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Alright, first off, this day was packed full of more stuff than I had anticipated (more than just food). I don't think I have a complete recollection of all of the events that transpired, but let's see what I can recall..
I got up before noon, which was the arranged time for me to get picked up for the ride home, so I was able to get ready and clean up a bit. To pass the time, I fired up my computer and continued work on my second Baldur's Gate character. Well, the phone rang, and before I could pick it up, someone had already answered. I half expected it to be weirDo, but since nobody called for me, I figured that it wasn't for me. A couple hours later, weirDo showed up at the front door. I asked him why the heck he didn't call before coming, he told me that he did! Also, he told me that the person who answered the phone said:
"[QYY]'s not home, I don't know where he is."
Oh really? Eyeing Werdna, I asked him if he picked up the phone. Nope. That left only two people. One of whom never picks up the phone (and isn't usually in anyway). Then there can be only one. That one could've opened his door and looked across the hall, since I was in my room, awake, and had my door open. (Not home my butt) I'm gonna have to have a talk with them..
Anyway, got into town without a hitch, and took public transit to cross the city. It was pretty quick actually since I didn't have to wait at any of the transfer points. When I boarded the RT, there was still a couple of minutes to go before the conductor made it to the front car, so I stood there in the doorway, wondering why the girl sitting next to me was on the verge of crying. I was going to check to make sure that my original observation was correct when this rather tall guy bursts into the car, drops his duffel bag, and stood there in the opposite doorway. Alright, for those of you who haven't used the SRT before, let me explain. The RT is a very small version of the subway (originally called the LRT: Light Rapid Transit. The S is for Scarborough.). It's much like the skytrain in Vancouver for those of you who've visited that fair city. At the end of the line at Kennedy Station, the doors on both sides of the RT open up, letting people get off on one side, and people get on on the other side, to make people transfer easier. In theory. Some dolts go in the opposite direction for some reason, perhaps so that they don't have to follow the crowd or something, whatever. It was a pain to watch them hold up the crowd at the doors so they could make their way out of the car. Anyhoo, because all of the stops on the RT line had platforms on the same side, only one set of doors are used while the vehicle is travelling up or down the line. I stood in the doorway which wouldn't be used during the trip (although it was open at this station). This other guy stood in the other doorway despite the fact that the car was less than half empty. I found that a little odd. The fact that he was looking at me was a little unnerving as well. Once the car started moving, he guy asks me:
"How are ya doing?"
I gave my standard reply.
"I'm awake."
A couple seconds of silence. Then I ask:
"Where are you going?"
His reply.
"To my parent's place."
A few more seconds of silence. Then, as I was asking another question, he pipes up:
"You're [QYV] right?"
*blink*
"[SK]?"
Good lord! It was! Not many of you may know who SK is, but in grade five and six we were like "bestus buddies". That had always baffled me since we really didn't have that much in common (except Madelaine). Anyway, time passed, things change, and once we got into high school, we didn't see each other much since our respective circles didn't overlap at all. So, it's been over a decade since I really talked to the guy, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that we didn't recognize each other immediately. I was actually surprised that he recognized me! (I definitely didn't recognize him - very bad with recognizing people.)
Only talked with him for a few minutes before he got off at his stop. It was an interesting blast from the past since he knew what was going on with the people that I haven't talked to in years. I wonder what sort of impression I left since I was going back home in my ripped jeans and standard standing pose. (I hadn't done my laundry so those jeans were what I had left.)
It's interesting though, how much things change over time. Some things you take for granted now.. well, but this theme has been beaten to death by television, movies, and every "when I was your age" story that I'll cut it short here.
While I was walking home from the bus stop, I passed by a kid playing handball by himself at Banting and Best. Oh man, I was tempted to ask him if he wanted to play a game or two. I haven't played handball in.. wow, a decade or so.. (you know you're old when you start using decades to describe time spans..) I remember sort of when I first started playing in grade one or two, at my old elementary school. How we would always complain whenever we got a pocket, or someone gave us a sidewinder, or waterfall.. there was some pretty good players, and some who always ended up in the bottom of the heap. Handball switched over to foot hockey once the snow started to fall, but it was handball that survived until grade seven, when I was playing primarily with SLWD, AG and the rest of those guys. But once you started getting good at it, the game gets less challenging. I remember when MS implemented the "under the leg" rule where you always had to hit the ball under the leg(s) for it to count. It wasn't that much harder, but it looked kewl (or stupid depending on your point of view). It was quite a bit of fun to play, and it gave us a little bit of exercise and need to rush out right at the sound of the buzzer so that we could get the good courts during recess. It was usually the same people that played the same games though. I guess it was a clique of sorts, membership only being the acceptance that you're going to get your butt kicked by the masters that were playing. Once we got to high school, we stopped playing handball. There were no recess times, and no good courts to play on. There was less time to play, and more need to study (although we didn't study, we played cards). But I still remember fondly how exciting and fun it was to play handball with a group of people. Showing off some moves, and proving that you're not as bad as you look.
Got home, and was astonished to see the amount of mail that had piled up since I had left. Quite a bit of it was bank or credit oriented, which took me some time to sift through (i.e. dump). My parents got me some gifts from the middle kingdom. One of them is a cool stamp thing that you use to stamp your name on documents and stuff. I was actually thinking of getting myself one a few months back, but I had no idea where to get one and wasn't sure if I wanted to front the money. I guess I won't have to go looking now.
I also noticed a retro CD sitting in the computer room. What I didn't notice was the collection of 80's CD's as well as a CD player in the same room until girl told me (it was off to the side where I never looked so I never checked there). Anyway, I popped in a couple of CD's and listened to some of those great.. oldies I guess I would say. It reinforced my belief that most anime songs are just 80's songs sung in a different language. No wonder why they're so catchy.
