Wednesday, March 31, 2010

On thinking the elevator in my building may be rigged.

So, you may recall that a few weeks ago I walked into the elevator of my building and overheard a possible drug deal. This left me more than a little inquisitive about the folks that live in my building.

Yesterday I stepped into the elevator to go check the mail before I had to go out. There was a short Hispanic woman in the elevator already, she had long, black hair, horn rimmed glasses, dark, deep set eyes and she was about 5'2" on a good day.

She says to me "Hello!" in an abrupt, but cheerful voice.

"Hi" I say, cautiously.

"Do you read the Biblé?" She asked, while studying me with her eyes.

At first I did not understand what she was saying, as you will notice the accent mark I put on the "e" in the word "Bible." That is how she said it. "Biblé"

"Do I read the what?" I asked, incredulous.

"The Biblé, do you read the Biblé?" she persisted

"Oh! The Bible?" I ask, trying to stall

"Yes, do you?"

"Yeah, sure..." I say.

Now, here is where I must explain that I do not read the Bible. I have, in the past, read portions of the Bible, but I most certainly do not read it on a daily basis, nor do I even consider myself to be a Christian. But, I have found that when dealing with fanatics of any kind, it is best to just agree with them, lest you want to be subjected to a lengthy lecture about how their views are better than yours and that you will be cast into the fiery pits of Hell or wherever the non believers go if you don't listen and take heed.

"Do you believe in Jesus??" She presses, insistently.

"Oh, yeah" I say. "Of course!" I reassure her.

She seemed satisfied by this and finally moves on to her next victim.

Monday, March 29, 2010

A conversation that led to my currently being single

The title pretty much sums it up.

The lovely chap I had been on a few dates with called me up about an hour ago and preceded to tell me that he just didn't feel a spark between us and that he had been waiting for it to show up and that it just had not, and that he was sorry.

But, fear not my faithful readers, I felt the same way about him and was very relived that he called to tell me this, because I was far to chicken to initiate the "let's just be friends" conversation. But we did have the "let's just be friends" conversation and I actually really enjoyed it. We both are on the same page and we both have mutual affinity for each other which created a space in which the conversation did not feel strained or tense at all.

There are qualities about him that I really admire and respect, just not in a romantic way, and he feels the same way about me. It really was I think, the best "let's just be friends" conversation that I think I have ever had, ever.

Kudos to us.

I am looking forward to our friendship and I am also looking forward to moving on and dating a new person and seeing where that goes as well. I am proud of myself for not rushing into anything and really taking my time to investigate the situation. I like this new Méla, I think she can stick around.

Through this experience I have realized that passion is really important to me in a relationship, and I am not talking about angry passion. I enjoy spirited debates and I like to have a healthy amount of disagreement.

On to the next!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Monday, March 22, 2010

Picnic Date in the Park

I went on a date last week with a nice, handsome man that I met on OkCupid. We went out to dinner on the very rainy and blustery day that was last Saturday. Our conversation flowed, even though we were both a bit nervous. I got to the restaurant first, he was delayed because of slow train traffic.

I saw him when he walked in the door, craning his head and neck above all the restaurant patrons to see if he could see me. I was seated over at a small table to the left of the door, close to the wall, so I took the opportunity to observe him fro a few seconds before I alerted him to my location.

He was tall and very good looking. Of course, I had seen photos of him from his profile, but one can only hope that people are honestly portrayed in said photos. He had strawberry blond hair, a bit shaggy and brown eyes. I was very happy to be having him as my dinner date for the evening.

I took a deep breath and waved him over to my small waiting table, and we waited about two minutes to be seated.

When we got settled, I gifted him with something I picked up from my favorite store ever. He seemed a little bit flustered over this, but I assured him that it didn't cost me very much at all, and I had already bought three things for myself.

I quite enjoyed the rest of the evening, and after dinner we walked to the train station and he gave me a hug goodbye. The next day we decided that we would go on a second date.

On the second date we started off at the lower end of Central Park and set up a picnic. It was a gorgeous day, and very much the last Saturday's opposite in every way conceivable, which was great for me because I got to wear a dress and show off my legs.

We were having an easy time chatting and munching on some food I had store bought from Fairway and his home made pesto pasta, which was very tasty. About halfway through the picnic, we were approached by two women who greeted us warmly and gifted us with lollipops and a water bottle and a business card for a church and then they invited us to come and spend Easter with them at their church.

I had a little back and forth banter with the two ladies, and I asked them what denomination they were, and they had a very vague and unconvincing answer.

