Grab the Rope You know how you have that one friend who is just the worst influence on you? Or maybe you have several like that, I don't know. When you're around them you seem to spiral down to their level, whether that be going out on all night drinking binges, cursing and spitting more, taking drugs, or just being generally more obnoxious than you'd ever be on your own. However their evil influence manifests itself in you, some day you just discover that you've alienated all your really nice friends, or you wake up with a raging headache next to that ugly stranger and you're all sticky and you look down and you've got blood on your hands and upon inspection find that this person is no longer breathing and seems to have suffered severe chest wounds and head trauma.... uh... ahem. And you begin to wonder, "How did I get here? Why did I let my so-called ‘friend' manipulate me this way? This is not who I am." That happens a lot to me. Only I'm usually the evil influence. The fallen ones lay all around me in hell, violently thrust out of heaven after an unholy battle for their souls. Or maybe I've been reading too much Milton lately. At any rate, I am the progenitor of wicked ways, thoughtless deeds, mean gestures, sexual depravity, and general perversity. (Remember how in Star Wars the bad guys had red light sabers and the good guys had blue? Just an aside. Disregard.) Only now I've met someone who is so good, so kind, so thoughtful and caring, and it's overpowering. There's a game of tug of war going on here, and I think I'm going in the mud. Rather than me bringing him down into the dank and dark recesses of depravity and cynicism, he's bringing me up into a kindler, gentler Jen. His innocence and idealism is winning me over and I am surfacing into a world of sweetness and rainbows. I know... sick, huh? Don't get me wrong, kiddies, I'll still be the same bitingly witty purveyor of degeneracy and general inanities that you've come to know and love, but without the misanthropy and cynicism I used to have. A new Jen for the new millenium? Perhaps. An improvement? I think so. Disagree? You can always email me and beat some sense into me. Copyright 1998 Jennifer Chung Keep your guard up, I'm throwin' punches. Back to IceBox