The Day I Met A Mermaid And Continued Progress On The Robot Story

Today was my second Monday and it wasn't anything special, but tomorrow should be fun and next week I'm going to go into the DMV for a new driver's license, since mine expires on my birthday. Don't wanna know what it feels like to live without one, so... 

I was just thinking about chance and all the little things that HAD to happen for you to be exactly where you are right now. On top of that, all the stuff that HAD to happen to your parents, and their parents, and everyone all the way down the line. Each breath. Each blink. Each idea. All of those minute details had to happen in order for you to exist. Kind of puts a lot of pressure on your shoulders to actually make something worthy of this happenstance. 

Somehow, through the chaos of chance, I bumped into Garrett Sucatre yesterday in the mall at the Apple Store while Katie poked in to say hello to her friend, Myles. This high-school buddy of mine went off to San Jose for a year and finished up at Sac State (I'll have to double-check these facts later) last month with a BA in Something Specific Regarding Communications. Other than the tattoos on the arm, Garrett is pretty much the same person as my memory recalls, but older, out of college, sinking into the flow of the real world, which is always an exciting time to cross paths with anyone. We exchanged numbers and maybe we'll meet up again sometime downtown, or maybe not. Still a neat moment.

Also led to my rediscovery of this old blog I wrote around the start of my senior year at Sonoma State. It was quite the trippy flashback, I tell you what. Interesting that the last entry I wrote was on the day I broke up with AJ for the first time in November of 2008. Reading this made the past feel so far away.

It also distracted me out of two hours of my Saturday afternoon. Oh well.

Kirsten, who I hadn't planned on staying over Thursday night, was still asleep in my bed when I got home from work on Friday. So when Katie arrives a few minutes later and parks across the street, I can't exactly invite Katie up to my room. I ask Katie to meet me at Old Soul in ten minutes, then I'm back upstairs, cleaning, waking Kirsten up and quite literally shoving her out the door.

When I meet Katie in the coffee-shop, it's obvious why I hadn't invited her up to my room, and I know she knows. It's a little awkward at first, but we plow through it and the oddness fades as we find our way out of Old Soul, over to the ATM, through Macy's and then to the Arden Fair Mall. She helps me pick out an outfit for my Peace Corps interview and I have to admit, expensive as it was, the result was great. Afterward, we get appetizers and drinks at Hot Italian and befriend Krista, the bartender, who gives us the drinks for free. Katie and I take home a pizza and a bottle of wine and get back into our LOST marathon after listening to a bit of Yeasayer and sharing a joint by my open bedroom window.

I finish work today and Kirsten comes over to drop off some things and fool around in the bed for a while before she leaves for a closing shift at Weatherstone. I am starting to find our "relationship" to be one of the more captivating self-destructive experiences of daily life. Sex for the sake of sex is addictive. What makes the whole thing stranger is the fact that Kirsten and I are basically regular friends when the lights are on. We don't avoid each other. We're actually rather normal about the whole thing. I admit to it being self-destructive just so no one else can, but in truth I'm not worried about the situation at all. I've made sure to rig the right bridges with dynamite so I can blow them if things go sour.

Met Ellen today, a mermaid from the new Dive Bar.

Shared a moment with Tessa after clocking out. Still no phone number. Which reminds me, I haven't seen Cayla at the bike shop lately. Jenny's still coming over tomorrow for Dark Knight and tempranillo and I'm looking forward to hanging out with a new personality. Met another Hot Italian employee, dark-haired Chloe who thinks the pesto pizza is the best. Haven't said much to the Old Soul office assistant Jessica lately. Reached a point where I've overwhelmed my ability to formulate "What If Scenarios" and have since cared less about flirting and worried more about keeping plans.

Visited my family on Wednesday, as well as Sean, and both visits were great.

And here are some stylized photos from Hidden Falls: 

- Left to Fry

The Day After A Walkabout With Celena When I Finally Did My Laundry And Spent Much-Needed Time In Nature

Two nights back, Katie and I stayed up late watching LOST and eating smoked salmon pizza with a side of red wine and spinach salad. It was the night we finally had our version of The Talk, in which Katie seemed genuinely happy with the nonchalant situation we've found ourselves in. Not everyone can pull off the friends with benefits thing and even fewer try, but we appear to be on the same page about it. 

"I just don't want to hurt anyone," I told her. 

And she said, "I would tell you before that happened."

Aly came by Old Soul on Monday for a work-related meeting, says hello, gets tea, and sits near the entrance. Ten minutes later, L comes in and says hello, then goes straight to Aly's table. Another example of the SSGE. "How do you know Aly?" I ask. "I'm overseeing one of her projects," says L. 

There were a few minutes during Monday evening when Kirsten and Katie were both at Old Soul at the same time, knowing about each other yet not knowing each other, guests of the same bed. 

I've decided to start shadowing Lucky, the roaster. I'm going to take all those years of espresso bar experience and work backward until I end up on a coffee farm in Guatemala hand-picking cherries off a tree. 

Anyway, it's Wednesday morning now and today I've got plans to visit Hidden Falls with Sean, have dinner with my family in Auburn, borrow my mom's laundry machines, and then pick up Kirsten on my way home. I also have to get my hands on The Dark Knight at some point. 

Yesterday I woke up with Katie and we had breakfast at Fox & Goose and she helped me fix my resume and strategize for my Peace Corps interview. I also bought a one-way ticket to Oakland that should get me into town around 11:00am, leaving me about three hours to find my way to the sixth floor of the Oakland Federal Building. I love trains and open-ended adventures, so the 9th should be an awesome day. Katie is coming over this Friday to continue our LOST marathon. We just found out that Bernard is still alive and OMG Rose knew it all along!

Took these photos at work:

Then, afterward, Celena and I went on a photo safari through late-night Midtown. Found out she and Chris just moved to a house in Elk Grove with a handful of roommates. Her job as a canvasser is still going well and she's actually being promoted. 

The walk was fun and the photos were pretty good, but I can't figure her out. I'm okay with just being friends with her, but last night I didn't sense a whole lot of connections that would inspire a continued friendship, and I don't know who's fault that is. Obviously hanging out with someone who is in a relationship puts up a lot of walls, but I'm honestly not interested in wooing Celena anymore, and I don't plan on pushing against those walls. I just think she's neat to be around.

But maybe we were both just tired. Maybe she has a lot on her mind. Maybe our shared paths have reached a fork and while she takes one route, I will take another. Here is one of those situations where I'm going to remove myself just to see if I mattered, like James Stewart did when he disappeared from Bedford Falls.

Oh, and Max found out that he and Kat are having a daughter.

- Left to Fry