You'd Never Believe That I Really Want To Kill My TV
Labels: TV
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next. -Ursula K. Le Guin
Labels: TV
The bus driver turns to me and says "You've renewed my faith in this city."
5. I'm busy, buying frames for photos that need to be sent out to certain peoples and finding the best yarn deals for a knitting stash meant to become scarves for charity. Relay For Life is always heavily supported by my workplace. This year, I'm using my knitting talents to rake in some big bucks. In addition to the projects earmarked for family thank yous and birthdays, I have a bunch of charity knits in progress. I wouldn't mind locking myself in my apartment for a whole weekend to gain some serious ground with these things. But my fingers are already chapped and callouses are not far behind. Labels: daily updates

Next up, I've been having horrible stomachaches and abdominal pain this month. My trouble with swallowing has escalated. From October 13 to January 23, I lost 18 pounds. I'm not trying to lose weight and I don't exercise. I'm just not getting enough food in me. I finally went to the doctor two weeks ago. She put me through a few tests and so far, her diagnosis straight up sucks. I told her of all my symptoms (stomachaches, pain in all four abdominal quadrants, pain in my shoulder after eating, vomiting, nausea, occasional heartburn, bad taste in the back of my throat, heart palpitations, in addition to being unable to swallow, and a few other things that I'd rather not mention), and her initial thought is to treat me for heartburn or GURD (acid reflux). She also seems to think that the swallowing problem is not physical. It's anxiety manifesting itself in my mouth and esophagus that prevents me from eating. This is where I find the nearest brick wall and pound my head against it.
really pisses me off to be told that there isn't anything physically wrong with me. It pisses me off to describe my symptoms, which are very real and very annoying (do you know what I'd give for a hamburger that I could eat completely? I'd not only sell my own soul, I'd start selling the souls of my coworkers and friends too!), and to be told that perhaps it's just a stiff neck that is causing my anxiety. I was, and I wish I was kidding here, prescribed a muscle relaxer for when I'm eating.
It boils down, according to him, to the simple fact that he has no feelings for me. There "is no spark" and I should "find someone who accepts me for me." Uh, okay.....At least, that's what he tried to convince me of.
Here's where the problem arises: He spent no less than 7 weeks coming to this decision. We dated for 7 weeks beyond the time that he first started to feel... nothing!.... and he didn't have the balls to tell me any sooner than that. This pisses me off. And I have every right to be angry because there were multiple opportunities for him to confront me. In fact, I remember trying a couple times myself to initiate a conversation about the distance growing between us. I wrote a very personal email. I joked about it. I cried. I'm 100% sure that the guy isn't dense. I wouldn't have been attracted to him in the first place if that had been the case. So my only conclusion is that he chose to hide all that time like a coward continuing to let me sit in confusion, having sex with me, and making me scramble to try and figure out what was wrong and what I could do to fix it.
"You're smart, funny, attractive... I'm attracted to you, we have a lot in common and we get along great... it's just not good enough."
Just.Not.Good.Enough.
= one hard slap across the face
Which left me wondering for some time how I could have avoided failing so miserably at having a passionate and meaningful relationship with this man. What did I do wrong?!?! Was it the fact that I don't look my best first thing in the morning? Or that I like to spit my gum out further than the last time I did so? Were my jokes not funny enough? My political views not in closer alignment to his own? WHAT?!?!
A couple days later, he admitted to me when these doubts started to creep into his mind. It happened during an episode one weekend where I was afraid to confront him on something embarrassing for both of us that I'd discovered. I didn't want to talk to him about it but I was so deathly afraid of losing another relationship to this particular problem. Once this issue was brought out into the open, I'd thought that we'd dealt with it and that all was forgiven. I forgave him for lying to me. But he didn't forgive me for being "hysterical".
Oh honey, you haven't even begun to see hysterical.
It turns out that he doesn't like my emotions. Goodness, I'm emotional and I have feelings. Whooda thunk it? My god, I'm not a robot! I am a real woman in the flesh. And oh boy, that's gotta be pretty darn scary to deal with! Things upset me. Things make me cry and laugh and scream and vomit. I am complicated. What about high-
maintenance? Isn't that the other code word for emotional/crazy/too much of a woman? I don't demand that someone change for me. I don't demand that someone spend every waking minute with me, catering to my every need. I like my knitting and my photography and I don't need the other person I date to validate me because those things fill in fine. I do, however, like to discuss things and verbalize what I'm thinking and especially what I'm feeling.
My feelings are important to me. They change constantly and damn it, they are complex! "Hysterical" to me, translates to someone who has no control over their emotions, someone who is in a constant state of crisis. Me? I wouldn't say I'm always in control (PMS, anyone?) of my emotions, but I do not spend my entire life in crisis- take care of me because I'm a helplessly disturbed female and make me all better because you are the man-mode. But I am prone to excitability, poignant films make me tear up, and bad stuff puts me in a temporarily sour mood. The alternative would be someone who bottles everything up and doesn't discuss what they are feeling to any degree at all. They'd rather go punch things and drive like a complete maniac on the road than admit that something is bothering them. Perhaps because I am viewing this through my female lens, I see the obviously easier approach of dealing directly with personal emotions as more acceptable.
But some men don't see it that way.
And unfortunately I had to fall for one of them.
Obviously you can tell that I don't believe his explanation as to what happened. If it were true- that robotboy just never found that spark for me- then what the hell was the first month all about? A forgettable accident? He tells me that he has no feelings for me, yet he stared at me all summer long. He went out of his way to make conversation with me. He wrote just as many emails to me as I did to him before and when we first started going out. I didn't have 3 hour phone conversations with myself. I didn't initiate any conversations involving future plans, child rearing and baby names. I wasn't looking for anything except a fun date. I needed that after the year I had had with whatshisface.
I didn't mean to fall in love. It just happened.
And I'm pissed off that my involuntary reaction was wasted on someone like him. I'm pissed to have wasted my time, energy, and love on someone who found it so easy to dump me because of one negative aspect of my personality somehow overshadowed the overwhelming heap of positive things I bring to the table. The guy was far from perfect, yet I accepted every flaw that I saw and every flaw that I didn't. It was easy. I guess too easy. Nothing worth fighting for ever comes easy, right?