We packed up the picnic and walked downtown to see if we could go to a costume shoppe, but we got there too late and the proprietor had already left, so we decided to go for ice cream cookie sandwiches instead.

After that, I had to go take care of my dog in Brooklyn so we headed over there and took him for a walk and fed him, and then we left to go to dinner in the village. Then, we went to a record shoppe and browsed around and then finally went to the subway and parted ways.

At some point during the date, we discovered that we have differing views on which pizza place has the best pizza in NYC, and I am on Team Grimaldi's and he is on Team Di Fara's. On Wednesday we are going to begin to settle the score by going to dinner at Grimaldi's.

Grimaldi's for the win!!

I like the pace that we are taking things so far, it is such a refreshing change, and I don't feel rushed at all. Time will tell where this takes us, but I like the start.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

On getting in trouble in class.

Today, In class my evaluator gave me a couple of logic puzzles to do. I did them both within an hour which is super fast. And then I did a crossword instead of asking her for something else to do. I did the crossword in about half an hour and I was really proud of myself.


I took a picture of it:



See? See how it's all filled in all awesome, like?

And then this happened:


"You know what you did?"
"what's that?"
  "you finished your logic puzzle and did your crossword for half an hour and didn't tell me you were finished with your logic puzzle"
"i know, i was ignoring you, I know you're not blind"


I swear, If I make it through to the end of this evaluation, it will be the greatest accomplishment of my educational life. 

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Uhlerstown Hill Road

On Sunday I went out to my grandparent's house in PA to help take care of them and hang out with them so that my mom could hang out with her good friend who was visiting from Arizona. I would write the good friends name, but I am afraid that I would spell her name so atrociously that it would just be embarrassing.

My mom and her friend went for a walk in the woods while I stayed at the house and made my grandparents tea and cheese and crackers and talked to them about my life. My grandfather asked me where my sister, Natalie was and I told him that she is in Africa, serving in the Peace Corps. He asked me where my mom lived, and I told him. He asked me who was watching the TV and I had to tell him that Uncle Tony was watching the TV.

Each time I would tell him something he asked me, he would look at me quizzically and nod, as if he knew he was supposed to know the answer to the questions that he was asking, but he just couldn't come up with the answers anymore.

That's the way it's been for a while at their place. My grandfather worked until he was 85 or 86 years old. He had a manufacturing shop called the Bart Corporation - named after my youngest Uncle, Bart - and I used to work for him when I was a young teenager packaging things like washers that were the would be pieces to some larger machine in some faraway place. I don't remember what I got paid for doing the work, I don't think it was very much. I do remember that my favorite thing to do on the job was to seal the little washer packages with this hot glue machine. Oh, it was so cathartic.

At one time, my Cousin Tad's ex girlfriend Rachel was working there with me. She was an addict and she would constantly complain to me that her beeper was shut off by the company more times than it had been turned on. I always thought Rachel was a nice enough girl, she and Tad dated when I was around 13 years old or so, I remember my age because I have a vivid and horrific memory of being awoken one night when I was sleeping over at their house by the sounds of Rachel and him having sex. A couple of years ago when I came home for some family holiday, my cousin Phoebe, Tad's sister, told me that Rachel had been arrested for murder and that she had killed some old man for drug money. I was shocked. I had not seen her in a really long time and I never thought she would commit such a crime, and until that day I would have been able to tell you that I had never known anyone who committed a murder.

My grandfather was in good health and his memory was intact until well into the age of 90. And then, shortly after he turned 91, he got Lyme Disease and that really messed him up. He has never been the same since. I just don't know what happened. It was like overnight my Konka (grandfather) turned into the frail, feeble old man that I had never known before.

Ga, my grandmother, has been having memory problems for quite some time, but I never thought I would see the day that she had a better memory than Konka. I think she started getting dementia when I was around 16 or 17, she would just repeat the same stories over and over again. It used to bother me, but now I do not mind it at all, because it means that I still get to talk to my grandparents.

