Transplanted Life
Saturday, February 21, 2004
 
Hockey v. Movies
Spent the night at Carter's last night, after hitting Blockbuster for a couple of movies. It was fun; he cooked for me and we watched Apollo 13 and Cold Comfort Farm. He hadn't seen the second one before, but then again, it seems like very few people have; it's a movie John Schlessinger did for the BBC that got a tiny theatrical release here in the States and has done OK on video. I had a copy of it as Martin, but haven't picked up another one - for some weird reason, it's only available in a 2-pack with Casual Sex? (starring, get this, Victoria Jackson and Andrew Dice Clay), and there's no way I'm buying that movie twice.

Watching Cold Comfort Farm, I wondered if it was weird that my first reaction to someone saying they like Kate Beckinsale is still something along the lines of "tough! I saw her first, back in Much Ado About Nothing and Cold Comfort Farm, and she's mine and you can't have her!" I mean, that wasn't exactly sane back when I was a man; now, it's just silly. She is a cutie, though, and there are days when I wish I could look that elegant. Her characters, especially in period pieces, are often the type of woman that are described as looking smart, not in an intellectual sense (though they can be that), but just well-put together and dressed. Kind of like another Kate I know.

This was sort of payback for Thursday night, when we popped into a bar for a drink and wound up hanging around most of the night as Carter got engrossed in the Bruins game; it only seemed to lose his attention when guys noticed I wasn't particularly interested in the game and started hitting on me. Not that I would have gone off with any of them, but the attention was nice. I've never been a big hockey fan; I'm told that it's kind of like soccer, where you can't become a fan by watching it on TV, but have to see it live. I'm pretty much a baseball person, myself, but Carter really seemed to be into the game. The other people at the bar gave us a few odd looks, like they weren't used to seeing a guy with Carter's skin color be a big hockey fan, but that's one of the great things about sports - fandom trumps stuff like race and religion with very little effort.

Though, speaking of judging on appearances, I'm kind of feeling a little weird about something Carter said last night. We were lying in bed, and he was running his hands through my hair, and he commented that I'd look good as a blonde. I told him I didn't think so, that I'd just look like some bimbo stereotype, and that I'd only gone back to "my" natural color just this last August. He swore I'd look good, and that he was thinking of growing his own hair out and didn't want to go it alone. I started laughing because I instantly pictured him with an afro, and that's just funny.

Still, when I got home and looked in the mirror, I thought about it. Part of the reason I'd let the brunette come out was that I just wanted to see something different in the mirror than the girl who'd stolen my body. I mean, I have to admit that Michelle had grabbed both Kurt's and my attention as a blonde, so I can'd deny this body looks good like that - heck, Kurt had seemed a little disappointed when I showed up for that first date with brown hair.

Something to consider, I guess.

-Michelle
Thursday, February 19, 2004
 
Actually got Kate into the comic shop tonight
Last night, that is. I've got to stop these weird hours.

Apparently, the new guy Kate's seeing is into comics. For real, I asked, or like Carter? Apparently he's for real; Kate's seen the long boxes. Kate doesn't like the idea of coming off as ignorant, of course, so I told her I'd be picking up my subscription at the comic shop tonight and she was welcome to tag along, since Carter didn't seem to be into it any more.

Kate, of course, headed immediately to the French stuff. Which is cool; I remember really liking "The Incal" until its US reprints stopped publication sometime last year, and a lot of the French albums are really spiffy. Of course, a lot of the ones at the Million Year Picnic are in the original French, which is apparently less of a problem for her than it would be for me. Apparently she spent a year abroad in college.

Meanwhile, I'm picking up multiple Bat-books, Super-books, and even a Star Wars tie-in, while she's sampling Humanoids, The Sandman, and Courney Crumrin. Stuff I'd recommend to anyone, but none of which was coming out this week. Made me feel like kind of a rube. I did get her to pick up a collection of The Adventures Of Barry Ween, though.

We grabbed some coffee afterwards, when she finally cornered me on that "like Carter" remark. I just said that he acted like he was into comics and the like when we were still sniffing each other out, but lately, not so much. She said that must suck, but I said, no, not really. He may not be a fan, but he likes that I am.

She sort of rolled her eyes. "Men make no sense."

"Nah, this makes perfect sense. He's a guy, and guys oftentimes just don't get women. So when we say we like something that's traditionally more of a guy thing, it makes them a little more comfortable. And while maybe they'd look down on guys who like comics, it's perfect for a girl - it gives us that tomboy thing without actually threatening their masculinity."

(Yeah, I used "us". It's seven months today, so why not?)

Kate guessed that made sense, and I gave it a little thought. I'd sort of been making it up as I went along, and I wondered if it shed any light on my old self's relationships. I'd dated a number of geek girls, but not many really athletic ones.

