Transplanted Life
Saturday, October 09, 2004
 
I don't think it's a particularly girly thing
Then again, both Maureen and Carter are teasing me about it, so what the hell do I know?

I am, of course, talking about something as small and simple and stupid as watching TV. The group of us are sitting in the living room, watching the Yankees/Twins game, trying to console Carter (he lived in Atlanta long enough to become a legitimate Braves fan), and he's driving me nuts. He can't just leave it on the game, but has to jump between channels even between pitches. Just pick a channel and stay there, for crying out loud.

Maureen laughs, says that I must really have taken the whole girl thing to heart, but I say I don't see how this is a male/female thing. I mean, I always tended toward choosing a show and sticking with it. That's why I got the Replay unit in my previous life - I like to choose what shows I watch, set them aside, and then watch 'em. I always joked that I don't "watch television", but specific things. I mean, people don't just "read books", right?

I start to say, so, if I'm really a whole girl now because of how I watch TV, what does that say about Carter? But Carter shoots me a nasty look somewhere around "TV", so I let it go. I need to get dressed for tonight anyway; we're going to some Italian place that Doug had to reserve weeks in advance.

-Martina
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
 
And, at 11:33, Doug is out
Not terribly surprising, but he's probably a bit disappointed. I mean, I'm trying to think how I'd react to seeing a movie with a girl, buying her dinner, curling up on the couch with her and just not being able to get her into the bedroom. It's not like I didn't tell him what was coming, but sometimes I think he forgets that I'm not like other girls. He's grateful enough about that when I'm not being fussy about nails or shoes, but when I'm doing something more associated with guys than girls, well, that's different.

Not that he wants me to be neuter or anything. He likes that I enjoy looking nice, of course, and that I sort of look after Carter. It's just when I do something actively masculine or aggressive

-Martina
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
 
Good results
Well, I'm happy to see that Maureen and Carter were kind enough to not mention what was going on in the game to me after seeing the big note I'd taped up by the television. Of course, it helped that they weren't actually home when I arrived at the apartment, but I got lucky there, too - often someone will have a radio with the game on on the train, but instead, I was able to get to sit down at six, finish at quarter past eight, and see the game almost in its entirety - almost because I'd set it to record off ESPN but the first twenty minutes were on ESPN2 because the other game ran long.

Kurt did try to call at one point - I think it was when Doug Meintkewicz laid down the bunt - but I informed him that it was like an hour earlier for me so don't talk to me about the game. We did talk for fifteen minutes or so during the Yankees game, which was pretty satisfying as well.

I was pretty glad he called, because even though most everyone I know follows the game, Maureen is the closest to a real fan, and sometimes you need someone with whom to share the irrational exuberance. It'll be interesting to see how long Doug lasts watching the game with me after the movie.

-Martina
 
Lunchtime ramblings
It's dangerous to move into a new place in July, since you never know how it will handle even slightly harsh weather. July in New England is just about a perfectly temperate climate, with the thermometer more or less steady in the mid-to-upper seventies, often pleasant breezes, and not much rain to speak of. You don't really need the air conditioner in earnest until August, and then there's another few weeks of pleasantness before you find out that your bedroom has lousy insulation or that even though the windows aren't porous to rain, cold air can sneak in and around them. We had our first really chilly night last night, and I swear that my teeth were chattering.

It's one of those annoying times when Carter's discomfort with her body came in handy. Even during the summer she tended to sleep in big, asexual pyjamas and even socks because she still found it jarring to be confronted by her body when when she woke up. So she's nice and warm while I'm stupidly wearing a loose t-shirt and cotton shorts.

I fully recognize that this is a silly and mundane thing to whine about compared to the strangeness that is the rest of my life, but as I sit here waiting for VBA to run something that's taking much longer than it should, it's what's in the back of my mind.