I was going to go to the reception in my jeans and shirt, but after a bit of convincing, I switched out of my ripped jeans and into a pair of intact jeans. Somehow, this didn't make matters any better, and I was.. uh.. forced to put on a suit (which I had gotten some time ago). I don't like suits. Never have. If I had my way, everything in life would be casual. Casual work, casual school, casual sex.. everything. Too bad some things have different priorities. It's not that suits are uncomfortable, (I remember as a kid, I hated suits because of how hot, sweaty, and badly fitting the ones I always wore were.) far from it. The new suit that I got a couple of years ago fits fine and feels pretty good. Great with dropping drinks on it too (more on that later). But I just don't like how people stratify events. Going to someone's house for pizza, is different than going to the Royal York for dinner. To me, it's just food. The only formal functions where I actually wore a suit (and had a choice) was to the SOUSCC conference for my talk, and my convocation later that year. For the other couple of dozen formal and semi-formal events I've attended, it's been a strict jeans and T-shirt approach. I don't see the point of dressing up. Maybe one of you can explain it to me, but if everyone decided not to wear a suit, or tux or dress to my wedding, I'd have no problem (although my wife-to-be may have a heart attack - I'd have to have a talk with her first). I guess, for some people, it's important to dress up. So weddings, yeah, dress up for the groom and bride's sake. Receptions I thought were semi-formal.. but no matter.
In protest, I might well wear something casual to my own wedding. One of my cousins asked me at the reception if I was trying to come in sweat pants and T-shirt, but I told him that I'm a little more fashion conscious than that, and I would've worn jeans. (Jeans are higher up the ladder right?)
Speaking of jeans, I remember when I was a young kid.. oh, maybe in grade six, how I hated wearing jeans. I refused. I didn't like them. They were too tight, and none of the jeans that we ever found ever fit me properly. The only things I wore were sweat pants. I started wearing jeans again once girl bought me a pair of loose fitting jeans.. in my last year of high school or something like that. I've worn jeans exclusively since then. They're oh so comfortable. I guess I went one step up on that ladder huh? It's weird how fickle and unpredictable people can be. Just like with my pizza aversion when I was young..
But that's another story altogether.
The reception was okay, met a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time, and noticed how some have changed a lot, while others haven't changed a bit (sans hair colour change). I dunno, is there something going on with dying hair these days? I haven't actually seen much of that going around here on campus, although most people dye their hair in such a way that it looks natural (although green isn't all too natural..).
The party was actually quite small, around a hundred or so, with mostly relatives and the like. The meal was a little smaller than anticipated, although I would've gotten more to eat had I not been distracted by a couple of kids..
Now these two kids were the youngest of the group if I recall correctly. Well, the youngest that could actually stand on their own two feet. Wait.. there were a couple of other kids there, so.. okay, let's just say that they were young. One was seven and the other was ten our abouts. Ten? Cripes, I remember when I was ten. Was I that annoying when I was that young? How did that comment go again?
"I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid."
Anyway, most of the attention grabbing was from the girl though. The same one from a few months back. Handling her was okay, until the other kid jumped in. Like Germany, I can't win a two front war. I think he wanted attention too. (Although he would've gotten a lot of attention if he went up to sing..)
Actually I'll take a little aside here. During weddings, it's customary to tap your glass or china whenever you want to see the bride and groom kiss. In all of the previous receptions that I've attended, this was the case, and after a bit of banging around, the married couple would comply. There's also another tradition (that Squishy told me about) where someone - or a group of people - have to go up and sing a song with the word "love" in it to get the married couple to kiss. Anyway, we did this glass tapping thing many times that night. We game up with.. nearly bupkus. Rather anticlimactic.
What does this have to do with the boy (who is my cousin) singing? Well nothing, but there was another boy who actually stood up in front of the group and sung a song (the pokémon song no less - *shiver*) and my cousin made some comments about the boy's ability. Oh.. so you can sing better huh? Why don't you go and sing? After a bit of cajoling, I started chanting his name. Wasn't long before the whole table went.. and the table next to us.. It went on for a minute or so before I realized that all we were doing was embarrassing him. Ah well.
Anyway, back to the original thread. Well, the girl was.. teasing me throughout the entire dinner. The rest of the people at my table weren't exactly coming to my aid. girl even mentioned "It's like the [mouse] and the elephant, he's not afraid of anything, but he's scared of a little girl." (The last half might be wrong, I was fending off an attack at that time.)
Grr..
The amazing thing about children is the amount of energy they have. They can go on and on and on.. they made the Energizer bunny look like a lazy wuss. (Now if they only knew what they were gonna be getting themselves into in life, they'd realize that they should save up some of that energy for later..) Anyway, it wasn't until near the end of the meal when she finally (finally) got tired and just sat down.
Alright, I know at least of you reading this was there so I'll come clean. She sat down on my lap okay? Well, that's not too bad, since I wouldn't have to keep looking behind me wondering when the next strike would come, and kids are usually less hyperactive when they're sitting. Made eating somewhat difficult though. (I think I missed a dish or two - *hangs head*)
Oh, it was around that point that I spilled some tea on myself. Not my fault actually since the accomplice came up behind me and caught me off guard. I was so amazed how well my pants repelled the tea. I was able to wipe it off without a problem. My shirt on the other hand got pretty messed, although I don't think anyone was looking..
And I was hoping for a nice, relaxing dinner..
Ah well, all in all, I came out mostly unscathed, even though I.. Doh! Now I know what I did wrong with the grapes!! I understand now!! Aw man! Okay.. okay okay.. next time, next time I'll do the grapes properly..
You don't know about the grapes? Well, when you get married, invite me to the reception and I'll show you!
