Back to reality

Ola,

Sitting in the bus, crossing the bridge, just hung up the phone to tell GG that when I opened the blinds this morning, the sun was shining against a bright blue sky background, as I used to tell her almost every morning for the past week or so... We simply had a great vacation together...

Looking at other people in the bus this morning... feels weird... there is so much clothing covering their body... And where did they put the smiles they all had on their faces last week... Ho.. right, these are not the same people I was looking at last week, and we are not in the same country, with the same weather... though I find that it is a beautiful day today... It was warm enough last week to melt a good portion of the snow that could be seen when we left over a week ago... And even though the weather channel says it is -5 outside (-10 with the wind factor)... I just don't feel it... I traded my usual boots (you know which ones :-), with a pair of shoes and my Kanuk with a leather jacket (a warm one, but still)... And with that bright sunshine and a wall to wall blue sky... How could I not smile...

OK, enough about today, I guess you want to hear about my trip to Mexico... I will just give you a sneak preview cause the bus is getting close to the terminus... We partied all night long, for 6 out of 7 nights, we got a good sun tan, we drank, we ate very well, we laughed, we met very interesting people, I got a chance to sing in front of a crowd a few times, and we even had a magical after-hours night with a few friends around a piano in a closed (though unlocked) restaurant... It was great...

I took lots of pictures, and wrote a daily blog while I was there, but these will be published on my French traveling blog only... I will let you know when it is ready... Here's an example of how it felt there:

Till then... Have fun... I had a load of that last week...

BYE
MAD

P.S.: I started following a great pair of boots out of the bus... Nice looking hair from what I could see from behind her, but the stalking ended abruptly when she entered where no man has gone before (or at least shouldn't have), the girls room of the bus station... Ho Well...

P.P.S.: About this post title: "Back to reality"... Still... It is a reality that I truly love... So I'm not complaining about coming back to it :-)

Similarly different

Sitting in the bus again. It’s the beginning of the last week before the Christmas break. It is also a good day to break in to my brand new pair of Rockport boots (thanks Charles and Stephen for the advice, you guys were right, these boots are great, though a little tight on the ankles for my own taste, by I guess my weirdly shaped feet will soon make themselves at home in there :-). I say that because it is raining today, on top of a thin layer of icy snow… Fun… lot’s of fun… :-)

But I didn’t want to blog about boots and weather this morning… Yes, for once, I actually have something to say this morning, and not just improvise on the spot as I often do. I received a few comments recently from people enjoying the read of this blog (and I really appreciate it, first and foremost the fact that they actually read me, and then, wow, they enjoy it, cool, that’s the goal, but to top it all off, they tell me about it… I think I died and gone to heaven ;-).

But what I find interesting (and you might then understand the reason for this post subject line), is that some people tell me that they think just like me (or that I think just like them, depending if they are as egocentric as I am, or not :-). While walking to the bus this morning, it reminded me of comments I often got while I was Internet dating (and yes, I said “was”, but that’s a whole different topic, maybe in tomorrow’s bus ride, but don’t worry, I’m still single, just not dating on the Internet anymore… ;-).

On one of the dating sites I used to go to, there is an automated message you can send to others (when you are not a paying registered member) that is entitled: “We are so much alike!” (actually, it is ”On se ressemble.” in French, but I thought I would improve it a little in English ;-). I also got registered members send me their own messages to tell me how much we were alike based on what they had read in my profile, or after we chatted for a little while…

At the same, time day after day, we keep realizing how different we are from each other. Men and women for example… Whoa… so many conflicts are based on the fact that we are different, we think differently, we are internally wired differently. I’m not saying that we are not equal; this is totally different. It's not about one being better than the other (though man are usually stronger physically and women are more emotional, but I don’t think that physical strength is more important than emotions, and vice versa, they just complete each other so well ;-).