I do my best to treat my visits there like adventures. I like to think of it as a privilege that I get to recreate Ga and Konka's memories for them each time I see them. I am also grateful that they both still remember who I am.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

This is why everyone should stay away from internet dating sites.


jjt9210:ahh you dont wanna talk to me?? wtf did i do
jjt9210:anyway cunt, have a good one
melaeloise:excuse me?
melaeloise:i was away from my computer
melaeloise:what the hell kind of immature asshole are you?
jjt9210:i thought that but i dont go crazy trying to figure out what your doing
melaeloise:dude, you fucking called me a cunt
jjt9210:no crystal ball.. ill assume anyrthing
jjt9210:figure you didnt wanna talk
jjt9210:crucify me all you want
melaeloise:well now i certainly don't want to continue speaking with you
jjt9210:fuck you anyway, redneck
jjt9210:this aint your home and you know it
melaeloise:do you know how to read?
melaeloise:my mom is from the city, my dad is from chicago
jjt9210:thats great
jjt9210:you still a outsider
jjt9210:i was born here my relatives built that skyline you look at including the twin towers
jjt9210:yeah i called a you a cunt-striaghtup you aint gonna make me feel bad
melaeloise:you know "ain't" is not a word, right?
melaeloise:Furthermore, I did not do anything to you. I was only away from my computer.
jjt9210:i told you i believe you.. i take responsibilty for what i said
melaeloise:do you? you continued to insult me.
jjt9210:its a vial word
melaeloise:so far, cunt, redneck and outsider
melaeloise:How is that even relevant, my being born in WV?
melaeloise:Are you Xenophobic?
jjt9210:your a female so ive conditioned myself to be distrusting of anyone on here.. its the internet
jjt9210:im sorry like i dont expect you to ease up
jjt9210:actually i am parital to a chick w a ny accent like me.. damn right
jjt9210:i only like girls from ny!!!
melaeloise:okay, that's fine
melaeloise:I'm glad you figured that out for yourself
jjt9210:and a guy dosent like it when you feel the need to correct grammer-"aint"
melaeloise:well girls don't like to be called cunts, fyi
jjt9210:thats what a hipster/eltist would do or some ivy league bonehead
jjt9210:i already explained my madness behind that one
jjt9210:i thought you were avoiding me you just wanna try make me feel bad for being so quick to act on those impulses.. not gonna work
jjt9210:maybe you are an eltist and role with the hipsters?
melaeloise:I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I'm pointing out that you're being ridiculous
jjt9210:i know you dont have to condesecend me
melaeloise:LOL you just said i was trying to make you feel bad '
jjt9210:perception was such
jjt9210:im sorry for dropping the c word
jjt9210:so you hang out with geeks?
jjt9210:not to offend you
melaeloise:I hang out with a lot of different people
jjt9210:some people like you identify themselves as hipsters
jjt9210:you ever come across profiles or people like that?
melaeloise:Do they?
melaeloise:Not that I know of
jjt9210:so are you a hipster?
melaeloise:I don't know what a hipster is, so no
jjt9210:cuz i hate them
jjt9210:cocky and arrogrant
jjt9210:im a republican by the way so you block me right now.lol
jjt9210:figure you must be liberaL?
melaeloise:some people would call me a liberal, i suppose
melaeloise:but i have republican friends
melaeloise:it doesn't matter to me what you believe just that you are a good person.
jjt9210:fair enough
jjt9210:how would you define a good person?
jjt9210:because EVERYONE has there ways
jjt9210:i think you need a balance
melaeloise:yeah, everyone does have their ways
jjt9210:you like jewish people?
jjt9210:of course im not one
melaeloise:sure, why not?
jjt9210:im not really prejudice but i dont like jews \
jjt9210:i live in ny much longer then you so i know about them
melaeloise:why don't you like them?
jjt9210:there funny as hell w themselves but there cheap w money and greedy like ant capitalist would be
jjt9210:too much of a sterotype.. its a shame
jjt9210:but its true

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Sexy Advertising

Every time that I see that damn Rebok Easy Tone ad that has a beautiful lady laying on her side with the sneakers on her feet and the sultry narrator says "15% of a better workout for your thighs, 11% of a better work out for your butt, and 0% will know the reason is on your feet", I want to run out and buy the shoes.

Damn sexy advertising!!

I have so far managed to stay away from the store, but the ad stays in my mind. That's one of my pet peeves in life. All the advertising we are subjected to is sexualized. When I go to the store and I see the Swiffer Wet Jet for instance, I think instantly of all the discarded mops and brooms that have been banished to the attic, only to find love with the pink bowling ball.

Speaking of finding love, I am so sick of waking up alone. I want a boyfriend! I don't think I have ever been this insistent or this whiny about it, either.

I am already over being single.

I filmed a horror movie in New Jersey last weekend, and I had a super fun time. I got to work with Joe, Mike and Bri Bri again. This time I played Leya, the Rabbi's sister.

The premise of the move is that the Rabbi has been given a gift from God. Using this gift he can extract demons from beautiful women. However, the only way he can do that is to fuck the demons out of them (there is no actual sex in the movie). I am not going to reveal any more than that, you'll have to watch the movie for yourself when it comes out.

