You Know What That Is? It’s GasLighting

Those are the words that My Cookie said to me when I was finished explaining the situation.

“Dude! You know what that is, don’t you? It’s Gas Lighting,” Cookie said to me.

“What the hell is Gas Lighting?” I ask.

“The term comes from an old movie starring Ingrid Bergman …” and as My RE(tard) went on, I listened and all of a sudden, I realized, HOLY HELL. My Cookie was right.

Okay, so what is Gas Lighting, you may ask just as I did? Let me give you the Wikipedia response to that:

From the film’s title, “gaslighting” has come to describe a pattern of psychological abuse in which the victim is gradually manipulated into doubting his or her own reality. This can involve physical tactics (such as moving or hiding objects) or emotional ones (such as denying one’s own abusive behavior to a victim.) The effect is to maintain the abuser’s self-image as a sympathetic person, while simultaneously priming the disoriented victim to believe that he or she is to blame for (potentially escalating) mistreatment.

Yep, I was Gas Lighted.

Weird Thing of the Week

I have been saving this one up, actually. It’s still so odd/funny I can’t make much sense of it, but thankfully ShaNaNa was there to witness (sort of) and be part of the oddity this time! So without further ado …

Many weeks back on a lone Thursday night, ShaNaNa and I decide dinner and drinks are in order. We hit our favorite Irish pub where I proceed to gobble nacho’s down like it’s my job. Sadly, the pub isn’t very hopping for a Thursday night so we decide to leave and thoughts of maybe calling it a night are discussed. But you know us, we decide more drinks are in order and hit a bar that ShaNaNa suggests, as she likes the band that plays there.

You see, I knew as soon as we walked in to this particular bar that … I don’t know how to say this without sounding completely vain. Regardless, let me put it this way. I just knew that Shan and I weren’t the regular type of women that visit this bar.

What’s Up, What’s Up, What’s Up!

What’s up, my friends!! I am officially home from Florida! What a great trip this year, oh man, we had some fabulous weather, some fabulous times and some fabulous booze!! Now we have some fabulous tan lines!

You know it’s been so long … I really did take a bloggy break for a while, I think I needed it. HOWEVER, that’s about to change and as my ShaNaNa likes to say … AWH SNAP!

A few highlights from this years trip … On one of our hung over mornings we watched The Night at the Roxbury, our favorite scene noted above. That night as we watched our favorite band and drank our favorite beer, we began cracking ourselves up by walking around going, “What’s up What’s Up What’s Up” with the fabulous head nod to everyone we came into eye contact with. While I think we were the only ones that found this hilarious, we were totally ok with that.

Now if you remember my story from last year, (and you can view The Couch Incident here), you may remember that my drunk BFF sometimes sleepwalks. As she did last year. Pretty much naked, to my dad’s shocked view.

As she did this year. 

This year, ShaNaNa found herself on the couch – again (with clothes on this time). She also found herself … in the bathtub.

*Laugh*

She said she woke up in the bathtub thinking, “Why the hell is this bed so hard?” and realized she was in the bathtub so came running back to bed. Me? Yeah even though I would go to sleep PURPOSELY touching her in some way (I do like to spoon her), I never once felt her get out of bed or wake up when she obviously had to move me in some way to get out of bed. But that’s okay, it made for some great laughter in the mornings!

I’m terribly behind on all of my blog reading, but I’m about to catch up shortly! I hope you all have been good, and if not, you should definitely email me about it.

Alive, Well and Florida!

Hi all! I know it’s been forever since a post …

And it’s going to be a while longer! As you may remember, my yearly birthday trip to Florida with my ShaNaNa is upon us! That’s right, fun, sun, BOOZE, ShaNaNa, boys (for me, she has a boyfriend!), BOOZE, dancing, bacon and most of all ….

BOOZE.

I’ll be back in a coupla’ weeks. Until then, be good all. I have some great blogs to write upon my return!!

I’m Just Sayin …

1) I was IM’ing with Twitch the other day about some random shit when I sent him a link to You Tube, asking if he’s seen the Katy Perry video, Last Friday Night.

“Have you seen this?” I asked, inserting the link.

“No I haven’t seen this. I’m a 42-year-old man, not a 12-year-old girl,” he responded.

*Blink*

It’s amazing to me the pure amount of total sarcasm that came shining through in that Instant Message – just in text alone! LOVE IT. I cracked up and said, “But Debbie Gibson and Corey Feldmen are in it!”

He totally watched it.

2) I am worried about My Cookie. I called and left a voice mail in which I said, I Love You before hanging up. Apparently, Google Voice heard that as I Don’t Know.

I sort of feel that Google Voice KNOWS ME. Cuz really, as you all know, I just don’t know.

3) I need a home remedy for some serious whisker burn. Um, I know someone who has it on her chin. She looks like she has flaming red clown chin so any advice for her would be appreciated.

4) You know, if ever given the opportunity, it’s fun to take a walk at midnight in the moonlight with someone, each of you holding a martini glass filled with your favorite mixture. It is a word to the wise however, that notes things on the ground in the dark after consuming said martini’s that could be tripping hazards, and worse, spill your martini! EGADS!

5) ShaNaNa and I finally made it out for GNO this past week! All I can say is that it was about damn time. We had a great time, but then a friend of her boyfriend’s showed up and decided to hang out with us.

All.Night.Long.

*Sigh*

However, we did take a picture with this friend. When he posted it on FB, someone said, “You’re the meat in a hottie sandwich dude!”

