28 Up

[darkemeralds]

tehomet picked 28 as the age I should chronicle in the Age Meme. It was a banner year in my life.

I lived
--The first half of the year, in a cockroach-ridden dump just off the Portland State University campus in downtown Portland. It was horrific.
--The second half of the year, at a boarding house on the Rue Alfred de Musset in Guéret, France.

I drove people crazy? There have been 20 years of my life during which I drove a car. This wasn't one of them.

I was in a relationship with I take it this means a primary or sexual-type relationship, so, the usual: nobody. There was this one French guy, though. Antoine. Taller than me, which was unusual. Lived in Paris. Took me dancing. One of my more picturesque memories: translating the lyrics of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" into his ear. Damn. I really am getting old.

I feared Intimacy, apparently.

I worked
--The first half of the year as the dogsbody and general factotum for the University Honors Program at Portland State University.
--The second half of the year as an English teaching assistant at the Collège Martin Nadaud in Guéret.

I wanted to be Better. Stronger. Faster. Thinner. Prettier. Cooler. Almost anything other than what I was. I did not foresee that self-acceptance would take another 28 years. But it did. Children, don't let this happen to you. Except the slow dancing in a Paris nightclub part. Definitely let that happen to you.

If you want to play, tell me your age and I'll pick a year.

Comments

[tehomet]

I lived
--The first half of the year, in a cockroach-ridden dump just off the Portland State University campus in downtown Portland. It was horrific.
--The second half of the year, at a boarding house on the Rue Alfred de Musset in Guéret, France.

Crikey, what a contrast! I'm glad you got out of that dump. Going to France was the icing on the gateau.

There was this one French guy, though. Antoine. Taller than me, which was unusual. Lived in Paris. Took me dancing. One of my more picturesque memories: translating the lyrics of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" into his ear.

Delightful. *envious sigh*

Thank you for participating.

[darkemeralds]

I have some strangely fond memories of the roach palace. Fond in the same vein as "When I was your age, we walked to school every day. In the snow. Uphill. Both ways!"