conversations

"How many times can a man turn his head,
pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
the answer is blowin' in the wind."
-- Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind

last night...

labmate 1: i have a question.
me: o, ano? what's bugging you?
labmate 1:(serious) if i have my teeth cleaned by the dentist tomorrow, can i still eat afterwards?
me: (amused) of course! bakit naman hindi ka na pwedeng kumain?
labmate 2: (chuckling and clearly amused) noooooooooooo... you would have to wait for one week before you can eat again.
labmate 1:(still serious) ha? hindi nga?
me: (really amused and chuckling) well, in that case, make it two weeks. just to be safe.

blame the toxic materials in the lab.

oh, if only having your teeth cleaned by the dentist means you have to forego eating for quite a long time, then diet programs like south beach won't be popular and all those who practice internal medicine would clamor to establish partnerships with the dentists.

-¤-
back in '96...

crush in high school: (smiling while standing) hello, good morning.
me: (walking) ' morning. (at the back of my mind: what's up? why is he talking to me?)
crush in high school: wait. i wanna ask you something.
me: (stopping) shoot.
crush in high school: do you recall the growth rate of the giant kelps found in the californian coast? i need the information.

cool. the hotshot of the science club's asking a mere sophie about kelps. hehe.

me: you mean...(at the back of my mind: kelps??? quick, what are kelps?... ah, kelps!!!) ...those kelps mentioned in the film yesterday?

crush in high school, who's two years ahead of me, replied with a nod and a smile. (haha, he smiled at me.)

me: one foot... feet, no, not feet... one foot per day.
crush in high school: one foot per day?
me: yep. giant kelps. california. one foot per day.
crush in high school:(smiling) thanks.
me: (starting to walk) you're welcome.

yeah... one foot per day. i did not pull that answer from out of the blue to impress crush in high school. giant kelps in the coast of california have an average growth rate of one foot per day. at least that's what i learned from the film.

considering that crush in high school and i never had a significant conversation other than that, maybe i should have said thanks to the californian giant kelps? bwahahaha! how nerdy can people get?

all i can say now is this: regardless of who's asking, a nerdy question deserves a nerdy answer. bow.

-¤-
months ago...

somebody a.k.a. one of those friendly people i refuse to trust: i'm inviting you to a corruption study this saturday at up...blah blah blah (details of the activity)...
me: oh, i have plans of corrupting myself this saturday and sunday, like i always do. that means i can't go. sorry. thanks for inviting me, anyway.
somebody: hahaha! i sense something naughty in that reply.
me: good, it's intentional.

ah, i have my ways of turning people down.

-¤-
many months ago... past 11 o'clock p.m. at philcoa

neat-looking may itsura stranger: are you from the university? you know, the friend you're with...
me: (startled and on alert level #1) huh? what about her?
neat-looking may itsura stranger: she looks familiar.

the friend being referred to? cinema buddy ...but cinema buddy was nowhere near. she was already walking away to go home to a boarding house. i was on my own.

me: (still on alert level #1) huh? oh, really?
neat-looking may itsura stranger: she looks familiar, but i can't quite place her. anyway, you're going back to the campus now?
me: (on alert level #2) oh, really? ...y ...yup, i am.
neat-looking may itsura stranger: by the way, what's your name? your friend really looks familiar.

your friend looks familiar. that's a pick-up line. his pick-up line.

me: (on alert level #3) why do you wanna know? no, i mean, why should i give you my name? i don't even know you.

neat-looking stranger gave me his "name". i wasn't interested so i don't remember what he said his "name" was. BUT for reasons i don't know, i ended up giving him my first name. heck, i even answered his questions regarding my program of study (but i think he believed i was just bluffing, hahaha!) and where i'm staying inside the campus.

i know. i know. for someone on alert level #3.5, what i did was stupid. you don't have to tell me.

neat-looking may itsura stranger: are you sure you already wanna go home? maybe we can talk some more. (indicating the nearby mcdo) maybe eat, too.
me: (with my mind automatically jumping to alert level #10) no. thanks. i really have to go home now. it's late. besides, i'm not hungry.
neat-looking may itsura stranger: are you sure you don't want to eat? my treat.
me: (on red alert) no thanks. (at the back of my mind: putik naman o! mauubos na english ko. ayokong makipagkwentuhan sa 'yo at hindi ako sanay sa libre, may sariling pera ako. bakit ang kulit mo?! sapakin na lang kaya kita? ...pero sa laki mo, hindi kita kaya, sure na. konting pagtitimpi pa.) i said i wanna go home. i just wanna go home.
neat-looking may itsura stranger: well, if you're sure about that, maybe... we'll just see each other around? some other time then?
me: i assure you, i'm sure about wanting to go home. i'm going.

some other time??? may God forbid. tsk. close call. that brought me back to... rule #1: never talk to strangers.