Melancholy Clouds

My weekend's been odd. A bit melancholy perhaps. Yesterday an hour before my roommate's birthday party I was told that her friends had had henna done once for free and didn't want to get it done that night. Plus also, although she'd thought in the beginning that a lot of people were going to be there, now it looked like just her friends and maybe 1 more.

So part of me feels like the large batch of henna I made up last week, and put in the freezer for this, is now going to go to waste. Created henna only has a certain shelf life. I made enough for 3 cones worth, having been told there'd be a lot of people there, and they'd love the henna, and I could make some money. I felt like there'd been a large buildup and now at the last moment things had changed. To be fair, it never was a "henna party". It always was a birthday party.

So I went. And it wasn't comfortable.... I felt out of my element. Not because I didn't know people much aside from my new roommate (whom I've known a month) but because they *all* knew each other, and had shared experiences together, and (except for one girl that arrived late, they were all from the Ukraine or their parents had come from there. So when they told a Russian joke, in English, they all got it, and I didn't. They shared pics of their daytrip to the Savannah beach, spoke much on education and grantwriting and funding, and of South America (where the other guest was from).

Add to this mix, the fact that they are mid 20s to 30. Maybe I was feeling old. I just didn't mesh with the giggling bikini clad ladies depicted in the photos. They also seemed to get inebriated easily. My roommate was pretty gone last night, but then again I knew she needed that what with all the stress she's had. I left when they spoke of going clubbing in Buckhead. If it had been a group I'd meshed with, and was enjoying, I think I would have gone. Sigh. My roomie is so up and down and up and down, and in crisis mode all the time. I knew this instinctively when I interviewed her. That there would be drama somehow. The good thing is however, that so far it's not been drama about the apt, or rent or whatever. And, since I never see her during the week, the only time I hear about it is on weekends.

Ok, so today I wake up and even though it's cloudy I get myself out the door and over to Stone Mountain for the Japan Fest. I get there before it opens, and have the happy coincidence of receiving a free ticket. Ok, I had to pursue the lady and ask about it... but darnit, she started with the people right in front of me, like I wasn't there. By this time, I'm sure images of a wild-eyed Noel, purse in hand, ready to bonk the lady are going through your head, but there was no such entertainment. :D

Walking around the park, the air slightly muggy, the sky overcast, I felt a sense of foreignness that surprised me. Which, I suppose should not have. I think it comes from having been so immersed recently in hindi culture and language and attire. It was a mental exercise for me to reach back and bring out my oral abilities, but I was glad they hadn't disappeared altogether. I tried on a yukatta or two, and a hapi coat, but they didn't have much that would fit me. I guess I should have gone yesterday when they first had all their wares out. Then the skies opened up, and the rain came down. A young man I was speaking with started to pack up, telling me that the forecast was for an even heavier downpour after this one. I got my sushi bento from the improvised foodcourt and headed back to my car, umbrella above me like a multicolored flower, catching the raindrops.

It was too early to go home, so I went to the local mall and saw Jet Li's Fearless. Excellent movie... great action, superb choreography, good story. And now I've returned home and am relaying all of this to you. Hope it wasn't too long, I just needed to get it all out. Maybe if I sleep the melancholy clouds will drift away.