April 9, 1965
You'd think I'd learn. Well, silly me went to a dance and that dolt V was there. Of course I didn't dance with him. I felt like crying, but I didn't - at least not until I got home. I love him for what he is, but I hate him for what he does. He must hate me an awful lot to tease the way he does. I wish I never noticed him. Or do I?
April 9, 2006
Haiku on V
After the sock hop
I said I hated him
With my fingers crossed
And so began my descent into the hell of the woman scorned. My diary entries about V were about to turn very bitter and mean. Was it my attempt to exorcize my feelings for him? Was it too many romantic films where the lovers detest each other at first, only to realize the depth of their passion in the middle of a crisis? Poor V. He wasn't teasing me. He was just dancing with girls his own age and avoiding the weird 15-year-old stalker.
April 9, 2023
The “hate at first sight” love story has been with us a long time. From “Much Ado About Nothing”, to Pride and Prejudice through 1930s rom-coms, “African Queen”, and so on and so on. My family knows that I was so distracted by his “bad boy” roommate that I didn’t give Jim a second glance for weeks. No memories are more cherished that the times we were wrong and it turned out well, anyway.
God: Adam, look what I made for you? Now you won’t be so lonely.
Adam: Oh, really? Maybe I prefer being alone. Some all-knowing deity you are.
Eve: Nice way to greet a lady, buster. You’re no prize, either.
God: Oh look, here comes a saber-toothed tiger! See you two later!
(Eve jumps into Adam’s arms; Adam impales the tiger on a sharp stick that appears from nowhere. Behind them, a full moon rises through the trees.)
Eve: Gee.
Adam: Uh.
God laughs, offstage.