so - "John, where have you been?"
that's the crux of what's in my inbox - so, let me explain:
pusskat pusskat; where have you been?
i've been to London
and now I'm queen;
sitting pretty, I don't wear the suits,
and the mice all call me
puss n' boots
-that Adam Ant song Puss 'N Boots song (from the Strip album) was stuck in me head; please forgive me... so honestly:
I've been to So. California on business tripanease doing consultant work for one of the more successful .com's (who will remain anonymous) - this fiasco will last til early/mid march. Hopefully next week I'll be able to update from So. Cal. - so there won't be much of a delay betwixt posticles.
side note: Who is this "Verbow" band that I'm listening to on Shoutcast at the moment? They sound vaguely good.
not much to say about the client other than - I've been working very long days - ...and their employees are spoiled rotten - but I'm jealous... not that they don't deserve it, there is alot of brain technical brain flower floating through that place... and I suppose they've earned it... maybe I'll get into the employee perks later; that'd explain the spoiled part - but I'm off work for the next 3 days, so I'm going to avoid talking about it.
an situational circumstance experienced in Las Vegas, NV during a stop over for the redeye flight back to Atlanta last night -
"So, do you have anyone waiting for you at home?"
"My cat Milky."
"Oh, I see."
I lost 3 dollars gambling in Las Vegas at the airport betwixt flights - damn. High roller that I am.
experience on the redeye flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta this morning that I don't want to forget -
I'm going to try to relate this story in words, but I don't know if I'll be able to properly convey the experience.
so, I was sitting in the back of the plane before take off and one of the stewardess(es) asked me the following:
"Sir, do you have any baggage in the top racks?"
"No, I just brought on the laptop underneath the seat in front of me... I checked the rest."
"There is a seat up front that I'd be more than happy to put you in; if you are interested?"
...as I was seated in the window portion of a 3- across with a lovey couple, I agreed.
I made my way to the front of the plane - there was a person in the aisle seat - she moved to the window seat to make room for me in the ailse seat and there was a seat inbetwixst us.
It took her a moment to move all of her stuff to the window seat - a bag of canned food and a large white container of some sort of liquid...I did not know what the liquid was at that point... she smiled shyly and said something like, "...this is good, we'll have lots of room then..."
I detected her accent - definitely not born in the States... I thought English and then Russian - it's all irrelevant, but I made the observation.... she was attractive, I must say -but not in a knock-dead sort of way; ...i've deleted several descriptions here...the reason for the deletions is that I can't describe it in words - I'll say good soul, who doesn't know it and probably doesn't see it through her shyness...(Cheese I know, but whatever - that's irrelevant as well...) When I say attractive in this context, I'm describing light, bright white light, not a sexual thing but a warm feeling... sort of hug... a bizarre familiarity between two complete strangers who eminate the same light and feel immediately comfortable with one another as though they've known each other forever...
damn, it's not what you think, but anyways... in her seat, once situated with her blanket over her knees I saw her clutch a picture in her hands and look really sad... I glanced over; I could make out her in the picture, but not the other person (the other was obscured by her hands)... she looked so sad...
...so, away goes the picture and then she opened a jar of baby food; I couldn't make out what flavor, but it looked like mashed carrots or something...that's bizarre, I thought... there were 3 jars of baby food that she consumed throughout the flight and a jug of formulated milk for children... I was concerned to say the least... and intrigued at the same time...
very little time passed - we were in the air now - she said to me,
"Do you mind if I lay across the seats," meaning her seat and the seat between us. "Sometimes being a small person has it's advantages...," she said.
"Sure, no problem," I replied. I wanted to call her Chloe. (...I've no idea about this one, but that's what I wanted to call her...)
She lay down...the very top of her head rested snugly against my thigh...she fell asleep...
I clasped my hands in my lap and felt as though I could not stretch out much ...tried not to crowd the situation or touch more than what was already on my leg...
