World-3, trinityofone-0

[trinityofone]

Okay, so people voted overwhelmingly for me to drop everything and go flirt shamelessly with Irish people. And...well, seeing as the personality transplant didn't come through, I didn't exactly do that. HOWEVER...I did tell Aidan that I really liked his new haircut, and since today is his birthday, I bought him a cake. So...half-credit?

I also failed at eating both Scharffen Berger and mince pies before dinner, because almost as soon as I posted, my suitemate Jean texted me and asked if I wanted to go out with her and her friend Clare. She had a voucher for this Japanese restaurant called Wagamama, so my fellow suitemate Takashi and I bundled up and went out to meet her. Takashi actually is Japanese; I don't think he was overly impressed by the Irish take on his native cuisine (nor was I...whadaya mean, NO SUSHI?), but he did tell me that "Wagamama" translates as "selfish," which I thought was a) hilarious, and b) a rather good name for a restaurant, all things considered. Because really: if the food is good, who wants to share?

The evening was...mixed. Jean is a really nice person, but you know how you can think someone is perfectly lovely, yet at the same time realize that you're just not connecting at all? Well, that's me and 95% of the people I meet, and after last night, I'm going to have to reluctantly add Jean to the list. Three things--three conversations--clinched it.

Strike One

Clare returns from the bathroom, where Jean and I had both (separately) been earlier.
Jean: Hey, did you see that they had free lotion in there?
Clare: Yeah, it's lovely stuff! I just... *mimes rubbing lotion all over her hands, arms, face*
Jean: What about you, trinityofone? Did you take any?
Me: I don't like lotion.
Jean and Clare: *astonished stares*
Me: *laughs* You see, I'm secretly a boy.
Clare: *leaning forward eagerly* Hey, did you see on Oprah? She had a bunch of people on, young ones, who were all like, "I'm in the wrong body"; "I'm really a girl!"; all that. One girl, she bound her breasts, had her parents call her by a boy's name.
Jean: You know, I don't get that. I mean, they don't have problems like that in primitive societies, do they?
Me: Um, I think they do, and they just don't talk about them. You know what I mean?
Jean: *definitively* No.

Strike Two

Clare: I really want to see that film, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Jean: Which one's that?
Me: It's got Val Kilmer and Robert Downey, Jr. in it.
Jean: I don't think I'll see that; I don't like Val Kilmer.
Me: Me, neither. But at least he and Robert Downey, Jr. make out in it.
Jean: Okay, now I definitely don't want to see it.

Strike Three

Jean: *talks about Lost and how much she's looking forward to the second series and how jealous she is that I saw even the first episode of S2 before I left America*
Clare: So what else'd you be watching, if you were still in the States?
Me: Um, Veronica Mars and--ooh! Stargate: Atlantis! That's my favorite show.
Jean: Ugh. I hate sci-fi.
My brain: What the hell do you think Lost is? Does it get special immunity or something because it's mainstream? Jeeze!
Me: Oh.

So yeah, I don't think we're going to BFFs. (And that is officially the first time I've ever used that phrase.) And...well, fuck, you know? Because I like to like people, I do, but far too often I'm hanging out with someone perfectly nice, someone like Jean or Clare, and all I can think is, "Boy, I'd so much rather be reading/writing/not talking to anyone right now." And then I feel like a terrible person.

Which reminds me: how the hell is it that I'm beating both John Sheppard and Rodney McKay in the "Who would you sleep with?" poll? I mean, it's very flattering, but y'all are nuts. Or masochists, maybe.

Wow, you can really see my mood plummet over the course of this post. I think my emotional wonk is due to the fact that I'm freezing to death. It is so cold in here--it's like, Did I sign up for the 19th Century garret? Am I starring in a one-woman production of Rent? No? Then why the fuck is it so cold that I have to wear my scarf indoors? *shakes fist in vague direction of heater* Damn you! My fingers are too numb to type!

Irrelevantly, I am totally in love with these sparkly '70s icons that diglossia made. They are pimp-tastic!

Comments

[taelonmahal.livejournal.com]

BFFs? Best Fan Friends? *dumb*

[whiskeypants.livejournal.com]

best friends forever

[taelonmahal.livejournal.com]

Oh okay. Thanks. :)

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

What psychopepsquad said. And don't feel dumb--it just means you escaped a lot of suburban American stupidity in the '90s. ;-)

[whiskeypants.livejournal.com]

jean seems a tad obnoxious to me. this clinches it (don't even need the other examples):

Jean: You know, I don't get that. I mean, they don't have problems like that in primitive societies, do they?
Me: Um, I think they do, and they just don't talk about them. You know what I mean?
Jean: *definitively* No.

she's bigoted. frankly, her use of the words, "problems" and "primitive" are not particularly making me want to suggest giving her another chance, and her ignorance is irritating.

on the other hand, val kilmer and robert downey jr. making out doesn't do anything for me, either. mostly because rd jr. creeps me out.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that bugs me. Obviously. Because she's clearly really smart, but...sometimes I just want to shake people, you know?

