Christmas Time.

This time of the year reminds me of this memory I have. It's going to be a short memory because I can't remember every detail like I used to.

It was a few years ago. I was still in high school. I remember I was getting ready to go to a holiday/Christmas BBQ at Joe's house (my percussion instructor). I was going to drive over there and everything with Johnathan (my "interest" at the time, never officially dated, was never in a relationship, although I wanted to be, and we did practically everything together. My family had accepted him as my "boyfriend", when really he was just my best friend/friend. He met everyone in my family, even my extended family, and I met his family as well, and they liked me a fair amount.)

Anyways, in the car, my mom was driving me and she told me that Johnathan accidentally left something in the glove compartment of the car. So, I open the glove compartment, and pull out this ziplock bag, and I said, "What idiot left this stupid ziplock bag in here." I didn't even look at it, It just registered in my mind that it was a ziplock bag and nothing else. I put the bag back in the glove compartment, and my mom was like, "...uh...that was for you." I responded with my typical, "Wait, what?" And I pulled out the ziplock and actually looked at what was inside it. It was a typewriter necklace. I cherished that thing so much. It was made of brass, it was long, and it even had a little piece of card paper stuck into it like a real typewriter. I immediately wore it as soon as I took it out of the bag. We got home, and Johnathan was there waiting for me. He was like, "So, did you get the present?" And of course, my mom told him the embarrassing story of how I totally screwed up, and actually accidentally insulted him. 

Apparently the two of them (mom and Johnathan) planned this. Johnathan had contacted my mom and told him his brilliant plan (because he didn't want to wrap it, but he did want to surprise me), and he just ended up sticking it into the glove compartment as a last minute surprise effort.

Honestly, it was probably one of the cutest, slightly romantic gestures that anyone's ever done for me. I still have the necklace, I've never actually worn it out since that first day, mainly because I don't want to ruin it, and two because I don't have anything to wear with it. 

I'm thinking about wearing it to work tomorrow. I think it'll look nice with whatever I chose to wear. Besides, I think it's time for it to make an appearance again. The best part about the necklace is that it has a story behind it. And I think that's the best, when things have stories or sentimental value behind them.

A Beach Story

It was a mild morning, perfect California weather. I only lived eight blocks from the ocean, so I decided to walk down to the shore to do some sea glass hunting. I have this small jar at home filled with sea glass and I love holding the jar up to the light and watch the whites, greens, browns and specks of blue reflect onto the walls.

I slipped on my flip flops, grabbed an empty zip lock bag and headed down towards the beach. What a beautiful day.The seagulls were soaring high over head, a light breeze blew through the trees, and there were colorful sailboats and windsurfers out in the ocean. I smiled at the sight and wished I brought my camera to capture this beautiful moment. I started walking along the shoreline, trying to find sea glass as well as sea shells to add to my small collection.

It was late afternoon by the time I finished. I had my flip flops in one hand, and in the other I held my zip lock bag that was filled with brown, green, and white sea glass. I was slightly disappointed because I wanted to find rare and exquisite colors like red, yellow and blue, but luck was not with me. I was heading back up the shoreline to my home when I happened to look to my left at the ocean. The sun was setting and the ocean was sparkling, catching the sun's last rays. Everything looked so beautiful; I stopped to take it all in for a moment. I walked towards the sea, and stopped in the incoming tide. Woosh woosh, the sea said. To me, it sounded like it was saying wish wish and that's what I did. I closed my eyes and made a wish. I opened my eyes and smiled one last smile at the sea, and then I turned to walk away.

I took one step forward and I went flying headfirst into the sand.
"Whoa! What the heck?! Who would put something here?!" I said, after I spit out a mouthful of sand.
I bent down and examined the object that sent me flying.

