was something like the platitude on my fortune cookie when I ate pad thai yesterday in one of those Japanese-Chinese restaurants that don't know how to do either but have no entrees under $9 unless it's noodles (which I obviously ordered). They served it in a tiny wok, which was cool though the noodles had little lime flavor and tasted more like a Barilla package than rice. I liked the blue cracked porcelain saucer they brought out with my one kimchi appetizer that kind of looked like this
and one of those clumsy Christmas tree attempts, dried sprigs in a vase with Christmas lights wound in a nest around them, I find those creative alternatives to Christmas trees in Mexican resorts and when I went to Thailand (which is predominantly Theravada Buddhist), tropical countries that try to make tourists feel comfortable in their hotel lobby even when they don't have access to anything like Christmas trees. They usually put up a metal Christmas tree-shaped frame and wind it with Christmas lights and big, unusual ornaments, it kind of looks modern. I couldn't find any good examples.
I couldn't find any of those high, triangular blue ones I've seen, but you can see a good example of how they tack green foliage in the shape of a Christmas tree on buildings. I think that big ornaments, icicle-like Christmas lights, and a lack of emphasis on earthy colors like green and red is the European approach to Christmas decorating. Though there was more use of actual Christmas trees, I've seen similar decorating in Europe. Like these on Dam Plein, Amsterdam. I was in Amsterdam on New Years, the camera phone picture isn't very good.
Anyway, I ate there after a conversation with an Aquarian friend. She and I have undertones in our relationship that frustrate me. I usually tell her she looks good a lot because she typically does to me. Oftentimes I swallow things she says to me that are off mark or irritating and even at times provide white lies. She's short and plump, but has an hourglass figure and significant waist, is very pretty, and a great dresser. Right now she isn't looking as good because she is gaining weight in her waist. In conversation, I told her, "I always tell you that you look good." She said, "Thanks, I don't look good now." I was foolish enough to tell her the truth and said, "You don't look good now, but you will." She struck out at me pretty hard, hung up the phone. I apologized and decided to lie, telling her I said it out of spite because I thought she claimed I was fat (which she didn't overtly). She called me back later and said something along the lines of, "I shouldn't worry, because you belong in a mental institution anyway." Which was a low, spiteful thing to say patterning what I claimed to do. This goes back to various misunderstandings and covert competition in our friendship. She calls me crazy and thinks I have poor social skills. I also think she is out of touch with people she's talking to, what she should say, and has various illusions of being a grand society lady whereas those who talk to her have a very different opinion. While I was angry about her low blow out of left field, I thought about how I shouldn't have said that while it made sense in my mind when I did. It was unnecessary, I didn't need it as a counterpoint to show that I didn't want to lie to her. Her comment didn't allow me to insert the truth, it didn't mean she was any less sensitive. Plus she called me for kicks. And the fortune cookie was very timely, reminding me to try to see it from her perspective right after she told me I belonged in a mental institution. Which I'm still figuring out while grumbling.
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