i'm so happy for my brother - finding someone to grow old with.
but to tell you the truth, it's really hard for me to understand his relationship with mioko. (isn't that the cutest name tho??) he was an ex-patriot living in tokyo for awhile, and met mioko almost a year ago (?). and within half a year to a year, they're engaged.
i've only met mioko once, and i really don't like making assumptions...but she is your prototypical japanese girl. well, i guess japanese culture is really unique, so i wasn't that surprised that she was extremely polite, sweet, and cute. and her english is cute too...very broken and inconsistent. but her english is better than my brother's japanese.
i just find communication essential to a relationship. not that they don't communicate - but there are so many lil nuances that get missed. so much time spent on trying to understand each other just verbally. and it extends much further than just a language barrier. the cultural barrier is just as huge...of course that's not always a barrier. having a deep appreciation for one another's culture is only a beautiful thing. but i dunno...if i can't be jamming to "i can't wait" with my man then there's a problem. hehe...=OP you know what i mean....
i guess some people take that much joy in being so different from each other. but i guess i wouldn't be able to do that...could you?
busy busy busy. i have always liked being productive. and i tend to pile up my time with organizations and what not. of course, i love being active and doing something about causes/movements/things i think are important...but i also realize that its an excuse for me sometimes. not an excuse maybe...but it definitely help keeps me from being emotion-central. keeps me from thinking. the type of thinking that can't be stopped or resolved because of my own damn ideals.
i don't dwell on things, because that's just unnecessary and pathetic. in the sense that i don't necessarily let it get to me on a daily basis. its a waste of precious time and energy to dwell. but at the same time, my issues tend to last a long, long time or they recycle themselves...its hard for me to move on, because i can't let go. i'm very attached to my ideals...more than i ever knew. i guess in a place like ny, there's not much i want to attach to. so my ideals become my stronghold.
but if i don't let go...am i being stubborn for no reason? am i just blindsighted right now? i don't wanna be one of those people who are stubborn just to be stubborn. but i don't wanna be one of those people who just gave up either...
we are moving out of the bedbug-ridden apartment. phew. after 3 exterminations, i'm still getting bites. they're all over my neck and hands now. i'm pretty sick of getting bitten. especially because I don't seem to getting more immune to them...as i should be after getting so many bites.
anyways, we decided to move last Saturday, and found an apartment that same day. it's so awesome. i can't get over it...2 convertible 3 bedroom (we have another roomie!), doorman, laundry, big, new, no fee, and a very very nice price. the kitchen is new with a dishwasher!! oh and get this...central air. i havne't had central air since i lived at home.
it is high annoying tho...that there's a chance we could bring the bedbugs with us. scary...cuz they are so small and you never know where they could be...where they could lay their eggs. everything...from our clothes to our beds to the tv...to the picture frame.
but highly relieved. its hard not feeling settled for two months. everything is out of sync for me right now...but hopefully in a month things will be good. and i can feel at peace at home. and at heart.
10.17.2002
hmm...so i hear that the girl who was supposed to start up culture shock ny actually started up the culture shock dc...and she loves it there, and is not planning on returning to ny. AAAGH...geez...it's now been over a year waiting for this stupid group...
well, at least other people are dancing...
the original 2xser is doing real well...teaching all over europe...woohoo!
and christofurNeSs just made it into Boomshaka at northwestern (all you who were at dance mix 2002 at umich...remember they were the first act..)!!! congrats!
and of course funktion and 2xs are going stronger than ever...!!
10.09.2002 "Dear policeman, I am God," the message said.
Police said it was found on a Tarot card known as the Death card, part of a deck used in fortunetelling. ...
There's nothing like the sniper attack in my hometown to scare the begeebies out of me. and the rest of the nation.
--let us pray that these nonsensical shootings somehow are put to an end--
10.08.2002
i imagine myself as tori alot. the passion that she must feel when playing the way she does. its as if she knows how i'm feeling. how i'm crying. how i'm reaching. the very things that bite and spit at me. is that why i bought a keyboard. probably. it's raining in my bedroom again. actually i don't believe it ever stopped...as much as i try to focus on other things and keep being the optimistic leslie that at times inspired others, it doesn't go away.
am i missing god? cuz really these tears i've cried, i've cried before...and i feel like i'm floating. but in a way that keeps me from flying. a meaningless, hapless floating.