It was a seemingly empty green glass beer bottle that had a cork in it. I picked it up and took a closer look. There was this odd misty...thing inside the bottle.
What the...what is this? I shook the bottle a bit and the mist faded away.
Then, all of a sudden, a white misty face with wild eyes appeared in the bottle and stared at me. I gasped and dropped the bottle.
"OUCH. Why'd you drop me for?! Just because I don't have a body doesn't mean you can just manhandle and drop me like a hot potato! Jerk! I have feelings too you know! And I don't appreciate it when people wake me up from my millennium of sleep."
"Wha-...y-y-you...can talk?" I was doing an excellent job of understanding things today. This...thing just told me that it's been sleeping for a millennium and all I got out of it was that it could talk to me.
"Of course I can, you idiot. Just because I'm made of mist, doesn't mean that my brain is too! Dummy..." The mist thing scoffed at me.

By this time, I was getting used to the fact that a disembodied head was talking to me, and I decided I was tired of it berating me. Especially since we didn't exchange pleasantries yet.
"Mr. Disembodied head, mist, sir, dude, whatever, I don't appreciate you being so RUDE to me after I just woke you up out of your nice slumber. Not many people can sleep through a millennium  you know. Even if they wanted to. Wait...how did you know it's been a millennium if you just woke up? I never told you the date, nor is there a calendar or anything that says the date around here. And who exactly ARE you anyways?"
"Well, well, well. Aren't you Miss Observant? Good job, I give you an A+ for being this observant. If I had arms, I'd give you a nice shiny golden star. I know a millennium has passed because that's when they told me I'd wake up. My identity is not important to you at the moment, and it won't be for a while. Any other questions?"
"So...you were placed here? Why?"
"Wow, you caught that, huh? You're smarter than you look. I was placed here because something horrible will happen in a few weeks. I was placed here to find you actually. Because you're supposed to stop this horrible thing from happening. I don't understand why they couldn't give me arms or legs...and a body would be nice too...well, they're idiots anyways. But now that I've found you we can get started on things."
"Who is they and...how do you know something horrible will happen, and why do I have to stop it? What if it was an accident that I found you and you're supposed to be waiting for someone else?"
"My, you certainly ask a lot of questions. You'll get all your answers later on. We need to get to somewhere private. You should probably put me in a bag or something, you wouldn't want people freaking out seeing you carrying a disembodied head that can talk, do you? And once we get to somewhere that's more private, I'll answer some of your questions. Now get moving! It's getting cold in this stupid bottle I'm in."

Bedtime story

[Originally posted 4/22/12, 10:37PM PDT]

Dang it...
So, once upon a time there was a boy who was named Pumpkinhead. He was named Pumpkinhead because his head looked like and resembled a pumpkin. Pumpkinhead was a very nice boy, and he was a close cousin to Humpty Dumpty (before Humpty had that great fall). Pumpkinhead wasn't very outgoing. In fact, he was very shy. His parents used to never let him go outside because they were afraid he would be made fun of.

So one day, agains his parent's expressed wishes, he decided to venture outside to play with the other children. "Hi. I'm Pumpkinhead," he told the other children. "Can I come play with you?" The other children just laughed at him and called him names. Feeling rejected, Pumpkinhead went home and vowed never to return to those children. Eventually, Pumpkinhead moved away from his parents and made his own home in the woods. One day while he was relaxing by the fire, someone knocked on the door. He opened the door, and there was a woman who's head looked like a squash. "Hi. I'm Squashhead. Can I stay with you?" Pumpkinhead had never seen such a beautiful woman and married her right away. They lived happily ever after as vegetable farmers.

A Short Story Continued

[Originally posted 4/10/12, 12:12AM PDT]

The car, a blue mini van, whipped around the corner I was just about to cross. "WHAT THE...?" I shouted as this blue mini van came to a stop less than a foot from where I was about to cross. I quickly assessed the situation and recalled basic stranger-danger type of scenarios. Okay...if the person comes out of the car and approaches me, I run or attack them, I'll figure that out when I cross that bridge...If the person pulls out a gun and threatens me, I keep my cool and do whatever I have to do to survive...Man, I wish I payed more attention in C4...

