13 August 2008

Flame On.

When holding onto a flame, how long is too long? I don't mean literally. You can't hold fire. I can't, at least. If I could, I imagine I'd figure out some way to avoid the 9-to-5 drudgery of the working week. That being said, my job isn't bad and isn't too boring. As a result of my first two days, I know a whole hell of a lot more about Wisconsin geography and highways than I thought I would have ever know.

Really, though, if we're talking about flames metaphorically, as I have just made clear that we are (keep up, slowpoke!), how long is it acceptable to stoke that fire and keep it burning? Whether I like it or not, I can't just stop having feeling for the women in my past. Some of them ended up being girlfriends and some became nothing more than a sometimes painful, but mostly fond, memory.

It's not that I'd like to get together with these girls or that I wish something had come of my infatuation(editor's note: lie #1): I don't still pine for any of these girls (ed. note: yes he does), nor do I think I've changed so much in the past decade or that I am better prepared to deal with relationships (ed. note: except that's exactly what he thinks)...so what would be the point?

Nevertheless, I can't help holding on to the past or the notion that the girls in my memory are also the girls of my dreams(ed. note: Dude, they're totally not). I saw that one of the girls from my past is now engaged. I wasn't crushed (ed. note: he was, kinda), but I was pretty crestfallen. I started googling her name, my crests strewn about the floor, looking for pictures and information...maybe as a way to edge my way back into her life, even as a friend (ed. note: what a freak). Then I realized how pathetic it was to still have feelings for someone who I haven't even seen in years.

But is it really pathetic or am I just one of the few that openly admits having feelings for the girls in his past? I like to think it's the latter. I know that my feelings for them are artificial. It's not them I like: it's the idea of them I like. In a perfect world I'd have never screwed up any of my relationships, romantic or otherwise (ed. note: too bad the w-)

Hey, shut up. I can come to my own sad conclusions without all the snark, Mr. Editor.

Anyway...sorry for that.

Too bad the world isn't perfect. Would I be happier if it was?














(ed. note: No, you wouldn't.)

Hey! Quiet in the peanut gallery!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Everyone has those High Fidelity moemnts, and there's no harm in revisiting them so long as your expectations aren't too high. I've reconnected with all the girls from my past (ed's note:short list) except one, and I do wonder about her alot.

There's a type of closure you can get when you find out what happened to the ones who got away. Just don't expect too much from them or from the information you may gather, and see if you can reconnect.

In the meantime, play your Julio Iglesias/Willie Nelson songs and get a good nights sleep.

Anonymous said...

My favorite phrase in this whole piece is: "my crests strewn about the floor"

Yeah, too bad the world isn't perfect. But that line is.

Anonymous said...

Just ... yes. I get this. I get your feelings here. Yes.

Anonymous said...

Ice-J,
It is a gift to be able to express universal emotions so clearly and honestly. This gift belongs to playwrights and screenwriters.

I read this when you first posted, and I found myself mute, because you express your own humanity so forthrighly and honestly, that others may be taken aback by your honesty.

I think your friends have got you covered though. So you didn't need to hear from me. I thought I'd chime in though.