Waking up to reality

If anyone is wondering...I am ok...the earthquakes were far enough south that we just felt the shaking. Most people here don't even notice it. My thoughts to the families of those who lost someone on Monday though. Today...aftershocks here and there. Nothing as serious as the first quake though.

So last night I had dinner in Chinatown with one of my old childhood friends who is visiting his mom as well. I love going with Thien to Chinatown as he being of Chinese decent, we get better treatment (it's believed we are locals). Now the shop and restaurant owners all know that a majority of their income is from the tourists, but they get tired of selling "Americanized" Chinese food. They actually have a cooking school in Chinatown for new Chinese immigrants that will teach them how to cook Chinese food American style.

Now cultural differences make some dining experiences unpleasant, for instance, the minute we sat down and established that Thien speaks Chinese (although he wasn't raised traditional at all), they brought over a plate of fried chicken's feet. Tasty...as long as you don't look at what you are eating. Nothing goes to waste in real Chinese cooking (I've learned to eat noodle dishes for a reason...something about fish head soup is a bit much for me). Had a blast, drank way too much beer, and we grabbed a cab back to the house.

Back at my room, we sat up most of the night talking, reminiscing about Bruce (he was Thien's friend as well, and we both miss him dearly), talking about Thien's parents (both still married to each other after 45 years), and how his sister is now in medical school. Sometime around 1:30, I must have fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and saw him sleeping next to me. I covered us both and just snuggled against him.

There is something about sleeping in someone else's arms, just feeling the heat generate off them, that can be so comforting. This is a man I can truly say I love. There are no sexual feelings between us (for one...he's straight), but we are close enough that people would mistake us for brothers (except that he is Chinese and I am wonderbread white).

As I woke up this morning, the sun was shining in my face, I rolled over, and my mother is sitting with a 55x70 canvas sketching out the two of us. She said it was just the cutest picture seeing the two of us sleeping, she had to sketch it. I've learned to just let her do it, as to put up with the whining is worse.

Watch...with my luck...I can see her selling it on E-bay next.