Links to My Favorite Documentaries
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Vet for the Insane
BUT the rat escaped. I was totally freaked out. Then one of my least favorite coworkers appears in the dream. I am hugging him and kissing him. Weird.
I wonder what Freud would make of all this...
One other thing...
To which I replied, "Its not the first time I've heard that..."
"But it might be the last, IF I KILL YOU!"
heh heh
Saturday, December 20, 2008
How are you?
The ScreamI just got home from a wedding. Now, weddings are not my favorite thing. In fact there has not been a single wedding that I have attended in the last 6 years that has not failed to make me cry hysterically at some point in the night. Granted, over the years I have gotten better at hiding it. Tonight for example, I politely excused myself and drove home, only slightly intoxicated. The problem was that I was listening to U2 and it somehow reminded me of my ex boyfriend (who I thought I was finally over) and then, before you know it, I am sobbing out loud, alone in my car, driving across the Bay Bridge. Red tail lights bleed into an impressionist painting as I wipe streaks of mascara off my face.
It all took a turn for the worse when an older, 50+ poet started to follow me around at the reception. He just wouldn’t leave me alone. At one point he gave me a long hug and told me he loved me. Then he came back later to say “You know I just wanted to tell you that saying ‘I love you’ was just a figure of speech.” To which I replied “Don’t worry, I wasn’t spending all night thinking about it. I forgot you even said that”. At that point he then continued with veiled insults, at one point asking me how old I was. I refused to tell him. He guessed 36. I was pissed! Now, I’m not the youngest woman in the room but I’m not used to people guessing older than my age.
It just sucked. I felt insulted and hit on at the same time. I guess that’s an age old trick; make a woman feel like shit about herself then hit on her. I am tired of sleazy jerks hitting on me. I’m tired of men saying rude and inappropriate things to me and thinking they can get away with it just because I’m single.
I arrived home depressed and lonely. I plugged in my Christmas Tree (to cheer myself up) and called my ex boyfriend. I know, I know, not good. But I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fucking lonely, you people in relationships have NO fucking idea. He was nice enough but the nevertheless the conversation left me feeling even worse.
So when I listened to my mom’s VM saying, “Hi honey. I just called to see how you are…” it felt very ironic. What should I say?! “Hi Mom, I’m great. I am a 34 year old, single waitress. How the @#$%!&* do you think I am?! I want to gouge my eyes out! I want to die. I can’t stand this any longer. I want to run away to a foreign country and never see anyone I know again. I want to join a monastery in Tibet and never utter a single syllable. I want to disappear from the face of this earth. I want to become lighter than air, a gas that just floats away in the atmosphere. I never want to have a relationship with another human being again for the rest of my life!!!!!” So yeah, that’s how I feel. I don’t think I will tell Mom. It’s just a bad night. I’ve had many, many, many of these. I will get over it. I suppose…
The only thing I can say is writing this makes me a feel a little better.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Real Life
Anyway, I am obsessed with documentary films. There are so many good ones out there! So, as a little holiday gift to my dear reader or two, I have compiled a list of my favorites (See links at top of page):
Crazy Love - a true life story of obsessive love gone bad, imagine that?!
www.crazylovefilm.com
Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion - Chinese oppression of the Tibetan people
Flag Wars - White gay men move into an all black 'hood - DRAMA!
Maxed Out - American's have a debit problem, a big one
The Great Happiness Space - Japanese 'Host'(Escort)boys party and perform for rich women, a total trip
Dig! - a crazy rock n' roll odyssey about one of my favorite bands, The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary - the stories of immigrants from Central America crossing into the US, sad and fascinating
Devil's Playground - Amish Teens go buck wild!
Fahrenheit 911 - Michael Moore, say no more!
Who Killed the Electric Car - ironic to watch now, as we are bailing out the Big 3 auto makers...
Jesus Camp- reveals how freakish the religious right is in this country!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Call me if you are emotionally unavailable
I like my men tall, dark, handsome, emotionally shut down and preferably with an alcohol problem! Bonus points for being at least 6 years younger than me, being from another country and speaking broken English. Extra bonus points for only telling me how much you like me when you call me drunk at 1am.
Friday, December 12, 2008
I'm annoyed
I have no idea how women manage to have relationships with men. No idea at all.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Rock the Cradle of Love
He dared me to go flirt with him and ask him for his number. I was terrified. Then I thought about it more. What the hell did I have to lose?! I rushed to the bathroom to fluff my hair and reapply my lipstick. Greg (my coworker) was yelling through the door, "Violeta, Just get out here and do it ok?!"
