Then it said ‘mew’

On Friday night was Dani’s birthday dinner. On the train ride there, Mela pointed out that in my previous post, I’d gotten the sequence of events wrong, and Monday actually happened on Tuesday and vice versa.

We arrived at Melb Central late, and were worried that we’d held everyone up, but it turned out that everyone else were just really, really late, and we decided on having some hotpot for dinner, picked up Soph, and went to Little Lamb on Russell St.

Carmaine and her boyfriend dropped by for a few minutes but declined to dine with us, saying they were too poor. So, instead, Dani, Mela, Soph and I pigged out on the hotpot, aiming to eat more than the 25 dollar flat rate we paid, and we all chatted. April came along a bit of the way through and, despite not eating, stayed to talk. Mela and I realized that we were sitting on one side of the table while eating, and the other side of the table sat the three halfies, all of them good looking and none of them eating.

Saturday was Brendan’s party. Cindy and I went to Stud Park to shop for jello-shot ingredients with Mela, and then we went to Sam’s Warehouse to get shot glasses. It was cold and raining, and my hunger drove my caring girlfriend to begrudgingly buy me a sausage with bread.

We went to her house, and the other two made jello-shots while I went on Tumblr. Cindy accidentally spilled one shot while we were arranging them on this ceramic tray, and so not to waste, the three of us took turns slurping up the semi solid goo with a straw. Ah the dignity that we forfeited.

After that, we went to Brendan’s house early, having nothing to do at Mela’s (they watched Whip It for a while but I complained). We met the kitty ‘Doc’, and we played with the kitten for an hour or two until more people arrived. Brendan got this weird blowup guitar as a present, and the jokes of him blowing up something large and pink were numerous.

Now, this party was the one where I was meant to drink, but something went odd with my tolerance, and I ended up on that platform of one-shot-too-many, and my darling was put to the test by having to take care of me while I threw up for about an hour. But, hey, before that the party was great! Apparently I danced, we ate pizza and chips, played with the kitten some more when someone brought him back downstairs. Arthur and Valia (newly coupled and all that) were being super cute and made fairy bread. We sang along to karaoke.

In the end, Mela’s older brother drove us home. Having work the next day, I did my best to hydrate and sleep, and then went to visit Mela after she finished her shift the next day before Jen (from that other time with the surprise visiting at work and all that) who was going to have lunch with Mela drove me to work.

I always like Brendan’s parties. I will aim to like all of it without throwing up of course. I missed out on Truth or Dare too!

Alex.

A dotty recap

I’ve been slacking off in the documentation of my activities…so I will dot point what has happened since last week (a feat I don’t often attempt, lest it decreases my writing skills)…

Starting from last Saturday:

Saturday:

• Went to the dentist to get my teeth checked up and cleaned.
• Went to the Glen to hang out with Mela a bit.
• Ended up buying the Hunger Games trilogy box set.
• Had lunch while standing up from the lack of seats – it was a weirdly busy day at the Glen.
• Went home and read the Hunger Games (1st book) in one sitting.

Sunday:

• Rushed out of the house because parents left later than expected, leaving me the tiniest window to catch up to my bus.
• Did manage to catch the bus, and went to have lunch with Mela before her shift.
• Went home but didn’t really feel like reading the second book.
• Downloaded a lot of eBooks – for free!

Monday:

• Stayed home all day because I promised my parents I would.
• Mela was having a terrible day, and I couldn’t go out to make her feel better.
• She ended up going to work as a last minute notice.

Tuesday:

• Went to Chadstone to hang out with Mela, Cindy and Brendan.
• Shopped! Got a new pair of Vans, a new YD waistcoat and Mela surprised/snuck past me by buying me a shirt I liked before I could stop her.
• Pestered Ser- at work. She had her eyes on a “cute” guy who was working at Gloria Jeans opposite her. He wasn’t cute.
• Took the bus home with Ser-, Brendan and Mela – Cindy went to work.
• Cindy bought a shirt, which is something she doesn’t usually do. Mela bought a pretty dress. Brendan bought a strawberry milkshake.

Wednesday:

• Went to Knox with Mela so that she wouldn’t be bored at home before her late shift.
• Hung out and I checked in everywhere with Foursquare.
• Were disgusting everywhere we went holding hands and such.
• Looked at a ring at Michael Hill but I ended up chickening out because it was just a bit above my price-range.
• Both of us got freaked out when the lady brought up lifetime warranties.
• Got some chocolate caramel popcorn from the new popcorn place.
• Had a massive chicken club sandwich for lunch.
• GOT SLAM DUNK FROM MELA!
• Big hugs and kisses goodbye because the day ended way too soon.

