Snap to it

My schedule for today has filled up substantially, but I'm still going to heed the calls of the masses and rock out a quick post on Abaluba.
Here we go.
Last night, at a local Mexican food emporium called Illegal Pete's, there was a collision of worlds. So far, I've been able to keep Kate from most of the carnage that is my life. She got a little taste of her sweetheart's inner idiot when she shook hands with Giggle Magic Barbie. I know that's not a very nice thing to call someone, but in my defense, I didn't come up with the nickname. It was given to my college girlfriend by my friends and family in an apt description of how they really felt about her.
Kate was polite, and GMB giggled, as you might expect. It's weird when the present meets the past, especially when you're standing by and it's your present melding with your past. There's a certain embarassment I felt with the whole thing, especially when Kate looked at me as we were walking out and said, "I thought she'd be really hot," somehow insinuating that GMB actually wasn't. I'll take it as a compliment that I should be dating only the finest of the fine, and not read too much between the lines. Doing that, and I'd have to think Kate was discreetly asking me how I could fall in love with someone whose flaws are so on display.

But that's the problem with meeting up with your past when you've got perspective as an ally. A more precise picture comes into view, and you can no longer hide behind blind passion. Is that where I'll be in a few years' time? Looking back at this present, which will then be the past, with a clearer perspective and a hint of sadness? Goddamn, trying to figure out how to live is difficult.

So the worlds colided, and everyone survived. Kate and I went into a film after the chance meeting, and met up with friends. We watched a premier for a climbing film, and even though I love climbing, it can occassionally be a tough time at the movies. There are enough chumps (not me, of course) at those shows to make it uncomfortable at times, especially when they're yelling "Poser!" at the screen if they happen to recognize the 50-foot tall face we're all staring at.

And now, I've got to get back to work. There's a bunch of stuff to finish before I can take off for Kentucky on a two week climbing trip. I just hope that when I'm down in the South, scaling some of the best sandstone sport climbing in the country, that my belayer doesn't take the opportunity to yell "Poser!" at me as I clip the rope into a draw.