Poagao's Journal

Absolutely Not Your Monkey

Jun 29 2001

The good news today was that we got off work at ba…

The good news today was that we got off work at basically noon. The bad news was that we had to attend our company’s anniversary party. You know, the one I was supposed to wear a ski jacket to since that is the only red and black thing I have(red and black are our company colors, in case you forgot). I dug through my old clothes and found a red button-down I could wear with a black T-shirt(is there anyone out there who grew up in the 80’s and doesn’t have one of those?). I figured, since my motorcycle is red and black, I could always ride it up into the theater where the party was being held. Would have made it a lot more interesting than it was.

First I stopped by the Ministry of Truth where friends Dean, Steve and Brian work to drop off my resume personally to the person in charge of the department Steve works for, since he is leaving and I would like to take over for him. The reason I had to do this in person is because I seem Chinese on paper, and they aren’t looking for a Chinese for the position, so I had to put my non-Chinese self on display for them so as to avoid any confusion on the matter. Anyway, apart from an email and a couple of phone calls, it’s out of my hands now. All I can do is sit and wait and imagine myself doling out Truth to the Masses on a part-time basis.

As I rode over to the West Gate District, I was stopped at a red light when a cream-colored Rolls-Royce was heading for the intersection as its light turned red. Somehow I guessed that it wouldn’t stop, since Rolls-Royces tend to be full of pompous asses who think they are above everyone else, including traffic laws (I realize that I am generalizing here, but as is usually the case when I generalize, I don’t care). Heck, even people in black Benzes here think that, so I was pretty sure the Rolls would run the light. So I made a point of proceeding about a foot into the intersection when my light turned green, causing the Rolls to brake suddenly and honk at me. I caught a glimpse of some guys in suits and a couple of young girls picking themselves off the floor of the back seat as it passed. Victory! Unless, of course, the car contained the owner of one of the few South American nations that still recognize Taiwan, who doesn’t take kindly to such interference and is right now finding out where I live so he can fire a missile into my window. Also, they are still driving a Rolls while I am still on my crappy motorcycle. But I do what I can.

I got to the West Gate district without further incident and parked a couple of blocks away from the “Sound of Music” theater. There were lots of kids hanging out there, which is not unusual, but wait until the college entrance exams are finished; then that whole area will be completely packed with them.

The party was about halfway over by the time I got there. It was being held in the theater, and included the cheezy skits by the various departments, songs and stupid prize contests. There was a company-wide ballot taking, and one of the most anticipated events was the “Sexiest Woman” contest. Basically the candidates were a group of some of the better-looking women who work at our company, plus our boss, who is a middle-aged woman who had no business being included in that contest. Believe me, if you saw her, you’d agree with me. I didn’t take a picture of her, because I didn’t want to waste flash memory on her image when I could take pictures of people I thought more attractive, such as this picture I snuck of one of my co-workers, on whom I have a small crush.

Of course our boss won the contest. It was embarrassing how blatant the brown-nosing was. After the party they showed a french movie “All about Women for all the Stupid Males Out There” or something like that. I don’t speak French and didn’t feel like reading subtitles, so I left. On the way out I met the English copyeditor for Results, a friendly Australian girl from Sydney named Lee.

I went to Tower Records for a bit and then planned to head over to the Minsheng District for sword class. But a sensational sunset was brewing, so I went down to the riverside park and took pictures like this until the show was over.

I was late to sword class but got a bit of practice in and even took some photos. It went pretty well at first, but I felt like I was getting sloppier every time I did the form. I will have to work on that. I’d also like to get back into contact swordplay, like Seamus, Dean and I used to do in the park across the street. But Seamus, our teacher, is in India being a Sadhu right now, so Dean and I will just have to slash away at each other instead. Here is a panoramic picture of the park I took from my room, by the way.

On my way home I passed this restaurant. As I said, I don’t speak French, but doesn’t this mean “A Good Pain”? Is this really the best name for a restaurant?

“How was your meal, Monsieur?”

“I’m in pain.”

“Monsieur?”

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s a good pain!”

Of course, if this actually makes sense in French, feel free to tell me I’m an ignorant bastard.

posted by Poagao at 3:09 pm  

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