"... the cool guy with nice eyes lol" - Jazz

Day #11 in the Philippines. (Not déjà vu - Author's note: Even if you are seeing this for the first time as of 1/6/11 regardless of the time stamp to conform with updating daily.)

This was accomplished right before midnight on New Year's Eve, but it deserved its own entry due to the epicness of it. I hadn't seen Jazz work at Red Robin since last 5/28/11. Every friendship I made at Red Robin was out of a contingency plan to reach her in case she ever left before I could talk to her. It was time ...

I found her Facebook page through Dennis.' I addressed her as "Jazzy," as her name tag used to say, and I introduced myself as a stranger with mutual friends. I told her she need not reply as saying, "Hi," at this point was something I needed to do for myself. BUT she replied:

1) She remembered me ... and she and her coworkers would refer to me as "the cool guy with nice eyes lol." (Yes, her quote obviously as I don't do "lol's.") HO. LY. CRAP ... I actually had a nickname among them!

2) She says that I was always a pleasure to serve and that we could possibly run into each other because she visits occasionally.

Oh, the forces of Coincidence and Happenstance have been good to me before. I hope they're good to me now.

Gosh, I still remember those summer nights as far back as two years ago, proverbially tossing and turning because of a heat wave unfit for sleep. So I would get out of bed, bust a #3 to Jazz and finally be able to fall asleep.

Somewhere I got lost and carried away with the database, so to retrace my steps: Whenever Jazz wasn't working, originally Dani from Hot Topic was the lone "substitute" in the database. Dani quit and Georgia became the new "substitute." Leah became the "substitute" when none of the above were available. Then there came Candice and finally Carissa, all of the above from Hot Topic. Expanding outside of Hot Topic, there was Faith from Brookstone, Jessica from American Basics, and that chick from Waba Grill Teriyaki House who was more jackoffable as a blond before dying her hair dark brown. Matt once metaphorically described me as a sailor with a wench at every port. All the "substitutes" (even "substitutes" of "substitutes") are fun busting a #3 to, but they're not my Jazz.

Since I last saw Jazz, I've added to the regular database the Adele look-alike from the i Play & Talk kiosk, Dana from Lush, and the ethnically ambiguous Monica from Barnes & Noble. But at that point it was only out of methadone and habit.

But with her parting words to me that I was always "the cool guy with nice eyes [lol]" in response to finally telling her, "Hi," I now finally have closure. WE - or anyone who's followed my hormonal journey (which is literally only Michelle and Carlos in Nebraska, Matt currently in Japan, and Tiwat exiled in an undisclosed location) - have closure.

Yester-year, I said, "Hi," to a girl. This year, I might actually ask a girl out. Cheers to baby steps!

Sincerely,
The Cool Guy with Nice Eyes

P.S. This will serve as a mid-season finale, so I have an excuse to be lazy from blogging while I'm busy in the Philippines.

Time Travel: Part Two

Day #10 in the Philippines. (Not déjà vu - Author's note: Even if you are seeing this for the first time as of 1/6/11 regardless of the time stamp to conform with updating daily.)

No one paid attention to any countdown to midnight. I was helping set up a one-hundred-foot-long rope of fireworks when someone informed us that it was already past midnight and we were like, (too focused on work) "Oh."

The tall red Christmas hat that I got from Spencer's one year ago, but didn't debut until arriving in the Philippines last 12/23/11, made its return before midnight. I also debuted my John Cena Rise Above Hate shirt that I bought at Hot Topic last Black Friday.

I have forty minutes of video of just fireworks, including footage of nearly blowing myself up trying to light one. At one point, a firework blew up a power line and the neighborhood had no electricity as the explosions in the sky were the only light.

Anyway, with the Philippines fourteen hours ahead of the U.S. in time zones, I'm technically TIME TRAVELING as I'm literally in 2012 wishing everyone back home, who are still stuck in 2011, a HAPPY NEW YEAR. Even after a good night's sleep, I'm still in the future of 2012 while some of the world is still stuck in the past of 2011. As Matt, who's studying abroad in Japan right now, told me via email, it's great to be Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly for a day. TIME TRAVEL, BABY!