On giving a girl flowers

It has come to my attention that a widespread romantic custom for a man is to give flowers to the woman of his affection.
I will admit, it is a beautiful gesture, as flowers are [expletive] expensive these days.

It is also, however, a completely fatalistic gesture.

Ask me why.

Well, let's look at this scenario:
A guy shyly walks up to a girl's front door and rings the doorbell.
When she opens, he presents her with flowers, and, after elaborating on his feelings for her, he asks her out and she, brimming with joy, agrees.
Now let's look at the message that is actually being sent here:

"Hey, I wanted to tell you that I really love you, and, as a symbol of our love, I present you with this bouquet of flowers. Now, you'll take the bouquet in and put it in a vase of some kind, and then fill said vase with water, and you'll take care of the flowers, and you'll marvel at their beauty each day. Every morning, you'll fill the vase with new water to make sure the flowers will continue to flourish and bloom, and every night before you go to bed, you'll see them on your windowsill, and you'll smile. Unfortunately, however, the bouquet of flowers will inevitably begin to die, and despite your best attempts to nourish it, take care of it, and make it continue to flourish, it will slowly lose its color, bend, wither and finally decay. Just like our love."

You see my point now.
An alternative to this is plastic flowers.
But again, that bears another fatalistic message:

"Hey, I wanted to tell you that I really love you, and, as a symbol of our love, I present you with this plastic rose. This is nearly identical to a real one, and it will never die. You won't need to nourish it or keep it alive; you can set it in a vase on your dresser and see it whenever you please. You'll smile each time you'll see it, and your heart will warm a little, as you try to convince yourself that it really is beautiful, even though, deep within your heart, you know that it would only be truly beautiful if it were real. Just like our love."

I don't know how I think things like this up either.

I intend to give a girl a seed.
She'll probably ask why, and I'll elaborate that this is where we begin. We start with something simple and small, and if we decide it's worth working for, we'll nourish it together. If it goes farther, it'll grow into something large and something beautiful, and, eventually, will bear fruit. Winters may come, and the plant may lose its leaves, but, if we continue to nourish it, care for it, and treasure it, even when it doesn't look beautiful anymore, it will grow back with even greater beauty, and will bear even greater fruit.

Not something I'd give to someone I was just asking out, as the message goes a lot deeper than is appropriate for two people who don't know each other as well.

I think it's what I'll give my wife on her wedding day. If I am getting married, at least. Maybe I'll start growing a tree and I'll cut off one of its branches and weave it into a ring for her. Maybe that would mean more than just rocks and stones in metal. I wonder if there's a way to petrify wood, though, so it would never decay, and I'd be able to make her a permanent wedding ring....

I dunno. Food for thought, I guess.

G'night all.

T-WAC

New Hair!

So, because I obviously don't have a 7-page draft due on next Tuesday and am very much secure in my topic of research, I've decided to post on my blog.

He said, a rancidly dry tone in his voice.

I've decided to post about something new I did this year.

But first, remember, back on New Years in 2013, when I talked about how 2013 was gonna be a year of change, excitement?
Yeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh, no.
In any way, shape, or form.
2013 had a lot of crazy crap that went on, which ended with my parents both deciding to live in separate houses for an indefinite (and probably permanent) period of time.
Hooray.
But not really.
It totally sucks beyond belief.

But I digress.
2013 was a year of living with sucky circumstances. It was tough.
But 2014, on the other hand....
That's turning out quite well as the year of change. So what if it's a year late, right? I'm liking this.
One of the things to change is my hair.

That's right.
My hair.
Both head and beard.
Now, for those of you who know me well, or have known me for a long time, this comes as quite a shock. Since I was 11 or 12, I have grown my hair long. I have also had a long beard.
Well, as of now, the beard is trimmed and the hair is.... Well, very trimmed.
Here's a pic.

I look a lot different now. And y'know what? I like it.
In spite of the fact that I have the hair equivalent of phantom limb pain, and will impulsively reach up and feel the back of my head where my ponytail used to be and wonder why it's not there, and every night will reach up to take the elastic out of my hair and suddenly realize with shock and awe thinking "oh my gosh, where is it? It's... it's not there... it's gone."
This has been happening for a week now.
Moral of this story: don't have the same hair for eight years. It really messes with your mind.

In other news: I decided to come out of my shell and sing in front of people.
As a songwriter and singer, I need to be able to come out and show people my art.
And I was given that opportunity a few weeks ago.
I was going to audition with my college's music club for the talent show, and it was half an hour before and I thought, "man, I want to conquer my fear of singing in front of people, and here I am, I have an opportunity to do it. I'm going to regret not doing it, so what the heck? What's the worst they can do, tell me I suck?"
While I was waiting for my turn to audition, I briefly went over the chords to "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears For Fears, then, when I was called in, I sang it and accompanied myself on the piano. I shook violently the entire time, and I mean shook, I was barely able to remain standing on my feet, but I made it through.
A week later, I got a call, saying I'd made it in.
I'm psyched. I've arranged an entire piano accompaniment to it.
Well, took little bits of piano accompaniment that I learned from sheet music, and then put my own twist on it. I like it so far. It's very different, but I like it.

Anyway, remember that paper I don't have due on Tuesday?
Yeah, and that research I'm super secure in?
Yeah, gotta get back to that.
I'm liking the changes this year has brought, though, and there'll definitely be more on those.

Good to be back,
See you soon.

T-WAC
The upgraded, short-haired, goateed version. LOL