Val Kilmer creeps me out. (Not to mention that the movie looks like crap.) So yeah, I'll be saving my money until I can get my heart ripped out by Brokeback Mountain in December.

[sonofzeal.livejournal.com]

Funny you say that. My dad highly recomended the film to me. And there's a man who watches a lot of movies.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Eh, that may have just been my natural Val Kilmer aversion rearing its sensible ugly head. If I wasn't on such a tight budget, I might actually go see it. Instead I have to play fox & sour grapes. ;-)

[rike-tikki-tavi.livejournal.com]

Well, it depends on your taste in movies. I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang a couple of month ago at a festival and nearly peed myself 'cause I was laughing so much.

I'm not much of a Val Kilmer fan either but his character was probably the least cliched gay character in a movie ever and he pulled it of beautifully. Plus they poke a lot of fun at the Hollywood movie industry.

Basically, if you liked stuff like the Lethal Weapon movies, chances are good that you'd enjoy this.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

I didn't like the Lethal Weapon movies, but I do like Hollywood parodies. Maybe I can trick a cute boy into taking me to see it...? *is ridiculously naive and hopeful*

[casspeach.livejournal.com]

Hee, this:

, "Boy, I'd so much rather be reading/writing/not talking to anyone right now."

is the perfect tag line for my life, and I told my work, and they sent me on a very expensive course to discover that yes, I really am that unsociable.

I'm past the feeling like a horrible person about it thing though, which maybe just makes me a selfish uninsightful horrible person, but meh, I plan to balance my account by writing fic - I would advise you to do the same (because I care, not just because I want you to write more fic, nonono)

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Heh. Writers are allowed to be unsociable, right? I mean, it's practically a requirement!

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Is Wagamama well known? I am so out of the loop.

Re: Kilmer/Downey Jr.--yeah, that's not high...okay, not on my list of ideal hookups. But dude, it was a joke, and there was a very serious amount of not laughing.

I also really need to see Brokeback Mountain. I'm so jealous of spazatron--he saw it already, and he interviewed Jake Gyllenhaal!

[mandysbitch.livejournal.com]

Is Wagamama well known? I am so out of the loop.

Yeah - it's a chain. I went to one in Soho. Nice enough.

[spazatron.livejournal.com]

According to Ciaran's Facebook profile, he likes Franz Ferdinand, U2, Damien Rice, "Scrubs," and "The Office." *firm nudge* Yes, I will continue shamelessly pimping someone who is barely my friend until you give him a chance. I just want you to have lots of options. And hey--if he turns into another Jean, I will totally understand if you want to ditch him. But at the very least, he's Irish and he goes to Trinity so I'm sure he knows lots of people, many of whom are probably not closeminded Americans.

Okay, sorry. No more pressure. :)

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

I E-MAILED HIM. *g*

Jean's Irish, BTW. Le sigh.

[wychwood]

this Japanese restaurant called Wagamama

They're supposed to be really good - I haven't been there myself, but I know lots of people who swear by them. It's a chain - there have been one or two in London for a few years, I believe, and suddenly they're sprouting everywhere. There's one in the centre of my city now :) Was the food good? Despite the no-sushi thing, that is.

but you know how you can think someone is perfectly lovely, yet at the same time realize that you're just not connecting at all? Well, that's me and 95% of the people I meet

Oh, boy, me too. My whole life is me meeting millions of people who just don't understand me, and I don't understand them. Lots of them are very nice, but they look at me funny when I wear computer humour t-shirts, and they don't like sci-fi, and they think people who write fanfic are weird. And I don't understand why they wear uncomfortable "fashionable" clothes all the time, and watch East Enders every night, and want to spend an hour every morning doing their makeup and hair.

I was admiring the icons earlier! They seem to be sprouting all over LJ, and I wondered where they were from :) I was tempted by the Rodney one, but I already have fifteen icons with Rodney in, and I can't help feeling that it would be excessive... *g*

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Was the food good? Despite the no-sushi thing, that is.

It was okay. I mean, they had some good soba dishes and stuff, but none of my favorite things: no sushi, no tempura, no kushi, limited teriyaki, no plain miso. I think I'm spoiled, living so close to Little Tokyo back in L.A.

