updated with photos from emilys album
many students here in davis celebrate the weekend by coming home. this is understandable for those who can claim that home has far greater things to offer than a small quiet college town. for me, home isnt within the bay area, nor is it a moderately sized city 20 miles away. living 3 hours away and having already come to fresno twice this quarter, you could say i return pretty frequently. half of the reason i left davis this past weekend was for mothers day. the other half isnt as easy to explain.
the first time i was in town for the quarter my sister spontaneously asked if i would be willing to take our close friend to prom. the question was posed in such a casual, almost entirely hypothetical manner that i replied casually, "sure, if no other guys ask her. but knowing her, fat chance." sure enough fat chance resulted in receiving an IM the following week confirming my earlier response. oy. indeed i was certainly caught off guard.
unfortunately resources were somewhat inadequate for the dance. i didnt have enough time to find a tuxedo nor were funds easily available. my reputation as a frosted flake is an everpresent discouraging reminder of my irresponsibility. i absolutely hate bailing out on people when i make verbal commitments. in fact, i made it a new years resolution to try as hard as possible not to bail out when i bring up or commit to something. i could not allow something like this to slip away so easily. so i made the compromise with my date to simply to take her out to dinner. she seemed fine with it and i felt more relieved that that time after having eaten half a box of whole fiber triscuits.
the first obstacle i encountered was finding proper attire. following a rousing game of pool with dean and peter at fresno state i realized i had 30 minutes remaining to get ready for pictures at copper river. i scoured my parents closet and found a nice pair of black pants. according to my sister, none of my dads neckties were suitable for matching my dates black and pink dress, so she called her friend over to drop off a black necktie. obstacle #2: i still do not know how to put on a necktie. my sister faintly remembers my dads lessons and made multiple attempts to get it just right. yeah, in the mirror it looked just right. no matching black jacket could be found. and i sure as hell wouldnt wear my dads naval officer uniform. i assumed the village people theme was inappropriate. i did manage to find a darkblue suit with pinstripes, so i threw that in the car as a backup. when i arrived i completely felt out of the loop with what i was wearing. especially after realizing that the black pants had belonged to my mom when i noticed the lack of a backpocket. no wonder the zipper of my slacks was so easily exposed. i greet my date, rush into the bathroom with the suit and change, and as soon as i come out the first people i see are mr. and mrs. seeto. how swell. i certainly felt awkward attending their younger sons prom picture gathering. even sweller was how they commented on my necktie. i should probably be thankful but i figured the sloppiness of my necktie wasnt too bad. then when it was the guys turn to have their pictures taken, all of the dads started telling me to correct my tie. oy, more embarrassment. my date was the only one without flowers. YES MUCH MORE EMBARRASSMENT. but from there on things only improved, at an increasing rate. reminder: get a copy of crotchshot picture from emily.
start laughing. flashback to 2 years ago.
dinner at the daily planet. yay. somehow i cut my finger off the door of the limo. awkward moment: im bleeding during dinner. tera finds a bandaid and then everythings fine and dandy. have good cheesecake. dance with amee and have a blast.
return to 2 days ago...
dinner at the daily planet. yay. i didnt choose it. i didnt complain either (actively). now, probably the most awkward thing you can anticipate is the age difference. what the hell is a 20 year old 2nd year college student doing at a junior senior prom, whos date is still a junior? but oddly enough i got along with this group of 9 high school kids pretty easily. really easily. easy to the point where i begin to question my own maturity and it makes me kind of sad, but that for another time. part of the reason was because i had already partially associated with a lot of these kids before. the majority of it was because this was simply just another generation of alternanerds, with a quirky sense of humor not so easy to find here. i laughed to myself a few times at how they reminded me of us back then. whenever the topic of conversation switched to something about school workload or specific teachers i thought to myself "wow i remember when i was a loser and did that." just kidding. occasionally id omit myself from conversation and just start thinking about how different weve become or how much weve evolved from being like this generation. what hit me most was how much the art of conversation has matured now. random topics were so easy to bring up and silly hypothetical situations were fun to play off of. man, im still amazed at how the topics we discuss are drastically different. its been quite awhile since ive gotten into pointless technical debates using funny arguments over the most obscure random things. gordon koo, you wouldve been my hero in high school. being the only junior there, my date seemed a little quiet at times but she positively contributed to the fun and friendly atmosphere. ill never understand the spontaneous laughter of girls. 2 hours with these guys didnt seem like enough for me. of course the main course of the evening was yet to be served. dinner was merely an appetizer. feeling a little disappointed i couldnt join them, i wished them good times at the dance and bid farewell.
for one evening i felt like i had relived high school. i know im in college and people, places, and the environment are supposed to change and naturally improve but the breeze of nostalgia id been exposed to just felt too good. since the beginning of this year ive always felt that there have been these certain expectations of maturity that i have to meet in order to fit into the status of being normal. i cant be 18 forever, nor can i cling on to the past. sometimes i find it frustratingly difficult to force myself to become someone im not, simply to guarantee that the situation become smooth. it sucks being fake. am i just a really immature guy who has a problem and just needs to grow up and get with the times? i know there are people out the frowning upon my behavior. perhaps i just need some help.
by the way, for awhile i thought i succeeded in escaping the topic of my age during dinner. no way. within 10 seconds id been labeled "pedophile", "molester", and "rapist." jokingly. if you know me well enough, you probably know the genuine truth. i hope. :D
bwhahahahhaha...
one of the few picture where i dont look like a midget
and one of the many pictures where i do look like a midget
the bad necktie
