When up is down

I promised myself that I wouldn't post while the Lervemunkee was still with me. It's all I can do to arrange places to go, pies to eat, cappuccino foam to get off my nose, and keep up with e-mail (btw, there is a toilet crisis at home--I'm staying here). If I kept up with posting and reading blogs, I'd be neglecting my little Man Jar of Vegemite.

But then yesterday happened.

While on this trip, we're hoping to meet a few CIFs--creepy internet friends. I don't know if Dread Pirate Rackham coined that term or not, but I'm using it and giving her credit. I was going to blather on about them in a PLmD post ("Post-Lervemunkee departure" will probably not be used as much as CIF), but yesterday was just weird. Odd. Wrong but right.

The Lervemunkee and I started off by driving to White Rock Lake for a run. I love this area. After I graduated from university, I planted myself around White Rock. There is so much nostalgia for me that it's almost too distracting for a decent run. The Lervemunkee ran the entire perimeter, I just did an out and back. I think I had the fish stink be the turn around. I had forgotten about that area. Fish-munching birds rest and poop their fish-rich poo in an area that every runner knows--the no-inhale zone. We have one near our house where the flying foxes poo and pee. Nature. She's not always a looker.

After our run, I gave him a tour of my last neighbourhood, Little Forest Hills. I don't know why the PDF link is upside down. Maybe they know I'm talking to Australians, too. The tour got me all homesick for Dallas. I think the Lervemunkee enjoyed seeing where I lived, too. We were in a happy cloud. What could make this morning even better? Bagels!

We drove to a place to share a bagel. Then my day got weird fast.

Quick refresher:
We're here for a few weeks.
This is our first trip back to Texas in more than three years.
We are eating in an average bagel shop--nothing spectacular or on Zagat's survey.

After we get our bagel and sit down, I look up and see my college roommate.

Another refresher:
I studied in Ohio at Miami University.
My roommate was born and raised in Pennsylvania.
After graduation, she moved to D.C.
She now lives in Memphis.

Do you get the point I'm about to make? Neither of us lives in Dallas. I hate to ask "what are the chances", but I think this time the chances are really slim. The kicker is that the last time I saw her was when she flew down to Dallas to meet this CIBFnLm (creepy internet boyfriend now Lervemunkee, again, this might not catch on). It was a long weekend. I look back and still don't know why she came. We hadn't been in touch, and she made it clear that she had no interest in us. Scorn-o-rama. Pah. Her money. She used her miles to come down to loathe us. My only gripe was that it was a waste of my time. I'm aging. Anyone who wastes my time is, in my opinion, killing me.

After she left, I wrote a brief and polite, but not at all sincere, e-mail stating how happy I was to see her again. She never responded. Whew. Good riddance. That was all I heard until earlier this year when I got one of those LinkedIn notices that she "wants to be my friend."

*click* IGNORE

And there she was eating a bagel and drinking a coffee across the room from me. Did I say anything? Sure did. I said, "Oh shit, there's my roommate. Don't look."

What should I have done? Why pretend we care? I just enjoyed the weirdness of it. I figured out why she was here (gawbless Google). We were only in Dallas for two overlapping days. Why not eat at the same strip mall's generic bagel eatery?

That's bad weird.

Good weird happened later when we visited Runner Susan and her posse. She's posted photos. Oh, and someone please tell me why one tooth doesn't reflect light. Is that the root canal? Makes me look icky. Or ickier. The screaming cold sore makes me look icky. It's like my face knew that it was yearbook photo day--my national holiday of ugliness. I'll post more about the good time we had (and about catching up with Tammy earlier), but this post is about weird stuff.

I see my college roommate and avoid her. I meet a CIF and have a great time. Avoid a person I shared everything with and used to call a best friend. I meet a blogger and then can't sleep because I kept replaying the great evening. Oh, and because she offered me two espressos after 8 pm. I'd have said no, but she put whippy creamy yumminess on top, so it's really her fault. I was ready to just say "no, thank you".

I think from 2 to 3 am, I just thought about how weird this trip will be. I hope to see a total of three CIFs. There are many FF (flesh friends) I won't be able to see this trip. I should be thrilled to see one by accident. With other people, I should have found a time to see the roommate and apologise to Runner Susan for cancelling, but that's not how it worked, and I liked it better this way.

CIFs are VIPs n U should C them ASAP.

Okay, that maxed out my text speak.

More on the specific CIF dates later. I'll just leave you with these teasers: Tammy is goofier in person (from me, that's a good thing) and Runner Susan's equal half is uebersmitten with her.

Nuh-night, Puss Puss, and just say no to brewed legal stimulants...

...unles, that is, they're topped with whippy creamy goodness.

Comments

[Joy]

With red boots and Reddi Wip how can anyone not be uebersmitten with me?

[21stCenturyMom]

In the early days of the internet I used to hang out on The Well. There was a thread on there called "There Are Really Only 200 People in the World" where people told stories like yours. It's amazing how many people have such a story. I have one, myself involving someone yelling to me from a bus near Hyde Park.

But I digress. I wish I could have spent the weekend in Tejas and Arizona. All the cool kids are in that region right now.

[Tesso]

Great pics! When Runner Susan's blog was loading all I could see at first was the comment about Rowdy drinking too much and having to be carried around ... the pic hadn't loaded, I thought Rowdy was a person :)

Oh, and I count 4 people and 4 bottles of wine and a bottle of something else on the table .... hmmmmm ....

[jeanne]

truth IS stranger. i love runner susan. now i want whipped cream too.

[LBTEPA]

should shmould. Runner susan (all hail runner susan's shoes, I want them all) sounds much more fun than some cow who doesn't adore the Lervemunkee

[Ginger Breadman]

oh my god what a wild ride. Jackson like the cappucinno foam. I've got to go check out Susan's photos.

[Quentewen Tewentino]

CIFs like Susan are better than FFs. I'm confused about the uebersmitten bit. Are you talking about Michael, or is it you who are uebersmitten with your twin sister?

[Hege]

Hooray for creepy internet friends! You need to come to MA! :)

[Hege]

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are having a great day!