t'is a lonely friday night

and it's lonely because i don't particularly feel like doing anything, or seeing anyone. i'm tired, i'm pensive, i'm lazy... but most of all, i'm actually pretty relaxed.

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thursday morning was beautiful, pouring but with peeking rays of sunlight and softly framed pictures all around. i watched the bus i needed drive past, but still made it in time to be rained on by the usual ride's tardiness. when he pulled up, it took some convincing hand-signals to get him to move closer to the curb... if there's no drainage, well, it would be nice if i didn't have to jump a metre to get into the car.

the ride was fairly pleasant, which i attribute to the fact that we're all in "saying goodbye" mode.

i had very little to do in the morning, and even less when our great SC decided to ban guitar playing in the office. @#$%!

after lunch, i finished a presentation with nystire (he managed to cause powerpoint to crash repeatedly) and was done for the day. umm. for good, it seems, as i was told i could go home until further notice.

yep, that's a pretty good sign.

i managed to catch the early shuttle to the train station, which meant no awkward pre-farewell goodbyes with the rest of the unit [as it was, the people i did see before i went began to get emotional] but at the cost of having to ride with some unruly moron shouting and beating his chest trying to impress anyone who would listen. i judged it not worth the energy to get him to pipe down, but only because i knew that with his segment of the population it's very difficult for me to communicate with effectively.

the train ride would have been fine if not for the most appallingly timed telephone survey - apparently the army does that, requesting that random soldiers answer questions about the services it provides. i think it's great that the obviously new russian immigrant [the accent gives her away] who speaks at no less than lightning speed calls strangers to discuss "behaviour". i initially thought she meant mine, which put my back up immediately.

at least i didn't *have* to participate.

after changing out of my uniform, i had lunch at coffeeholic and paid the bank a visit, then stopped by the hardware dude for a chat before picking up my taekwondo gear and hopping the bus to ra'anana.

i'm going to only briefly mention the two kids i made cry:

1. i was asked to make the first one move during a fight. every time he kicked, i jumped back. demonstrating a wonderful inability to learn, he repeated the exact same mistake [not moving] for two full minutes before bursting into tears. i'm guessing it was the frustration.

2. i was asked to stretch the really annoying girl with the big mouth. she seemed to be doing fine, but when i pushed her legs back the second time she panicked, jumped and started crying all at once.
erm - didn't she notice that the rest of us were making squealing sounds and whining? it's a painful thing to do. yes: that means that one will probably experience pain. there's something about her surprise that worries me.

on an entirely unrelated note (okay, not entirely): our instructor has demonstrated to my complete satisfaction that since i've been away she has compromised everything that made her great in order to pander to the mediocre. i do believe that that's the last time i'm going to train with her.
i haven't a clue what i'm going to do to replace taekwondo. i left practice unhappy and with a damaged ankle.

i met scrapper's father and sister, and his family is really nice. they've invited me over for saturday lunch, but i must admit to being a bit awkward about going there. the mongoose and i were supposed to meet a friend of ours, but the two of them cancelled fairly last minute.

one of ze germans contacted me to let me know he'd be happy to recommend me to google. i sent him my cv, but i'm looking for part-time work so i don't really expect there to be a fit.

...

i slept alright last night - my nose is better even if my chest is still full of irritating bits. i was almost late for the social activism meeting at my old university. i grabbed a quick cup of coffee, and spent the bus ride talking to my kibbutz cousin. at the central station in herzeliya i ran into the medic who was with the birthright group i joined, and we discussed the rationale behind purchasing housing as opposed to renting.

while waiting for the meeting to begin, i had no luck getting my visa details from their information line and urchin had no luck with getting in touch with me:
the last communication i received from her was wednesday night, which prompted me to call her up to share my bewilderment and attempt to impress upon her how unappreciated it was:
So i got a question for u: a
friend of urs sends you a
message about a
presentation for her end
of semester. What do u
do?
A - you send her a
message on the same day
of luck because u couldnt
care less.
B - shit! U only
remembered now but well
sure she ll be fine dont
need to do anything.
C- shit u forgot and u send
her a message saying ur
sorry and promising her a
back massage next time u
guys meet because u
know her back is killing
her?

well, it's certainly not going to be C. when i told her i wasn't happy with what she wrote, her response was "it was a joke!". ha ha, no.

alright, back to the meeting: it wasn't quite what i expected. we had a lecture about the prophets, and what their ethics and values were about, and then another lecture on the primary issues at hand in israeli society. some of the debate afterwards was meaningful, some less, and i'm really glad that someone else made the point i wanted to - i would've stuttered and stammered and possibly forgotten what i was going to say :P

from there i skipped off to my mum's bank to deliver something on her behalf, then bussed back to tel aviv where the mongoose picked me up for lunch. i haven't seen his family in ages and today was the perfect day. lunch was great, and it was an afternoon well spent doing not much :)

he dropped me off at home around 9pm, and i got straight into watching battlestar galactica - razor (i didn't realize it was between seasons, but doing a flashback episode doesn't really matter). i've done a round of laundry, eaten badly, and i'm about to shower and go to bed.

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i'm well impressed with youtube's music discovery project and playlist creation tool, and specifically with the first video it pulled up for me.

sitting can kill you

this man is an asshole.

in other news: i'm very proud to read a slightly cynical look at israelis in haiti.