the nice

people i have known for over a decade each, whose opinions i value and trust, have informed me that i am not the horrible wench i have been making myself out to be, which makes me feel a trifle better even if i am still going to hell for wanting to laugh despairingly at someone with such an indiscriminately positive outlook as firehazard.

miss J told me the other night that firehazard 'brings out the worst' in me. i wholeheartedly, wholefistedly, even doublefistedly agree (shaking fists).

so i'm attempting to wage a campaign of nice. it's hard, because i've come a long way since my way-too-nice days when i was a super-powered magnet for strangers who wanted to tell me and tell me and TELL me. or take me to their 'secret surf spot,' or give me an unsolicited back rub, etc. i was once approached on haight street by a tripper who walked up and suddenly wrapped his arms around me in an all-enveloping hug (dude was significantly bigger than me), going 'hiiiiiiiiii sweetie! just loooooook at you! sweetie.' just because i happened to glance & smile as he approached. which is sort of sweet, but honestly? that ain't cool.

anyway, the campaign of nice has been challenging, as the person i am trying to be charitable towards does things like accidentally unscrew the light fixture instead of the base for the lightbulb AND shocks herself in the process.

*

but onto actual nice things (naturally, not my doing):
last weekend was another kitchen sink party; this one was a second anniversary celebration. it was a fun warehouse kinda party, with contributors' art on the walls, hordes of greasy-haired (probably extremely literate?) boys and fire-jugglers who kept dropping their flaming clubs on the floor, and recycled-material fashion – but the sound system was so bad that nothing spoken or sung into a mic could be understood. it was like the punk rock version of the peanuts adult characters. wawaWAwawawawaWA. (yes, ma'am.)

...and a text-message exchange i shared last week, while on dinnerless stomach i drank a super-sweet bubble tea AND had a slab of cake as i worked wireless-lessly at an oakland teahouse – BUZZZZZZZ!

unfamiliar phone number: hey girl! wazup? its robert. what r u doing 2nite?
me: hi there! uh, sorry, robert who?
upn: um, i think i may have the wrong number. what's your name if you don't mind me asking?
me: it starts with a W, if that helps.
upn: yeah i do have the wrong #. im robert [last name deleted]. how old r u? u dont have 2 answer
me: probably way older than you. have a good night :)
upn: you too. sorry to interrupt your evening, ma'am

oof. touché!