By the time I emerged after powdering my nose and gathering my confidence, he informed me that he had already gone to the table and told them that "Someone here is interested in getting your number..."
I went over, blushing horribly, for the obligatory flirt session. There was a problem - the wrong guy was insistent at chatting me up, asking me what I was doing after work and could he get my number. I didn't know what to do; the dark haired boy couldn't look me in the eye and was intently playing with his plate of mac 'n cheese.
Later, I told Greg that the wrong guy had asked me out. To which he informed me, "Uhhhh... well, the guys at the table just told me that boy is 16!"
SIXTEEN???!!!! 16???!!!
Ok. Yes, I have been known to date younger guys. But I am not that much of a perv! He had a five o'clock shadow for crying out loud! He was the oldest looking 16 year old I have ever seen.
The rest of the night all my coworkers laughed at me.
I was a bit mortified. Especially when they told the manager what had happened.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Loca para ti (Crazy for you)

I have neglected to mention it but I have been sleeping with one of the cooks where I work. By 'sleeping with' I mean that we have sex like once or twice month. Afterwards, he immediately gets up and goes home where he lives with his brother. In between that we have a lot of drunken late night phone conversations involving me speaking bad Spanish and him saying things that he can't possibly mean like "Te Quiero" and "I love you".
I know I should stop it. But he is so cute! It makes me happy to see him at work; he looks so sexy in his white chef's coat, a gold chain glimmering underneath, in just a hint of chest hair, his smile revealing perfect teeth.
Its very innocent in a way. We hug each other behind the dumpsters - so no one will see (and because I just loooove dumpsters!), before I go home. He kisses me on the cheek. I don't think he has that much experience with women. He's 27 but he acts like he's 17.
The other day he told me "Tengo uno regalo para ti" and gave me a little leather flask that said 'Te Quiero Mucho' on it. It was hideous.
Today my friend came in to visit me at work. I pointed him out. I think he caught us staring. My friend couldn't figure out which one he was, I kept saying, "The tall one with the mustache" and she kept looking at the wrong one and going "That old guy??!!"
Later I asked her what she thought about him. "I don't know. He looks like a regular guy", was what she said. She's probably right.
Who knows why I find him so appealing?!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Another Bad Idea
About a month or so ago I decided to try online dating again. I got lots of emails from freaks, geeks and just plain old perverts - guys who asked me to watch them jerk off or invited me to their house for 'cuddle dates'. But I did hear from a couple potentially interesting guys. 'L' was one of them. He wrote me a long, articulate emails. I showed my mom one of his emails. We had similar tastes in movies. He appeared intelligent, insightful, respectful, handsome. My mom scoured his profile. She was immediately like "Oh no, honey. He's going to medical school, he'll never have any time. Oh wait, he's going to medical school in Mexico?! Forget it! Don't even email him back. He's leaving." Of course I emailed him back. I just couldn't resist. I am sick like that. I guess I am still holding on to my fantasy about running away to another country. That or I'm just a plain old masochist.
We met the other night at a wine bar near my house. I was attracted to him from the moment I saw him, which is unusual for meeting someone from the internet. Normally, I feel no attraction at all. I couldn't tell if he was into me or not though. As the night progressed and the wine flowed, I started to suspect he was.
L's had an interesting life, his Dad was a surgeon in Mexico and an activist. After meeting a girl he moved to the U.S. at age 25, to Santa Cruz of all places. I think we were both at UC Santa Cruz at the same time. He was great - cultured, sophisticated, smart as hell, articulate, adventuresome, stylish. We both agreed that we were very idealistic and romantic. That these qualities caused us to make unconventional (ie what would be considered 'foolish' by some) decisions in our lives. And no doubt annoyed our friends and families!
At the end of the night he walked me home and I invited him in for a moment. I read him quotes from a Kristnamurti book I am reading. Recommended the Great Gatsby (I'd had too much wine!). He had such nice hands. We made out. I had the distinct suspicion he would be a good lover - which is not something I have experienced lately. Still, I asked him to go home.
I spoke to L the next day and he wanted to see me again this week. We set up a date to see a movie tonight. This afternoon I called him to confirm. He told me he thought about it more and didn't think that we should hang out since he was going to be leaving in a month. "Maybe your mom is right" he said. I was like, "Oh, so you don't want to be distracted before you go?!" I could understand.
