Day 3.. (well, technically 4 now since I couldn’t get on yesterday like I’d originally intended…) offline. And while yes, I feen to get on the digital infomation highway, I’m somehow alright. Dare I even say that being unplugged feels a bit nice at that. Particularly for what I’d escaped it for.
It’s a big week in LA, and moving only added to the frenzy.
Two of my supposed friends bailed, and it was just me and my new roommate loading up and packing the Uhaul. It was semi last minute. With the events last week, I hadn’t been able to pack much beforehand.
One nerd. One midget. (In California someone under 5 ft tall technically qualifies as handicapped… I’m 4’11”) Loading a truck. It took hours. Most of it was little things. Only a few heavy pieces.
It was actually his 30th birthday. And he spent it helping me. I feel incredibly blessed that I have such amazing people in my life.
“This only makes me feel old you know?”
“Wait a couple of days before you say that.”
At about 4am, we finally headed out. Thankfully, It was only a 45 minute drive to my new place. We stopped for some gatorade, some smokes and an ice cream sandwich.
“I thought you said you were freezing?”
“I am. But damnit I still want some ice cream!”
“Weirdo.”
I hopped in the Uhaul. The seat wouldn’t move up that far, and I could barely touch the pedals. I saw it could top out at 100. Oh I wanted to find out if it could get there. But I held back.
I was wide awake. My roommate was wiped. Miraculously, I found a spot right in front of our apartment. He headed to bed. I did some homework and then forced myself to sleep.
Sunday we unloaded. It went by alot quicker. I was feening for technology and the ocean. And, nothing against my roommate, but I wanted out of the apartment for the night. It’s a sea of boxes and my gtd is long enough without having to add that to it. I was supposed to go to the Kotaku pre E3 party with some other friends. But that was in a few hours.
We dropped off the Uhaul and grabbed some sushi. The friend of mine texted me that she was busy prepping for E3, so she semi cancelled. I was still considering going anyway.
We went home. He wanted to take some tylenol and nap. I popped online for a few minutes, thinking I may make a mohito and crash out too. My bed is super comfortable. My back was sick of the couch.
And then a touch of serendipity happened. I know quite a few gamers, and a few of them are also journalists. One of them being a very yummy “dark horse” whom I’ve kept missing anytime we were in the same area. I was at the same party as he was about 2 years ago in San Francisco. Still missed.
With E3 happening, I figured he may be in town. And since I’m officially an LA resident, it would be even more so possible to bump into eachother. And it finally happened. Just a few hours after arriving- I had a ___.
I felt a little bad about leaving my roommate. But this was something that had been building up for a long time. And considering it was a weekend, and a Sunday at that, I didn’t think that I’d be able to catch the person I needed for the interview for the article I was trying to write. I’d try to on Monday, if I was able to get online– moving shannigans have taken a majority of my time during the day, and, as I said, I’ve had limited net access.
“What would you want to do?”
“I don’t know. It’s your vacation.”
“It’s work and it’s your city madam. What do you usually do?”
“Well, I usually play video games and hang out at the beach with friends. Mostly social media events lately. So…”
I messaged my best friend and told her he was coming by, admittedly a bit giddy with anticipation. She is my confessional.
“Orly? What’s he look like? Link?”
I linked her his facebook.
“Well… he’s definately your type Jena..”
“Shut up wife. He’s adorable. I can’t help it you have no taste besides AJ.”
“I hate you. But at least it’s not ___.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me wife…”
Yes, thousands of miles away, not even able to see me, and I was caught. We know eachother far too well.
“Love you too.”
He cabbed out to my place- we were going to grab some food and then catch Hellboy 2. In all of the pictures I’d seen of him, he was with people we knew mutually. I thought that he was shorter. I guess I didn’t realize how gigantic that the other people I knew were.
I am pleased to say, he looked MUCH better in person. He is a giant. Oh, how I enjoy tall men. Mmhmm. And Jamie was right. He was sooo my type. We had a couple of smokes outside. I apologized for the mess inside my apartment.
“I literally moved in today.”
I think he thought I was halfway kidding.
“Wow.. holy crap…”
We checked the movie times and walked down to a local Thai restaurant I’d gone to with my roommate a couple of nights prior.
Amazing conversation. Tons of stories. Bobas. Sweet and sour shrimp. My kids got brought up somehow in conversation. I generally make a point not to talk about them with potential lovers. Not that I am ashamed of them or anything, but because it’s a sensitive thing that I honestly don’t think is anything that they need to worry about. So many single mothers are just looking for some paycheck to take care of their children. That stigma disgusts me.
“They don’t live with me obviously.”
But then he shocked me.
“Wait, so we don’t get to talk about your kids?”
Who the hell are you, and where did you come from. And the fact that he’s younger struck me as even odder that not only did he not have a problem with it, but he genuinely did want to hear about them. I was blushing.
“You’re adorable. Now tell me..”
So I told him some nerdy stories about my oldest son.
“He was playing Pacman one day when I called him. He was telling me about how he was going to die… and how he was going to get the chomper. I could hear the music in the background. And then my son screams “I pwnd him mommy. Pwnd Pwnd Pwnd!”
We laughed. We’re both such nerds.
“That’s got to be the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”
I blushed again. More conversation. Got the check and headed towards the movie theatre. It was a nice night for a walk. San Diego style weather. We got our tickets and sat down. There weren’t many people in there. We sat at the end, near the top. It would have been more cozy, however, it seemed like every single person that wanted to get up and come back chose our row. And then my phone seemed to constantly be going off silently…
We talked quietly through the previews. Lame. Lame. Matrix ripoff. Yawn. I swear Hollywood.. up your game a little bit. This is disappointing.
I had a dress and a short skort under it. The theatre was a bit hot so I pulled the top up a bit. He saw the skort…
“Your body made me stupid.”
I blushed again.
“Oh shush.”
“Seriously, your pictures do not do you justice..”
We talked about the CG. All the movies it seemed were ripped off to make this one. And the inevitable romantic plotline in every action movie.
“Did you ever notice that it seems that they do that everytime. It’s disgusting. Basically it’s for those vaginas that complain they have to go to these movies with their men, and then they can go aww.”
“Yes! Indeed.”
The movie ended, but the conversation continued even more. We had a smoke and started to walk back to my place. And then that talk came about.
So in between errands I’ve had to run, and phone calls.. all the fun stuff that comes with relocating… and now a social media event I’m headed to in San Diego, we’ve been spending as much time as we can together.
He didn’t attend a couple of parties so he could spend the time with me. He was bummed when he had to go to dinner with work instead of out with me. He’s a workaholic as I’m generally attracted to.. but he appreciates me… we enjoy eachother’s company. The lack of drama is something I’m really not used to.
“You deserve it. I’ve been trying to tell you that Jena.” a friend told me.
“When do you go back? You should come to an event with me Thursday or Friday.” I told him.
“Maybe Thursday. I go back on Friday.”
“It’s sold out. I don’t know how you’d get into that one though.”
“I’m charming. We can figure it out.”
So I may have a date to Twiistup. I’m not sure. It depends on a lot of things.. specifically if I can even get a ticket for him, etc. I still have to talk to some people to see about the official details.
I’m having a good time. Life is grand. It’s just so very busy. This week is full. Next week things should calm down a bit and I can finally get more done. The list is so long right now and it doesn’t feel like I’m making much of a dent. I can only do 1000 things at once. Please take a number- and don’t take it personally if I don’t get back to you right away. I don’t have much time for sleep, let alone much anything or anyone else. I’m sorry.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the events coming up. Until then, cheers.
I am an Enigma 