Falling in love on the bus

I fell in love on the bus this morning.

The bus was more crowded than usual but after a few stops I got a seat in the very back row. I immediately took out the crossword puzzle as I do every day and got to work on it. At one point I looked up to think about a clue and caught sight of this guy - a man really - sitting across from me. Because of our position, I could safely look at him without it seeming too awkward. And so I did. Every couple minutes I would glance up from my puzzle and stare. Watching him, I didn't feel a flutter of butterflies I usually feel when something or someone piques my interest. Instead, I felt remarkably calm and contented.

He doesn't have striking looks but might be considered handsome. What first caught my attention was that his hair, his eyes and his beard are all the exact same shade of brown. This won't make sense but it reminded me of a comfortable pair of corduroy pants. It's hard to tell how old he is and I think the beard might make him appear older, but I would guess that he's in his mid-30s. While I have never liked guys with facial hair, I found his beard to be a necessity, giving him a mature, laid-back appearance and heightening the intensity of his perfectly matched brown eyes and hair.

He was reading a book I hadn't heard of called Straight Man. I've since looked it up on Amazon and it seems to be a humorous story about the absurdities of a middle-aged English professor. Did I mention that I want to be a college professor? The most endearing thing about this guy was that the pages of his book were yellowed around the edges. Something about this guy sitting on the bus with his beautiful brown hair and an aged copy of a 10-year old book drove me absolutely insane.

When I felt like I had been watching his face for too long (it turned out he never looked up from the pages of his book and so never caught me staring), I would sheepishly drop my gaze to his sneakers. Skechers. What man wears Skechers, I wondered. Was he trying to counter the masses of New Balance and Nike wearers? Was he a trendsetter in his office and the first to make Skechers acceptable for grown men? Or was he indifferent and simply bought what was comfortable and affordable? It seemed the type of thing someone would wear if their mom dressed them. Oh boy, did he live with his mom? And then I looked, as I inevitably do, to his left hand. Despite the 21 degree weather, he wasn't wearing gloves. Or maybe he was but he removed them to turn the pages of his book, as I had to fill in my crossword puzzle. Whatever the reason, his uncovered left hand revealed a simple platinum band on the fourth finger. Of course he's married. Of course. A girl would be a fool to let him slip through her fingers.

He looked, sitting on a crowded city bus and so thoroughly lost in the pages of his book, he looked so peaceful and agreeable. I imagine he's the type of husband who tolerates his wife's stories of office gossip with an interested nod and a sympathetic smile. He would rather crack open a beer and watch The Office (the original BBC version naturally), but instead he stands with her in the kitchen, rubbing her back when she passes him to put dishes in the cupboard.

I kept staring at him, waiting for a glimpse into his world. Around us, others were fidgeting with their iPods or cell phones or rustling the pages of the paper. Those who were unfortunate to have to stand would shuffle and lean as the bus lurched and started. But he sat perfectly still, never moving except to turn a page, never looking up to verify his surroundings or to see if his stop was approaching. So engrossed was he that his eyes never flitted from the pages of the book, even when I was sure that my steadfast gaze must be burning a hole into his head. He never said a word, never coughed or sniffled, never made a sound.

He was on the bus when I got on and stayed on after I got off. For thirty-five minutes he remained perfectly still and silent. Perfectly wonderful to gaze at and wonder about. I'm quite sure I'll never see him again. But I'm in love.

I heart Droga5

Actual conversation #2

- The Mayans all died because Christopher Columbus gave them chlamydia.
- I thought it was Cortez.
- Oh well, I don't know what that is. "Yikes, I've got Cortez!"

Guilty pleasure #10

Guilty pleasure #9

I always forget about this song but I stumbled across it this morning and had to add it to the list.

Coolest. Spot. Ever.

Guilty pleasure #8

How rude!

I just saw this on Captivate, a goldmine of useless information in the elevator of my office building:

80% of Americans surveyed say rudeness is a national problem, but 99% of the same people say they are not rude.

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say those same statistics apply to stupid people, bad drivers, loud cellphone talkers in public, and assholes. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery people.

Take time to appreciate a stop sign today

Guilty pleasure #7

This is a guilty pleasure for two reasons:
1. I like the song
2. I like almost everything the song has been featured in - One Tree Hill, What About Brian, Because I Said So...

However,
I do NOT like that this is featured in the new McD's McRib commercial (sigh).
Also, I really don't like the video - it has a very cheesy Gap-commercial-circa-1992 feel to it. It could be the ridiculous hair or the henley + necklace fashion statement (oh yeah, and he's also a whore for the Gap - shocker).

Karma is actually not a bitch at all

I don't spend much time thinking about whether I'm a "good" person or not. I just kind of do what I do and hope for the best. But I'm a big believer in karma, so I guess in some ways I'm driven by that.

For example, if I treat someone I care about like shit, I figure that at some point, someone I care about (maybe even that same person) will do the same to me. Or conversely, if I make the person taking my order at the drive-thru laugh, maybe I'll find a dollar on the sidewalk later. I also think that if enough really bad shit happens, at some point it will turn around and good stuff will start to happen.

But, as is my way, I don't consciously think things through most of the time. I don't think, "Hey, if I let this person get in front of me in line, maybe I won't get mugged in the parking lot" or "I'm going to hang out with someone I don't like just because I'm lonely but I fully expect that person to mug me in the parking lot later."

What I'm trying to say is, without even trying, I think I've accumulated quite a few good karma points in the last few days. Which, given my state of affairs for the past few months, is long overdue. The best part is that I actually feel pretty good about things. Oh, and I haven't been mugged in a parking lot either.

Old lady-itis

Last night I went for a 2-mile run after work. It was my first outdoor run in many months. I was a wee bit nervous because I've had some trouble with my knees lately. Also, I am lactose intolerant and don't take vitamins so I'm painfully aware that I will probably develop early osteoporosis and shatter all my bones in a freak accident while making a birthday cake for my cat alone in my house.

During my run, I was pleased to notice that my knees felt great. After I got home, I noticed that my right hip was throbbing - a kind of dull pain that was unlike any running-related joint pain I'd experienced in my knees or ankles. So I figured it would just go away after awhile.

Wrong.

This morning just getting out of bed and walking the 8 feet to the bathroom made me double over in pain and throw up in my mouth a little. And now I'm hobbling around like an old woman, clutching my hips and sighing a lot when I walk around.

It seems perfectly fitting that I'm volunteering at a senior center tonight. Maybe I'll borrow some Ben-Gay from one of the residents. Maybe I'll just reserve a room for myself.

Eternal sunshine

According to this article, scientists are now able to selectively erase memories from mice, a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of my top 3 movies of all time.

Until the science is perfected for humans, I'll just stick to deleting people out of my cell phone, blocking them from gchat and defriending them on Facebook.