Whale Watcher and other fun yesterday
I saw a really, really good film yesterday. Whale Rider. Even if this film doesn't touch you in a personal way, you'll still think it's good. Just not very, very good. So everyone should watch it, no matter what. There is basically no excuse for you not to watch it.
I had an enjoyable day yesterday. After class, I had lunch with Steve and Joanna. We had ourselves a "European lunch" because it lasted two hours. I knew that Steve and Joanna would get along great once I introduced them and I was right. I guess I have friends that are pretty different from each other because of personality, interests, philosophies, whatever. But there are several people among my friends that I know would get along great because they share an openness and playfulness and warmth about them, something that is an aspect of me, too, given the right mix of people. So when we get together, we connect very comfortably immediately, even if two of us hadn't met each other before. I'm glad they know each other now. I don't really have my own core group of friends. I'm usually good friends with individuals that have a core group of their own. My friends' core groups are usually very welcoming, but I never really become a true member of any one of them. As long as I have these individuals as my good friends, I'm actually quite happy with this social balance. Even though I sometimes feel like I don't really belong anywhere, and it's a lonely feeling, I hesitate to become part of someone's core group, because I perceive that as potentially limiting the variety of quality friendships that I could make. I like that my friends are different from each other because each has something to offer to one aspect of me. I grew up with the same friends back home from middle school all the way to part of college and it felt a little stagnant. I truly appreciate them, and today I still truly appreciate them and keep in touch with them, but who I am drives me to seek out different people that can nurture and challenge the various aspects of me. At least one person in my life is bothered by this, because his preference for a social balance is quite different from mine. I completely respect that he has his way. I just hope that my way being so different doesn't affect us too much, because he is an important friend to me.
So I digressed in a major way. I was gonna share about my great day yesterday. After lunch, Steve suggested that we go to a beach to hang out. I called up Al and invited him to join us, since he and I had made plans to do this very thing the next day. But Steve ended up bailing because he had to finish his thesis before leaving town the next day. So it was me, Joanna, and Al. We went to Cedar Lake, the south part of it. (Supposedly this is the cleanest of the lakes in Minneapolis.) When we got there, we saw Brian already laying out. I was so happy to see him there! Brian is someone I don't get to see very often because he's very particular about what he wants to do, and he never decides on what that is until the very last minute, so it's very hard to plan things with him. But I like him a lot because he's very different from anyone I know, AND he is very genuine about presenting who he is to the external world. People try to be different because it's cool. Being different, being an individual, is the American way. People put effort into becoming different. But Brian, he just is. He's eccentric but I don't think he knows that he is. He's funny, but I don't think he usually means to be. He's straightforward and honest about what he thinks, but not that it's important to him to be that way, he just is. He's completely gentle. He follows where his mind wants to wander, even if you want to do something else with him. But he would expect for you to do the same, because he believes that people should do what they want to do. Reminds me of Fritz Perls, "I do my thing, and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful. If not, it can't be helped." It's not that I agree completely with his way of being--It's that I appreciate him for being genuinely himself and that he's on the opposite extreme of being a hypocrite. And it just so happens that he amuses me and makes me feel completely at ease to be myself when he's around. I don't like him in a romantic way, although I did for a few weeks when I first met him 3 years ago, but I love his presence, because he amuses me and doesn't take away any of my energy when I'm around him.
So I digressed again. The four of us hung out at the "beach" for a few hours, then me, Joanna, and Al went to meet Chris. We ate at El Mariachi near Nicollet for dinner. We shared stories that some of us believed could be true, like the boy that was raised by wolves. I was more skeptical about that, but whatever. And shared stories that were true but fascinating, like the deaf boy in Mexico that never learned to communicate (never learned the concept of symbolic representation), until a very emotional breakthrough years later. Interesting stuff. Al and Chris got along, but not to the extent that Joanna and Chris did, because Chris is very much "air" while Al has strong "earth" qualities that Chris might not be as familiar with.
