Think Outside The Box

I was seeing a lawyer in Nov. 2004 who was a devout democrat...liberal in every way. Our first date was to a local bar to watch the returns of the 2004 presidential election. He had a friend of his there as a buffer (a devout republican architect...so you know the conversation was scintillating). They both wanted to know what political party I affiliated myself with. I wouldn't divulge that information because my mother raised me to believe that it was bad form to discuss politics & religion. So they spent a good part of the commercial breaks asking for my views on various political subjects (I know, that should've been my first sign that the relationship wasn't going to work, but anyway) to gauge what box they thought I checked when I registered to vote in LA.

When asked my thoughts on the war in Iraq, I said it was a mistake, but I support our troops. When asked my thoughts on gay couples adopting, I said I didn't understand homosexuality, but I'd rather see a child adopted by a commited gay couple than raised by an abusive natural parent. When asked my thoughts on abortion, I said I believe that it's murder but I also believe in a woman's right to choose. As more and more of the questions came & I gave answers, they both became more frustrated. Eventually, my date said, "You're all over the map!" Hold that thought.

When I met Espen, the Norwegian in Rome & we spent several hours talking and laughing over a bottle of wine after he picked me up on the steps of some random church, he asked me what I was doing on the steps of that church. I told him I'd spent the week looking for "this goddamned sculpture of this goddamned saint in this goddamned church all goddamned week!" and the church we met in front of was where I thought the sculpture might be. He got a good hearty laugh out of my use of profanity juxstaposed to the word "god" in such a spiritual pursuit.

When I went out after one of my Friday evening step classes with a couple of my yoga students, they were dumbfounded when I lit up a clove cigarette after having finished my salad and water for dinner. They didn't understand how I was their aerobics/yoga instructor & I was doing such bad things to my body after having done such good things for it.

I'm an engineer who can integrate by parts in my head, but I'm lousy at estimating simple distances by sight. My house is quite neat, but I'll go days (if not reminded) without combing my hair. Basically, I'm a walking oxymoron. I plan to be spontaneous, I'm consistently inconsistent, and I'm as mean as I am nice.

So when I had my astrological chart done several years ago when I first came to New Orleans, I wasn't surprised that it was unusual. The woman who completed it was very surprised, much like every other person who's come to know me over the years (especially those who've labeled me "weird").



















Now I'm not saying I believe in astrology, but I will say that the fact that I have such a lack of even distribution on my chart (which is diametrically opposite to most folks) should tell people something. The way I see it, the only box I'll every really fit in (political, spiritual, etc.) is the one illustrated above...