Then she asked me if I felt upset about Carter not being really into it, and I said I wasn't. I mean, we all misrepresent ourselves somewhat when starting a relationship, trying to hook the other's interest and hoping they'd come to like the real you, which usually isn't so different. And Carter and I are sort of settling into that. Would I like it if he were more into some of the things I am? Sure, but he indulges me, so I can't complain too much.

Still, I went home and fully indulged myself as a geek girl by sitting down for Enterprise (you'd think a new brain would get me to kick that like the bad habit it is), Angel (evil puppets are funny; very, very funny), and comic-reading.

-Michelle
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
 
Up early and no getting back to sleep
So, I might as well fill in what I can about the last couple of days.

There was much squealing at the office when Jen showed off her ring. I felt like I should be doing so, just to fit in, but I was so taken aback by the sight of Kate having so strong a reaction to a shiny object that I forgot. It's a nice ring, for an engagement ring, but I feel sorry for Carlos; it must not be easy to afford a nice diamond ring on a cop's salary (the diamond isn't large, but it's got a pretty setting). But, hey, at least I didn't start talking about how the diamond engagement ring is a scam perpetrated by the people behind a ruthless cartel who stockpile inventory to artificially drive up prices, or describe the hellish conditions the miners endure, or that the entire idea of a diamond engagement ring is only about 100 years old; the entire "tradition" being an astoundingly well-done PR push. Indeed, I once read that in Victorian times, diamonds were considered tacky, little better than rhinestones.

I'll grant you, my propensity for sharing this information may contribute to me not having a relationship last long enough to confront my disdain for the whole diamond engagement ring scam myself.

I've been looking for Sam/Michelle at the Common pretty much daily, but haven't seen her. I sort of mentioned it in passing to Dmitri, but he said she's gotten another job, thankfully one that's inside. Which is good for her, I guess, but it will make it harder for me to try and talk to her without arousing suspicion.

Sent off another email to "Martin" about my stuff, too. He seems to have just ignored my first one, which is kind of annoying - it's not like he needs to even pretend that communication between us will have negative consequences, so why not try to be civil? I'm not quite clever enough to come up with a cunning plan to bring him and everything he did to do the body-switching thing down using a bunch of old toys and books.

-Michelle
Monday, February 16, 2004
 
Yep, messed up my sleep schedule
I figured, hey, I was able to stay up later when I was younger, but apparently that's a talent this body doesn't quite share. When doing a 24-hour marathon like this, if the plan is to stay awake all the way through, I've always found it's just best to stay awake until an hour or so before I would normally hit the hay, then crash and wake up well-rested.

That's not what happened this time, though. I crashed hard when I got home, and as a result I'm up now and not tired, but still have to be at my desk by 8:30 tomorrow morning. Means I'll probably be messed up all week.

The sci-fi movie marathon was mostly fun. The first half was easy to get through, but then at around midnight we hit Demonlover. I saw it back last fall and it's just awful, but it does have a fair amount of sex in it, so we decided we were "inspired" and adjourned to... Well, Carter's car. I don't know what Carter feels he needs one in downtown Boston, but it was handy to have for the last couple days.

He was actually pretty cool about the whole thing. I guess he recognized that he was being kind of a jerk lately, and if the price of a hot girlfriend who likes sports and other typically guy-ish stuff is a few bad movies, he'll go see a few bad movies.

Still, he pretty much slept through the second half of the marathon, until the final battle in Godzilla vs. Megaguirus woke him up. I sort of catnapped until then, since we'd planned to wake each other up should we doze off. He was doing some serious post-coital dozing, though, and if he could do it sitting up, more power to him.

-Michelle
Sunday, February 15, 2004
 
Aaaah!
Short entry today - Carter's waiting in the car downstairs. I just popped in here after spending the night at Carter's to change clothes, check e-mail, and grab snacks for the marathon when I saw the message on my machine. Carlos proposed! Jen said yes! She wants me to be a bridesmaid, even!

I mean, wow. What's neat is that, unlike almost every other time a friend of mine has gotten engaged, I actually am not feeling the whole "what am I doing with my life" feeling like I'm behind, as if this means they're grown-ups and I'm some kind of immature child who won't/can't move on to the next stage of my life. Well, I do feel that, but I've got a ready-made excuse, don't I? It's too early to even consider getting engaged until I've got the whole woman thing figured out.

They're talking about sometime in late July or early August. I'm so happy for them; they really love each other and in the months I've known them, the closest I've seen them come to an argument is that one time Jen grumbled about him being a little overprotective when she went to a midnight movie without him. They're a great pair; the closest I've come to that is Maggie, and I messed that up good. I have to wonder, though, if everything had worked out fine with Mags, would I be in this position? "I" probably wouldn't have moved cross-country, or if I did, I still wouldn't have seemed so unattached to whoever was in Michelle's body, and those versions of Martin and Michelle wouldn't have gotten taken apart to make the current us. Don't know whether that's objectively a good or a bad thing.

Anyway, that's beside the point. Jen's engaged, she's happy, I'm happy she's happy, and all is good on that front.

-Michelle

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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