Lunch 2 August 1998

I have the world's biggest tuna sandwich in front of me, on two entirely inadequate slices of 9-grain. I have the feeling that showering before trying to eat this would be pointless. Also a elaborate bottle of Sobe Orange + Carrot juice. It seemed like the best choice given what else was there, but I was bracing myself for that, um, distinctive carrot juice taste. Tried it and thought, "Hmmm, that's not bad at all. Oh, look - Main Ingredients: Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup." Of course. Everything is made of high fructose corn syrup today. Mother's milk, communion wine, Budweiser, motor oil, all of it. Why do you think Bob Dole always has that smirk on his face? Kansas, they're in charge.

I noticed that the Little People at the deli have one of those religious shrines in the back of the store, with an icon of some unfamiliar Buddhist-type fellow, some dried plants, some incense - and a Coke can. I don't know if it was empty or not. Even Buddha drinks high fructose corn syrup.

Now, time to retrieve the laundry - clean socks! - and then go see The Truman Show. Will Jim Carrey be as annoying as ever? Can a movie that I've seen analyzed to death for months still be funny? Will the popcorn be stale? Not all questions are suspenseful.

2:22 AM: Actually, the popcorn was relatively fresh, and it came with real butter instead of that butter-like recycled fry-shop oil that's very popular these days. I was surprised. That'll show me I guess.

Hmm? Oh, the MOVIE! Yes, it was entertaining. What all the analysis had missed, and so what caught me by surprise, is that by and large it's not a comedy at all. It's a rather well-done paranoid drama, and so it used Jim Carrey fairly effectively. I mean, if you started to believe that your whole world was an invented conspiracy centering around yourself, you'd act pretty crazy as well. But I couldn't help thinking that once most of the major plot threads had been set into motion, we really lost a sense of what it would be like to be this person. And that's the difference that a better actor could have made.

So my opinion of Carrey as a goon wasn't much shaken, and thank God for that. I so hate it when I have to re-evaluate an opinion, it's such an un-American experience.

I went to the show with Lauren - it was good to see her, it's been a while, and it was a good thing to get her out of the house, I think. She's been having a puzzlingly difficult time getting work lately; she's a copy editor by trade, and it doesn't take too much walking around the Web to make one realize how badly that trade is needed. I think that San Francisco is oversaturated now when it comes to Web-related jobs. Too many people have moved here thinking they're going to make their fortunes in this, like, really cool industry. Everyone is trying to ignore the fact that, for the most part, they haven't actually figured out how to make any money off all this yet. We can only pray that stupidity continues to rule in the boardrooms and ad agencies of corporate America. This, however, seems like a fairly safe bet.

In other news: I did end up sending email to Anna after all. But the effort to resist this wasn't entirely wasted. I think I bled most of the vitriolic rhetoric out of my system first. In the end, I just agreed with her that, yes, she probably ought to feel awkward, considering, but no, I wasn't mad at her. And that's true, althought it's mostly true in a sad kind of way that I didn't mention. I'm not mad because I don't really expect any better.

I was reading somone online today, saying how much more satisfying she found sex and love to be now than when she was in her early 20s. All I could think was, I'm glad that's true for someone.

Me, I only find that it's not all that different. The only thing that's changed is that I'm a little faster at knowing when to bail. Not that I do, but at least it doesn't take me by surprise.

Willfully blind self-indulgent nebbish or amusingly quirky old coot? And how bout that local sports team? Discuss among yourselves.

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