The person got out of the car and started walking towards me. I could tell this person was female, tall, wearing dark sun glasses, and boy, did she look really pissed off. Her face was a nasty shade of red. I paled when I recognized my mom coming straight at me looking like an angry rhino with her flared nostrils.
"KIMMI VIOLET WONG. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MAD I AM AT YOU." Her face was turning purple now, since she was screaming so loud. People started coming out of the house to see what the commotion was about.

"I WAITED FOR 2 HOURS AT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME YOU NEED A RIDE HOME TODAY. I FOLLOWED YOU TO SAM'S HOUSE BECAUSE SOMEONE HERE DIDN'T TELL ME THEY DIDN'T NEED A RIDE HOME. WHY ARE YOU WASTING MY TIME, GAS AND MONEY FOR ME TO PICK YOU UP IF YOU WERE GOING TO WALK HOME INSTEAD? WHY DID YOU MAKE  WAIT FOR YOU? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT YOU WEREN'T GOING TO SHOW UP? YOU HAVE A CELL PHONE. WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL ME?"

"...I'm sorry..." I managed to stutter to my foaming-at-the-mouth mother.
"WELL YOU BETTER BE SORRY. YOU ARE NO LONGER GETTING RIDES FROM ME, AND YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR 6 MONTHS. NO GOING OUT, NO PLAYING ANY GAMES, NO SOCIALIZING AND YOU ARE WALKING TO AND FROM SCHOOL FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS."
"But...what about school projects? It might be a group project!"
"I WILL DISCUSS WITH YOUR TEACHER AN ALTERNATIVE SOLO PROJECT."
"...fine." 

By this time, my mom had cooled off. The nasty veins that were popping out of her neck a mere 3 minutes ago had receded back into her neck. She glared at me and said, "Good." She seemed to finally notice the small crowd of curious bystanders and she screamed at them, "GO ABOUT YOUR DAMN BUSINESS, AND STOP FUCKING STARING AT ME."
 

Her screaming was effective enough, and everyone dispersed after that. My mom got into her car and drove (sorry, I meant SPED) off. She ran a few red lights going the opposite direction of our house. That meant one thing. She was heading off to the bar to drink.

I was still standing on the corner of the street watching my mom's tail lights fade away. I felt nothing for myself, but I certainly felt bad for her. It isn't easy raising a teenage girl with a mind of her own, while going through a nasty divorce. My dad was taking everything from us, mostly our money and our assets. He was the one who filed for divorce a few months ago. We still don't know the reason why he's filing for divorce. My guess is affair, but there might be something else that we don't know. My poor mom was sideswiped by the divorce, she had no idea it was coming, and neither did I for that matter. Since she found out, she turned to alcohol for comfort. I would lie awake and listen to her stumble in late at night. I would hear her stumble around the hallway and she'd shut her room door. She would start crying after she shut her door and I'd get out of bed and knock on her door, but she'd scream at me to go away. I would sit outside her door and wait there all night, just in case she needed me.

I sighed. It looked like tonight would be one of those nights. I started walking towards the sunset, towards home. I figured I'd go home and microwave something for me to eat. Then I'd wait for my mom to stumble in. I decided I'd clean up the house a bit, and prepare for the long night ahead of me. 

I took a deep breath and looked around before I started walking. Everyone had gone inside after my mom had screamed at them. I didn't see the boy around my age who had seen everything. I didn't see his eyes following me while I walked home.

To be continued...?
For Part 1: http://generallyhappymildlyamused.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-short-story-maybe-continued.html

A Short Story [maybe continued]

[Originally posted 2/5/12, 12:44AM PDT]

"I've come to a conclusion."
"What is it?"
"Love doesn't exist. It's just a figment of our imagination. Since all humans are animals, and we're pretty smart, don't get me wrong, but humans need a word to disguise our natural animalistic lust for another person. We call it love. Love is just a guise, and the true meaning for it SHOULD be 'lust for another person based on the human need to reproduce and on looks too.'"

