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On an unrelated note, one of my other cousins just got engaged. We’re going to start this post with that, are we? Yes, we are. I hope you remember the cousin I’ve been mentioning who recently got married in Mexico. Well, her baby sister just got engaged to her long-time boyfriend (he’s also her high school sweetheart). That’s all I’m going to say about that.
Now, on to my original topic. I’d like to talk about habits. Weird habits. Good habits. Bad habits. My habits. I have one strange habit; it’s not a crazy one, just strange for the fact that I am a thirty-something adult who still practices this habit.
I CANNOT GO TO BED WITHOUT CLOSING MY BEDROOM DOOR.
There, I confessed it. I can’t sleep at night unless my bedroom door is closed. I know that’s not some bizarre habit or anything to get worked up about, but it’s just something that I’ve been wanting to talk about. I think the reason(s) behind this habit is the weird part. Let’s flash back to my childhood. Dun, dun, dun! When I was a little kid, I had to share a bedroom with my older sister. Our house was designed & built in the Eichler style, so our bedroom had a sliding glass door, which obviously offered NO PRIVACY whatsoever. When my oldest brother moved out to attend college, my sister moved into his former bedroom. I, however, was stuck with the room with the transparent door. I didn’t mind at the time because I was just a little pip squeak who didn’t know any better.
Of course, when I became a teenager & privacy became something desirable, my parents moved my things into my other older brother’s former bedroom, WHICH ACTUALLY HAD A WOODEN DOOR! For quite a while, my parents wouldn’t allow me to keep my door closed. They also changed the doorknob so that it wouldn’t have a lock on it (not that I would ever lock my door). As I grew deeper into my teenage years, I would test my limits by closing my bedroom door for short periods of time, or keep it ajar, promising my parents that I would keep my bedroom door open if I had any friends over. Eventually, it just became a regular occurrence to have my bedroom door closed, & one of my older male cousins came to live with us for a short period of time. That was just one more reason to keep my door closed, I didn’t want him to barge in while I was changing my clothes or something embarrassing.
Even after my cousin moved out of our house & back in with his dad, I kept my bedroom door closed, mostly at night though. I convinced myself that it was to keep out intruders. A simple wooden door obviously wouldn’t deter highly motivated, ambitious &/or particularly aggressive intruders. However, it WOULD (possibly) slow them down while I attempted to escape through my bedroom window. I would tell myself, right before going to bed, that I should close my bedroom door to guard myself from potential burglars or predators. I knew that my flimsy bedroom door could quite easily be busted down or pried open, but at least my door creaked rather noisily (to my advantage), which would alarm me of a potential danger & prompt me to climb out of my bedroom window to avoid any harm as much as possible.
Eventually, this thought morphed into thinking that I should keep my bedroom door closed in order to keep out any unwanted spirits. This was when I was going through my Astrology-magic-witchcraft phase. Also, I was sorting through my thoughts of whether or not I believed in ghosts/spirits/apparitions. And…I had previously watched the movie The Mothman Prophecies (the one with Richard Gere, Debra Messing, & Laura Linney). So, I thought keeping my bedroom door closed would increase my odds of not being possessed or ensnared by any sinister force.
Till this day, I still sleep with my bedroom door closed, mostly out of routine & habit rather than for intruders &/or ghosts. Even if my room is sweltering in the summer heat, I will keep my bedroom door closed at night. I close my door at nig hit without even putting much thought into it. I like the simple sense of privacy as well as the psychological sense of protection it gives to have my bedroom door closed at night. Cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
Last night my neighborhood experienced not ONE, but TWO power outages, each within minutes of each other. Normally, power outages don’t bother me. They are often annoying inconveniences, but last night I had a minor scare. It wasn’t really the outage itself that scared me, nor was it the darkness, but it was the timing of the power outage that freaked me out because I was utterly caught off guard at an especially awkward time.
It was late last night, not 1am late, but still late for what I was doing. I was taking a bath after everyone in my household had already gone to bed. I had my bath set up perfectly: Soothing hot water? Check. Charged up iPad? Check. Netflix movie queued up & ready to go? Also check! No interruptions? Check, check, check. Until it had happened. I was lounging comfortably in my bathtub in the middle of watching a Netflix movie. I had already completed the cleansing & washing part of my bath, the business end. So, next came the leisure part of my bath routine, my favorite part of taking a bath. More than soaking in the hot water, I like playing games or watching a Netflix movie on my iPad “Richard” while lounging in the bathtub.
