Mental Health Day

I woke up early, showered.... went back to bed... got up again. I straightened my hair. It's getting long....-er. I walked outside and waited for the double decker 2 bus. I got on the bus and headed to my usual seat, second floor, at the very front. It feels like you're gonna run over people, squish them, from up there. I recently added some 2Pac to my ipod. Excuse me, I just added 240-some 2Pac songs to my ipod. I keep listening to the same songs over and over again... Temptation, It Ain't Easy, Can U Get Away...

I jumped off the bus at Hua Qiang Bei, and as I walked along the bustling sidewalk listening to Temptation, I imagined dancing with someone at a club to this song. I miss going dancing, I miss hip hop. I did a little shopping today. I've been a good girl and haven't done any shopping since I returned from Bangkok back in February (tailoring doesn't count, does it?)! I bought a tye-died pink and green scarf. Kiki has a scarf like this, and once I was riding the bus, and she walked on - completely coincidental - and she looked gorgeous. She was wearing a casual, knit black spaghetti-strapped dress with this colorful scarf, and since that moment, I've been wanting to imitate that look. Hope she doesn't mind! I bought a brown and pink striped dress. I decided to do something about my feet and get a pedicure at my favorite mani/pedi spa. The salon was empty, and a girl with the English name, Linda, was able to do my pedicure immediately. Two other girls who worked there sat around giggling and communicating with me as much as possible with my limited Mandarin. They were cute and told me I was pretty. They asked if they could take my picture. This turned into a thirty minute photo shoot. I even got out my camera and took some pictures of them too. One of them, Hui, looked so Chinese-funky-cute in her completely camo outfit and crimped hair. "Ni shi wo de xin pang you," I said to Linda (meaning, you are my new friend). She cheesed real big and hopped up and down! Those three girls were the highlight of my whole day. Well them and the filet-o-fish I treated myself to in Dong Men at the first McDonalds ever in China. My toe nails are bright pink.

I came home that evening with a 'kafei nai cha' (coffee flavored milk tea with tappioca) and settled on the couch to watch 'Marley & Me' (which I had bought in Dong Men for 6 kuai) with Serena. I had read the book back when I was India, and it had made me cry and cry and cry. I remember laying on the couch at Amma and Appa's apartment after I had finished reading this book. Anand had looked at me and said, "are you ok?" and I just started bawling. "This book is so sad," I had sobbed. The book was a best seller and too overexposed to be cool I'm sure, but I enjoyed it. There was no real formula or conflict to the story; it simply just followed the shared life of this family and their dog... the ugly hard times and the funny silly times. I especially liked following the progression of this man and his wife... all of their firsts together - their first home, their first child, how they formed their family, the experiences that held them together. So, even though I expected this movie, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston (who looked way too tan and fake), to be cheesy and terrible, and even though it wasn't nearly as intimate and touching as the book, I still found myself wiping away tears and sniffling at all the parts that had made me cry in the book. And again, I felt a longing for something similar. In the movie, their is a montage of the couples first few months of marriage, which includes pulling out one another's first gray hairs. I looked at Serena and said sadly, WE pull out each other's first gray hairs. Not that I'm necessarily ready for marriage, but it certainly is pretty to look at sometimes...

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