Winning! For him. 

Blowholes and Movie Stars, Airport Friends and San Fran

In the land of QT, when there are many drinks being consumed, QT makes herself some notes in her phone to remember things to blog about. Because of course, drinking like I’m homeless does sometimes affect my memory. So I opened my Memo’s this morning and found this:

1) Blowholes?

I stared for a minute at this truly trying to remember what the hell I was trying to remember, when it hit me. Blowholes! So in San Francisco, someone was telling me a story about a man dying by falling into a blowhole. I kinda looked around at the others at the table, cuz really, in my head, all I can think of is … a blowhole? As in, on a whale??

And I’m thinking he fell into a whale’s blowhole? WTF how does something like that even happen?!

I knew, even in the middle of the 29 drinks I had, that my thinking was incorrect but … still I was hesitant to say something, he seemed so sad and so sure of what happened.

See I don’t live near an ocean, I’ve never lived near an ocean, I don’t get … ocean things.  I just knew that my imagery of a man falling into a whale’s blowhole was probably incorrect. I also knew that laughing (because honestly, that image in my own head kinda made me want to giggle) was the wrong way to react as well. So instead I just kept my mouth shut and looked sad too.

And that is how it works in QT land.

——————————————-

While in San Francisco, I was waiting for the elevator with some friends when I look at a man standing in front of us and realize …

*HOLY SHIT*

IT’S THIS GUY:

That’s A Lotta Soap, Fireworks and Booze

1) I think my liver is about to kick my own ass. Seriously.

Admittedly, I had an absolutely fabulous weekend. Yet even on those nights when I don’t plan on drinking that much, it’s like … the booze finds me. FINDS ME I tell you! One beer, two beer, three beer, more! And once that starts, of course someone always sends a shot or two my way. Or perhaps a martini. Regardless, it’s like my own sensibility of saying no to that one last drink is … never present. Ever.

I do believe I love this about me.

2) So at one point this weekend, I was a friend’s house having that last above-mentioned drink when I excused myself to use their bathroom.

After I peed, I went to the sink to wash my  hands and saw … this:

Admittedly, I stood there for a minute and stared before I busted out laughing. I mean, seriously, that’s a lotta soap right there folks.  And, for your information, I chose the one immediately to the right of the faucet. But, because I had been drinking, I don’t remember which scent it was. However, it was nice to know if I didn’t like that scent, I had so many more to choose from.

3) I saw some fireworks this past weekend.  I’ll let you guys use your imagination on that one.

It’s All in the Moods

Once upon a time, I dated a man I shall call, “Moody Dude”.  And yes, it’s clearly that obvious. He was frickin’ moody.

It’s not easy dating such a moody man, because the moods affected the … dating. One minute he was utterly happy – happy to see me, happy to be there, happy happy happy! Loving, sweet, kind, caring, wanted to hang out with me. It was a nice feeling, for both of us (at least in my opinion).

And the next moment, he was under some strain. Or maybe he was tired. Or maybe life wasn’t going the way he wanted at that exact moment. Or hell, maybe it was just a shit day. And then it wasn’t such a nice feeling anymore (at least in my opinion) because it was these moods that affected me too. There was no longer the loving, sweet, kind and caring guy wanting to hang out with me. What was left was a … Shrek-like Ogre.

It was confusing for me, honestly. Kind of a large mystery. Like where did the happy guy go? Can I do something to help (and what to do when the answer was an obvious no)? It became almost a trick to get from here to there, from ugliness to sheer bliss without being drawn into a war of words.

As I said to ShaNaNa, Moody Guy’s moods are like a box of chocolates …. you never know what yer gonna get.

Moving … Forward

After any good break-up, there are a few essential things that must be done. At least in QT-Land.

For me, one essential is getting out my box set of Sex and the City, sitting down with a delicious martini and watching season after season. For this break up, I specifically chose to start with Season Six … Berger. Ahh Jack Berger, I did love me some him. He made me laugh, he made me smile, he made me frown. In the end, his insecurities got the best of him, methinks. How familiar.

Yet my favorite part, my absolute FAVORITE part is when Big calls Carrie, to ask how things are “with … what’s his name? Hot Dog?”  Best.Part.Ever. I think it’s the sarcasm from Big, that oh-so-Big sarcasm that has me grinning time after time. I so enjoy that about Big.

Essential number two is spending some time … not going through this alone. Poor ShaNaNa is probably sick to death of me talking and talking and talking and talking to her about everything. Even when she tries to switch the topic, I can almost seamlessly bring the conversation back around to the break up. Okay, well, maybe not so seamlessly. It’s actually more like ignoring what she’s talking to me about and then talk to her about me some more.  *Laugh* Thank the Lord she loves me enough to put up with me on most days. Except when I eat White Castle in her car, then not so much.

The “Oh Shit” Moments

I sort of love the Oh Shit Moments in life. There are all kinds of these moments really, if you think about it.

Let’s see here …

1) The exact moment in time when you realize … this just is never going to work.

Oh Shit. To follow by the ever popular …

DAMMIT!

2) ”Hey!” says odd random man to me, “Want to give me your phone number?”

Oh Shit. 

“Um. No, I’m good,” says QT.

3) Upon seeing the Janitor enter my work area, I sometimes see the gleam in Twitch and Googlie’s eyes … and I can’t help but think …

Oh Shit.

4) Seeing the text messages I’ve sent after consuming copious amounts of alcohol.

Oh Shit! To follow by the ever popular …

*Hysterical Laughter*