Thursday:

• Late start, went to meet up with Annie, Vania, Marvin, Julia and Tiff at MC with Mela.
• Mela surprised me again by showing up on my bus.
• Had lunch with the group, then they went to see the mummy exhibition while Mela and I stayed in State Library games room so she could play Pokemon while I watched Despicable Me on her lap.
• Head scratchies!
• Caught back up with the group and went to Giraffe for dinner. They were all so hungry they all finished their risottos.
• Played Big 2 for a bit – Annie remains unskillful.
• Went home – head scratchies on the train back! Mela says she pampers me too much.
• Went to bed early because I felt tired and sick – Mela stayed up and played Pokemon until 2 am.
• Slept 11 hours and got up today to laze around before going to Dani’s dinner later!

More to blog about tomorrow! Why, it’s Brendan’s annual birthday party! How the time flies.

Alex.

Lazy Dayze

Yesterday was a long day…of NOTHING! Well, not really nothing…I did go to Mela’s house to give her some new episodes of shows and a bunch of movies she wanted, and we watched some of those episodes together. Then in the afternoon we went into the city to meet her cousin’s friends (who she in turn befriended) who have heard about me but haven’t met me.

It was quite nice – Mela really wanted to try the risotto I harped on about at Giraffe, so for the second time (did I write about shopping with Jen and Annie on Tuesday? I don’t think I did. It wasn’t THAT eventful, just a nice catchup with good friends) in as many days we went to Giraffe. Mela’s friends really liked the cafe, which I think helped them to like me a bit because it was all “wow good taste” and stuff.

We played Bullshit after eating – Mela barely managed to finish half of her risotto because she said it was too filling…which I guess it was but still – and I was winning until Mela took me down and gave me all the cards…and so knew what I had, therefore she knew when to call me out, causing me to lose more. On the other hand, I really didn’t want to call my girlfriend a liar, so I never called her – or anyone – out. We left in a hurry when we realized it was getting late.

And in fact, it was getting quite late, or at least it seemed that way to my parents. They had to give Mela a lift to the bus stop lest she wait alone for too long, and on the trip back told me it was very troubling for them to go to these lengths – as in, to go an extra 5 minutes out of their way in an area they knew well. Sigh. Sometimes I wonder how they even manage to call me selfish with a straight face.

Today I spent a good half a day sleeping, then waking up and watching the weekly shows, then marathoning Charmed while snacking and drinking beer and eating ice cream and hugging Mela bear. It as unproductive and I feel like I should accomplish something, but at the same time it’s nice knowing nothing is due and I’m not doing anything wrong.

I missed her while she was at work, though, which confirms the whole attachment/abandonment issue. We also confirmed today that I have a control-problem when I checked up her bus times for her. I suppose there’s something for everyone to work on everyday, and seeing as my day was uber unproductive, at least it’s nice to have personality shortcomings to work on.

Speaking of projects…I’m not saying that my Writing Project is coming to an end prematurely, but I haven’t really been working on it – nor getting the inspiration to do so – for a while, so it’s on a bit of an extended hiatus until I get my mojo back.

Alex.

I’m out

Today, this happened.

Basically, “studies” have shown that children who grow up in a married environment are more socially and mentally developed than those who are raised by single parents or raised by separated parents.

They go on to list factors, like the fact that single moms are statistically more likely to not have graduated university – which is an intellectual factor in the upbringing of their children. Or, that being around an environment of love and stability is more nurturing for the children.

As you can imagine, so many single moms and dads out there cried foul. But I’m going to cry foul on a different topic.

The most obvious one that I will rampage on about, is the fact that the news article boasted a more-or-less nuclear family as its head image. Oh look, a mommy and a daddy would be the ideal environment for socially and mentally “developed” children! But what if there are two mommys or two daddys? What if they loved each other intensely, not married, of course, because they can’t, but they’re together…would the children still be as socially and mentally “developed”? Now, the study has said nothing regarding a homosexual parent pairing, but you can’t help but get the feeling from this article (so published in ohoho The Herald Sun) that homosexual parents aren’t even going to be considered, cos we all know they’re going to raise socially delinquent and destroyed children anyway – much less socially and mentally “developed” children.

