my feet are tenderized, i'm a bit sore, but i'm feeling good. i had a shower after spending about seven hours on my rollerblades - at first joining the "critical mass" cyclists careening through the city in honour of "buy nothing day" and demonstrating alternative transport in preparation for kyoto 2... then joining the sunset rollers (after a beer with the chef at the very cool pub he moonlights at) for an unbelievably cool mission that included five levels of an underground parking lot and the most perfect promenade in jaffa.
two unpleasant items:
lesser - the jaffa residents are not overly-fond of jews, and were quite threatening. this got a debate going with heeblet about morality*
greater - a completely unnecessary incident of violence. i only saw the end, a taxi driver hooted aggressively right behind one of the guys, and when he eventually stopped the guy went over to his window and hit him. aside from that being a completely irrational and unhelpful response, it also jeopardizes the rest of the group(s): we don't actually want the police to think of us as problematic, because then we won't be able to go at all :(
i'm still laughing at heeblet, one of the other girls made a (rather pathetic) pass at me, and her immediate response was "mine!". i don't know if she knows that i heard it :P
* i've discussed this before - we have developed a remarkable sense of morality that doesn't allow for the idea that other people don't share it. it doesn't allow for a situation that demands treating someone (or a nation) as an enemy.
when all other possibilities have been explored, and have been proven fruitless, we have to fight. it would be nice if i could write "there are some wonderful, caring, peace-loving arabs", but even though it's true, it ignores the greater truth that most of them hate us. it is simply irrelevant whether or not this hatred is justified, because although we can talk of mutual misunderstanding - they don't care. as a group. what individuals think is irrelevant, because individuals don't dictate the behaviour or sensitivities of the rest.
the other important thing that's of concern with our idealism is that we always lay the blame squarely upon our own shoulders. "if only we could XXX, then everything would be alright". the problem with that attitude is that it ignores the fact that the other (nation or person) is also human, also has moral codes and a concept of right and wrong... and that concept disagrees with ours. we need to accept that we can't fix everything without giving up exactly that sense of morality which got us in this mess in the first place.
i'm going with heeblet and a couple of others to acre tomorrow for a hike. this should be interesting :P
coffeeholic, a sandwich and a quick chat with the guy i went to the festival with (soundman) and the chef, some idle chatter with very cute girls, and passing on of flyers for the cycling group.
after two hours in bed, nystire woke me up and i headed off to meet him at azrieli. i was understandably broken - he gave me a laptop that at some stage this weekend i'll hook up so that i can load my ipod off it. after spending time staring at game demos (with me becoming more and more glad that i don't allow myself the pleasure... the stuff available of late is just amazing) we stopped for coffee before the kid picked me up - we didn't have enough time to park the car, but we had a good chat nonetheless.
well i'll be damned. that was absolutely incredible! the intensity, the goodwill, the general craziness; the sense was that i must've been one of the only people there who hasn't been to goa - it was a night of revelry and nostalgia (slideshows, live drumming) and driving goa then psychedelic trance that wiped out all worries and had us wigging out until dawn. my ears are stuffed and my body took a beating - i actually had to take a ten minute nap on a couch towards the middle because i just couldn't move anymore ^_^
all the while i had a huge grin on my face.
1) being with my people
2) in a month's time i'm going to be rocking up at prism for new year's. last year i thought "i've never needed it this much before", but i had no idea how much more desperate i would be after this last one. it's definitely time for renewal!
half an hour, before heading out with coffee to catch a taxi to the party. i entered at something like 1.30 or 2am, and was very glad to have a ticket in hand :)
scrapper fed me again, we talked music - he's apparently an expert, i think i may need his help with something that's been running through my head. on the bus back, a woman sat near me who looked almost exactly like lena hyena. i couldn't not smile.
not bad, although i have plenty of work to do. i couldn't focus on the one-steps.
i had music with me*, so i could actually get somewhere in the book without being distracted... almost - there was a mother on the bus who didn't have the self-confidence to reign in her kids. i can't stand that - don't be embarrassed to be a parent.
* when i paid the fare, the driver said something incomprehensible. i had my earphones in, but no sound - he was mumbling, and then claimed that if i'd removed the earphones i would've heard. dumbass.
the day ended with an interesting lecture, one of those "should've had that when i started". nystire horrified me with his inability to eat instant-noodles without producing gurgling, sucking noises.
i'd overheard him saying something about celebrating on the phone - i couldn't help myself:
"alcohol's not good for pregnant women. tell her she should stick to designer drugs"
[that was a joke - apparently designer drugs during pregnancy cause a wide range of issues, from miscarriage to weird birth defects]
i thank firstfallen for the word for the day: "snot-monster". that was me, suffering not-so-quietly. it was rough. really rough. as rough as the low-quality base toilet paper that i was forced to use when my tissues ran out.
it was the dubbelzout that saved my day, along with the copious amounts of tea and honey.
the vegetarian meals on base aren't great - but they are far more palatable than the weird excuses for natural protein sources that have to be hidden in disgusto-sauce before people will accept them. i don't think i'm getting all a growing boy needs.
i had a great argument with one of the guys - he doesn't understand that when it comes to taking care of our environment, taking care not to cause too much damage is only partially helpful, not being vocal is akin to not being a part of the solution. we need everyone to care. another big issue is that people don't understand that doing a little is better than doing nothing - we can't all be perfect!
when we got around to discussing rollerblading, he displayed what i have come to think of as a unit disorder - the people in our unit suffer from a fear of doing social things, particularly with other members of the unit. this is why we scrapped paintball, and why we never get a d&d game going.
i spoke to my cousin, we're almost done getting me ready for next week's visa application interview. "are you at home?" she asked.
"of course not - i'm at work."
"but you sound sick!"
"..."
if you don't have a fever, the army doesn't send you home. the fact that nobody cares if i can actually work or not bothers me.
first mail of the day: what's in a sausage, and we you shouldn't eat them. thanks.
i walked in to the office to discover that nystire had brought me back drop from holland and left it on my desk - SWEET! that made my morning. that, and being really impressed by an israeli from the next office who tasted one and wasn't totally disgusted. in general, israelis can't stand liquorice - and salted makes them completely crazy :P
thursday morning shuttle driver: he's not only a misogynist, but a complete moron. unfortunately, in addition to keeping me awake with his "woman driver" shouting and inappropriate phone-calls, he told someone a really upsetting story about a bunch of new immigrants who came here just to get immigrant benefits before buzzing off. that behaviour disgusts me.
so, summary:
thursday was mostly a bummer, but the end of the workday was alright and training was okay too.
the party on thursday night was fantastic, extreme, and i'm *really* glad that i was invited.
today was excellent.
i just had a dinner that consisted of peanut butter with a spoon, buttered popcorn and a cup of tea. i don't actually have a reasonable explanation for why i did that. i watched two episodes of the big bang theory, did the laundry, uploaded the photos from the day, loaded a pickle jar with salted liquorice, and am now about to get some shuteye.
finally! and my nose is feeling better, too :)
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