i had a dream last night that i was on a group date. the way it worked was that there were an equal number of guys and girls and they would all collectively go out on a date. the setting was actually a living room somewhere and the girls were sitting on the sofas. it was sort of like speed dating initially where we would make our round of introductions to each girl individually and rotate amongst them.

when i met diane, one of the questions she asked me was when i thought it was appropriate to kiss your date. what happened next was sort of an out of body moment. i could see myself leaning over to her kissing her after she had asked that question. she was surprised and shocked at first, but then got into the kiss. after that it was time for the guys to switch to the next person, so i left her smiling and she watched me go with a smile on her face. she winked a goodbye to me.

and then i woke up.

—–

last night maureen came over and i made dinner. i was waffling between a bunch of things to make, but finally decided on a three dish meal that composed of [url=http://appetizer.allrecipes.com/az/GrtGrlicBrd.asp]Great Garlic Bread[/url], [url=http://pasta.allrecipes.com/az/OldFashMacaroniSalad.asp]Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad[/url], and [url=http://maindish.allrecipes.com/az/ssiChickn.asp]Aussie Chicken[/url]. all three dishes were new to me, but they all looked relatively simple enough.

Great Garlic Bread
this recipes for garlic bread was quite good. in fact, i think that i may stop buying the premade garlic bread from safeway and start making this instead. it’s a unique combination of garlic bread and cheese bread. very good, very easy. i highly recommend it.

Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad
this recipe wasn’t exactly what i was expecting and i thought it was ok, but my dinner companions seemed to like it more than i did as they did get second helpings of it. still, not a bad macaroni salad, i think that i like my mom’s recipe for macaroni salad more though as it tends to be a little heavier with more mayo.

Aussie Chicken
i don’t know if this chicken is really australian in origin, but whatever the case may be, it’s a very good honey mustard chicken recipe. i will definitely make this again. i don’t know if the bacon really adds anything to the dish, i may omit it next time. but on the whole, i was pretty pleased with the chicken. nice, tender, and pretty good. i used dijon mustard and was afraid that it might be a little too bitter, but it turns out that after adding all of that honey and corn syrup, you probably needed that bitterness otherwise it would have been too sweet.

i have so much food leftover now. i think that i’ll go home and have another meal or two of it. maybe i can make an aussie chicken sandwich. mmm. it was nice to cook again. i haven’t cooked in a long time and i forget sometimes how good it feels to cook.

—–

You Choose
-Pet Shop Boys

He’s gone
You’ve lost
Stay behind
and count the cost
You try
You lose
You don’t fall in love by chance
You choose

It’s a decision
made overtime
Should you take the risk
and start to climb
the steepest hill
only to find
halfway there you’ve been
left behind

Choosing to love
is risking a lot
and trying to change
and to keep all you’ve got
But don’t pretend
it comes out of the blue
You take a chance
and see it through
and if it’s refused
what can you do?
Continue hopefully
Start anew

Lick your wounds
Buy your booze
You won’t get drunk by accident
You choose
Don’t blame him
for refusing your bid
He didn’t decide to love
You did

Learn the lesson
Take the blows
You didn’t fall in love by chance
You chose
Play the sad songs
Sing the blues
You don’t fall in love by chance
You chose

honesty. as cheesy as it may sound, i do believe that honesty is the best poilcy. that isn’t to be confused with full disclosure. just because you don’t tell everyone everything doesn’t mean that you are being dishonest. now, you don’t want to mislead them into believing something else, but you can withhold information without being dishonest.

that being said, one cannot expect that every effort they make in a friendship will be reciprocated. it just doesn’t work that way. the ties of friendship are formed after someone extends that first step and it is reciprocated. if it isn’t, then maybe there’s just no desire to be anything better.

i remember the countless times i’ve extended my hands in friendship only to feel like it was taken without thanks, without acknowledgement, without any real appreciation for the effort i was trying to make. i guess you have to just know when to call it quits and move on. no sense in lamenting over something that you don’t have…unless you are into that sort of thing.

—–

setter guy: how do you like it?
me : i’ll take it anyway you give it to me.
teammate: oh REALLY?

oops.

—–

sometimes i wonder if i should just make a volleyball category since i seem to write about it enough…more so than some of the other categories. anyway, i started a new season this last sunday with the JACL league. my teammates are pretty awesome, so i’m quite happy about how it all worked out.

it just proved how small the world really is when i was talking to a teammate. we were just chatting and she mentioned that she was a teacher. i told her that i had a teacher friend too who worked in milpitas. she then said, oh, “shirley?”

i just froze in my tracks. what?! how do you know her? it turns out that they went to college together and were neighbors. go figure. such a small, small world.

i tried setting last night and it was a dismal failure. i can’t get myself to set non-tight sets. it’s just too much of a habit for me. ugh. but i had a lot of fun and i look forward to playing on this team.

—–

If I could recapture
all of the memories
and bring them to life
surely I would

hear the distant laughter
wasn’t it you and me
survivng the night
you’re fading out of my sight
swiftly

you’re vanishing
drifting away
you’re vanishing a-a-a-a-o-oo-o

I was so enraptured
no sensibility
to open my eyes
I misunderstood

Now you’re fading faster
it’s suddenly hard to see
you’re taking the light
letting the shadows inside
swiftly

you’re vanishing
drifting away
you’re vanishing away

reaching out into the distance
searching for spirits of that past
just a trace of your existance to grasp

and if somehow I could recapture
all of the memories
and bring them to life
lord knows I would

but now you’re fading faster
getting so hard to see
you’re taking the light
letting the darkness inside
swiftly

you’re vanishing
drifting so far away
you’re vanishing
a-a-a-a-a-a- yeah
away

you’re vanishing…how far will you go?