So bizarre feeling...
anyways, I left Las Vegas at midnight and arrived Atlanta sometime around 6-6:30am - don't forget the 3 hour time difference... I started to get really sleepy and began to doze off...
I evidentally twitch when sleeping sometimes - I'd nod off and then wake up with my hands stretched before my face in a sort of where am i sort of pose, confused before regaining my faculties - miliseconds, but still unsettling... Anyway, this bit kept happening... and at some point my hands became unclasped and fell from my leg and directly into her face with a sharp twitch; I realized immediately upon impact and woke up.
..."I'm so sorry, are you OK? ...I feel off to sleep...and I didn't mean to hit you..."
"I'm fine, I was awake - I know that you didn't mean it - I woke up awhile ago and have been lying here thinking..."
she smiled and re-snuggled herself and fell back to sleep - I was fully awake at this point...
awhile longer passed and I was trying to figure out what it was about this person - I didn't know what the bottle with the Milk in it was - the thought passed through my head that perhaps it was some sort of drain cleaner and she was slowly dying... I was worried... (I was sleepy, deal with it, OK?)...
...anyway, she's still asleep, and we are approximately 15 min. from landing... the stewardess says to me,
"Sir, will you wake your friend up - we are about to land."
I shake her shoulder and say, "Miss, we are about to land - you must wake up and assume the position with the seat belt, tray table bit."
She awakens and says,
" Did you get a good rest?"
"Actually, I didn't - I kept nodding off, but immediately would wake up with two confused arm flailing in front of my body in a sort of where am I pose; Did you?"
We started to talk during the landing process - 15 min. maybe...
I learned the following:
She is living in San Francisco - working for a company that makes fountain scultures - she's come to Atlanta for a trade show, because her workmates thought that it'd be a good idea for her to get out and go on this trip. She admitted to being a bit nervous about the whole thing. She grabbed the milk and took a drink... I asked her, "What is that?"
She told me and began to explain the baby food. She commented that it all must look a bit bizarre...
"I've just got over a fasting bit, and my stomach has shrunk, so I've got to work my way back up to solid foods..."
"You were fasting, why?"
"Religious reasons; a cleansing of the soul and body."
"What religion?"
"Well, I'm a Christian...it's not really a religious sort of thing actually..," she looked really sheepish, "...I've..., " she struggled with the words, and looked sad, "...I've got sort of a heartache, broken heart...," she touched her hand to her chest.
She said, "I've actually only done this fasting thing 3 times in my life." She looked at me as though she was feeling that perhaps I would think that she was insane or something and felt self conscious about it.
"Did it work then?"
"Yes, I think that maybe it has...," her smile was heavenly and sincere. I think that she could see that I understood her - I smiled.
We were on the ground at this point, at the gate, I got up to leave the plane and waited in the lobby for my workmate Chris to come out... Whilst waiting for Chris to exit the plane, she came out with one of her workmates and walked up to me. You could see a definite difference between the two of them, the light was different.
"It was a pleasure to see you, " she said.
"Yes. Good luck on your trip," I replied.
She smiled, looked down and then up at my eyes as if she'd known me for eons - It was my sister. - she was one of me. -and then understandably gone.
...I don't know why I've attempted to relate this story ... It makes me sound evenmore bizarre huh?... I can't explain it in such a way that makes real sense, as a opposed to sense that you the reader may get from it, if you are thinking anything other than a pure bright light, you've not got it...
ok so now on Shoutcast - I've just gone from Tori Amos singing over and over that, "she's addicted to nicotine..." monotonously over and over to the Love Spit Love version of the Smith's How Soon Is Now? Cover
you shut your mouth;
how can you say
I go about things the wrong way;
So you go and stand on your own,
and you leave on your own;
and you go home and you cry and you want to die.
When you say it's going to happen now;
well, what exactly do you mean?
See, I've already waited too long,
and all my hope is gone.
