A relationship in binary
I haven’t seen Vanessa for almost two years now. And though we’ve been talking regularly online and her MSN pics are always smashing, for all I know, she could have turned into a 50-year-old fat man.
We’ll meet tonight though. It’s the Russell Peters show and I’ve been handed a T-shirt with the lines “I need punani. Give me two.” printed on it (Thanks for the punani, Karen!) which she’s vowed to rip off my back thus exposing my “puny frame”. (I’ll go do some push-ups in the toilet right after I finish this entry.)
Oh, and I’m supposed to pass her my Jeremy Clarkson book.
Anyway, looking back, it’s rather amazing that we’ve managed to keep talking for this long. Back when we were colleagues, we hardly spoke a word to each other. I remember that she sat at one end of the office, I sat at the other and that was about it. I think that was partly cos she was doing finance/admin (I frankly don’t know what you were doing, Nessa) and we creatives always look at money people with suspicion.
But then she left and went back to Australia to study and, somehow, being separated by a few thousand miles persuaded us to start talking. I don’t know who started it (probably me, according to her) and it was... well… fun. Finally there was someone I could talk to about books. And she’s one of the few genuinely witty girls I know (I don’t know that many girls). Oh, and she actually had an interest in writing at the time which I was constantly encouraging (Now her job title has the word ‘fiduciary’ in it. Not good. Not good.).
And so it was weird that we didn’t meet up even when she returned to Singapore. I guess she was going through a rather tumultuous time back then so we never really pursued the idea. Or maybe, as a 50-year-old fat man, she was worried about my reaction upon meeting her in the (abundant) flesh.
And that’s continued till now! We’ve discussed this before and come to the conclusion that we’ll have nothing to talk about in person and that it’ll be the most awkward moment of our lives. Like when those South Koreans got reunited with their long lost North Korean siblings and discovered, much to their dismay, that after all the pleasantries and vigorous hugging, it was impossible to sustain a conversation about Samsung with someone who only wanted to talk about growing turnips. Even worse, I very much doubt that our reunion will involve vigorous hugging of any sort.
Still, a virtual friendship is good enough. I get entertained at work and she sometimes gets to give comments on my copy. Only a few people are bestowed with this most coveted of honours – their cries of “not again” and “please stop” are merely unique ways of conveying their modesty – and she is one of the lucky them.
But like I said, we’ll meet tonight just before the show. It’s scary and I hope I have something to say even if it’s just “Oh my, you really are a 50-year-old fat man.”
We’ll meet tonight though. It’s the Russell Peters show and I’ve been handed a T-shirt with the lines “I need punani. Give me two.” printed on it (Thanks for the punani, Karen!) which she’s vowed to rip off my back thus exposing my “puny frame”. (I’ll go do some push-ups in the toilet right after I finish this entry.)
Oh, and I’m supposed to pass her my Jeremy Clarkson book.
Anyway, looking back, it’s rather amazing that we’ve managed to keep talking for this long. Back when we were colleagues, we hardly spoke a word to each other. I remember that she sat at one end of the office, I sat at the other and that was about it. I think that was partly cos she was doing finance/admin (I frankly don’t know what you were doing, Nessa) and we creatives always look at money people with suspicion.
But then she left and went back to Australia to study and, somehow, being separated by a few thousand miles persuaded us to start talking. I don’t know who started it (probably me, according to her) and it was... well… fun. Finally there was someone I could talk to about books. And she’s one of the few genuinely witty girls I know (I don’t know that many girls). Oh, and she actually had an interest in writing at the time which I was constantly encouraging (Now her job title has the word ‘fiduciary’ in it. Not good. Not good.).
And so it was weird that we didn’t meet up even when she returned to Singapore. I guess she was going through a rather tumultuous time back then so we never really pursued the idea. Or maybe, as a 50-year-old fat man, she was worried about my reaction upon meeting her in the (abundant) flesh.
And that’s continued till now! We’ve discussed this before and come to the conclusion that we’ll have nothing to talk about in person and that it’ll be the most awkward moment of our lives. Like when those South Koreans got reunited with their long lost North Korean siblings and discovered, much to their dismay, that after all the pleasantries and vigorous hugging, it was impossible to sustain a conversation about Samsung with someone who only wanted to talk about growing turnips. Even worse, I very much doubt that our reunion will involve vigorous hugging of any sort.
Still, a virtual friendship is good enough. I get entertained at work and she sometimes gets to give comments on my copy. Only a few people are bestowed with this most coveted of honours – their cries of “not again” and “please stop” are merely unique ways of conveying their modesty – and she is one of the lucky them.
But like I said, we’ll meet tonight just before the show. It’s scary and I hope I have something to say even if it’s just “Oh my, you really are a 50-year-old fat man.”
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home