Speaking of bigger things and minor annoyances, does anyone else find Fox's highly Yankee-centric scheduling of the division games annoying? Sure, I can use the ReplayTV (the world's coolest consumer electronics device) to spool today's 4:09pm game so that I can watch it when I get home at six, but does anyone think that if the Yankees had drawn a team from the AL West, they'd have to deal with a 10pm start tomorrow? Hardly. I think all three games being shown in prime-time this week are Yankees versus Twins, and not just because Johann Santana is amazingly, approaching Pedro five years ago, good.

I get why they do this - the Yankees have an audience - but it's sort of self-propogating, since if all people ever see is one team, that's who the population at large will identify with, and does the world need more Yankee fans?

-Martina

(Although, the flip side of this is that the Yankee fans have to deal with Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, and Scooter the animated baseball, while the rest of us get the less-annoying ESPN guys)
Sunday, October 03, 2004
 
Weekend Update
Ah, a little blessed alone time. It's great to spend time with friends and boyfriends, but there's drama with that too, and right now I'm just watching the Red Sox postgame, not having to deal with what anyone else thinks. I can yell at Caron and Eckersley if I want.

As expected, Kate was all about the debate on Friday night. She was awfully serious about it. I mean, sure, it's the potential leader of the free world we're talking about, but if you can't be amused by someone imitating John Kerry's performance by going "brrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaains...", well, c'mon, that's funny.

Anyway, there was a lot of talking politics at dinner Friday. By Kate, at least. Never really pegged Dennis for being political, but he kept up with her. But, they've been seeing each other for seven months, and I've been seeing her doing stuff Dennis likes enough, so it makes sense. I kind of felt left out, since Doug was into it, although, not so anti-Bush as the rest.

So, we ate, went out dancing, I went back to Doug's. Fun night. Then we go out for breakfast, hang around most of the day. Just sitting around, watching the ballgame, talking about nothing. Pretty nice, but we sort of got stir-crazy, and opted to head out even if there was another game on.

Doug says there's an improv show he'd like to check out, so we go there. We figure it's going to be late, and the subway might not still be running by the time we get out, so we take the car. I tell him I'll get tickets and meet him at the bar and he goes to park the car.

I've only been there a couple of minutes when I get a tap on my shoulder. I turn around, all hey, handsome, only to see it's not Doug, but Kurt. I stammer a bit, but he just laughs it off, calls the bartender over and orders a couple Sam Adamses, unless I've changed my drink of choice? No, it'll take more than a new brain and physiology to do that. He asks what I've been up to since the wedding, I tell him about the new job, he says it's great, not as good as what I should have, but way closer to it than waiting tables.

Then Doug comes in and the temperature of the room drops a couple degrees. He asks Kurt what he's doing there, he says something like "seeing comedy, duh". Then Doug wants to know what was with the beer, he said he just saw a friend and bought her a drink, and what of it?

I really should step in, because, you know, it really had the potential to go in an ugly direction. But I didn't. Because, and this disturbs me, I was enjoying the show. I mean, it was like a couple of peacocks spreading their tails and trying to claim territory. With me as that territory. And I suppose I should be insulted at being treated like an object or a prize or something, but, I know these guys, and I know I'm not just an object to them. It's kind of a cool feeling to be held in that amount of esteem. Fortunately, the show started and Doug steered us to the other side.

Good show, but the one beforehand sort of stuck with me. This morning, after the sunday morning movie club thing, I asked Kate if that was normal; did regular girls enjoy guys fighting over them?

Not that they were actually fighting, I said. Kurt was never acting like he had any claim on me and Doug was just annoyed, really - the last time he saw Kurt, it was the night of the party and he was being an ass about me having been Martin, and now acting like he's cool with everything. It's not some triangle deal.

Anyway, Kate says you don't usually talk about it, and not everyone likes it, but, yeah, it's a bit of a rush sometimes. As long as it's about you, she says it's cool, but that I probably know from the other side that it can stop being about the girl pretty quick. I admitted that's true enough, with a little shame. But, it was just one chance meeting, so it's not like this is going to be a regular thing.

-Martina

Powered by Blogger

Note: This blog is a work of fantasy; all characters are either ficticious or used ficticiously. The author may be contacted at JaySeaver@comcast.net