Secondly, what is with the statistic about college educated married mothers? The implication here, at least how I read it, seemed to be that a single mother became so because op, she got knocked up early on, deadbeat dad is never around to help, so she’s had to forsake education to care for her children. But are all single mothers like that? What if a woman wants a kid but just can’t find the right father? What if she’s got a freaking PhD but no ring on her finger? Would she be less likely to raise a socially and mentally “developed” child?

And what is “developed”? Why does it conjure the idea that children in a separated and non-nuclear family will be out in the Big World wondering, “gee, how do I love? I have never been around real lasting love before…how do I know if I am doing it right?”

I don’t know who did this “study”, but this is one of the most conservative and narrow-minded stories I have read in a long time that passes itself as social science.

Alex.

I’d eat a crazy wing for ya

Today was Mela and my 2 month anniversary. For our 1st month I went to her house because she got food poisoning the night before. That time we cuddled up and watched movies under her blankets. Today we went out.

She had work in the afternoon, so I caught up with her in the last hour of her shift. I watched her stand behind the counter, not yet in her uniform, putting through game returns and trades. She was so small next to her two large manly coworkers.

We had a quick (McDonalds) lunch – it was McHappy Day we felt obliged – and took the bus up to Chadstone. We were both in very loving moods – after all, the past 2 months felt like a breezy dream, surely the next few would be just as easy!

We went perfume shopping, as she’d already bought me the entire series of Slam Dunk on DVD, and she really wants to try a new fragrance. We went around Myers spraying many many different bottles to find the perfect one, and after a good half hour or so, it was a toss up between DKNY Pure or DKNY Gold Delicious. We sprayed both on her neck, one on each side, and after letting it soak in for a while, we realized that Mela’s natural scent masked DKNY Pure too much. She seemed very happy with her present, and I was glad that at least this month I don’t have to worry about failing as a good girlfriend.

(Also, I know how our presents reflect the man/woman dichotomy. I did come across this Ralph Lauren one which I REALLY liked but it made her gag and feel nauseous so.)

Afterwards, we were going to eat at this Chinese restaurant, but the center was closing, so we had to go to Glenny. On the bus back, I remembered that Crazy Wing should have opened at Glenny, so instead of going to La Porchetta as we’d originally planned (because she’s never been and, it seems, still hasn’t been), we went to Crazy Wing. She was brave enough to want to eat two Crazy Wings by herself, but it seemed that the Glen Waverley branch uses much spicier mix than the one in the city, because she started tearing up badly, and when I tried to eat some for her, I was knocked over too.

I was so badly affected, in fact, that about 10 minutes after eating that, I started getting serious stomach cramps. I had to sit there and look like I was dying for about 10 more minutes, making Mela very worried about me. In the end we shook on it – we will never have Crazy Wing again, we’d only order their Spicy Honey or maybe a degree or two hotter, but never that. I also vowed to ban my dad from ever trying it – he has high blood pressure, and me eating it tonight made my ears pop with all the increased blood flow. It was bad.

Finally, after settling my stomach, we slowly walked back to the bus stop. On the bus, I sat by the window and saw her still waiting for her bus, so we texted each other from maybe 2 meters away. Ahhh the disgusting that is us.

Happy 2 months baby!

Alex.

To balance out your looks

Today I went to hang out with Julia and hand in my script. The weather had said it would be a mad storm. It was raining when we met up, but not so heavily.

We went to QV (bumping into Mai on the tram) for me to run my errands. I took a while to decide between what socks to buy, and then Julia got her chocolate. We went to Melbourne Central to grab a quick lunch – she wanted pizza, but lo and behold, my influence saw her queue up for Maccas along my side.

We sat and talked for ages – fighting over who would eat the last McNugget – and it was nice to be around her for a while because we haven’t really talked properly for a long time.

To cut a long and repetitive – and in many ways personal – story short, Julia and I sat around in many different places and talked for a long time in each of these places. We covered topics that I don’t think I would have dared to start with her any other time, but for some reason today it seemed fine.

I talked to her about Mela a lot – I told her about how happy I am now. It’s nice to have someone tell you that you’re in a good and healthy relationship, confirming what you’ve come to accept.

We decided it was time to go home at around 6, and terrifyingly enough when I was on the train, the storm clouds rolled in low on the skyline. Just 10 minutes later, my train was in the midst of the storm.