"Distracted?! I think it would be more than that..." He said he was trying to be practical, that he really liked me and he thought if we hung out a lot before he left that it would confuse him, make him question his decision to leave. He is right of course; the whole thing is a bad idea. I already liked him after one date, what would I feel after a month? But I hate being practical! I want to throw caution to the wind, have a whirlwind love affair! I can worry and cry later. I was so looking forward to tonight and to having someone smart and fun to date over the holidays. Already, I was anticipating our conversations about life and love, wanting to hear stories about his past, imagining things like going to the ballet with him, having coffee on a cold winter day. Things that I haven't done with a man in sooooooooo long.
Oh well. I really should start learning my lesson... DON'T DATE GUYS WHO ARE MOVING TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES!!!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Resolution
He was roaming through my house - noticing everything that was different from last time he had been here. Wondering where his photos were. I laughed - honestly could he have expected to me to keep them up? We broke up. I never saw him again. He was telling me how hard he tried to forget me. How much he missed me. Blah blah blah... I wanted to tell him that he broke my heart; that as much as he missed me I missed him more. That it took me months to not wake up feeling like my chest was cracked wide open. But I didn't. Instead I told him he needed to brush his teeth before he kissed me because his breath smelled bad.
He wants to introduce me to his other brother, who is out here now. He still recycles, just like I taught him. I wonder why all this now. Then he tells me he has been horribly lonely. "Me too." I say.
I let him spend the night. We sleep together. Its alright. I think he's more into it than me. I feel slightly crowded in my small bed. I'd forgotten how much space he takes up.
At 5 am I call another cab for him, so he can get home in time for work. Somehow he twisted his foot in the middle of the night. I kiss him goodbye and watch him hobble out the door. My chest constricts a little. I actually feel sorry for him. He's not the same guy I fell in love with. He seems weary, sad, slightly sick. The cab pulls away into the predawn mist. My heart feels empty, dry as bone bleached too long in the sun.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Other Fish In The Sea/Trolling for Men
It got me to thinking, ‘Are any of us really great catches after all?’ Of course we all are special in our own way and we’d like to believe that all our little peculiarities and idiosyncrasies would be perfectly charming and adorable to the right person. But really maybe they’d be annoying to almost anyone. Like my habit of always running late. Or licking my plates clean. I mean, I doubt that will be too cute to too many people.
Really, most of us are horribly flawed in many ways; it’s just a matter of finding someone whose flaws are compatible with our flaws. Or someone who is delusional enough to find us utterly charming despite our flaws! Because we all have them.
Don’t get me wrong. I DO think I’m great. And I’m pissed that no one has picked me yet! BUT if I’m such a great catch, than why, every time after I am 'caught', do I find myself tossed right back into the sea? Or really the question might be - why do I toss myself right back into the sea?
And why are there so many fishing analogies for dating anyway?!!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I don't think so!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The Persistance of Memory

Last night I dreamed of my ex boyfriend. I had recently cleaned out my closet. In the far back I found what knew would be there. A little plastic bag tied up tightly containing; clothes he had left behind here, a leather belt I had given him, his flip flops. I must admit I smelled his clothes, searching for any trace left of him. Then I put the bag in the garbage. I had been keeping it all this time thinking surely there would be an occasion for me to return it. But I've known for a while now that I will probably never see him again.
I broke up with him this January over the phone. Things weren't going anywhere after a year and I was frustrated. But I was really in love with this guy. The kind of in love that is sickening to witness - all kissing and touching and laughing and adoring stares. Everyone told me that I looked really happy. I was really happy. For a moment.
I was also a bit delusional, I think. He was from Brazil, here to work, save money and go back. He never tired of telling me stories about his country; about the many animals in the Amazon, the affection of his family, how good the food was (how REAL feijoada should taste), the beauty of the beaches, his time working in the slums of Rio, the pleasures of an ice cold Skol, how adorable his little nephew was, how he missed hanging out with everyone in his neighborhood - shirtless and drinking in the streets on a hot summer day. There was never much doubt that he was going back. I was just dumb enough to think that I might be invited along.
I had seen this man cry in front of me. I had seen this man cry because of me. I knew his warmth, his affection, his protection. I saw his loyalty to his family. He spent hours cooking for me in his tiny kitchen. He jumped rope with his nieces. I saw him take care of his older brother (who he lived with) after an unimaginable family tragedy. We laughed A LOT together. I taught him English. He taught me bad words in Portuguese. I was crazy about this guy. I was crazy.
