I am a bitch

And I don't know what to do about it. I don't even know when I'm doing it. My friends assure me that they don't notice it, but if they thought about it, about the very first time they met me, what I said in front of them, how I said it, I'm sure they'd remember that I am a bitch, it's just that after you get to know me, you don't notice it. My family has no problem reminding me that I tend to come across too strong.

And there's another thing. My entire life, my parents have told me how to deal with my siblings. "Well, that's just the way she is, and you have to..." "When he gets like that you need to..." I'll tell you something right now. The reason why they told me how to change and accomodate their personalities is because I can change. Do you think they ever went to her and said, "Jackie just does that. And when she does, you need to do this to keep things calm." No. Because she's got too strong a personality, and she's not about to change.

I fought with her, and during it, I'm noticing, she's the one raising her voice and freaking out. She's twisting my words, shoving fallacies down my throat, and trying to discredit me in order to win. And then when we get home, she brings Mom into it, even though I thought we'd agreed to disagree, but no, apparently she can't settle for a draw. And then Mom is reading into the conversation and taking her side, even though the first thing Mom did was agree with me on the argument. "She's the one freaking out," I say. "Well, you do tend to not pay attention to your tone." "Yeah, it was your tone, I was reacting to your tone." She didn't even think about that until Mom told her. She'd been misrepresenting me in the review of the conversation before that. "She was screaming, 'you're offending me, and my God.'" Which I absolutely did not say.

My tone. Like you can watch your tone. You can watch your volume. But when you're talking, you just say it. Actors sometimes can't use a certain tone even if they're coached on it and told to do it. And I'm supposed to make sure that no one gets put off by my tone. And I don't know when I'm doing it. Like sometimes I think I might have been bitchy, and so I obsess over it, but then there's the little doubt, that maybe I didn't, and I'm obsessing for nothing. Is anyone ever going to walk up to someone I just met and say, "Don't worry about it, that's just the way Jackie is. Once you get to know her, you totally get used to it." No.

Is this keeping people from liking me? No one's asked me on a date in five years. But plenty of guys like me. I swore to myself that I wouldn't pursue guys, but if I lowered myself, I'd go out. Are they afraid to appoach the bitch? Or am I just vain and I think they like me? Is my bitchiness keeping me from making friends? Is this something I need to get rid of in order to be happy, or is this something I need to accept about myself, and screw anyone, including my family, who can't deal with it?

To Cassandra

Gently I undress her,
Set her between my thighs,
Lay her against my chest,
And wrap my arms around her.
My Cassandra, how I love
The feel of your neck,
To press my cheek
On your shoulder,
And to run my hand
Down your curves.
Alone, you are silent,
But together,
Beautiful music is made.
Your vibrations resonating
In my bones.
Moving fast, or tantilizingly slow,
Across your body.
Finished, I collapse.
Your love exhausts me.

*Note: Cassandra is the name of my cello.

Creative spew

I want to write something. I like to write. The feel of the keys as I push them down, the flow of the letters, the interruption of a misspelled word, the back spacing. The rush of a sentence without mistakes. The smooth gliding of ink on paper, the flourishes handwriting gives to intense words, the subtle clues in the slant of the words, the beauty of words crossed out in graphite, written back in above, erased, and finally, replaced. I have nothing to write about. I have a number of halfcompleted stories, episodes, teasers of plot lines that I haven’t reached yet, but nothing I can continue without the guilt of raping a story. Is there something I could write right now? Just make something up? Part of my problem is that now I like to know where I’m going with a story. Map it out ahead of time. Well, I’ll need a setting. Oh, my kidnapped story. Have I started that? Don’t think so.

What's going on here?

I leave home for a couple months, and both my parents start dating. They were divorced, so it's not like they both spontaneously started cheating on each other. But it's been ten years, and it's my dad's first girlfriend in that time, and my mom's had a few short term boyfriends since, and it seems both of them have found someone pretty compatible. I don't want to jump the gun and say that they're both going to work out, but both relationships seem pretty strong.

My dad says he feels guilty about how well he's getting along with his girlfriend. Like, if he could make this work, then he should have been able to make it work with Mom. But I don't think that's necessarily true. Remembering that it's been ten years:
1) When my parents divorced, the issues they'd had were too recent and strong and had very strong emotions attached to them for them to rationally deal with them and work them out.
2) Neither of my parents were mature enough back then to deal with those issues.
3) They didn't respect each other.
4) They didn't realize the importance of communication, nor did they know how to use it.
5) They weren't Christians, and therefore didn't have the value system that is very fundamental. (That the other is a creature of value, that certain behaviors are wrong, etc.)
6) Even after ten years, they're still raw to each other. It doesn't take much to send either of them into a screaming match. The only way they can coexist on the same planet together is by not talking to each other directly.

And I'm impressed by the way both of them are approaching their new relationships. Before they got married, they lived together. Neither thought that it was a big deal. But now, Dad's describing how he and his girlfriend are approaching this as Christians. They do Bible studies together, and they're just letting this develop the way it's meant to. If it seems like they reach a point where it feels wrong to continue this relationship's progress, they'll stop. And my mom tells me that she and her boyfriend are waiting to have sex. They went on a vacation together, and they didn't sleep together. She says when your older and your libido is low, it's possible to do that, and I believe her. I am very proud of both of my parents, and I hope that both of their relationships work out.

Lil' Sparrow

Sunset

As I watch the sun sink beneath the horizon, a smile comes to my face as I wonder,
"are you watching this same sunset?"
My smile fades, to be replaced by a look of thoughtfulness.
Actually, you couldn't be looking at this sunset.
You're in a different time zone.
Right now, the sky is dark, but not dark enough for stars.
You wouldn't be looking at this sky.
Well, maybe a few hours ago, you were watching the sunset.
But, I would have been inside, working, and not even thinking about going outside.
This isn't romantic at all.