And I think it is a huge problem when we can’t see or accept these differences. This leads us to assume things about others based on our own self (just in case you didn’t know, this is what we call projection, we project ourselves into others, and then what we perceived is largely influenced by our point of view).We then get to expect certain behaviors from others because this is how we would behave ourselves. (I actually blogged about something similar on my French blog MADeries.) We each have our own idea of the rules of the game we are playing, and we each have been dealt a different set of cards. We can’t change the cards we were given, but we can decide how we play them (as Randy Pausch was saying), and I like to add that we can also discuss our understanding of the rules with the people we want to play with.

Because, in the end… We are not that different after all. This is the reason I can actually tell you the things that go through my mind as I write this blog, and you might find it interesting because you think similarly (and hopefully, I write it in a way that you find entertaining, otherwise, why bother, I’m not smart enough that only what I say is interesting, it is also how I say it, right?).

If we would be so different and would keep on projecting ourselves on others, we wouldn’t stop fighting… But we do… We stop fighting and we love each other… Yes, we do love the differences between us. But we also find comfort in our similarities… So can I please be comfortable with you? Do you think we are similar enough? I promise to keep working hard at entertaining you with my differences, OK? Let’t try that…

BYE
MAD the similarly different guy, you love it or you hate it ;-)

About repairing VS getting a new one?

Sitting in the bus again. Rushing home to get the kids to their dance and acting classes on time (yeah, right, wishful thinking).

I need to get new boots… I walk much more now, and since I’m often at the last minute, I walk quickly, and without proper shoeing, it ain’t now fun. I had a very comfy pair last year, and had to resort to my previous pair this week ‘cause the newer ones died on me. A big hole on the side is letting all the slush in and it ain’t no fun either… Especially these last few days… So I’m now using an older pair of boots that don’t let anything in… Except pain!!!

I wonder if I should try to get the newer ones repaired. Would it be worth it? It’s not just a question of money. I can easily afford new boots, and could definitely afford the repair. It is more about the trouble that goes with it. Seems like it is so much easier these days to get new stuff as opposed to get the old things repaired, I wonder how we got there…

A few generations away, people would repair themselves what was broken (at least most of the time), and most of these things they had, they built themselves anyway. Nowadays, we depend on so many things that we have no clue how they work, we wouldn’t dare trying to repair them ourselves.

Like recently, I decided to sew a few pairs of my favorite socks that had holes at the tip of my toes (I know, cutting my toenails more often would help prevent such problem, but would you please get off my back? Look at your own toenails! Are they always bright and shiny? Well… shut it! will you? :-).

Anyway, I really like these socks, they’re comfy and look pretty good on me. And since I hate shopping and don’t mind playing with needles and pins, I decided to sew them myself (as opposed to others who like to suit at will, I would rather sew ;-). I was chatting with a very good friend of mine (a woman, of course), and she was very surprised that I would do this as opposed to simply buy new socks… Even she doesn’t repair socks (and she has three boys), she says nobody does that anymore, especially men (stereotype intended here :-)…

So it seems people don't repair things anymore, they prefer to get new things… Could this be why relationships don’t last as long either? Do you see a pattern here? ;-)

Anyway, change of subject, the other night, when I got stuck standing up in the bus for an hour and a half, there was this woman standing behind me (until I decided to turn around and then she was in front of me… haaa… much better… :-)… Well… She’s right in front of me again… Except this time, there aren’t that many people in the bus today, so I’m sitting, but she is not… weird… even though there is a lot of empty seats… Is she doing this on purpose? Is she sending me a message here?

Ho, and, BTW, she removed her clothing… Well… not all of it, of course, but she got her coat and a few other accessories off… Which makes me think it might not be the same woman, it is not the same coat… But woman do that sometimes… Change clothing…. Right?

