Touching strangers

An odd thing happened to me today. I was in the food court of the building in which I worked getting lunch (as one might normally do at a food court). I left the Sbarro with my Bag of Hurt (so named because I'm sure it's the effect it will have on my system at some point in the future), and when I was halfway out of the food court, I realized that I'd forgotten to grab a fork. I turned around to head back, trying to navigate through the lines that had formed at the more popular installments, and started to walk past a pillar in front of the McDonald's. At that point, a young lady (who looked to be about my age) who was walking the opposite direction directly in front of me stopped to say hello to one of the McDonald's employees. I stopped as well, since there wasn't enough room between the pillar and the person in the line between the McDonald's and the pillar, and I stood there for a second or two until the lady turned back to face my direction. Noticing me, she said, "I'm sorry," and moved so that we could pass each other. Now, as she walked past me, she lightly grabbed onto my arm and kept hold of it until she was completely past. I didn't say anything, but I found it rather strange. This woman had never met me before, yet she touched me for a prolonged period. (It was maybe three seconds at most, but when you're touching a total stranger, one second could be considered a prolonged period.)

When I got back to the office, I told my coworker Greg about it, and as I related the anecdote, it suddenly dawned on me that I should check my pockets and make sure everything was still there. Nothing was missing, so that left me still rather confused. I would never dream of touching someone I didn't know, even on a relatively non-private area such as the forearm. I mean, I can't imagine most people feel comfortable in such a situation. If it had been the other way around, and I'd done that to a woman, I'm sure I'd be facing a harrassment suit right now. Luckily for her, I didn't really mind that much. (Why didn't I mind? Logic would say that it was because she was attractive, but I honestly can't remember what she looked like. Maybe I just really need a hug after that awful dream I had the other night, and I figured that was close enough.) And luckily for me, I wasn't on an episode of Dead Like Me, and she wasn't a Reaper removing my soul before a horrible (yet wacky) death ensued.

In other news, I just picked up Sunny Day Real Estate's last album, The Rising Tide. Some of their stuff has popped up on my Yahoo! radio, and I had found it very awesome. The album is all kinds of kick-ass. I might add them to my list of bands on My Space on a provisional basis. (Or maybe I'll just wait and see how I like How It Feels To Be Something On, their second-to-last album, before making any decisions.)

Brokeback Mountain

I went to see Brokeback Moutain last night. It was quite excellent (although Batman Begins is still, in my opinion, the best movie of the year). Surprisingly enough, it somehow managed not to be as homoerotic as Top Gun. Still, my friend Tim and I were very disappointed that at no point during the movie did the main characters eat pudding.

The following is a list of random updates about what I've been up to lately:

My Christmas and New Year's were pretty great. I spent time with my family for Xmas (which I discovered is not actually an anti-Christian way to refer to the holiday, as the X stands for Christ). I got to visit some of my friends over the holiday, such as Brian, Shaun, Jeanine, and Anna.

I got Brian the Batman special edition DVD for old time's sake. Back in the early '90s, we used to get together every weekend and watch it until we had the entire thing memorized. I could still probably recite the dialogue along with the damn thing. I may enjoy Batman Begins more nowadays, but Batman just has so damn much nostalgic value thanks to all the fun times I spent with Brian. Enjoy, pal.

I hadn't seen Shaun in almost a year, and the birth of his second child, Max, was definitely a good reason to make the trip to Van Buren. The last time I'd actually gone to visit him specifically was just after the birth of his daughter Ivy. Ivy has turned out to be a supernaturally adorable baby. I congratulate Shaun and Erin on their new family.

When I went to visit Jeanine, the initial plan was that we'd hang out for a bit and then she'd go with her mom and dad to a relative's house. Well, her parents ended up inviting me along, and I got to meet a whole ton of her family. They were all very nice people, and her uncle's girlfriend is extremely hot. So the trip that I'd initially thought would last about seven hours turned into over twelve, and I didn't get home till about 4am.

I hung out at Anna's place for New Year's Eve, which would be the first time I've actually done something for New Year's Eve in several years. (Unless you count the previous year's trying to sleep whilst hearing my downstairs neighbor and her boyfriend argue and then have sex as doing something. Unfortunately, I did not have a pair of earplugs at the time.) It was rather low-key, with a lot of board game playing going on, just how I would prefer a New Year's Eve gathering to be.

A couple weeks ago, I had a little tenderness in my Achilles tendon, so I went to the doctor. He diagnosed me with tendonitis (which can apparently also be spelled tendinitis) and put me on some anti-inflammatories. Thus far, they seem to be working. Basically, I'm just glad that I should be able to start jogging again soon. I haven't gone in a week and a half.

It's becoming more and more evident that the lady I have a huge crush on just isn't interested. She seems to like me as a person, but I'm not sensing anything else there. I think she filed me under the "just a friend" category a long time ago, and since I don't get a chance to talk to her that often, I really haven't been able to present any evidence that would cause her to reopen the case. (Then again, I don't know if women ever reopen said case files. I get the impression that, once it's down in the books, it's down to stay.) I've thought I might just go for broke and try asking her out, but at this rate, I can guess with 90% accuracy what her response would be. (Actually, I could use some cash; would anyone care to take that wager? To tell you the truth, it'd be a win-win situation for me.)

My friend Matt, whom I haven't actually seen for about five-to-six years, came to visit today. It was great to catch up with him. He seems to be doing rather well. It's just a shame he couldn't have stuck around longer, as he was subpoenaed (tee-hee) to be a witness in a trial.

Doctor Who will be premiering on the Sci-Fi Channel in March. Watch it. Really. I'm not kidding.