Monday, February 18, 2008

不思議の国のローレン, or: my creativity is lost on them sometimes.

this morning i rolled out of bed, put on some pants, and basically went to school in my pajamas. this is a secret pleasure of mine; it's like getting away with something. i imagine it's like having an important business call in your underwear. i am particularly fond of the way my sky blue, long-sleeved shirt smells when i've worn it to bed for a few days, and i got no small pleasure from sniffing it throughout the day. i have to wear so many layers to stay warm anyway that no one can really tell what i'm wearing.

i've been assured by many people that this winter is much colder than last, but this is news to me. i figured it was only possible to adjust to one end of the spectrum, and since i made peace with the heat last summer, i was dreading the cold. could i have adjusted to that too? it seems unlikely, but i haven't spent nearly as much time hovering over the kerosene heaters, nor have i felt the need to ingest my weight in hot tea, which actually works in my favor because it prevents as many trips to the glacial restroom.

lately i've been reading leno's humorous headlines until i'm gagging and wheezing with laughter. this is probably not the best use of my time at work, but it does manage to put me in a very good mood. the teachers around me, unable to understand what's causing my convulsive (and no doubt annoying) laughter just cock their heads curiously in my direction and go back to their work. this is my ammunition against constant interruption, department politics, and the recent dispiriting covering of all the windows. [they're scraping and painting our building for the next two months, so we're stuck in a cage of scaffolding and translucent film.]

after eighteen months of making dialogues with imaginary people doing imaginary things in imaginary places for my english classes to use as speaking practice, i recently had one of my team teachers approach me with a concern. in my most recent dialogue, a job interview, the HR manager of Sony interviews a student for a graphic artist position. she then tells the student to report to work wearing black jeans and red heels (i was feelin' saucy when i made it).
my teacher voiced his concern, "ah, I'm worried that for sony, this isn't realistic. sony would never have a person wear something casual like jeans."

... !

many thoughts raced through my head, but i finally stuttered out, "well yeah, it's imaginary."

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