Miss You Much

This Is Why Some Girls Fall for the Creepers

I was having a nice dinner with a boy that I loved. It was really, really early into the relationship and we were still in the getting-to-know-you stage - in fact, we were so eager to find out anything and everything about each other that we were going through the pictures in each other's cell phones. He came across a photo of me where I was very heavily made up and bathed in flattering light, and my hair was professionally done. He asked me who it was and, surprised, I told him that it was me.

He looked totally flabbergasted, eyes wide open, and exclaimed (what would translate to), "No way! It can't be!"

I get that I look like two different people with and without makeup (see picture - but note that the one on the right wasn't the one we were disagreeing over), but really, was that necessary? I promised him that it really was me, and after a few back-and-forth denials and assurances, which eventually turned to vehement insistence on my part, he looked at my picture really closely and handed my phone back to me with his eyebrows still up in his hairline and told me, in his dreamy, exotic lilt, "Very beautyful."

Um, wasn't I very beautiful to him bare-faced, which was how he saw me most of the time? Sexy accent aside (I'm a sucker for those), I should have been annoyed with him. And I would have been, except I was TOTALLY besotted with him at the time and I was still gaga over a picture I found on his phone. It was a shot of his breastpocket, on the long, white jacket that he wears to work every day, with the words "Dr." and his surname embroidered across it. (Intelligence is the most potent aphrodisiac.)

Now, he was actually a really great guy and he made me feel a lot more beautiful than I ever thought I'd get to feel, but this is how guys seem to treat girls they don't think they need to impress anymore because they know they like them for sure. This is how they act when they feel like they don't have to always be on their best behaviour anymore.

Today, some rando just tried to add me on Facebook. I didn't recognize his name, but his photo didn't look totally unfortunate. He wrote:

"so after lookin at ur display pic ive decided u are drop dead gorgeous and even if u dont add me back i just had to let u know that you have a new # 1 fan and its me so keep on smilin babe"

Then I saw the groups he belonged to and was so disgusted I couldn't even look at his face anymore.

But disgustingness and poor punctuation aside, isn't it nice to be told out of the blue that you're drop dead gorgeous? Too bad random creepers tend to do it a lot more than boys I actually like. If only the boys I date would take a hint...

Being Productive

Seasons

Spirit Me Away

I have, what the French call, la bougeotte. I'm feeling so restless and I just want to be somewhere else so badly. Granted, I feel restless anyway, but I've never been this...gripped before by a borderline obsession to be somewhere else. As such, I'm already planning my summer.

I'd love to be back in Europe. When I left, I felt like...is this it? This can't be it. I'm not done with Europe yet. So I know I'm going to be back, and soon. However, I also wouldn't mind being in Asia - preferably in Japan, even though Hong Kong would be more feasible.

My two main obstacles are that 1.) I don't have the funds...yet and 2.) my mom's totally not into the idea because I "JUST CAME HOME FROM FRANCE!!!" and I find it really hard to pursue anything my mom's against because we're thisclose. But this is something I really want, so I've been doing some research anyway.

I've looked into au pairing, but my friends who've au paired almost all have bad things to say about it. I've looked into language schools that provide field trips and lodging, but they are all heinously expensive. I've even looked into agencies that supposedly find tourism/hospitality jobs for people and find you a place to live, but they all sound too good to be true, and my hunch would always be proven whenever I'd look for reviews of those companies on Google.

My girl B, who's on exchange here from Holland but originally from Bali, is going back to Europe in like a month and I keep begging her daily to take me home with her. :P

Two people I know felt like moving to a different country for a while last year. They bought tickets, booked a few nights at a hostel and found seasonal jobs and apartments when they got there. That is so ballsy, but I'd never have the guts to do that! Well, I'd consider it if not for the fact that my mom's shrill and penetrating voice rings in my head, "DON'T DO IT! THAT'S SO UNSAFE!!! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

So does anyone have any ideas on how I can find a legitimate excuse to go somewhere else? GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!

