Know Your Enemy

As much as I don't want to believe this, some people are jerks.

On Thursday I just could not bring myself to go to school, so I drove to Whangaparaoa to ride, and to spend time with an old friend before he left the country. Now, I don't know if I have some sort of inherent personality flaw that attracts self-righteous people who make constant disdainful remarks about the rest of the populace, but let me tell you: I've been getting more aggravated about this particular guy as time goes on.

We met quite some time ago when I lived in Christchurch. He seemed okay - friendly, confident, you know, not retarded. I probably could have picked it up back then, but he's pretty rapid with judgement of others. Myself included. And I know I judge other people too, but this guy just gets at me the wrong way.

For one thing, on Thursday he had the audacity that all my recent "drama" is completely self-inflicted. Oh, yes - that's right. I intentionally got stung by a bee, hit by a car, and fired within 24 hours. Yeah, so it was my stupid fault that I left my keys in Christchurch, but you know what? It happens. To the best of us, at times. After spending an hour close to gloating about his impending OE - which is awesome, I'm glad he's finally getting out of New Zealand - he then told me I like to talk about myself. I admit that I do - I mean, heck - I have a blog, don't I? But do I seem like the kind of person that needs to be TOLD? Seriously, I'm pretty self aware. In the words of Billy Corgan: "in my heart I know all of my faults". They include, but are not limited to, being judgemental, being loud, being annoying, being VAIN, being argumentative. At the same time, I have my ... good points. Pros, if you will. I'm genuinely interested in the lives of others. I'm determined to make a decent contribution to society before my time's up. Oh, yeah and I'm an awesome cyclist. Ha ha.

This is coming from a guy who majored in marketing at university. Business-related majors are about as self-serving as they come. I mean, look at Donny. What was even funnier than pretty much everything put together was when he tried to talk about swimming, because his new girlfriend was a swimmer. Weren't we all? Oh yeah, but I didn't see her at the Olympics. I hate to say it, but I think I would know.

That's just about as much negativity as I feel necessary for the month, so I'm now determined to write effervescent, happy posts until the end of February.

Onto more important things: Serj Tankian. He lives here now?! Anyway, I heard tonight that he's playing a one-off show with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra in March.

Serj: What, Armenian and Amish aren't the same thing?!

With that in mind, I registered as a subscriber to the APO, and now I'm going to get an email alert when tickets go on for this show! I am not missing this. I missed Bad Religion. I missed Muse. I am NOT missing Serj Tankian with the Auckland Philharmonia. Review to follow! I'm quite excited about writing my first ever review.

Coming this week on The Elegant Mainstream:
- Auckland Anniversary Day
- "sultry eyes" at the Samala Robinson Academy
- Libby's 21st birthday!

Like every Monday, I have tomorrow off school, but this week so does the rest of Auckland! Hooray for a holiday! I can't decide what to do. Waiheke Island? Rangitoto Island? Swimming at Long Bay?

It don't get any Longer than this

I've bought a dress for Libby's 21st and saved my mother the hassle of making me one. Although I preferred the colour of the satin I picked out in Spotlight, our calculations proved it would be more cost- and manpower-effective to buy a similar dress in a eye-catching turquoise shade from Principals. Longtime friends will know I am a fan of the word turquoise, which helped to seal the deal. Photos will follow this Sunday. Until then, I'm getting ready to kick it in Poplar Lane.

Best wishes go out today to my Grandma, Pamela Torbell who was born on the same day as Martin Luther King, Jr. Apparently I've told her this every year on her birthday since I was eight years old. What can I say? I like history. Happy 80th!!

Peace and love until next time, yo.