Jaded

"Mark this day of remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled."
-Barak Obama,
Today, January 20, 2009,
during his Inauguration speech

Jaded (adjective): tired out or lacking enthusiasm after having had too much of something.

I was jaded by all of the hoopla by the media over the previous three days in anticipation of the official oath by the 44th President of the USA. I hope and pray he will bring about marked improvements throughout the globe for the next four years.

JADE

Jade was the fairest of stones and possessed five virtues:
Charity, for its lustre.
Rectitude, for its translucence.
Wisdom, for its purity of sound when struck.
Equity, for its sharp edges that injure none.
Courage, for it can be broken but not bent.
--Bette Bao Lord
as written in her novel SPRING MOON

Twenty-five years ago today:

January 20, 1984

I received a phone call while at work from Leslie Fonseca. She claimed that she received a message from her mother that I had called her. This wasn't true but it was a smart way of being sure to reach me.
"I have made other plans this weekend," I told her.
"You are always busy on the weekends," she said.
That gave me a silent laugh. Then again, it seems to be true lately.

The work day seemed to drag on. Helen was absent again for the fifth day in a row. Poor thing. I hope she is feeling better soon.

Not long after I arrived home I received a 6pm phone call from Chris Cordellos.
"I am in Santa Rosa and I will be delayed in coming over tonight," he said.
I gave him directions to my place in Alameda and he arrived at 9pm. I gave him a tour of my place and we talked a good while. We also watched TV and looked at some of my photos.
"I still may move to Riverside or Arcata," he said as he paged through the photos.
"You really think so?" I asked.
"Ah huh, I quit my job and everything is up in the air for me right now," Chris said.
He went on to say that his trip to New York for July is still 'on'. He has a modeling gig of some sort with VIVA Models.

Chris and I mutually decided to go out to see the new CHRISTINE movie, John Carpenter's 1983 adaptation from the story by Stephen King.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ5M11m9vI0
By the time we reached the HAYWARD Cinema 5 I realized that I had looked at yesterday's newspaper and the flick was no longer playing there. We decided to grab a bite over at LYON's Restaurant instead. I don't know what possessed me to order sausage and eggs. Chris ordered a burger (I think). We continued to talk more about our music preferences.
"I might move out to Walnut Creek," I said, "it's always warmer over there."
We kept making eye contact. It was like we kept staring at one another in this fixated sort of way. I complemented his hair and he went on about his haircuts.
"My roommate supposedly hates me now," Chris confided.
"Oh...why?" I asked.
"The other day I just decided to ditch the scene because of his "long hair" friends he had over who were drinking Budweisers," he confessed.
I laughed.

After our bite to eat we returned to my bad and watched one of my favorite videos. I popped in the bike movie "Breaking Away". There was more trouble because the VHS seemed defective suddenly and I had no idea how to fix the 'horizontal hold'. The movie watching was not in our favor on this night. And so, we didn't watch any movies and we decided to go upstairs to lay on my bed and watch 'Friday Night Videos' on my portable TV. We ended up 'touching and smooching' a little. We discarded our clothes and did more 'touching and smooching'--but that was all.
By 2am I had put my undershorts back on. Chris was soon fully dressed and he decided to head for home.
"Hey, maybe we can get together and watch the SUPER BOWL together this Sunday," he tested for my affirmative answer.
"Oh well, I sort of have other plans," I replied.
"Oh...I see," he said with this sad look on his face that made me feel guilty.
I wasn't going to break my date with Paloma. We had a set date to see 'The Road Warrior', too. I thought if she cancels out I may be able to see Chris again.
"Look," I said reassuringly, "I'll call you and let you know for sure on Sunday."
"Okay, Cool," He said.
"Later...Chris."
"Later...Michael."