post service project tryst

JoieTang: we had a TFA service project at Lee HS. we painted these murals up and down the sidewalks. they are marvelous. but the point is
JoieTang: there was this absolutely bacchanalian celebration afterwards
JoieTang: 3 other TFA teachers and I were so hungry after the project
JoieTang: so we got food at Ruggles
JoieTang: and then as we were about to leave, in the parking lot
JoieTang: i knocked this other girl's breast by accident
audio austronomy: i think that's sexual harassment joy
audio austronomy: you shouldnt feel up your fellow tfa teachers
JoieTang: and then she said, "joy, you tapped my breast,"
JoieTang: and i said, "oh sorry"
JoieTang: and she gave me the wink wink and said, "well, if you wanna, you can tap it again, i've got enough."
JoieTang: and i gave it a good bop
JoieTang: so she bopped mine
JoieTang: and this other teacher got the giggles
JoieTang: to the tune of "ohmygosh, you totally just patted her boob"
JoieTang: and we were like "yes"
audio austronomy: hehehe
audio austronomy: oh the shenanigans
JoieTang: and then there was a period of a few minutes where we were faking each other out
JoieTang: and then julia (the 3rd teacher) drew us into a huddle, "hey girls, lean in...." so we did. And she looked at us, "ok, you know what to do." and I looked back, blank, even though it should've been obvious
JoieTang: and then she bopped us both on the breasts; you have to see it. it's just 3 heads leaning together
audio austronomy: hehe
audio austronomy: meanwhile
audio austronomy: what were the guys doing
audio austronomy: "man, i am NOT patting your crotch"
audio austronomy: "man, i wish I had boobs"
audio austronomy: "yeah"
audio austronomy: "me too"
JoieTang: there were no guys, except for the 4th girl’s fiance
JoieTang: but he was not boob patting
audio austronomy: hehehe
JoieTang: anyway, so 3 heads leaning in, and then the little julia, who has us in this huddle, pats the breasts of the girls (us) on either side of her and then runs to the sidewalk
audio austronomy: hehehe
audio austronomy: its those little julias you have to watch out for
JoieTang: and then arwen
JoieTang: who is much larger than julia
JoieTang: (and at this pat, I am skipping around the parking lot, gleeful to have been sexually harrassed by julia guez)
audio austronomy: nice
JoieTang: she gets her in a headlock
JoieTang: and is like "MS. TANG!"
audio austronomy: women’s libbers would be infuriatd
JoieTang: so i run up to where she's dangling and yell, "ready?"
audio austronomy: y'all set the movement back like
JoieTang: and cup both her breasts and push up
audio austronomy: 20 years
JoieTang: and run away
JoieTang: dude
JoieTang: we're the next step
JoieTang: in liberation
audio austronomy: hehe
audio austronomy: soon y'all will jsut be walking around shirtless
audio austronomy: and being the "skins" team when you play soccer with the boys
audio austronomy: wouldnt it be weird if it was men whose chests were the ones that weren’t supposed to be seen
audio austronomy: why do they get to let it all hang out
audio austronomy: ?
audio austronomy: i mean they have a way more protuberant appendage
audio austronomy: honestly
audio austronomy: who ever thought of the speedo
audio austronomy: ?
audio austronomy: breasts are nothing
audio austronomy signed off at 9:20:38 PM.

annotated text

there are certain days that stop you in your tracks, and when that happens, i find that you begin to count your life not in terms of total days lived, but total days since that particular track-stopping day. maybe not, for you. but i know
that it has been one week since my friends and i danced in the street with two Pakistani men outside of Skybar, from 2-3 in the morning. Bollywood-style, until a white-haired man in a black car drove by to tell us that the cops were coming and that we should go, and go i did. though, come to think of it now, he most likely lived down that street and just didn't want us dancing there. fascist.
I know it has been 7 months and 2 weeks since i started teaching,
1 year since i arrived home from Taiwan,
1.5 years since skinny-dipping in Utah,
2 years since i saw China last and 3 years since i saw China first,
4 years since my short stint of studio dance classes,
about 5 years away from that night at the clock tower (previous blog),
and i am exactly 5 years older than a high school graduate.

not to bore you with a laundry list of random events, which this is.

it's just that i had to drive a friend to school this morning because her car wouldn't start, this, 6 hours after she discovered her friend (and ex-boyfriend) had died the previous day for reasons unknown, and so i'm thinking in terms of internal laundry lists. "24 hours since i discovered eric died." it's just that one thinks time should stand still at such an occurrence, and no matter how often it is proved untrue, we tend to believe--life after this should not be possible.
i used to count how many years had passed since my father died. i stopped years back. now, i just know. it has been 18 years, give or take a few months, an entire person.