what were the skies like when you were young?
[duty]
Since Monday, I've been fulfilling my civic duty by schelpping my tired body over to jury duty. Technically, I'm just in the jury pool, having not been selected for any trials. On the first day, I was randmonly drawn from the drum, #12 of 20, and got to stand facing the accused (alleged heroin trafficker). The Crown attorney and the defense attorney will simpy look at the prospective juror and say "content" or "challenge". Two contents, you're in, one challenge and you're out. The Crown challenged, and I was sent back to the body of the court room by the presiding judge, a younger Sofia Loren look-alike, who spoke in whispers into the mic. No one asked us any questions, they just look and decide. I figure I must've looked sympathetic to the accused... you know, being asian and a man and all that opium drug war in my family's history. but seriously, they did pick a cross-section of people for the jury. I must've looked too hard at the accused, looking like a made up my mind already.
The rest of the time, all 200 (or so) of us are herded into the Jury Lounge, where we wait to be called for the next trial. After watching an intro video on jury duty and after the nice pre-prepared speech from the judge, we all understood the seriousness and the importance of our contribution to a democratic society. But does it have to be so bloody boring?
I haven't since been called back to a trial, so I managed to pass the time by finishing off The Da Vinci Code (**) and Number9Dream (***1/2), and now trying to finish off Ian McEwan's Atonement. And I got to daydream about all the accessories I can buy for my iPod, as well as think about -s-...
On Sunday, I had a coffee date to meet -s-. We had a nice chat in a parkette off of GreekTown and I was taken by his stories. And so, yesterday, we met up at the Hair of the Dog for drinks. He had other engagments prior and after, so we spent just a short time drinking. (good? bad? I got slotted in for 90 minutes.) He talked and talked and complained that I listened too much, but I was distracted by his exhuberance and his smile. So far, I have decided that this is a date and I was enjoying it very much.
And then he told me more about South Korea. He had mentioned he was travelling there in December to visit friends. Halfway through our beers, he said that it was an open-ended ticket. He didn't have a return flight. No return date, and also no return destination. My heart fell. Suddenly, I felt my iciness wanting so badly to freeze me all over.
When we parted, I had told him I liked him and we agreed to see each other again. What I didn't say was that I hadn't felt this way in such a long time, to feel connected to someone new, someone who seemed to be on the same wavelength. Maybe it's my imagination, maybe it's just my wishful thinking. I wanted to feel a little more, to let him melt my heart and perhaps let me touch his. But all I saw on the walk home was his plane flying into the sky, a spark dissipating into the fluffy clouds, away from the ice floe that is me.
Since Monday, I've been fulfilling my civic duty by schelpping my tired body over to jury duty. Technically, I'm just in the jury pool, having not been selected for any trials. On the first day, I was randmonly drawn from the drum, #12 of 20, and got to stand facing the accused (alleged heroin trafficker). The Crown attorney and the defense attorney will simpy look at the prospective juror and say "content" or "challenge". Two contents, you're in, one challenge and you're out. The Crown challenged, and I was sent back to the body of the court room by the presiding judge, a younger Sofia Loren look-alike, who spoke in whispers into the mic. No one asked us any questions, they just look and decide. I figure I must've looked sympathetic to the accused... you know, being asian and a man and all that opium drug war in my family's history. but seriously, they did pick a cross-section of people for the jury. I must've looked too hard at the accused, looking like a made up my mind already.
The rest of the time, all 200 (or so) of us are herded into the Jury Lounge, where we wait to be called for the next trial. After watching an intro video on jury duty and after the nice pre-prepared speech from the judge, we all understood the seriousness and the importance of our contribution to a democratic society. But does it have to be so bloody boring?
I haven't since been called back to a trial, so I managed to pass the time by finishing off The Da Vinci Code (**) and Number9Dream (***1/2), and now trying to finish off Ian McEwan's Atonement. And I got to daydream about all the accessories I can buy for my iPod, as well as think about -s-...
On Sunday, I had a coffee date to meet -s-. We had a nice chat in a parkette off of GreekTown and I was taken by his stories. And so, yesterday, we met up at the Hair of the Dog for drinks. He had other engagments prior and after, so we spent just a short time drinking. (good? bad? I got slotted in for 90 minutes.) He talked and talked and complained that I listened too much, but I was distracted by his exhuberance and his smile. So far, I have decided that this is a date and I was enjoying it very much.
And then he told me more about South Korea. He had mentioned he was travelling there in December to visit friends. Halfway through our beers, he said that it was an open-ended ticket. He didn't have a return flight. No return date, and also no return destination. My heart fell. Suddenly, I felt my iciness wanting so badly to freeze me all over.
When we parted, I had told him I liked him and we agreed to see each other again. What I didn't say was that I hadn't felt this way in such a long time, to feel connected to someone new, someone who seemed to be on the same wavelength. Maybe it's my imagination, maybe it's just my wishful thinking. I wanted to feel a little more, to let him melt my heart and perhaps let me touch his. But all I saw on the walk home was his plane flying into the sky, a spark dissipating into the fluffy clouds, away from the ice floe that is me.
posted by joe at 4:33 PM
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