Luckily, as I kept heading towards home, the rain eased – but the clouds did not. I nervously waited for my bus to arrive, and then impatiently waited for my mom to arrive to pick me up from the bus stop. The hurry, it seemed, was necessary, because not 5 minutes after I closed the front door behind me, rain started pounding down.

I’ve had a strange evening. I’m not sure what it was but it was strange, and I didn’t like it.

Anyway. Going to Mela’s house tomorrow.

Alex.

Hurry Annie!

So, having had 3 hours sleep, I met up with Mela at the Glen right after I wrote that previous post. We took the train up, and realized that we were both exhausted and a bit too hot – the day was shaping up to be a lot warmer than forecast.

We got to Melbourne Central and agreed on some ice-cold shots of caffeine. I got a Double Beef’n’Cheese so I wouldn’t be consuming caffeine on an empty stomach, and Mela gave me that exasperated “Aleeeeex” because I eat unhealthy.

I had the Voltage thing at Gloria Jeans, which sounded nice but they had little bits of I-don’t-even-know black things and they stuck to my teeth. And it tasted horrible.

Mela got me a matching teddy bear to the one I got her, and so Mela-bear is now sitting snugly in my bed waiting for me to join it tonight. We took many photos with Mela-bear with Mela-person’s new Nikon camera, but she hasn’t uploaded them yet.

We went into the uni for me to print off my essays and hand them in. 19 pages of blood, sweat and tears sat in my hand as I grouped them with their respective cover sheets and slipped them into the essay submission slot. It wasn’t until much later in the day that I realized I never signed the area of declaration against plagiarism.

We went to 7/11 for our free slurpee, and then went back to Melbourne Central for a bit of sitting down before lunch, because it was uncomfortably hot and I was suffering in my new, stiff skinny jeans. The “a bit of sitting down” turned into nearly an hour of the two of us sitting on those bamboo couches and generally being annoying. Or, at least, I was, because I was very tired and I felt like being a bitch. Mela put up with it nicely, patiently waiting for me to make my mind up what to eat. We were so tired and lazy that, sitting pretty much 5 steps away from the nearest food vendor, we called up Annie, Clare, Jen and Julia in case one of them would be in the city to buy our lunch for us.

In the end we went to QV to eat. Halfway through, Annie texted saying that she was still at Bentleigh. This was at past 3, and with under an hour until the deadline, we were getting worried. So Mela-person and I ate our food quickly and hurried down to the uni to meet Jen, Anna and Josh, and together we filled out Annie’s cover sheets ahead of time so that when she arrived all she had to do was staple them together and hand it in.

We sat there for over half an hour in stress waiting for Annie, whose train decided to stop running. As more and more people piled in, and the clock hand crept towards the 12 (with the little hand at the 4 and stuff), we got extremely worried.

Finally, at 5 past 4, with people still lining up so it seemed that Annie has escaped late submission, the girl rushes into the room. We greet her with showers of bulldog clips, staplers and papers, and quickly threw her essays into the submission box. And, with that flourish of barely concealed dread, Annie’s 2nd year of university was over.

We started heading to Passionflower, but as we were leaving the campus I realized for the first time that my phone wasn’t in my pocket – a curious event, considering how large the phone is compared to how tight my jeans are. Josh found it in the library, after a blessed soul handed it in without stealing it. We went to Passionflower – but not after getting our 2nd free Slurpee – but Mela and I had to leave earlier because we’d been out way too late the night before.

And now I will finish my final Writing for Screen assessment, and be free like a candy wrapper caught in the up-drought.

Alex.

We are that car

Yesterday, halfway through my shift, I see two familiar faces walk into my store, flanked by one which I didn’t know, but felt like I did.

It turns out, to the bidding of that third face, the first two faces decided to come into the city and visit me at work. Those faces were Mela, Ser- and their friend Jen, who, armed with a green P, was invincible.

They stood around for a bit watching me work, which was unnerving, but after a while went and sat in the restaurant waiting for to finish, which was even more unnerving. They waited for over an hour and half for me to finish my shift.

