March 31st: long Thursday averted and first day of shorts
[ posted by mcdeviltoast ]
Day 196
My first class, the Ultraman class, was a delight as usual, but only set up my dread for the three in a row after lunch. I went to the plyaground, but no soccer and no kites. I went to the primary wing, no Erin. I went to the arts building. No free piano. I tried going to the roof of the administrative tower. The upper floors were locked.
So, I rode out to the "Aptach" canteen and got an ice cream bar. I was about topay for it and some smoker dude walked up and examined it, set it back down roughly. A little too roughly; I opened it and it was bashed apart. Good one, guy. I got another and started riding off, the sunshine causing it to melt with a quickness. I had to catch half of it in my hand, then haphazardly put it back on the stick to finish it. Some primary kids watched my ordeal with their foodholes hanging agape.
When I got back to my room, the phone rang. it was Rose saying I had no first class in the afternoon. Sweet news. Now I only had two classes to get through. Things were looking up. Rose called back in five minutes to say I had NO classes for the rest of the day. Best! I asked her why and she said something that sounded like "memorize the dead." I asked if it was tomb-sweeping day and she said no, repeated they had to "memorize the dead." I wasn't about to ask a third time. I had the day off, do I really need to know why?
I got my shorts out of mothballs, rode out to the middle school, got many giggles and pointings at my legs. To the Chinese eye, I must look like a satyr or perhaps Pan himself. I went to the roof and sunbathed for a while. Heather came up after her classes and we went to Times for highball supplies. It turns out Tang makes lemonade mix, so we got that and some iced tea for pickled golfers.
Mike joined us for a badminton tournament, but the wind was brutal. We decided it would be better to fly Jeni's kite. Heather and I took the field, raised the kite aloft, our treelong shadows trailing out behind us in the waning afternoon. Once the sun did its cannonball behind the skyline, we went back inside, had a long discussion on the gaps in science, coincidence vs. a "path" you meet halfway, choices as stepping stones, childhood memories that didn't happen in this lifetime, the silly human drama and how caught up in mortality we get, etc. I suspect I was getting perhaps too heavy for a Thursday night and brought the topic to something lighter just as Jeni came in.
We ate at the tree dumpling place (all but Mike who rode to KFC), then all piled into Heather's bed to watch "Monsters Inc." I think my brain was still reeling from the conversation earlier and I caught myself blanking out a few times. Eventually I was down for the count, surrendering to the confines of blanketdom.
My first class, the Ultraman class, was a delight as usual, but only set up my dread for the three in a row after lunch. I went to the plyaground, but no soccer and no kites. I went to the primary wing, no Erin. I went to the arts building. No free piano. I tried going to the roof of the administrative tower. The upper floors were locked.
So, I rode out to the "Aptach" canteen and got an ice cream bar. I was about topay for it and some smoker dude walked up and examined it, set it back down roughly. A little too roughly; I opened it and it was bashed apart. Good one, guy. I got another and started riding off, the sunshine causing it to melt with a quickness. I had to catch half of it in my hand, then haphazardly put it back on the stick to finish it. Some primary kids watched my ordeal with their foodholes hanging agape.
When I got back to my room, the phone rang. it was Rose saying I had no first class in the afternoon. Sweet news. Now I only had two classes to get through. Things were looking up. Rose called back in five minutes to say I had NO classes for the rest of the day. Best! I asked her why and she said something that sounded like "memorize the dead." I asked if it was tomb-sweeping day and she said no, repeated they had to "memorize the dead." I wasn't about to ask a third time. I had the day off, do I really need to know why?
I got my shorts out of mothballs, rode out to the middle school, got many giggles and pointings at my legs. To the Chinese eye, I must look like a satyr or perhaps Pan himself. I went to the roof and sunbathed for a while. Heather came up after her classes and we went to Times for highball supplies. It turns out Tang makes lemonade mix, so we got that and some iced tea for pickled golfers.
Mike joined us for a badminton tournament, but the wind was brutal. We decided it would be better to fly Jeni's kite. Heather and I took the field, raised the kite aloft, our treelong shadows trailing out behind us in the waning afternoon. Once the sun did its cannonball behind the skyline, we went back inside, had a long discussion on the gaps in science, coincidence vs. a "path" you meet halfway, choices as stepping stones, childhood memories that didn't happen in this lifetime, the silly human drama and how caught up in mortality we get, etc. I suspect I was getting perhaps too heavy for a Thursday night and brought the topic to something lighter just as Jeni came in.
We ate at the tree dumpling place (all but Mike who rode to KFC), then all piled into Heather's bed to watch "Monsters Inc." I think my brain was still reeling from the conversation earlier and I caught myself blanking out a few times. Eventually I was down for the count, surrendering to the confines of blanketdom.
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[ posted by mcdeviltoast @ 3/31/2005 08:10:00 PM ]
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The dumbtronica act Montana & McDeviltoast, along with their friends, keep each other updated on their activities. Much fun having by all, and Pockys fear for their lives!