He's still here. Saving money to go back to his country. Back to his family. Back to everything. I think his life here is just a point on a course, just some necessary time spent somewhere to get to where he really wants to be. He's building a house in Brazil. When he goes back he will have his own new house. I'm sure he will marry the girl who lives next door; she's been pretending not to, but she has been waiting for him all this time. I thought we'd at least say friends when we broke up. You know, talk once in a while, have a beer to catch up. But he doesn't want to be friends. I'm not sure if he knows how. Once he told me he was 'afraid to see me'. Or maybe he just doesn't care. I've spent months wondering why he doesn't want to see me. Months agonizing about it. Months of dreaming that he never loved me in the first place. Now I have to give up. I will never know the answer to these questions.
I have more questions for myself. What did this relationship represent to me? Why did I fall so hard for this guy? I think this was the ultimate form of escapism, to think that I could love someone and leave EVERYTHING behind. Too bad he didn't feel the same...
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Teachers by Leonard Cohen
Her hair the black that black can go,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Soft she answered no.
I met a girl across the sea,
Her hair the gold that gold can be,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Yes, but not for thee.
I met a man who lost his mind
In some lost place I had to find,
Follow me the wise man said,
But he walked behind.
I walked into a hospital
Where none was sick and none was well,
When at night the nurses left
I could not walk at all.
Morning came and then came noon,
Dinner time a scalpel blade
Lay beside my silver spoon.
Some girls wander by mistake
Into the mess that scalpels make.
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to break.
One morning I woke up alone,
The hospital and the nurses gone.
Have I carved enough my Lord?
Child, you are a bone.
I ate and ate and ate,
No I did not miss a plate, well
How much do these suppers cost?
We'll take it out in hate.
I spent my hatred everyplace,
On every work on every face,
Someone gave me wishes
And I wished for an embrace.
Several girls embraced me, then
I was embraced by men,
Is my passion perfect?
No, do it once again.
I was handsome I was strong,
I knew the words of every song.
Did my singing please you?
No, the words you sang were wrong.
Who is it whom I address,
Who takes down what I confess?
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to rest.
Oh teachers are my lessons done?
I cannot do another one.
They laughed and laughed and said, Well child,
Are your lessons done?
Are your lessons done?
Are your lessons done?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
A Woman Ahead of Time
I just found an old favorite of mine, Fire, selections from the journals of Anais Nin. I just love her! She is so bold, so passionate, so wild, so unafraid. A true bohemian - doing things that most women didn't dare do then; taking on multiple lovers, experimenting with bisexuality, writing erotica, hanging out with Henry Miller and Otto Rank, traveling the world. And documenting it all. What a life...'The life here so tame. The prety apartment, the pretty dinners, the pastel-colored friends, everything feeble. Money restrictions. Publishing restrictions. Open the windows! Let's have magnificence, splendor, hard work, miracles, coffee and toast, smiles, miracles, coffee and toast, smiles, health, jazz, schizophrenia, swift elevators, men with lovable bodies, unobtrusive minds minds that don't mar happiness, primitives.'
'The pain of leaving Rank, Thurema. It seemed to me that all my being was so aroused that I felt all mys loves at once and it was unbearable. So many loves. What am I? The Lover of the World. Crazed with love. Crazed with love. My whole body in pain, the pain of separation, loss, change.'
Anais Nin, from Fire, the unexpurgated diary of Anais Nin 1934-1937
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%AFs_Nin
Dating in Vain
E’s one of those suave, handsome, worldly guys. We met at work when he came in with a bunch of international friends after one of their soccer games. He’s originally from
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” Rumi
The X Factor
But seriously, I think the problem is, while I've always been aware that he is a notorious Lothario, his sexual exploits seem to have amplified over the years. It didn't help that I made the mistake of asking for too much detail. I mean most people would not interrogate someone who they used to date about their recent threesome. Unfortunately, I would. 'Oh really? With who? When? Where? So, how did it happen?' etc etc... So of course I got more details than I needed. Damn, it sounded like a freakin' porn video! Not to mention that he is currently in an 'open relationship' with someone. I am certainly not a prude but there are some things I would just not do. And an open relationship is one of them. In theory it sounds great. But inevitably it always seems to end up imbalanced. When I questioned M about it he admitted that while he had slept with at least 8 other people since being with this girl, she'd slept with no one else (not counting the other girl in the threesome that is!)
Truth be told, I guess all his sexual adventuresomeness put me off a bit. I finally got whiff of why guys are sometimes put off by promiscuous girls. Everyone wants to feel special. And after hearing about the hot 23 yr old intern he wants to hook up with, the crazy sex he had with his coworker, how a sexy lawyer went down on him in the bathroom at a party, blah blah, I wasn't feeling too special.