Last night I was particularly relaxed because nobody was up & about with any opportunities to interrupt my relaxing bath. That’s when the power outage decided to rear its ugly & inconvenient head. I was two-thirds in to watching my movie, & all of a sudden I heard a noise, one close to a power source shutting down, then all the lights went out. Barely five seconds later, the power returned. However, I was already feeling alarmed. I jumped out of the bath, grabbed my towel, & woke Jian up to ask him to check the home’s circuit breaker panel. Everything seemed to be in order since the power had come back. The Internet connection had been rebooted, so I had to wait a few minutes to continue watching my movie. Needless to say, I didn’t take this first mini outage as any cue to finish up my bath & go to bed. I hopped right back into my bath, which was still warm, & continued to watch Netflix.
Ten minutes later, I was really becoming engrossed in the movie, & the power goes out again. This time I was a little more on the scared side. The entire neighborhood was covered in pitch black darkness. I’m not afraid of the dark in my own home, mostly because my 90-year old next door neighbor always keeps his kitchen lights on, & it creates a glow that shines all the way to my house. I live on a hill, & my elderly neighbor’s house is on the higher side of the slope (I’m on the lower side of the slope). Our adjoining property-line fence sits lower than most fences because he complains about it blocking his non-existent view. Therefore, his kitchen light shines into my bedroom at night, creating a nice nightlight effect. This helps me to see in the dark, especially if I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee.
This time I was sitting in the bathtub, & all of a sudden everything goes black & the house is eerily quiet (probably because the bathroom ceiling fan went out as well as my movie). The bathroom was so dark I couldn’t even see the door. I got out of the tub again, & woke Jian up yet again to check the house once more. This time the power stayed out for over twenty minutes, & I finally decided to finish my bath. I couldn’t watch anything on Netflix anyway, so I had no interest in sitting in a pool of water bathed in darkness (haha, no pun intended). It felt weird, cleaning up & getting ready for bed by the light of a flashlight & backlight from my smartphone. There was nothing romantic about it, no soft glow, no ambience. It was all shadows & creepy beams of light dancing along the cold walls. I did end up finishing my Netflix movie. The power came back on. More than anything, I felt grateful that though we have many clocks around our house, most of them run on batteries, so the only clocks I had to reset this morning were the ones on the kitchen stove & microwave. Who decides to take a bath late at night in the middle of a power outage? This guy. [Points to myself] Cheers.
Today’s song of the day:
I can’t believe it’s almost September! Today is the last day of August. Summer is nearly over, at least according to the calendar. It’s a good thing that where I live, the weather only gets warmer from August until mid-October. The sun is out, & the skies couldn’t look more beautiful. It’s such a waste to be cooped up inside the house (or office cubicle). I’ve decided to take a personal day for myself today just to unwind & reorganize my life’s To Do list. Hey, even persons with less stressful jobs need some personal time to recharge his/her own batteries.
This summer, I feel like every day rolls by on one continuous loop. I don’t even remember when each day begins or ends. It has all been one big blur of the past four months. My niece’s 5-year old birthday, which coincided with my older female cousin’s bridal shower. My own birthday, which ended in a rather embarrassing way that I wish I could go back & do over again. Many more birthday parties of my close friends & family. Followed by the Mexican-destination wedding of my above mentioned cousin, which happened to take place on the exact date of our other cousin’s birthday (which truly upset him…but only for a short time). Shortly after that, San Diego’s International Comic-Con took up an ample chunk of my July days. Peppered in with a few extremely brief layover days in Los Angeles. More birthday celebrations! And now, here we are at the end of August.
WHERE DID ALL THE DAYS RUN OFF TO?! WHERE DID ALL THE TIME GO?!
Right now I’m sitting in my local coffee shop, in my “usual seat”, writing this blog post. I just finished eating a pre-made protein snack box filled with fruits, slices of cheese, a hard boiled egg, & a small slice of multi-grain bread. This is one of the regular food items I always order at this coffee shop. I am a creature of habit, & usually order only amongst the same three or four items I like every time. I don’t mind trying new things, but I dont like holding up the line behind me. So, I generally just pick the things I like/know, so that I can place my order quickly, pay the cashier, & step out of the line fast.
Since today is my so-called day off from doing my everyday work, I’m going to enjoy the sunshine, fresh air, & outdoors. Then, I’m going to watch a matinee movie, a movie that I am more than happy to pay to watch twice in the theaters. Yes, that’s how much I thoroughly enjoy watching this particular movie. (I will even buy this movie on DVD &/or digital download when it it released.) In two days I’m going to watch Brandon Flowers (the lead singer of the band The Killers) in concert. I’ve only ever seen him in concert at the Outside Lands music festival along with his fellow Killers bandmates. This will be the first time I will be watching Brandon Flowers perform music from his solo albums. I’m so excited to be going to another concert, especially since it’s Brandon Flowers, & he is a great musician that I admire very much. I. Can’t. Wait. Cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
Rabbits & Foxes 
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