:: Pe-KHOO-liar Things ::
What's in this section?
Things that I finds strange and noteworthy. And possibly disgusting.
The NEW mode of communication
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Maybe it’s just because i’m getting older or maybe it’s because kids are getting deafer…
...but i think there’s something up with the way high school kids in NYC communicate with each other.
It all happened in one day. I walked out of my building to a relatively quiet street. There were no cars or loud construction. There was just the peaceful ambient sound of far away traffic as pigeon wings and they flitted about the street. Pretty darn quiet. But these two high-school-aged girls were walking by YELLING a conversation at the top of their lungs. It was as if they were competing for air time. From what i could tell, neither was listening to the other. They just kept getting louder and louder. And they weren’t in a fight! They were really working with the gist of what each other was saying rather than actual content.
I was bewildered. It seemed like such an unnecessary strain for such a poor level of communication. They seemed to be talking about stuff that was rather personal too. I guess it can’t be *that* personal if you’re willing to yell it to a whole neighborhood. “And then i found out that he’s not my real father but my mom’s gay best friend!” Just kidding. In any case, I was a little annoyed because, even with headphones on, i couldn’t block them out.
I got on the train to school. About two stations later, this group of high school kids entered. 4 guys, 3 girls. They were doing the EXACT SAME THING! Yelling at each other, no one was listening but everyone “communicating,” and there were so many more of them and in a small enclosed space. My ears were ringing. Then one of the girls got excited about something and grabbed the other girl and SCREAMED IN HER FACE!! I mean, full on screamed. I’m amazed that she even knew enough about what was going on in the “conversation” that she knew it was scream-worthy.
So, am i getting old and crotchety or is this just really strange high school behavior? Or is it a NYC thing? Or is it a combo of both?
Gay men who *know* they're gay and still marry women
Friday, March 25, 2005
This sounds like the title of an episode of Oprah. In fact, i think i saw that episode.
For while, I thought that this phenomenon was something that only happened to people on TV, that they were somehow fabricated. UNTIL i met this guy. On initial introduction, he was obviously gay. OBVIOUS. He’s a floral designer. Anywho, I asked him to tell me a little about him--and he said, “I’m ENGAGED!” That’s when i got all confused, because something else he said made it clear that he was marrying a woman. Then, for the rest of the day, that was the last thing I heard about his engagement. I didn’t hear her name, how they met, *anything* about her.
I was legitimately confused. Even more so when i asked my friend who introduced him to me about it. Apparently, he came out to a bunch of people the week before he announced his engagement. Yes. He *knows* he’s gay and yet still plans to get married to a woman. WHY?!? What is he hoping to accomplish? It seems like this girl is definitely getting the short end of the stick. What if she actually cares for him in that way (as I hope people who are about to get married should)? I just hope she’s not being taken advantage of in a very non-classical sense of the word.
Anyway, I guess i just think it’s strange that people should choose to use other people as emotional shields for their own insecurities and self-acceptance issues.
Missing-Baby Syndrome
Sunday, March 06, 2005
I saw the strangest thing at the local cafe while i was studying - it reminded me of a sci-fi horror where body snatcher come and take people.
In this case, they would just take babies. What i saw was the scene below: a stroller with a baby-shaped shell of fabric implying where a baby should be. Missing Baby Syndrome (MBS). It’s similar to Shaken Baby Syndrome except that you don’t shake the baby in MBS. In fact, in MBS, you don’t even touch the baby because...well, it’s missing. I suppose that, when it comes down to it, there is absolutely no similarity between MBS and Shaken Baby Syndrome. Oh well. In any case, all that’s left of your child is a carcas of synthetic fibers in the shape of the little toddler as if an alien had snuck up behind the baby, placed fangs into the tot, and just sucked out the essence of the child but did it so quickly that the clothing hasn’t yet registered that anything is missing.
Ok, so maybe i’m more pe-khoo-liar than MBS because noticing this kind of stuff. Anyway, protect your babies. You never know when aliens will strike. They’re very sneaky.
Now THIS is genius
Thursday, February 17, 2005
There are several things that distinguish us from the machines (the ones with Artificial Intelligence that we’re all so afraid of) and that is the creativity to come up with...er...*creative* solutions to almost any problem.
I’ve got to give props to my dear friend Kirstin for showing me this one. What would I do without friends? So this guy gets trapped in his car by an avalance in the Slovak Tatra mountains. Instead of giving up and resigning himself to death, he ponders ways to free himself from his snowy prison. In the midst of pondering, he reaches for a one of 60 bottles of beer (doesn’t that sound like a bad song about to happen?) that he has in the back seat. As he drinks, a GENIUS idea comes to his head. He’ll melt the snow by peeing on it!
4 days and 60 bottles of beer later find the man drunk and straggering on the roads of the Slovak Tatras. Rescuers found him and took him to safey with only minor damage to his liver and kidneys.
THAT, my friends, is what separates us from the machines.
Overgrown
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Some things just can’t be the same as when we were young…
...like the size of this dog’s bum (as well as the rest of him). I’m sure he doesn’t realize how much bigger he is now than he was when he first gained some semblence of consciousness. So let’s just say he’s a Toys’R’Us dog--he *really* doesn’t wanna grow up! Or maybe he’s just mad that he has to wear a stupid looking sweater that matches the tender morsel that is so temptingly close by. Whatever the case, i feel bad for his mama.
Ahhh, Alan has raised the bar on writing skillz
Friday, January 14, 2005
Alan has recently put up his very own blog!
Not only do you get to see his AWESOME art glass work, you may also be subject to his scathing wit! One of his recent posts had me rolling! Go check it out. If there is anything pe-khoo-liar in this world, it’s Alan. I mean, it’s the subject of his post. :D hehehe