Flashback! I decided to archive the whopping two posts from my old "my-diary.org" journal:

June 5, 2002
In the beginning...

Just to introduce myself to you, my unseen public, I'm 22 and just about to finish college. You know, at the end of high school, everyone asked, "what do you want to do?" I said, "I don't know." Four years later...I still have no idea. Really, the end of the school lifestyle is a bit scary. 20 years of school, but now what? I'll just take the Scarlett O'Hara approach: I'll think about it tomorrow.

What else do you want to know? I have a boyfriend, Jeff, whom I've seen but three times in the last three weeks. Long distance? No, not really. Just the mess that is the end of the school year. However, I haven't dealt well with his sudden unavailability. Last Friday, I thought it was all over. I wanted to go salsa dancing, as there was a free event at school. You can't go wrong with free. But no, he couldn't spare three hours of his life to do that. He had to finish all his papers by Sunday morning, even though they weren't due til Monday 'cause he wanted to start moving out on Monday. Still, I only asked for three hours. I'm sure he lost much more time than that just messing around doing everything but writing his papers. So I called him and swore horribly at him (I rarely rarely swear). He had nothing to say. We hung up. I thought that was the end. But the next day, he calls. It's like nothing happened. I don't get it. Nothing fazes him. Ever.

I try to be reasonable. I think I succeed most of the time. Still, he makes me soooo upset at times. Not that I get mad at him. I just get disappointed. He really just doesn't get it. Now, don't go thinking poorly of him--it may be that I'm just not making things clear enough, but there are days where I laugh hysterically and think he just doesn't get it at all.

Men are from Earth and Women are, too!

Everyone really needs to read this book Gendered Lives by Julia T. Wood. It's a textbook, but it's the most fascinating textbook ever. It's all about socializations of gender and how people act and react. If you ever say "I don't understand women and/or men," you must read it. No, the world won't magically start to make sense, but you'll have a lot more insight to people's behavior.

For example, whenever I complain of a problem, my dear boyfriend [if you're trying to play along at home, that would refer to Jeff] lists 20,000 possible (but rediculous and highly improbable) solutions. It makes no sense and annoys me horribly. However, I learned that masculine persons figure the best way to help someone with a problem is to simply solve it. Feminine persons, however, often seek or offer support. The reason all the rediculous suggestions annoy me is that I'd really just rather receive a little positive support and comfort.

What other tidbits can I offer? If you talk to a woman, she will usually nod, smile, or make some verbal acknowledgment (yeah, mmm hmm, etc.) to show that she's listening. Of course, she may not really be listening...women are just socialized to be responsive. Men, on the other hand, are not. So just because he doesn't say anything, it doesn't mean he's not listening. It doesn't mean he is, but it doesn't mean he isn't.