We were about to go to a bar to visit this woman that Al is currently secretly in love with. But we didn't have time to do that, so we drove to Edina to watch the film instead. At one part toward the end, I was crying uncontrollably (but silently to avoid annoying the people around me) because it was such a powerful scene for me. Afterwards I was able to shift out of that mode for the most part so that I could engage with my friends again. Al had a rougher time with that. The film affected him greatly too, but the parts that we were most affected by were different. (See, everyone should watch it and get something different out of it!) Afterwards, we went to visit the woman that worked at that bar. She is beautiful, so I could see how someone like Al could become so easily entranced by her. Al falls for only the most beautiful women, I swear. Or maybe me and him just have the same idea of what is aesthetically pleasing when it comes to women. I've only had an innocent crush on a woman once in my entire life, and that was on a woman that Al had also fallen for. Weird stuff. In my opinion, he knows how to pick 'em, given that we're talking about physical appearance only. I swear, he only chooses the most mesmerizing ones to fall for.
So I finally got home at 2 in the morning. Much later than I had intended. I woke up at 1:30pm this morning. I missed my Spanish class and a meeting. I swear some kind of time warp happened. I've been waking up really early in the morning on my own before I go back to sleep until the alarm wakes me, even though I stay out late. So what happened this time? Well, I had some sangria yesterday evening, but still. I can't explain this. I can't explain why the snooze was on without me even hearing the alarm or pressing snooze. It makes me think that I'm just a brain or body that this crazy scientist is manipulating to see how I'll respond to different situations that he arbitrarily puts into my mind. It's not funny, mad scientist! At least make everything consistent if you're gonna mess with my mind! I don't appreciate that my incompetence score keeps going up like this. Have you had enough fun by now?! Pick on another brain for a while so that I can have a break! Geez!
Well, I'm gonna try to not let this bring me down. Things have been going well so far. And I'm looking forward to checking out CON this weekend to see what this annual party is all about. A group of my friends are really into this, and it sounds interesting to me too, so I'm excited about finally doing this with them.
I had an enjoyable day yesterday. After class, I had lunch with Steve and Joanna. We had ourselves a "European lunch" because it lasted two hours. I knew that Steve and Joanna would get along great once I introduced them and I was right. I guess I have friends that are pretty different from each other because of personality, interests, philosophies, whatever. But there are several people among my friends that I know would get along great because they share an openness and playfulness and warmth about them, something that is an aspect of me, too, given the right mix of people. So when we get together, we connect very comfortably immediately, even if two of us hadn't met each other before. I'm glad they know each other now. I don't really have my own core group of friends. I'm usually good friends with individuals that have a core group of their own. My friends' core groups are usually very welcoming, but I never really become a true member of any one of them. As long as I have these individuals as my good friends, I'm actually quite happy with this social balance. Even though I sometimes feel like I don't really belong anywhere, and it's a lonely feeling, I hesitate to become part of someone's core group, because I perceive that as potentially limiting the variety of quality friendships that I could make. I like that my friends are different from each other because each has something to offer to one aspect of me. I grew up with the same friends back home from middle school all the way to part of college and it felt a little stagnant. I truly appreciate them, and today I still truly appreciate them and keep in touch with them, but who I am drives me to seek out different people that can nurture and challenge the various aspects of me. At least one person in my life is bothered by this, because his preference for a social balance is quite different from mine. I completely respect that he has his way. I just hope that my way being so different doesn't affect us too much, because he is an important friend to me.