Well, that explained a lot. I was walking home with my friend Sam (short for Samantha) and she was being unusually quiet. I was just about to ask her what was on her mind until she started talking.

"Wow...that's deep, Sam." I said.

"I know, I've been thinking about it on and off for quite some time now. That and I couldn't find the right words to express myself, you know? Ugh, it's so annoying when that happens. I mean like, you know how you blank out when someone asks you a question and you know the right answer? SO ANNOYING! By the way did you hear..."

I tuned her out for the time being. She was back to normal now. I did briefly wonder why she brought love up, but I didn't ask her about it. Instead my mind was on what Sam said and how it was sort of true. People, since the beginning of time, had always had been attracted to other people based on physical beauty. I guess that explains why Sam has had more boyfriends than I have ever had.

Who could blame those boys though? Sam is beautiful, with her medium length brown hair that shimmers in the sun, her flawless face, her 5'5" stature, and her sparkly personality. She is in marching band as a color guard member, she has straight A's, the body of a dancer because she dances, and she is a fantastic cook. Oh, and did I mention that she has the grace of a dancer when she dances, but she has the grace of an elephant in a porcelain store when she's not dancing? She has an amazing ability to trip over anything, from air to flat surfaces. And that makes her totally adorable so everybody loves her. 

As for me? I guess you could say we are sort of opposites. I am not pretty, not even close to attractive. I have medium length dark brown hair with no shimmering, just your plain, typical Chinese hair, a plague of acne, my 5'2 height, and my sparkly-as-a-rusted-nail personality. I'm also in marching band with Sam, but I'm not graceful enough to do anything color guard or dance related. I usually have straight B's, but I got lucky this semester and pulled off almost straight A's with the exception of one B- in an AP class. I don't have the body of a dancer, since I don't and can't dance, but I have the body of...an elephant. No, I'm just kidding. I have the body type of a..healthy person, I guess. I can't cook to save my life and that is one of my weaknesses. The only thing I have going for me is that I have a sense of humor and I'm a girl. That's about it...

I think you can see the large division between Sam and I. She's more feminine than I am, and we're both girls. Funny how that works out. 

"HELLO? ANYONE IN THERE? EARTH TO KIMMI!" I looked up, startled from my thoughts.
"Huh? What?"

"Did you hear a word I was saying?" Sam asked me, looking sort of mad.

"Uhmm, you were talking about how the definition of love should be changed...then you went off tangent and started talking about brain farts?" I hoped this would suffice for not paying attention to whatever she was saying.

It didn't. "UGHH, NO, THAT'S NOT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. I was asking you if you saw that new pen at the store yesterday! You know that super cool one I was telling you about? The one that can write underwater, in space, and it can stand super hot temperatures and it is virtually indestructible and it comes with its own GPS and tracking system? Oh! And the best part about this pen is that it can NEVER RUN OUT OF INK!" She looked excited about this pointless pen. Who needs a pen to write in space unless you're going to become an astronaut? I didn't want to point this out to Sam, she'd get mad, so I let her ramble aimlessly on. And you wonder why I tune her out sometimes, huh?

Anyways, we got to Sam's house to drop her off and said goodbye to each other. I continued walking home. While I was walking I decided that some music would be nice. I took out my iPod and put my ear buds in.  

Hmm...what song would be good to listen to right now? I decided on "Wake Up Call" by Maroon 5.

"Wake up call, caught you in the morning with another one in my bed. 

Don't you care about me anymore? 

Don't you care about me, I don't think so! 

Six foot tall came without a warning so I had to shoot him dead,

He won't come around here any more. 

Come around here, I don't think so!" 

 Maybe if I wasn't so focused on the music, I would've seen the car that had been following me from Sam's house...