Dale Miller

I managed to get through Thanksgiving without becoming overly depressed, somewhat to my surprise. Angie came down from Bella Vista for dinner. That was nice. It has been too long since I’ve seen her. It was strange having someone else in the house, though. The cats were a bit confused, too. Oreo just assumed that it was someone else put on earth for the express purpose of petting her, but Ashley would barely approach. I hadn’t realized she was scared of people. Of course, since I brought her home she’s only seen someone other than me two or three times.

I went out to Sufficient Grounds tonight. My usual table was occupied, and they had moved the two small tables in the front and replaced them with a big one. So I ended up sitting in the back half, behind the column. It’s not a bad place to girl-watch, but not nearly as good as table 1. I didn’t see anyone I knew well enough to talk to tonight, so I decided to call it a night, and sit in front of Jack’s house to write this. I’m sure that all the cool people are showing up there just about now.

I’m supposed to go shopping with Harvest tomorrow. I haven’t seen her since our last shopping trip, and I’m looking forward to it. The shopping itself doesn’t excite me all that much, but having someone to do something with, even something as mundane as shopping makes me happy.

I need to work on drawings. I’m so far behind with homework now, I don’t think there is any way I will catch up. I’m considering just blowing it off and letting my GPA suffer. I’m not sure why I care what grade I make in the class, other than to convince myself that I can manage to learn to draw. I’m far better than I was when I started the class, but nowhere near where many of the other students are. That was quite obvious from out last projects in class. I did quite poorly drawing a skeleton. That doesn’t bode well for my taking a figure drawing class. I suppose I should see whether I pass this one before I consider signing up for the next level.

I think I broke my little finger last week moving computers. I thought I had bruised it, but it doesn’t seem to be straightening out properly. I really should go see a doctor about it, but I don’t want to.

In the last two days, my comic surfing has hit a couple of gems that seemed relevant to my situation:

and

I’ve seen this before, and didn’t use it. Now I think I will. I appreciate responses.

1. How did you first find my journal?
2. Why did you originally decide to friend me?
3. What’s your favorite part of my journal?
4. What’s your least favorite part of my journal?
5. Ask me a question. Be as random as you want. And don’t be stupid.
6. Recommend a band/song to me. I’m curious what you think I should be listening to.
7. Recommend an LJ user to me.
8. What would you say is my defining quality(ies)?
9. What was your first impression of me?
10. Do you still think that way about me now?
11. What makes me happy?
12. If you could give me anything what would it be?
13. Describe me in five words

Another Friday night — more of the same. I went to Sufficient Grounds and sat around for a while. Fortunately Julia showed up tonight and talked to me for a while. That made me feel good. I like the idea that someone actually will sit and talk with me. A couple of her friends came in later, and she moved over to chat with them, and I even joined them for a bit. One of her friends (Lisa) was extremely attractive, and I couldn’t manage to make myself ask her for a date. Just as I had almost worked up the courage to do so, some guy came up and started seriously hitting on her. My envy and I decided it was time to leave. I need to learn to do that. Julia tells me that if I have the balls to wear a skirt, I should have the balls to ask women out. While it’s true that I should, in practice it doesn’t work that way. I know that I keep coming back to this, and I know that I need to change, but I guess I’m just my own worst enemy.

On the plus side, I had a number of compliments on my outfit today. Maybe I can take a picture when I get home. I even had a group of cheerleaders want to have their pictures made with me in Park Plaza. One of the P.P. security people told them that they weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the mall. What kind of a silly rule is that? They managed to get one taken anyway, and hopefully I will get a copy. But the security guy basically put an end to my talking to cute girls. It’s not fair! Of course, they were too young for me, but it’s still fun to flirt a bit. I can do that when women approach me, but I just haven’t learned to break the ice myself. I think that’s one of the reasons I wear skirts. It’s my own personal icebreaker. I’m sure it drives away more women than it attracts, though.

If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, I really need to finish the railing on the deck. I have it co close, and have just ignored it for several weeks now. That’s fairly typical of me, though. I get something to a state of “usable”, and then seem to take forever to get to a state of “finished”.

Sometimes having a long drive in the mornings is worth it. Depending on your browser, this picture may not look the greatest, but you get the idea.

I really wanted to get a goo night’s sleep last night. I even got to bed at a reasonable time. Then, I woke up around 2:30 am. :( I got up for a bit, and then tried to get back to sleep. No luck. I finally dropped off again sometime after 4:30. My alarm is set for 5:00. So, my good night’s sleep didn’t quite happen.

I want to go somewhere over Christmas break. A south Florida beach is high on my list. I have the vacation time, I can afford it, but I don’t want to go alone. :( I really need to find a girlfriend — or at least a travelling companion.

I have a mention in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette today (page 8E if you are interested). It’s an article about the “Bravehearts: Men in Skirts” exhibit in NYC. The author is predisposed to disliking the idea of men wearing skirts, so it’s not particularly favorable coverage of the exhibit, but at least neutral on me.

The clouds were awesome last night on my drive home.

Of course the traffic was fairly awesome too, but not in quite the same sense of the word.

Love and pain maru de onnaji toki no naka mawaru reflection.

Love and pain, both are reflections of one another that revolve around the same point in space and time.
– main theme from KiddyGrade.