We still have a great time together though. A couple days later we hung out all day talking about everything - love, sex, Obama, racism, Communism, religion, whatever. We got drunk and sang Iggy Pop songs. We listened to the same Air song 4 times in a row. We asked each other for relationship advice. We cracked each other up. We read quotes out loud to each other and drank wine with ice cubes in it.
He slept on my couch. When I woke up, I was happy. There were no regrets from the previous night, no awkward moments. Just someone who was my friend. And I was really glad about that.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Size matters
Anyway, today when he saw me he asked me what I had done last night. "Nothing." I told him. "I stayed at home. Why?" He was like, "Well, you look like crap today. Really tired." Normally he calls me 'Hot Girl'. I was momentarily annoyed. But the truth was, I felt like shit, I'd had one beer and stayed up until 2 in the morning reading through old emails. It was pretty depressing. I managed to dredge up a lot of old drama with guys that I had been dating over the past 6 years. Actually, it made me really sad. Sad that I didn't stick up for myself more. Sad for taking a lot of the B.S. that they put me through. Sad that I was so naive. Sad because a lot of the friends that I was emailing about all this drama are now married or engaged. And I'm still out here floundering around. The pool seems to get smaller and smaller. My chances dwindling fast. I feel like I hardly have enough oxygen to breath. So, yeah I might have looked a bit haggard.
Later he asked me what cup size I was. I laughed. I felt a little better.
Why I'm still single (An exchange)
Me:
Wait til I tell you what I said to the guy I
went out with last night...
When he told me he'd had major surgery a year ago, I
innocently asked "oh what did you have done - penis
enlargement?!!" I kid you not. It turns out he had
heart surgery. I guess he wasn't offended b/c he
emailed me today and wants to go out again.
I am a menace to mankind!
Friend:
Why doesn't that surprise me? Even a little tiny
bit??
Me: (this is about a different guy from above, I was dating them both briefly)
Apparently I wasn't as well behaved as I thought the other
night...
I seemed to have blacked out this little detail but
I guess I called A to make sure he got home ok
after we hung out last time. When he said he had I
then asked him to rate himself in bed!!!! Oooops!
He said I should rate myself too. According to him I
told him "Well, I'm the center of the universe, so of
course I'm great!" HUH?! That doesn’t even make sense!
Jeeeeezzus. 3 glasses of wine, some pot, a sexy guy
and my mentally ill brain are not a good
combination!
Luckily he seems more amused than frightened by
this.
Just wait til he gets to know me better. heh heh...
Note: Above guy dumped me a couple weeks later via email. Can’t say I didn’t have it coming to me…
Email from the Chilean Boy
Hi.
are you still feeling depresive about your life?
> ...but you are so beatiful!
> nothing happend with me, just being a homeboy today,
> putting a candle this
> saturday evening, my girlfriend went out to work.
> feeling lonely about all.
> hearing Bjork.
> I just remind you, because Im a strupid melancolic
> looking all this stupid
> san franciscan people at myspace.com
> I don´t like my city neather.
> what are you doing now?
> Im preparing 3 videoart shows for next year. buying
> a super 8mm cinema
> camera for it.
> you should see any Igmar Bergman movie then you will
> get more depresive,
> then you finally´ll commit suicide.(but dont do it)
>
> I hope seeyou before I die
> you should go to
> I love you I hate you.
> ps: your spanish sux
Friday, November 7, 2008
Open Minded
Orgins of it all:
If I didn’t end up killing myself, I thought I might join the convent and become a nun. My mom was a nun for 6 years before meeting my Dad. If she could do it, so could I. I wanted to have sex but I figured no one would ever want to have it with me so this seemed like a practical solution to things.
Exhibitionism in the 21st Century
My friend Julie has been harassing me to start a blog. Mostly because she is amused by my woeful tales of dating and the pathetic single life I lead. I’ve never really been one to consider writing a blog. The internet is already cluttered enough with messy intimate details of people’s personal lives. The world itself is saturated with the collective expression of our hopes, sorrows, secrets, hatreds, loves. Sometimes I wish I didn’t talk as much as I did. Sometimes I wish I was more silent and mysterious. Broadcasting into cyberspace the intricate details of my personal life and demented daily thought processes seems a bit much. But one of the most fun things about life is getting to do things you swore you’d never try. And changing your mind. My life is ALL about changing my mind!
So, this goes out to all the lonely single people out there, still having faith (often in the complete absence of any sign that things might ever change for them), that they will one day meet someone who might truly GET them, or at least desire to try. It also goes out to those comfortably enscounced in relationships who want to vicariously experience all the cheap thrills and wrist-slittingly depressing moments of single-DOOM that seem like a distant memory to them. Enjoy.
