hair gel encore

I was just reading Derrida and as I drifted off to sleep, I started thinking about hiding from dinosaurs. Actually, I’m not sure what they were, but it seems like that what they were. I find that when a text puts me to sleep, my mind goes to the strangest places…

I haven’t been good about updating regularly. I could just do one long entry, but I prefer them to be shorter. This one is about last Thursday night.

On Thursday night, Jared came to my hood and we went to the Merle Mouquer. This is the only good bar I’ve found in the 13e. I really don’t remember what Jared and I talked about. I’m sure we said profound things. I took a shot of one of their rums. Rum appears to be one of their specialties. Periodically the bartender lined up ten or fifteen shot glasses for different groups of people. I sat on a stool next to an attractive looking woman with brown hair and started a conversation with her. Her name was Mathilde. I find most French names at least vaguely sexy. She told me that she works in theatre and that she had a license in this and in cinema, so we talked about directors. She brought up Wong Kar-Wai. This reaffirmed my conviction that Wong Kar-Wai is trendy. I took another shot and went out side to smoke a cigarette.

As I was feeling garrulous, while I was smoking I got into a conversation with two women smoking outside, they seemed like they were probably regulars. I don’t remember what I said, or if I even initiated it. I confessed to them that I wanted to meet a French girl. One of them was somehow connected with Mathilde and I must have asked her about my chances. She explained that I was too young, that I needed more facial hair—this irked me because I had just shaved my beard—and that my plastic glasses didn’t work. Furthermore, and worst of all, she suggested that I use gel in my hair.

At any rate, back inside, I did dance with Mathilde, but after one song she started up with another guy. When the bar closed, Mathilde and her cousin she was with invited me to come along with them to these two guys’ apartment. The woman from before also came along. One of the gentlemen poured me a stiff drink. They were playing various American pop songs, ranging from Chuck Berry to contemporary, and dancing. I asked if I could play something, thinking I could find something new for them. I put on Heartbeats. I’m sick of this song, but I thought, how can anyone not be into it? They weren’t having it. The only thing they appreciated that I selected was Yelle, which makes perfect sense.

Mathilde mysteriously disappeared, then I realized that she was puking in the bathroom. When she came out, I tried to comfort her by saying that I puked all the time during my first year at college. In retrospect, I realize that this is vaguely insulting. Nonetheless, I don’t think she understood anyway because it was difficult to explain in French.

The other woman continued to give me advice. Mathilde took off my glasses and told me to put on this pair of aviator sunglasses. Then her cousin put gel in my hair. I told them that I looked like an idiot. They disagreed. Mathilde took back the sunglasses and put them on and started to dance. That was a good image. Then she French-kissed me, I don’t remember why. A French kiss, so I found out, it just a kiss on the lips. Still, I said that I needed to try it again, but she said that was it.

Mathilde’s cousin tried to help me dance. What she showed me was actually not unlike grinding, which surprised me because I was under the impression that the French didn’t really do that. Well, I assume she just wanted to be close to my body. That’s a healthy assumption, I feel. Nonetheless, I felt ridiculous, dancing with her, with gel in my hair.

I said that I should getting going, it was about 4am, and one of the women said she’d drive me home because we lived on the same road. Mathilde French-kissed me again, and I thought that was nice. When I got home, I passed out in my clothes. In the morning, I took two doses of tums, but to no avail…Finally, I was able to get back to bed, and when I woke up around at around 2, I felt great.