P.S. I apologize for the Kanye-Capitalization Awesomeness of this post. :P

Being A "Pretty Girl"

I was on the phone with a bakery, ordering my mom’s favourite cake for her birthday.

“I want the one that’s heart-shaped and covered with pink and lavender cream roses.”

“In rows, right?”

“Right. The one with the groove marks in the side that makes it look like a basket.”

“Basket? There are no basket grooves on that one, pretty girl.”

Um, we were on the phone. How did she know what I look like? I wanted to reply, “Actually, my face is covered in warts and I have four boobs, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

There's this trend in Hong Kong culture, usually among blue-collar workers, male and female alike, where they address complete strangers directly as "pretty girl" and "handsome guy." It's distasteful and coarse and fake to me. And who are they kidding? It's not flattering to be called pretty or handsome when the ogre next to you is being addressed the same way. Just sayin'. :P

The Brooder

He’s irresistibly attractive. He’s very polished and put-together because he has a strong sense of self-awareness. But he rarely smiles, and everyone who doesn’t know him well thinks that he hates them.

He can come off standoffish and impatient; he might be a little impatient, but he isn’t really standoffish. Some even perceive him to be pompous and self-important, but he really isn’t, because he actually has a very soft heart. His compassion can often get the better of him, although he rarely shows it.

He has a habit of staring out into space with an intense look in his eyes, a slight frown marring his dark brows. He often looks like he’s pondering the secrets of the universe – or like he’s pissed off. He doesn’t speak very much, but when he does, he speaks with a raspy whisper, with thoughtful pauses between his sentences. If you try to start a conversation with him he can be very engaging, albeit only for a minute or two before he stares off into space again, lost in his thoughts.

It must be such an intriguing place inside his head. I always want to ask him what he’s thinking about when I see him brooding, but I never do, because it seems like such an invasive question.

Wistful

Bad Form

I've witnessed too many examples of bad form lately, so I thought I'd share.

*hitting on a girl you're old enough to father in a university eatery and bombarding her with texts full of improperly used big words while she's in class
Bad Form because: If you come off as a creepy, old man, you're not getting any girls. Even if you offer to ply her and her friends with alcohol. We're not prostitutes, and we were in between classes - hello?! And for the record, the phone number was very carefully wrested and not given voluntarily.
--> Side Note: Unless he's exceptionally good-looking, rich, famous, charismatic, successful, lucky, or any combination of the above, no man really has any business trying to snag a girl half his age or younger. Save it, old man.

*trying to get a girl to dance with you by shoving your butt in her personal space in the club FOUR TIMES
Bad Form because: If it didn't work the first three times, it probably won't again. And the thing was, he was kind of cute, even though he was drunk off his tree. If he just introduced himself and at least pretended to try to make conversation, I totally would've given him some time.

*trying to impress a girl with your conspiracy theories
Bad Form because: That's just like having "WEIRDO" printed on your forehead.

*just gripping a girl's hips on the dance floor to try to get her to dance with you
Bad Form because: That's just rude. It's an invasion of personal space. And unless a girl's very young or very insecure, it just won't fly.

*sending love letters to confess your feelings that goes something like: "I have nothing. I'm not good-looking, I'm not rich, I probably will never get rich, I have many character flaws, including laziness, impatience, a short fuse, etc. I'm not a genius. But I genuinely like you; all I have is my love for you. Be my girlfriend."
Bad Form because: If you're going to stomp yourself into the ground, why should anyone like you? What right do you have to ask for anyone's affection and love if you have absolutely nothing to offer? Go easy on the self-deprecation - it's not endearing.

Have you witnessed any other examples of bad form lately?

***Housekeeping message: I've been having my butt handed to me on a regular basis for the last while now, with school and other things going on. So instead of posting essay-length entries every time, I'm going to post more often, with shorter entries. Sometimes it'll be a few pictures with some captions, sometimes it'll be an anecdote...come check out often what I've been up to!