Shame On You Indeed

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/us_vote_gay_marriage

California has disappointed me yet again.

Bang a Drum

I have always had this dream of learning how to play drums. The closest I ever got was playing the crash cymbals and the triangle in the high school band. I did have a huge crush on a drummer in said band, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count.

I finally got the opportunity to live my drummer rock-God fantasy on Thursday night when Kiki and Randy had me over for dinner. After a few glasses of wine it occurred to us (okay, I sort of insisted) that it would be a splendid idea to play Rock Band 2. I didn't really give either of them the chance to pick the drums--look, I'm the guest so don't I get first pick? I've played with My Honey before, but I was always too intimidated to attempt the drums. It's amazing how wine will turn that kind of thinking on it's head!

Now I have a good sense of rhythm, but I'm not very coordinated which probably helps to explain my complete lack of success in activities requiring the ability to do one thing with one body part and a different thing with another--like basketball or the "sixty-nine" position. So imagine my surprise when I turned out to be not only competent but, dare I say, moderately talented! I managed a score of 87% on my very first song! Okay, so I was on the "easy" setting but still--87% That's not sucky at all! Especially after 3 or 4 glasses of wine--hey, I'd like to see you try it!

Next time I'm at their place I'm totally making them play with me again so I can see if it was a fluke. If I can master the drums in Rock Band I can do anything! Maybe I'll even try walking-while-chewing-gum again...

I Laughed, I Cried, I Choked From My Hacking Cough

That is all.

Bathroom Etiquette for Dummies

I had a very interesting (no, really--it was) conversation the other day with a couple of coworkers about bathroom etiquette. The two of them were "pee shy"--they won't go if there's someone else already using the restroom. They also had rules about what stall a new comer should choose based on which one they had already occupied (hint: the farther away, the better) and how much conversation is acceptable between restroom users (in case you can't guess, none.)

I nodded and smiled in something resembling agreement because I could see they were somewhat passionate about the topic, but I'm afraid I could only partially relate. I couldn't care less whether there's someone peeing next to me in a stall or whether they can hear me pee. I'd prefer to keep the conversation to a minimum, especially while in the act of peeing, but if someone initiated I wouldn't snub them or anything.

I have some modesty--I won't drop trou in front of just anyone and void my bladder--but I have peed in front of My Honey. I guess what it boils down to is I just don't see it as that big a deal. We all do it (unless you're on dialysis or have a catheter or something) but yet we seem to need to pretend we don't. When I announce to my group of friends/coworkers/random strangers in a restaurant that I need to pee, I'm met with embarrassed snickers and cries of "TMI." Why are we so obsessed with making a show of denying our bodily functions?

Here's Something to Make My Problems Seem Insignificant

The day I left California for home, my train to the airport was delayed because someone walked in front of a Caltrain in a successful bid to end his life. It happened to be the train that left right before the one I was scheduled to take. I had even thought about taking this earlier train, just to be sure I wouldn't miss my flight.

As my train slowly passed by the site of the "incident," I saw his body covered by a yellow tarp. It was more disturbing than I expected it to be.

Today I decided to search Google news to see if they had anything on the incident--they did, but in looking I discovered someone else had done much the same thing the day before. This one disturbed me even more since there was a possibility I had may have interacted with this individual as I and My Honey have been to her place of work on more than one occassion.

I guess I'm posting this to reassure you all that despite the fact that I'm down right now, I am no where near where these two poor souls had to have been to do what they did.

My heart goes out to those they left behind.

I Can Hear a Pinot Noir Calling to Me...

Made it back safe and sound from California! No Swine Flu--oops sorry, H1N1 or whatever the heck it's called. No emergency landings on the Hudson River, the air line didn't lose my luggage and my parking shuttle was waiting for me when I exited the terminal. All this might suggest I'm in fabulous mood, but sadly I am not.

I came back to work on Wednesday to discover I didn't get the trainer position I applied and interviewed for and desperately wanted more than anything in the whole world. This seriously bummed me out.

I tried to not get my hopes up, but I really should know better--I always let myself get all hopeful and worked up about stuff like this and then when it doesn't happen I crash like a Steinway Baby Grand off a 30 storey building.

It is a small consolation that my supervisor thinks I was the better candidate and that the wrong person was chosen for the job. I understand why this person was picked, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it.

I'm just going to wallow in self-pity/red wine for a few days until I either fell better or feel nothing. I predict that will take until Sunday.

Greeting from Rainy Cold Shitty California

Got here okay, reasonably pleasant flight with the smoothest, softest landing in the history of aviation. I didn't even realize we were on the ground until we started to slow down! Anyway, My Honey is sick (no, it's not the Swine Flu) so we're gonna stick close to home for now, but I'm hoping to get to the California Academy of Sciences at some point while I'm here.

Had to bring a whole crap load of clothes with me because the weather is supposed to be all over the frickin' place with rain more often than sun. Regardless it's just nice to be here with My Honey--we hadn't seen each other since my karaoke awesomeness in February!

Cross your fingers that we see the sun at some point over the next 5 days and that I get to wear the capri pants I brought with me at least once. I shaved my legs in preparation and everything and I really don't want to waste that.