Musings, Turning 29

40 minutes till I can spring myself from work... though I wish Jenny from Forever 21 would get in touch with me before that; I'd stay here an extra half hour for a call or e-mail back.... looking forward to the rooftop view at the Standard, and the handful of friends who will make the trek downtown for drinks on a Tuesday night and on such short notice...there was a yummy fruit tart that mom brought to work to share with the staff... this is quite the lazy blog entry, but I'm entitled because it's my birthday and I don't want to work hard! ... blogging is also easier when I am not on a Chinese-enabled computer like I was the last time I blogged; I had to guess what button said "publish post" and what button said "save," my Chinese not being so good... not everyone remembered my bday this year which was kind of sad... but not the reason I burst into tears yesterday... yesterday was a tiring day... I always remember childhood friends' bdays, even when I don't talk to them regularly anymore, but I guess not everyone is like that... still I am impressed whenever someone does remember... there are only a couple of people outside the family who I expect never to forget...and so far they have never not remembered.... gotta call grandma soon and thank her for the scarf she sent.... how odd that I received a scarf, I who am drowning in scarves I am trying to sell at work.

I am a very bad person

and mean and rather vulgar.

About once every few months, I'll be in just the right kind of mood for road rage. Sometimes I initiate it, but mostly it's the other driver. This morning, the other driver was a middle-aged, slightly overweight man at the wheel of a faded blue Previa. Warning: If you think that I am nice + sweet, or you think a girl should always act like a lady, please stop here and don't read on.

I was on Olympic Boulevard in West LA on my way to pick up my friend Randi for breakfast when I changed lanes in front of this Previa to make a left turn at an upcoming intersection. Without really looking in my rear view, I felt that the said Previa swerved impatiently out from behind me, zoomed past on my right, then skidded to a halt at a red light. The Previa was one car ahead of me, one lane over, and the driver looked at me in his side mirror and shook his head. From behind my sunglasses, I shook my head back.

He mouthed, "Fuck you."

I shook my head again, then pointed at the side of my head to indicate what I thought of his state of mind.

He flipped me off.

I flipped him off back, but more hardcore. (I was schooled in the right way to do it back in the 7th grade. You not only extend the middle finger, but also cock the index and ring finger at almost right angles on either side. It looks like you really mean it. The Previa driver had flipped me off the weenie way, holding all his fingers down except his middle one. Anyway.)

He looked at me in disbelief, clearly unhappy at the way our "conversation" was going. He made a gesture like he was jerking off, in the air.

I gave him a big thumbs-up.

He then made some kind of motion with his curved index finger. Was he saying, come here let's fight? Or now-that-I've-jerked-off-I'm-going-to-pretend-to-finger-you? I couldn't tell.

Whatever it was, I laughed in his face. He was almost beside himself at this point, but had apparently run out of ideas. The light turned green.

I resisted the urge to blow him a kiss goodbye, because I thought he was already about to have a coronary. And I had misbehaved enough for one day.

Moment of Zen and other freeway observations

Now that I have settled into my robust 40-minute daily commute, I am finding the time to smell the roses, so to speak, and appreciate what our car-culture here in L.A. has to offer.

1. Moments of Zen: See above, Buddha patiently sitting in traffic
2. Conversations with strangers: A cool afternoon and traffic going about 15 mph, so my windows are rolled down for a change. Out-of-town driver in next car: "Excuse me! Is the 405 freeway that way?" Me: "Um, yeah. About 15 or 20 more miles." Out-of-town driver: "Oh, good. I didn't want to miss it." Me: "Don't worry, you have a long way to go."
3. People-watching: A teenage girl in a passenger seat screaming with laughter, holding an Icee. A barefoot man slowly exiting the freeway on a downtown off-ramp.