palm while I'm writing?
Him: Oh - I can see some lines. Would you like me to read your palm?
Me: [...] um...
Him: [takes my right hand, looks at it for a long time]
Me: [getting uncomfortable] Aren't you going to be late for work?
Him: It's ok. [Continues looking at hand]
Me: Right... so what can you tell?
Him: [getting up] I'll tell you later. I've got to go to work now. [leaves]
[scene: Tuesday evening, having dinner. Dood is not home yet]
[Phone goes on screensaver, picture of Sid pops up]
Him: Is that your boyfriend?
Me: Yes.
Him: How long have you been together?
Me: About a year and a half
Him: It's all good?
Me: Yeah.
Him: Do you really love him?
Me: Yeah.
Him: Do you fight a lot?
Me: Sometimes - You ask too many questions!
Him: Do I make you nervous?
Me: No. But you really piss me off!
Him: Huh?... What? I piss you off?
Me: Yeah, but it's ok. It's alright to be pissed off sometimes. It doesn't mean that I really dislike you.
[scene: kitchen, Tuesday night as I'm cleaning up from dinner]
Him: I have a gift. I can tell a person inside out straight away.
Me: Yeah, a lot of guys think that.
Him: Yeah, but I really have a knack for it.
Me: [oh god, it's this f***ing male ego/instinct thing again] Oh, yeah? So tell me about myself.
Him: Ummm...
Me: Well?
Him: Don't you know about yourself?
Me: So you don't know any you're just trying to cover up
Him: [...]
[Wednesday night, Dood has gone out, I've just opened the door for our guest and excused myself, saying I have an essay to write. He called me earlier to ask if I'm home and whether we should go out for dinner. I said I've got an essay I'm working on and that I've already eaten]
[door knocks]
Him: FOooOON?
Me: [opening door] Yes?
Him: I'm going out to get dinner, care to join?
Me: I've already eaten.
Him: Do you want me to bring you something?
Me: No, I'm fine, thanks. I'm just gonna get back to my work [close door]
[door knocks again]
Me: Yeees? [get up and go open door]
Him: Are you mad at me?
Me: No! I'm just in the middle of a thought! [yeah, but now i'm getting to being mad, dammit!!]
[Scene: Friday night, I've just come back from work]
Him: Fon, what do you know about cold feet?
Me: You already asked me this on Tuesday night... And I told you, I've never been married, I don't know!
Him: But you must know. How do girls behave when they get cold feet?
Me: Honestly, I don't know! And why would all girls behave the same anyhow?
Him: What are the symptoms?
Me: I don't KNOW.
[this goes on for quite a while]
But, despite all this frustration, and rubbing the wrong way, etc... I'll miss him! He definitely was an entertaining character. He probably just arrived during the wrong week, cos I was super-grumpy, writing up my 5000 word piece (which ended up being 6500 words).
Oh... speaking of that super-essay... I feel sad. I worked so hard on it, and came to love it so much that I felt wrong shoving it in Julie Bradshaw's mailbox... like I was sending out a little child to be judged by the world. I wonder if that's what a mother feels like when she sends her child to school for the first time?
One last thing: Thanks for a beautiful Sunday afternoon:)