Afterwards, we all got into Jen’s car, and she drove us back to Glenny – I didn’t even notice that she was speeding, only that we were at Glenny surprisingly fast. We turned up the music loud, and I had a feeling we were THAT CAR that sped by with obnoxiously loud music. We passed the Springvale IKEA, which looked fantastically huge, and Mela and I decided we should go, even though we’re not quite sure how to get there. On a spontaneous question, Jen led us to the KTV karaoke in Glenny right in between whatever replaced JG dumplings and the other Asian restaurant right next to it, because she knew the owner – who turns out to be the least-uptight Asian venue owner you’d ever meet.

We sang for quite a while, and Ser- had her first proper drink. Which was unfortunate because we forgot to factor in the fact that she’s super thin, had next to nothing to eat, and wasn’t experienced in handling her liquor. Two beers and a tequila sunrise saw Mela and me hoisting her to the bathroom and back, lest she wipe the walls with her clothing.

We talked a lot – as alcohol coaxes people to – and afterwards we went to Petaling Street (this was sometime at 2 in the morning and I figured I was in as much shit as I could be so I stayed longer) and had a bit of food for Ser- to digest and for Jen to soothe her sore throat. Sadly, Jen got some appetite-killing news, and pushed her food away. After Petaling Street closed, we sat/stood outside on the curb letting Jen vent about the news she just received, and in general vent.

It was a good night for proving friendship, that’s for sure.

Finally, at around 4, Jen’s friends (who are, surprisingly, my friends…small world) came to pick us up because Jen was in no shape to drive. I got home as quietly as possible, and went to bed for a 3 hour nap before I got up today to shower and hand in the cursed essays which I’ve spent the last fortnight working on.

But, still, it was an eventful night to say the least.

Alex.

Tracing letters along my back

Today Annie and I went to the uni library again to do research for our final essay. We thought it would be straightforward like it was for Asian PR, which we did a week prior.

It wasn’t.

We didn’t realize it when picking the topic, but the ambiguity of our research question drove us to near madness. We shuffled through the pages of our books hoping that something would jump out at us, or the jumble of quotes that we were slowly compiling would fall into some sort of essay structure.

Thank my stars Mela came just in time. She sat with me and calmed me down when I had my – and I never have these – attack of pure hopelessness. And it was a good thing she was there to do so, because otherwise I think I would have taken it out on Annie to the point where we would have had a massive fight.

While I was buried in my book and trying to make sense of the confusing language, Mela was watching a movie – tactfully turned away from me – and tracing abstract shapes and letters on my back. I don’t know if in her past this had worked, but I sure never told her that this was something my grandma used to do to lull me to sleep when I was very young. It calmed me down a lot and made me feel a bit better about my situation.

Sure, if I think about how much time I have left compared to the workload, I get scared again. But I’ve seen my ability to write even the most confusing and unresearched essay in a short period of time before. I’ve done the maths – I know that I just need to pass these essays to pass those classes, and even though that’s not the kind of mark that would make my parents happy, these are difficult and dry classes, and I doubt anyone would be having a good time in them.

I took a long hot shower when I got home. My skin reacted slightly to Mela’s sunscreen, so I let it soak a bit in the warm water. It feels better now, but it’s still a bit flaky.

I am going to go take some more notes before going to bed for a good solid sleep before doing as much as I can tomorrow.

And I love Mela, so very much. Not just because she came into the city today just to sit with Annie and me while we freaked out. Not just because she let me squeeze her hand whenever I felt overwhelmed. Not just because, even though she felt a bit ill, she still agreed to stay out a bit late. Mostly because she did these things willingly even when I didn’t realize the inconvenience it placed onto her, and never voiced my guilt when I did realize. Mostly because she looked into my eyes when I was going to just give up on the essay, and told me that I’ll be fine.

Alex.

Could it be…?

Today I woke up at 6, and I realized that the phone had cut out. You weren’t on the other end of the line saying “hi baby” when I called out.

Then I remembered that at 3 am I’d woken up again to the same situation, and I called you back. You were still awake, watching TV shows on your laptop. You knew the call cut out but I was already asleep, so you didn’t call me back lest you woke me up. I told you to call me no matter what.

Then I remembered that at 1 am, when I’d first gone to bed, you said that you planned to sleep in late the next day, having nothing to do while I studied, but you’d log onto Skype when I called you in the morning, and keep the video call running while you slept.

It sounds really silly, but right now I am watching you sleep with your nose curled into your blanket. You can sleep anywhere, anytime, even with a laptop glowing in your face.

These days are especially difficult when I have to stay home and study. But it’s only 1 more week until I am free – finished or not.

Sweet dreams, Mela.

Alex.