Japan be like Crazy, Yo!

So maybe I'm a little late on this gravy train. But like, am I the only one that still finds it incredibly trippy that you can call someone from the future? Like that whole today is tomorrow stuff? I have a feeling that the people that invented time zones weren't counts on things like MSN, e-mail or long distance calling cards. Like right now, it's like tomorrow afternoon in Japan. They already had their Saturday Night sleep but I haven't and I'm talking to someone from a land that has already experienced the time that I am experiencing right now. I keep hereing that song from the musical Rent, when I think about it. "Today for you, tomorrow or me," The whole actually makes my head hurt if I think about it too much. Enough of that. Sometimes I think about going to Japan. I wouldn't go and teach over there for a year now. I'm too old now, and my family needs me to be close and a million other little things that keep me tied to this Limbo life I lead in Van-city, but sometimes, I think that maybe I should have gone three, two or even one year ago. My friend informs me that 'my grade 11 self' would fit right in with the harajuku crowd. I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted. Personally I think my Grade 11 couture would run circles around the harajukus. I mean it just looks like Rainbow Brite meets Goth meets Alice in Wonderland. Is that REALLY so orginal?? Okay maybe I'm just a little bitter that all my teen angst was in waste when really all my parents had to do to cure me of my apathy was ship me off to hang with my breathern in Japan for a summer.



These chicks would have helped me put everything in perspective.

Current Mood: Tired
Currently Listening to: Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP

The Noticer

I notice stuff. Actually, I notice everything. I notice when people notice me. I notice when people notice that I noticed that they noticed me. I notice when people notice that I noticed that they noticed that I noticed they noticed that I noticed that they noticed me. I think I think too much. People make funny faces when they notice you. They either look right through you so that you won't have to make eye contact and do that awkward half-smile thing; or they look at you and then blink and then turn away. Noticing is weird. I always noticed the extras. I noticed that your fly is undone. I noticed that your nail polish on your left thumbnail is chipped. I noticed that one pant leg is kinda bunched up and you can see your sock when yu walk. Yeah. I noticed that, too. But God know, I never noticed those things about myself. My thumbnail polish is always chipped. My fly is always down. My little white Michael jackson sockettes are always showing. I am a mess. Because I don't really notice myself. I should, I guess. I should notice myself. But that could lead to unstoppable bouts of self-critical, self-refexsive, self-loathing. I feel more comfortable noticing others.
I always think about what woudl happen if I did more than notice. I mean Vancouver is a somewhat big city, I could avoid people if I wanted to. It's not like I haven't doen that before. But I always imagine little scenarios for people I notice. Create a little soap for them that relates to the littel thing I noticed about them.

Take this morning for example. There was this 40-ish Persian guy on the bus. He was wearing khaki-mustard pants and a khaki-mustard sweater over a crisp white shirt and some cheap business shoes from Payless, or something. He kept leaning everywhich way and was trying to figure out where the bus was headed and kept checking his watch. I think he must have hasd a job interview because he looked so uncomfortable in his clothes and he had one of those messenger bags ( to keep his resume in). I knew he had a family becasue I saw i wedding band on his finger. I imagined that he and his wife had recently immigrated from Iran and he was deapartely looking for a job so he could pay next month's rent. I imagined that they lived somewhere by Joyce Skytrain Station in a basement suite and that his wife worked long hours with a cleaning service. I'm sure he was pretty well-educated and was probably looking for a job way below his skill level.
Is that weird? That's not the only thing I do when I noticed strangers.
Sometimes I imagine what they would do if I did something completely random to them. Like today when I was wlaking down Davie Street and this homeless guy was just waking up. And he was so happy for some reason. He wasn't cute. he was kind of old. But we was really smily and he was like "Good Morning young lady." and I had such an urge to give him a big hug. Not like anything sexual. But just you know, I was listening to a fun song on my ipod and it was all sunny and the homeless guy was in a friendly mood. I felt like giving him a hug. Then at the gym yesterday, I was waiting for my step class to start and all teh girls were waiting outside and just chatting or whatever. And this girl sat down next to me on the bench when there really wasn't any room for her on the bench. And I was all hundled with my bag in my lap and trying to take a drink of my water. But I didn't have enough hands. I wanted to just drop my bag in her lap for a second while I took a sip of water. But I didn't. I just put my bag on teh floor and scowled.
Okay. the more I write about this, teh more weird it sounds. I'm doing to stop right now. Stop writing that is. Not stop noticing. I could never.

Current Mood: Notice-y
Currently Listening to: Beautiful by Belle and Sebastian.