D: Hi! I have no idea!! I hope soon!
How are you?
me: I need a job, but otherwise, good.
Are you flipping houses?
D: haha.. are you going to stay in london?
Well, not right now...
me: I was gonna ask about exciting love prospects, but doesn't seem like you'd have time for such things!
How is your mom?
D: oh she's really stressed out.. so it's hard on her.. I'll probably go back soon for another few weeks. but it's (redneck state)! I hate being there!
so it's always nice to come back to SF for a bit to refresh and start over
me: But. . . you grew up there. It can't be that bad. It can't possibly be as right as say, Kansas. At least you have good local food!
D: Yes, it's that bad.. Actually all the good food is gone. It's all just olive garden and chilis now.. But Kansas would be worse
me: Serious?
D: So how are you doing? How is London really? It sounds like you like it there.. I'm pretty serious actually
me: Hah! I like london, but I need a job. I have been getting by, so it's not a problem, but it would be nice to live here and not have to keep converting everything into dollars and thinking, $8 for a drink?? No way! Or $16 for a bowl of udon when I can get it in Japan for 600 yen??
D: yes, the pound is still pretty strong! That has to be a pain. It would be nice to get a paycheck in pounds.. It'd be great coming back here then!
me: But I like the international flavor, the fact that it is close to Europe, the fact that my classmates (who are friends) are from all over the world, and there's none of this bored, Bay Area angst--or at least I haven't seen it yet, though I'm sure it exists.
Actually, a paycheck in yen, given the current exchange rate, would make me filthy rich.
Um, I forget who I'm talking to here, but my definition of filthy rich =salary of over $80K/year.*
(*To provide context, the boy I am chatting w/ is a multi-millionaire, so obviously, we have different scales.)
D: I think that's probably true. It's definitely one of the world class cities... Something that we don't really have in CA. Also, SF isn't so bad, but Stanford was definitely angsty..lol. A paycheck in yen would be great - definitely... Most of my friends in Japan though seem so stressed out..
me: Well, true, perhaps, but I've met some pretty angsty people on dates in SF, too. Actually, you made a comment about that once. You didn't use the word angst, but lots of complacent, bored, linear folk out there. . .But very smart and well off.
D: Oh that's still very true..It's also a maturity issue..
me: Is the gay dating scene any different? I feel like you guys do much more interesting things and take more risks.
D: Men in particular here lack motivation to move into adulthood.. It's very easy to stay in this odd infantile state here..
You know, I don't really know.. I think there's a little more drama involved though..
me: Like there are (were) at least 3 people I had mad crushes on--all of who were gay. So freaking unfair. . ..
D: I think though after 30, a lot of gay guys finally transition into adulthood..
me: Somehow the Bay Area seems to feed this. And I'm guilty of this myself--I'm nearing (some age) and I have not a single vestige of so-called establishment.
D: It makes sense though... A lot of gay people have a reality check earlier on and can seems a lot more settled than straight men...
me: Yeah, they seem much more attractive, except that they don't like vaginas, which is a problem. Um, maybe I shouldn't be typing such things at a library computer. . .
D: It does... and I'm more or less in the same position. But I think too many men are still meandering..
haha
I think it's ok.. Gay men are sort of forced to take care of themselves..
I'm not sure why more straight men don't feel that pressure.. many do, and I think it's changing somewhat..
me: They also have taste and fashion sense, and COOK. Remind me why you guys (well not in CA, but in weirdo places like Kansas) are ostracized again?
D: haha...Well, the main reason we don't have full equality is probably Fox News.. lol
I can't cook though
I hate cooking.. It's stressful!!
me: Ha ha ha.
It's funny but it's not--the Fox News thing. . .You need to learn how to cook!
No but it's also Bill Clinton's fault.
D: It's actually very strange... I mean, I certainly don't mind people being conservative, but it's transitioned into something bizarre.. Especially in (redneck state). People were always redneck, but now aggressively so!
me: Here, it's amazing how non-issue it is. I mean, it should be non issue, but you really notice it when you leave the states.
D: Well, I don't know really, but the tory party in London is conservative, but they aren't totally nuts..
your experience may be different however..
me: But it used to be your home, so isn't there some level of comfort/familiarity in your home town? Or are you like me and every time you go back to NJ, you feel a bit disjoint, and everything that should be familiar feels surreally foreign.
Ah, ok. I don't hang out w/ brits--I mostly hang out w/ other nationalities.
D: oh it's completely surreal.. I have many issues.. It's hard to have conversations with people. I was talking to a cousin about alligators.. I mean, I don't really know how to contribute to that..
me: But if they mostly are just large carbon footprint producers and shoot animals and don't talk, then it's not so bad.
D: and the endless driving.
haha..
me: The last time I went back to my hometown, one of my childhood friends (well her mom) was complaining about too many Jewish people "buying up" property, and I was like, did we grow up in the same town? Why on earth is this a problem? Can I remind you that our town, to begin with, is 40+PERCENT JEWISH???
Ah, yes. I don't understand gun culture either.
I dated a guy once--WAIT. YOU KNEW HIM. C. He was pro-gun ownership.
And he was "uncomfortable" w/ having gays in the military, until I chewed him out bigtime.
I mean, seriously, people WTF.
D: The gun thing is just odd... I mean, it wouldn't be so much of an issue, but there's this disturbing aggressiveness in their gun love..
And that was a while back..
me: Yeah, a certain amt of jingoism. I can understand if they served active duty or something--then maybe you really understand and appreciate freedom, and maybe gun ownership epitomizes this freedom in some special way.
D: Sure... And everyone watches Fox... and they can't really recognize it for what it is... Many otherwise intelligent successful people their quite literally believe Obama is trying to destroy the country..
It does..
It does symbolize that sort of frontier attitude and a type of masculinity that's still really valued in the south..
me: Ok, to be honest, I confess that I haven't watched FOX news in ages. Didn't Tom Browkaw used to work for FOX? I must listen to it just to see what it's about. I always joke about it, but can't imagine it can be that bad. . .
D: That said, I have noticed a lot more GLBT people out and about in my hometown.. Which I never saw 20 years ago when I was there..
me: But Tom Browkaw didn't used to be a rabblerowser.
D: The Fox thing is strange... Glen Beck, Sarah Palin.. They're transformed conservative politics into something unrecognizable. I know nothing about Brokaw.
me: Ok, I should watch it someday for kicks.
D: Yeah, watch Glen Beck.. He puts on this little glasses and gives revisionist history lessons... and then cries.. It's very odd
me: I have to admit, I completely tune out that section of the news, so I barely have any idea who Glen Beck is, except that people keep mentioning him on FB.
me: I barely know what Sarah P is up to, but I should pay more attention, b/c if she ever heads our country, I might have to--ah never mind. I shouldn't say these things on a forum like this.
D: Well, it's good that you don't subject yourself to it, but it's still interesting how much of an impact he's having... He really puts people on edge. My dad used to have a rational view of politics, but now he thinks the US is going to be destroyed in a very literal way..
Yeah, avoid the Palin. She's like our Eva Peron only right wing.. lol
me: Ha ha. Hey, I just got timed out of some job app I was doing, so I should get back to it. . .but we should catch up sometime! I'll try to watch some Fox in the meantime for cultural edification.
D: I recommend a drink or two before you start watching it!
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