I had a good time semi flirting with Joe. I relaxed on the couch at one point and he came over and sat down and put my head on his lap and played with my hair. Oh, good lord. It was one of those moments where if I had been standing, my knees would have definitely went weak.

I am not sure how he feels about me though, or if he is even romantically interested in me. We are supposed to hang out this week because he is coming to the city to hang out with a friend of his. I suppose I could ask him, right?


I have to go to my grandparents house on Sunday so I can take care of them so that my mom can have a day off so that she can hang out with an old friend of hers. I have to take an early-ish bus out on Sunday and then I have to take a REALLY early bus on Monday so that I can be at class on time. The class starts at 9am so I have to be on the bus by 6am. Luckily, the bus will get in at Port Authority and I can just hop the crosstown bus over to First Avenue.

I met the coolest guy in my class, too. His name is Jeffrey and he is a Sarah Palin impersonator, and he is produces a show called "Hot Gay Cabaret". I really wanted to do a comedy set for the show, but I have a prior commitment for that Saturday. Sad Face!!!

And, ironically I am currently listening to Amy Winehouse's song "What Is It About Men"

There is a lyric in it where she says "And I pick the wrong men as naturally as I sing"

I can't sing so my line would have to be something like "... as naturally as I laugh"


At least I'm laughing!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Welcome to the Building

I was waiting for the elevator in my new building today on the way to work. My roommates and I moved on February 27th due to Adrienne's lease not getting renewed. She told me last Saturday that her lease wasn't getting renewed and that it was up on April 30th and then she asked me if I would like to move with Mike, Sandeep and her to a new place. I said yes  because I like all my roommates and think they are very cool.

She found a place very quickly that is only two blocks away from the old place and we all moved en mas in one tribe two blocks away.

Anyway, I was waiting for the elevator and it stopped on my floor, I opened the door and stepped in. I walked into the middle of a drug deal.

"Man, I live here because of all the Dominicans"

"Okay, man, but I can get you whatever you want, sept I don't have oxy contins, I got percosets, though"

"Yeah man, my back is fucked up"

And then we got to the lobby.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Seriously? What the hell?

Monday Evening I made a bad life decision. I let this guy who broke up with me in mid february come over. I suppose you can guess what happened, I'm not going to go into too much detail, because my mom reads this blog. Tuesday morning I woke up with two fresh hickey's on the right side of my neck. Joy.


Of course as is his M.O. he broke up with me AGAIN via text in the middle of the day. I didn't know we were even dating again so don't ask me why he did that. And then he deleted me off of his BlackBerry Messenger. So I left him alone the entire rest of the day, and then he sends me a text at like 10pm saying that he can't handle me, and to get out of his head. What the hell? Why is he messing with me? It's not like I'm innocent. I sent him something cute in Spanish. We texted back and forth for a little bit, and then I turned my phone off and went to bed. 


This morning I woke up super early around 6:30 or so. I turned on my phone and there was a text from him saying "Hi" so I said "Hello, good morning" and he said "Morning" and I said "Sleep well?" and he said "Yes, U?" and I said "Yes, I have to put my bed frame together today."


That last one was sent at 7:08AM and I didn't hear back from him so I just left it alone. 


Then, at 3:30 he texts and says "Have VD?"


And I say "What is VD? Venereal Disease? That term hasn't been used since the '80's and no, I don't. Do you?"


He says "Nope."  "Just checking, maybe u blew someone else" (sorry, mom)


Me: "Ha!"


Him: "I'm not "haha"ing"


Me: "Listen, you jerk, I have only blown you since I have known you. Capisce?" (sorry, mom)


Him: "Ok, well my back hurts."


Me: "I don't give a shit"


Him: "easy nichols"


Me: "Don't fucking ask me if I have VD who the fuck do you think you are? I care too much about your health and mine. Don't be an asshole."


Him: "I am a giant gaping butthole"


Me: "As long as you own it, it's cool. Get a heating pad and stop being a weenie"


Him: "Nor have I been with anyone"


Me: "I know"


Him: "But it's really over between us. Its a farce"


Me: "Okay, leave me the fuck alone then"


Him: "Don't go sending me some shit in Spanish"


At this point, I called him, enraged. And he picked up (Shocker!)




Him: "Hello?"


Me: "What the hell are you doing?"


Him: ( Muffled laughter)


Me: "Seriously. You deleted me off your BBM and I left you alone the whole fucking day and then YOU texted ME, leave me alone!"


Him: "Okay, I'll leave you alone"


Me: "Okay, bye"




And at the end of all that, I bet you a dollar this won't be the last I will hear from him.


What the hell was I thinking?