So I digressed in a major way. I was gonna share about my great day yesterday. After lunch, Steve suggested that we go to a beach to hang out. I called up Al and invited him to join us, since he and I had made plans to do this very thing the next day. But Steve ended up bailing because he had to finish his thesis before leaving town the next day. So it was me, Joanna, and Al. We went to Cedar Lake, the south part of it. (Supposedly this is the cleanest of the lakes in Minneapolis.) When we got there, we saw Brian already laying out. I was so happy to see him there! Brian is someone I don't get to see very often because he's very particular about what he wants to do, and he never decides on what that is until the very last minute, so it's very hard to plan things with him. But I like him a lot because he's very different from anyone I know, AND he is very genuine about presenting who he is to the external world. People try to be different because it's cool. Being different, being an individual, is the American way. People put effort into becoming different. But Brian, he just is. He's eccentric but I don't think he knows that he is. He's funny, but I don't think he usually means to be. He's straightforward and honest about what he thinks, but not that it's important to him to be that way, he just is. He's completely gentle. He follows where his mind wants to wander, even if you want to do something else with him. But he would expect for you to do the same, because he believes that people should do what they want to do. Reminds me of Fritz Perls, "I do my thing, and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful. If not, it can't be helped." It's not that I agree completely with his way of being--It's that I appreciate him for being genuinely himself and that he's on the opposite extreme of being a hypocrite. And it just so happens that he amuses me and makes me feel completely at ease to be myself when he's around. I don't like him in a romantic way, although I did for a few weeks when I first met him 3 years ago, but I love his presence, because he amuses me and doesn't take away any of my energy when I'm around him.
So I digressed again. The four of us hung out at the "beach" for a few hours, then me, Joanna, and Al went to meet Chris. We ate at El Mariachi near Nicollet for dinner. We shared stories that some of us believed could be true, like the boy that was raised by wolves. I was more skeptical about that, but whatever. And shared stories that were true but fascinating, like the deaf boy in Mexico that never learned to communicate (never learned the concept of symbolic representation), until a very emotional breakthrough years later. Interesting stuff. Al and Chris got along, but not to the extent that Joanna and Chris did, because Chris is very much "air" while Al has strong "earth" qualities that Chris might not be as familiar with.
We were about to go to a bar to visit this woman that Al is currently secretly in love with. But we didn't have time to do that, so we drove to Edina to watch the film instead. At one part toward the end, I was crying uncontrollably (but silently to avoid annoying the people around me) because it was such a powerful scene for me. Afterwards I was able to shift out of that mode for the most part so that I could engage with my friends again. Al had a rougher time with that. The film affected him greatly too, but the parts that we were most affected by were different. (See, everyone should watch it and get something different out of it!) Afterwards, we went to visit the woman that worked at that bar. She is beautiful, so I could see how someone like Al could become so easily entranced by her. Al falls for only the most beautiful women, I swear. Or maybe me and him just have the same idea of what is aesthetically pleasing when it comes to women. I've only had an innocent crush on a woman once in my entire life, and that was on a woman that Al had also fallen for. Weird stuff. In my opinion, he knows how to pick 'em, given that we're talking about physical appearance only. I swear, he only chooses the most mesmerizing ones to fall for.
So I finally got home at 2 in the morning. Much later than I had intended. I woke up at 1:30pm this morning. I missed my Spanish class and a meeting. I swear some kind of time warp happened. I've been waking up really early in the morning on my own before I go back to sleep until the alarm wakes me, even though I stay out late. So what happened this time? Well, I had some sangria yesterday evening, but still. I can't explain this. I can't explain why the snooze was on without me even hearing the alarm or pressing snooze. It makes me think that I'm just a brain or body that this crazy scientist is manipulating to see how I'll respond to different situations that he arbitrarily puts into my mind. It's not funny, mad scientist! At least make everything consistent if you're gonna mess with my mind! I don't appreciate that my incompetence score keeps going up like this. Have you had enough fun by now?! Pick on another brain for a while so that I can have a break! Geez!
Well, I'm gonna try to not let this bring me down. Things have been going well so far. And I'm looking forward to checking out CON this weekend to see what this annual party is all about. A group of my friends are really into this, and it sounds interesting to me too, so I'm excited about finally doing this with them.