And I don't understand why they wear uncomfortable "fashionable" clothes all the time, and watch East Enders every night, and want to spend an hour every morning doing their makeup and hair.

Yeah, who the fuck are those people? And shit, I really am John in "Down From Mt. Olympus." *headdesk*

I already have fifteen icons with Rodney in, and I can't help feeling that it would be excessive...

Nonsense! There's no such thing! ;-)

[wychwood]

Nonsense! There's no such thing! ;-)
I hate you :p

Also, how about those .oggs? Assuming you see this, what with the sucky notification that's going on...

Yeah, who the fuck are those people? And shit, I really am John in "Down From Mt. Olympus." *headdesk*

Heh. Yes, I have to keep fighting against my sense of "superiority". I read a fic earlier which described Rodney as being arrogant about his intellectual powers, but not assuming that he was better than other people, just smarter. And I kind of think that's true - he tells people that they're dumb, but he doesn't therefore totally ignore them, he wants to teach them, to make them smarter. Whereas John in that fic was actually thinking of himself as superior, as a different order or being. So maybe we need to aim for Rodney-style disdain, rather than John-type isolation? *g*

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

*is unrepentant*

Also, how about those .oggs?

I don't actually know what an .ogg is. I have a Mac--does that make a difference?

the sucky notification that's going on...

And LJ continues its campaign to drive me batshit...

I like that description of Rodney a lot. I can definitely see him as sort of perpetually baffled: Why are you not getting this? It's easy; how come you don't see it? And thus a lot of his bluster stems from frustration, 'cause on some level he can't conceive of people being that stupid without doing it on purpose. *g*

So yeah, I guess I see a little of that in myself, too. I think that's why I, and why a lot of fandom loves these guys so much: we're so like them; they're so like us. Only smarter, hotter, and having wacky adventures in space. ;-)

[wychwood]

they're so like us. Only smarter, hotter, and having wacky adventures in space. ;-)

Pssh. Speak for yourself; I so have wacky adventures in space *g*

And thus a lot of his bluster stems from frustration, 'cause on some level he can't conceive of people being that stupid without doing it on purpose. *g*

Yes, exactly *g* That makes so much sense of his characterisation.

And yes, I too identify with Rodney. In fact, he's pretty much the only one of all my fictional favourites where I really do identify. Admire, yes, respect, yes, identify? Not so much. But I have so many of Rodney's bad habits... and he's such a geek. It's great :) That's one of the things I never stop loving about SGA, the way the geeks get to be not just important characters, but the heroes. There really aren't many other books / films / shows where that's true.

OK. I don't know how you play oggs on a Mac (it's just another file format), so I'll have to rip mp3s over the weekend.

And heh. I didn't get a notification for this, either, I just thought I'd check back on it!

[violin-road.livejournal.com]

Randomly, I totally went to Wagamama when I was in London forevvvvvar ago, and quite liked it! But I've only started eating sushi recently, so I didn't feel the lack.

But more importantly, is Lost sci-fi? I've never been entirely clear what, um, happens on it (on account of how I don't watch); the one episode I caught was ... um, maybe verging onto magical realism? But certainly not science fiction, and I've yet to hear anyone else call it that. So, do tell!

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Lost is some glorious half-breed, with some definite sci-fi elements (about which I would know more if I could get TV over here *pouts*). But what I was really objecting to was Jean objecting to anything "genre"--with Lost somehow exempt because it's been accepted into the mainstream. Like people I used to know who mocked me for reading comics but queued up the first day to go see Spider-Man. *sticks tongue out at them*

If you're just starting to experiment with sushi, I recommend you try caterpillar rolls. They are so good--and, I promise, 100% caterpillar-free. *g*

[violin-road.livejournal.com]

Oh, but don't you know? Anything with hot people in isn't geeky anymore! *SIGHS AT THE WORLD IN GENERAL*

— *eyes* What are they? I've been mostly sticking with California rolls so far, and doing just fine for it, so.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Um, they're eel. No, don't run away! Come back, I swear they don't bite!

Ahem. But yeah, eel with avocado on the outside so they look shiny and green--hence, caterpillar. And they're really, really good--like California rolls but better because the eel is more flavorful than the crab or faux crab. I worship really like them, and I'm not adventurous about food at all.

Go forth! Try them! Let me live vicariously through you!

[violin-road.livejournal.com]

Hee, you know. Everyone keeps telling me, "have the eel! It's delicious!" I ... assume some day I will become brave enough to take the entire world's advice.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

I MISSED TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY THIS YEAR! *sob*

But yes. Pirates. And boykissing. *happy place*