This blog is not in chronological order

Saturday, March 8, 2008

A few observations on our first sea day, Cruise #6.

I got up early this morning, at 9 am, to clean up the cabin a bit and eat prior to my impending teeth-whitening at the Barong Spa. When I wake up, Megan, my roommate, is usually always up, and is trying her very hardest not to disturb me. It always makes me laugh---her consideration of my sleeping is very sweet---but completely unnecessary. This morning, when I popped out of bed and said “Hi” she didn’t respond. Shit, I thought, this is bad—she’s really just frustrated with me as a roommate. Luckily, when I saw her later in the day at Java Café, she hadn’t heard me say hi and wasn’t pissed at all. Things can get blown up pretty quickly on a ship, so I was very relieved.

My teeth are now 3 shades whiter then they were this morning, thanks to Leanne, the teeth-whitening specialist at the Barong Spa. And my brown spot, near my left eyetooth, is significantly lighter then it was before. I am really glad---whenever I exchanged food-in-teeth smiles after dinner, people often think my little brown spot is food crud—and it’s usually awkward after I tell them that it’s actually a spot, not food. There’s no real good way to recover form that conversation, so having it lightened up is going to be a big help in those tense teeth moments.

After teeth time, I worked out in the Barong Gym. I did elliptical and pushed myself a bit and felt a bit sweatier then normal. I still only worked for 30 minutes…that’s my maximum for some reason—even though I have literally, hours and hours of time to spend working out. I am currently the exact pre-set definition on the elliptical machine. After I chose my program, and am requested to enter in my age, weight, and desired workout time—I perfectly match up with the existing pre-sets---Age: 35, Weight: 150 pounds, Workout time: 30 minutes. I may try to mix it up with Yoga tomorrow, if I can get my lazy butt out of bed by 8am. That seems really hard right now.

My friend Lis sent me a collection of essays by David Foster Wallace, including the last essay, entitled “A supposedly fun thing I will never do again” , about his experience as a passenger aboard a Celebrity Cruise to the Carribbean in 1995. I haven’t read a lot of cruise humor, but I devoured this essay today. I was reading it in public areas of the ship—in the Barong Spa relaxation room, on the helipad on deck 13, and in the Marketplace Buffet—and I felt like a humongous rebel. The essay really captures the feeling of cruising, how each cruise is like a machine, designed to make you feel like you’re having a “Crazy” or “Relaxing” or “Indulgent” experience, and how ridiculous the passengers can be, and also, how lovely it can be to meet new people and see the world from the water and just gaze out into the blue. Big ups to Lis for finding this book and sending it---I know she’s wanted to get it to me for a long time, so it was a big surprise to find it in my mailbox this San Pedro.

At the moment, I’m sitting in the internet café, listening to the Melodic Quartet sing “Blueberry Hill” and planning my outfit for tonight’s family dinner in La Trattoria. We have two guests on the cruise, so we’re all going out for dinner to meet everyone and manga manga manga (as the menu of La Trattoria encourages us to do).

Afterwards, a long-form rehearsal in the Stardust and, most probably, crew bar after.

Buenas Sera!