No, I’m pretty sure that’s her. I remember well, because…. Well…. First…. She stood in front of me for about an hour and a half… And… I kind of have some experience at looking… right? And she has a few noticeable features that I quickly recognized… And no, I’m not talking about big boobs!!! Thought her small pair looks pretty nice, especially with this little hearth shape necklace that elegantly falls right into place… Wow… ;-)

Also, I had noticed her before we got in the bus the other day… While I was walking quickly to the bus (I told you, always at the last minute), I walked by and noticed her because she was walking almost as fast as I was while crossing the train station (which doesn’t happen often, I’m pretty quick… long legs… ;-)…

So I recognized her that other night in the bus (mainly from her coat, ‘cause, even if woman change clothing often, they rarely do it between the time they’re quickly walking across a train station and a few minutes late when they climb in a bus)… Actually, I just realized that she must have been standing behind me in the line up to get in the bus that was about 15 minutes late the other night… Interesting… So maybe… the reason she is standing in front of me now is that she recognized me too and decided to expose her nicely looking slim body right in front of me…

Dream on MAD… You’re not THAT interesting… At least not at first sight… Unless she reads your blog and couldn’t wait for you to talk about her… Et bien voilà! It’s done… Nice meeting you… And your name is…. ???

BYE
MAD

I'm hooked on you...

Salut,

   that's it... You got me... I'm hooked... Now I can't wait to take the bus... I had to resist the temptation to write you a few lines before getting to bed last night... Well... Actually... I was already in bed, as I often do, with my secret mistress... My MacBook... Yeah, I know, it is a blasphemy to my Windows religion roots... But hey, I follow Sun Tzu's advice: "So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will fight without danger in battles."... 

   Ho wow... I think I'm in love... I just saw her get in the bus... Wow... Nice long black pointy leather boots with high heals... An interesting fluffy-layered black skirt with a pale greenish woolen vest on top, a bright red leather bag, white mittens that opens to let her long nailed fingers control her iPod, a scarf which matches very well the black of her black skirt with the paler colored vest she's wearing (wow, she thought of everything, women are so good at that, most of us men are simply pathetic), long dark hair with a few little blond stripes, glasses (I love the look of a woman that wears glasses, no it's not nerdy, it's sexy, OK?)... and a nose... Wow... A great nose... I told you... I'm in love...

   But... (yeah there is a but, not a butt a but!), she way too young for me (or should I say I'm way too old for her)... Anyway, even if it wasn't the case, I'm not very good with the first contact, I like to think that I'm quite good once that first contact is made (this is why I probably have more virtual friends than real-life friends, or at least I have more contacts with them)... But I intend to get better at this, a colleague suggested the book "The Game" which I recently bought. But I have a few other books that I already started reading... Ho, and I just noticed that the cutie I was telling you about, her iPod headphones... They're pink... Sooooo cuuuute :-)...

   But there is a "woman" (I told what I mean the other day when I used the term "woman") besides cutie, and every good look I try to get, the "women" looks at me with this look, you know? The same one that my fridge was giving me yesterday... Making me feel.... GUILTY!!!

   Should we be feeling guilty for looking at somebody else's body with envy? It shouldn't be insulting, it should actually be flattering, no? If I take a good long hard look at you, it is because I find you attractive, why would you be offended by that? I'm just showing you respect for the beauty that emanates from you... Ho well... Must be a guys-girls thing... Or maybe it's because there has been way too many men that have done it in a disgraceful way in the past. Reminds me of a quote in this book I bought, The Game, it is from another author, Betty Friedan, a feminist: "Men weren't really the enemy - they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill."

   Haaa.... The predator-prey thing... A female virtual friend of mine uses that term, when she has a prospect in mind. She says she has a prey. And she often asks me: "Who's your prey these days"... I personally don't like the term, but there is a bit of truth in there... Cuz very often, when I step out of the bus (as I will soon do), I follow a cutie, just for the fun of it, until she takes a radically different route from mine... Maybe, just maybe... One day... I'll talk to her...

   So today, guess who will be my prey... Who knows... In my next post... I might be able to tell you her name... Maybe... Just maybe... If Kismet is on my side...

BYE
MAD
P.S.: I actually have a friend called Kismet :-)