soundczechfic | i don't think i need to be this multicultural.

sambot: my laptop is cold
sambot: very distressing
annabel: dead
fitz: oh sam.
sambot:

fitz: my laptop is chinese.
annabel: SRDHTYJFGKUBHINKML,
annabel: XRFCGVYHBNMK
sambot: ANAN FIX UR COMPUTER GOOD! SHE FIX GOOD!
annabel: i think fitz wins
fitz: "ALL WORK NOW

"

I've been having laptop problems for ages so I reformatted and then couldn't reinstall XP because of product key issues. Today I finally made

altricial help me reformat and install using the recovery disc which was in Traditional Chinese. We huddled over the installation process trying to figure out why the fuck Australia wasn't included in any of the location or address lists before finally giving up and claiming I live in Beverly Hills. We figured that once I finished the installation we could change the system language to English and everything would be fine.

I don't know why we thought that. Technology never does anything helpful for me. My Windows system is entirely in Traditional Chinese. I can input in English but all the menus and control panels etc are in Chinese. Why is my life like this. Apparently you can change the English version to other languages but not other language versions to English. I don't understand the logic behind this. I'll have to reformat and reinstall using yet another version of XP. The whole thing is like a bad joke.

sambot: maybe you'll grow fond of the chinese!

The result of all these constant problems is that in my head now my laptop is really fragile and I feel like I shouldn't touch it or move it or try to do anything with it even though all its problems are in its head.

On the way home Sam and I went to Coles so I could buy cat food and Coke. "Hello," said our white cashier. "Hello," I replied. "Ni hao," Sam said. Later we were waiting for our train and my thong broke again. I only wore them because I promised Sam I would, even though I replaced them. She laughed to the point of desperation again.

sambot: ANNA GUESS WHAT
sambot: FITZ'S THONGS
sambot: IT BROKE AGAIN
sambot: I NEARLY THREW UP FROM LAUGHING
fitz: it kills me how funny you find it each and every time
sambot: I SRSLY DO
sambot: I WAS LAUGHING SO LOUD
annabel: RXUTDYFUKVHCGFRGYDUIFUKHCGFGRYSDU6IYUGTHI
sambot: PEOPLE WERE LOOKING

Later I started feeling like I was going to fall off the chair. They're stainless steel and really slippery. I told Sam as much. "YOU WILL," she shrieked. "AND THEN YOUR THONG WILL BREAK AGAIN AND I'LL VOMIT."

I wanted Sam to do an anon meme.

sambot: so hard
sambot: u do
fitz: u do
fitz: i'll do if u do
sambot: i was abt to say that
annabel: do
sambot: fitz
annabel: both

one.
i meet you in jazz bars
for vodka and blues
and we talk about love and communists.
you are my adult friend
even though you're retarded.

two.
i want to keep you safe and clean
before you look around yourself and see
there are other ways to be
than just who you are
and who you want to be.

three.
i would like to have your superpower
but you don't know what it is.
i imagine you in children's hands
crisp pages
flannel sheets
building houses and dreams
they will live in forever.

four.
you seem like a real person to me.
that doesn't sound like a compliment
but trust me,
it is.
you are warm
amongst the corpses.

five.
in secret,
you are the nerdiest person i know
LAN games
and elder scrolls
and custom work
for furries.
(i like nerdy people.)

six.
you are such a mystery
the CIA
and MI5
still don't know your plans.

seven.
i don't really know you
you erase your path behind you
before i even see where you've been.

eight.
i am in a childhood house
with you
and we fingerpaint on the walls.
we speak pig latin
and read treasure maps
and build castles in the dark when i'm scared.

nine.
you are the little electric heater
we crowd around for warmth
when we come together
to watch game shows
and soapies
and the eleven o'clock news.

ten.
you made this place
a home for me
with soft couches
and blankets
and quiet midnight light.

eleven.
i don't feel safe
in your prickly hands
but i love you.
this poem could be longer
but i don't know what else there is to say -
i think i can take off this monster suit now.

twelve.
you need a square jaw
and a cape
and no more false modesty.

thirteen.
you are my charming neighbour
from across the sea.
if you lived here i would make fun of your accent.

fourteen.
you disappeared,
suspected dead.
i'm sorry i couldn't
make him angsty.
surely his ugly band is angst enough.