I don't do well existing in a place where, I believe, many people exist - satisfied, content. i'm too idealistic, too restless. but i am missing something. but not really. i am missing perspective...but i'm not really missing anything. and the worst part is i think a big reason i feel like i'm missing something is in a big way a result of living in ny. or maybe it's cuz it's so different from umich. i'm not too sure.
what can i be sure of these days??? that's just it...i can't...
when you get an extermination...shouldn't the entire apartment, cracks & crevices, behind furniture, underneath furniture, etc. be sprayed??? is it me or does something seem extremely WRONG when nothing in the apartment looks like it's been moved...after an "extermination"??? the papers on my night table lying on top of each other at the same angle...the lil taiwan flags in the pencil holder resting with the same curves....the little tassle on my friggin camera case still hanging over the ledge...the crumpled newspaper stained with the orange paint i just used for my shelves in the exact same position....the...ok ok you get it. how hard is it to pick up a lil trash can to spray under it?? or a 2 lb. dumbbell? or a mini night table? or really...even the couch. fine if you didn't spray under the trash can...but the couch? it's not that heavy. i'm weak, and i can move the damn thing over a few inches. just move it and spray. but no the pillows are in the exact same stacked position in the corner as they were.
how does the landlord respond? -->"yes they did. I was there. they sprayed your mattresses and carpet.....they will move furniture and other things around next timeif the 1st extermination didn't work." ?!@!#!#$!??#!#!!!!!
funny how i start mentioning that me & kouk did some research online about bedbugs, and he interrupts, "Yes, I know where they come from...from the cracks and crevices and carpets...". THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU HAVE THE EXTERMINATOR SPRAY IN THE CRACKS AND CREVICES OF THE APARTMENT???
10.01.2002 Cimex lectularius, or the bedbug, has specially adapted mouthparts for piercing and sucking blood.
ok, so we don't have an flea-infested apartment. we have a bedbug problem. either way, it's pretty bad...the bites haven't completely stopped. GROSSS!!! but hurrah for the big bad exterminator is coming today. but the thing is, they were in 2 other apartments this past year...which means they weren't ever entirely exterminated from the building. which means they could come back. when we least expect it.
we're going to ask for a free month's rent. anyone with some law knowledge...can we do that? see, we were just going to ask for maybe half month's rent at the most. but kouk's mom's lawyer friend told us we can definitely ask for full free month's rent, and more if wanted to. we could go the board of health, and potentially get them in alot of trouble.
i'm very split on the situation. see, i'm very annoyed that the landlord did not seem at all surprised/apologetic about the situation -- when i first called them, i left a message saying we think we have fleas, and that we both have tons and tons of bites. they called back and said they would call an exterminator. but then kouk did some research online, and figured they may not be fleas, since...we really could see any except one. and we were worried that the exterminator would get there, not see any bugs at all, and just leave. so i called the landlord back, told him that we don't actually see any bugs, but we are getting the bites. he says, "oh yea, we know...they're bedbugs. 2 other apts in this building have had them in the last year." so that really makes me wonder if they did everything to make sure that the new apartment didn't have any before they rented it. we moved in less than a month ago, and a week or two into it, we're both covered in bites. if this were months into our lease, of course that would be "better"...because then maybe the situation would be that they had exterminated before we moved in...but they just happened to come back. but the fact that we just moved in, makes me feel really uncertain that all precautions were taken to ensure for a clean, uninfested apartment.
at the same time, i don't want to get them in trouble...because they really did act quick to get an exterminator. and they're really nice, seemingly honest people. and good landlords from what we've seen thus far. i don't think that they intentionally left it unclean or anything. but i dunno dude. i pay half my salary for rent every month, and this just can't continue.
delesliedeliciousdeclyde