My Bridget Moment

See also: Top 20 Movies for me.

I was supposed to go see a movie with my friend Kevin but it looks like I was blown off. Well I had been eager to go do something all day and I wasn't going to let the fact that I was alone stop me from having a good time.

As I have mentioned before, I am a fan of the movie, Bridget Jones's Diary. I identify with her in many ways. Largely the fact that I am over thirty and still single. So I thought that it was appropriate that I change the movie choice to the latest installment of the series, Bridget Jones's Baby.  Little did I realize that I was be identifying with her just a little too much this evening.

So I go to the theater thinking that if I get there late, I can slip into the crowd unnoticed. Nothing like a bunch of couples looking at a singleton with pity. I get up to the ticket counter and the guy there asks me which seat I would like. All the greens were available to choose. --They were all green.

Fuck.

Well, I am here already.

I go into the empty theater and pick my seat. It seemed like ages but finally I hear the door to the room open and I hear a couple of voices. I breathed a little sigh of relief. I wasn't going to be alone.

Then nothing. A few more minutes to go before the movie starts and no more people have come in. As slyly as I could, I looked back and made out one couple in the back row. In the entire theater, it was me and a couple.

I sink lower into my seat.

So the movie starts and gets on. --Great by the way. Go see it.--- Finally, the credits come up. I hope that the couple gets up to go and so I wait a few moments. I don't hear the doors open. They were going to sit through the credits. I knew that I was going to have to walk past them in order to get out. Well I've already suffered enough what's a little more right? I walk past them, give them a little nod, and zoom, I'm outta there.

I start walking for the exit and put my hand in my pocket to bring out my keys. They're not there. I freeze. Crap! They must've fallen out of my pocket while I was watching the movie. I had two choices, I could either go back and pass the couple again or pretend to go to the bathroom and go back when they left. Yes! Let's do option B. I head for the bathroom when a worker comes out with a bag of trash. Another starts sweeping the hallway.

That's it. Plan B is shit. I had to go back.

I go back in, pass the couple, get to my seat and feel around. No keys. I grimace at the thought, but I put my hands deeper into the crevices. Nothing. Could they have fallen through to the ground? More horror as I reach down there and feel around, bumping into popcorn and who knows what else. Still no keys. I bring out my phone and use it as a flash light. Still no keys.

By now I am in a near panic. If I don't have keys, I am going to have to call someone to pick me up, bring me to my parents where they have a spare, and then bring me back. And I'm sure that the couple--who still have not left--are watching this with amusement.

On my left, I catch a glint of metal and with some relief, I found my keys. I pop my head up and the couple is looking right at me. I walk past them again, give them a little nod again, and zoom, I'm outta there. Not before that same worker from the bathroom says, "have a good night."

I awkwardly smile and nod to the guy and continued to walk on forward--because that's what Bridget would do.

It Was a Fair Day

Family at Fil-Am picnic.

My sister came over from Ann Arbor to spend a day at the county fair. Although I had planned to be at the fair earlier this week, a gout attack in my knee kept me from going. It has been raining this week which has impacted the fair. With more rain in the forecast starting around noon, we decided to go early. When we got there, it was muddy and the place was free from the crowds as it was just opening.

I go to the fair for food. This year's selection included some good, if small, tacos from El Amigo Pepe, and elephant year, and a mozzarella dog. A huge disappointment was a pork stick which was dry and did not taste good. It was given to Charlie, our mom's dog.

Kris had agreed to go to a Fil-Am picnic with mom and dad. I was volunteered to come along as well. The food was okay. As usual, I was a fan of the pancit. Oddly enough, there was no lumpia. I was introduced to some nice people but I'm afraid that I won't commit their names or faces to memory. Being surrounded by strangers was awkward for me so I used a lull in the rain as an opportunity to go Pokemon hunting. After that, Kris and I decided to head back to the fair once more.

Later on, at my suggestion, we decided to go to the movie, Sausage Party. The showing that we wanted was sold out so we headed to a Vietnamese restaurant for some pho. I've never had real pho before and here was an opportunity to go try it. Kris was up for it. That stuff is delicious, let me tell you. I would definitely go there again.

Sausage Party as about as nasty and as funny as I expected from Seth Rogen. I would feel compelled to smack the shit out of any parent that brought their kid to such a movie.

h/t Sony Pictures Entertainment

It was a great day.

Incarceration

See Also: Freedom

For two weeks in June I sat on a jury listening at a murder trial. I, along with eleven other jurors found the defendant guilty of murder. Ever since then, the consequence of my vote has occupied my thoughts. Although I do not decide the convicted's sentence, what I did now allows it to come forth.  For second degree murder, the sentence was a minimum of 37 years and a maximum of 60.

Sick of Being Jerked Around

I am not successful at landing dates. Finding another guy that is mutually interested is an almost impossible task and so far, every single one that I have has been a dud in one way or another. After almost two years, I had high hopes for this one that I was supposed to have met tonight. After talking to him online for about a month, he comes off as intelligent and capable of having more than a simple conversation. However, this is the third time I have tried to meet up with him and it looks like he has flaked out yet again.

This kind of rejection and treatment is really doing a number on my self-esteem. I look around at my friends and wonder how they made it look so easy. They found great people with which to pair up. Here I am, sitting on the couch waiting for a guy that isn't going to show up. It's like a scene from one of those angsty TV dramas like Felicity. I should have some sad indie song playing while I wallow in self pity.  *Turns on Pandora*

The Olympics-Brought to You by ______

The Opening Ceremony in Rio is currently playing on NBC. I am in bed not watching it. I had been earlier but the amount of commercials is ridiculous. I'm sure someone out there has the ratio of coverage to commercials. Just when you get settled into watching the ceremony, NBC puts in another set of commercials to watch. After a while, I said fuck it, I'll watch it some other time. I don't think I am missing much anyways. What I did see wasn't that impressive. I was FaceTiming with Dad at one point and he told me that it was because Rio is broke. They can't afford to be awesome. I am afraid that Beijing has set a bar that has yet to be met.

Freedom

There is a man sitting in the county jail right who has lost his freedom and I have ensured that he will not regain it for many years. As this country celebrates its freedom, my mind dwells on his loss and it has tainted my mood. 

I was ordered to report to the courthouse up in St. Joe for jury duty a couple weeks ago. The selection was for a murder trial. I had thought that the odds were small that I would make it on the jury but make it I did. Will not go into the specifics of the case but there are a few things that I would like to note.

After going through the trial, I found that the prosecutor had done her job and I was was convinced of most of the charges that were laid on him. I was in sync with most of the jurors for most of the charges except for two. While I was ready to pronounce the defendant guilty on those two charges, the rest of them were not. I could understand where they were coming from and there conclusion was valid given the evidence. What I realized is that I have a higher expectation of people and the actions they take and their responsibility to face the consequences of those actions.

There really are two sides to a story. After the trial was concluded, I came home and started looking up all the media I could find about the story. What I read coming from both camps saddened me. Having to weigh testimony and evidence highlighted the nuances of a series of unfortunate events. My perspective on what happened seems to be totally different than those in the two camps. I can’t even say that there are points that I can agree with any of them.

The man sitting in the jail tonight was guilty of the crime he committed but he wasn’t completely at fault. Misperception, escalation, and overzealousness is deadly combo but in the end, a bad decision ended, in different ways, two mens’ lives.