Obviously, I was a very disgruntled and frustrated person last week. Just when I’d lowered all expectations, my college roomie surprised me with a call. In fact, we even met up last Saturday in the city. I really enjoyed catching up with her. She’s this career workin’ woman– an OB/GYN in the military. Just got stationed east of Napa. In a few months, she’s possibly shipping off overseas. It’s inspiring to find people who love their work. But like I said, it’s nearly impossible to get all three legs on the table of life: work, love, home (place). That’s my theory, at least.

I’ve just been in a crap funk lately. Pessimistic about the world, bitter about everything. Strangely, I’ve recently run into ultra-religious folks– more here than anywhere else I’ve been. In the last month, I’ve had three encounters where I’ve met cool people (except when they attempt to convert me): a coworker/friend, a vendor with whom I had lunch, and my frickin’ masseuse. Yeah, first time I went for a massage since being back, and it was totally NOT relaxing talking about faith and all that bull. I have to say (unapologetically): I am just super anti-religion. Seriously, it’s the root of so much violence, and the Christians, who are adamant about distinguishing themselves from the Catholics, are still pretty annoyingly righteous with their whole “There’s only one true god and it’s ours.” In other words, other people who are believers of other faiths are just plain wrong. And they’re going to hell. So what I don’t get is this: I try to be a good person. I believe in personal accountability. I believe in the power of individuals in enacting positive change. In the most simplified sense, I consider myself good. And yet, by their rubrics, I’m going to hell for the sole reason that I don’t believe. Now frankly, I don’t really give a fuck since I don’t believe in hell or in any kind of afterlife, but I do find the thought offensive. Like if I’m friends with someone, that means I have qualities that person finds likable. How then can he/she accept that I am destined for hell and automatically clump me with Satan’s posse? Am I just their “project”? No, I haven’t read the Bible so I admit, I don’t have a deep understanding of the story, but you know what? I just don’t have the curiosity, and honestly, I feel there’s too much to learn already just from current events.

Anyway, Valentine’s Day came and went. John and I hadn’t been getting along, so this was one attempt to get back on track. I got him a hand blender (I know, aren’t I romantic?) and he made dinner with a bunch of long lost dishes– veggie wraps and cauliflower/truffle oil. Tasty favs from our Raleigh days. The day after, I signed us up for a Chinese cooking class at Whole Foods. The class sucked. I thought we’d have our own cooking stations. Nope. This was like Home Ec class where we broke off into groups and then each group made one of the four dishes. Exactly. Poor planning, and in the end, only one of the dishes was even edible. The others tasted crappy; we didn’t even want to take the dishes home. Still, I haven’t totally given up… maybe a cooking class through the community college will be better.

In other news, John and I hosted a Game Night yesterday. We spent all morning cleaning and prepping. Foods included veggies and dip, veggie pizza, spinach salad, mac and cheese, pot roast, crab cakes, glazed carrots, and cauliflower/truffle oil. Yup, it was a lot of work. Plus, I played my instrument. I was a bit tipsy already from the sake, so the performance was pretty forgettable (at least I hope so). We played some new games: Apples to Apples and Celebrity Taboo. The party was a good time, but I have to say, it wasn’t quite as much fun as the ones I had in Shanghai. It’s just tough to get the group dynamics right. 😛 But I was glad my friends from work made it. It’s good to interact with them in a non-work setting.

We’ll try again. I like having people over. It’s a good excuse to clean/organize the house. Ha, ha. Next time I want to try an international film night or something. On V-day we watched The Departed. What a disappointment. Infernal Affairs was sooo much better and that movie would be perfect for Movie Night. Also, I’m thinking bowling night, roller skating, horseback riding, hot tub… See, this is what happens when you’re desperate for friends– you start plotting more activities than there are weekends in a month.