You know you can't keep lettin' it get you down,
and you can't keep draggin' that dead weight around.

- OK GO, This Too Shall Pass

-+-

old convo:

"kill yo'self"
-- "lol wat?"
"actually, no! don't kill yourself!  if you killed yourself, the average cuteness of a person would decrease significantly"
-- "LOL that's the best. thank you"

-+-

As a new recruit to my pool of friends, one of the more fascinating features of spending time with Daniel is that he is persistently bewildered and surprised at my fascination with bees and honey.

My default is to partake in alcoholic beverages with him (naturally!), and the other day, we went to a bar that I love for its mead.

"Mmm!" I was instantly in love with my glass of Golden Coast Orange Blossom Mead. Daniel nodded, agreeing that he enjoyed its taste. I noted, "It breaks my wallet, so I don't have Mead too often. Mead is so good. It's fermented honey!"

His brow furrowed, "What's with you and honey?"

I looked up, and I almost thought he was joking. Is that... is that a real question? I half-expected him to go "lol j/k," but he never did. He clearly found me genuinely perplexing.

In context, it makes some sense. We weren't close in college, so he didn't know that I hosted a honey tasting at my house's graduation party. He didn't know that I've attended beekeeping classes, and he didn't know about my ever-expanding collection of monofloral and polyfloral honeys. ...Uh, I think. Either that, or he does know I've done all/some of those things and he really just thinks that I'm crazy.

I did mention to him when I was a honey vendor, and shared with him when I first got my Sunday honey job.  Upon mentioning the gig, he just replied, "Does biology pay so poorly that you need a second job?!" and complained about the wages and tumultuous economy of being a biologist. I was puzzled. It seemed so clear to me that I was just in it for the honey.

In any case, Daniel demonstrates continuous confusion with my apiology fascination. Which, at this point in my life, actually strikes me as an foreign feeling. People in my life have either A) known me throughout my ever-continuing honey journey, or B) learned later that I like bees and honey, and just accepted that I'm their friend that really digs honey. Whereas Daniel goes wtf? Almost always, without fail. It's honestly very interesting to me. To me, I'm just very, Of course I like bees and honey. Duh. On the other hand, I actually really understand his reaction. My interests and hobbies are really really weird. I'm pretty weird. I'm surprised more people don't react to my honey collection this way.

During another conversation, Daniel asked, "If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? Assume your level of training or knowledge doesn't matter, and the amount of money it pays doesn't matter."

I replied, my expression unwavering, "Beekeeper."

The same furrow in his brow. He searched my face for me to go "lol j/k," but to no avail. He said with confusion, "Wow, that honey job really got to you, huh?"

It felt so strange to explain my enthusiasm for honey and pollinator conservation.  For many in my life, they would probably think, "Oh, of course Christa would say beekeeper.  Classic Christa."  For Daniel, I explained, "Oh. Um. I took up that job because I like bees and honey."

We then stared at each other for a good second, each of us confused with the other.

-- "=_="
"@_@?"
-- "...@_@!!"
"o_o?"
-- "I LIEK BEEZ"

:D