ordinarily, ...

i wouldn't fret about getting a 14/15 on a paper. that's actually overly generous, considering how i do everything at the last yoctosecond and how i consistently, as teachers throughout the years had informed my thankfully indifferent mother, perform way below expectations.

but when i found out that the teaching assistant who gave me that grade is seth cohen come to life, that one point suddenly meant more to me than world peace and a lifetime's supply of godiva dark chocolate truffles combined.

i didn't know whether to be dismayed at the fact that he works from home and was only invited to give that one lecture (convincing him to marry me might be a tad more complicated if i have to track down where he lives and hide in the bushes so i could figure out what he likes to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner), or be glad that he wouldn't be there to distract me every day i go to that class. i have a hard enough time paying attention to anything that goes on in there, i certainly didn't need him to tease me with his dark curly hair, that little hint of a cleft chin, and those pretty eyes peeping from behind his glasses. i was charmed by how he talked - fast, eager, enthused, almost stammering, and with that far from smooth voice so similar to the one i've been avidly listening to every thursday night, 8 pm ET, for two point something seasons now. i was entranced by how his hands moved while he spoke, with those long, slender fingers whose grace seem so incongruous with that adorably awkward and self-conscious way he held that lanky, almost frail-looking body.

and as my eyes were busy drinking him in, my mind was in anguish about that point i missed. i was crushed when i realized that i'm unable to write papers that would meet his ideals of perfection. i wanted to be able to write words that would positively radiate, dance with vivacity, tug at his heartstrings, and seduce him into thinking that life would be meaningless without me a.k.a. student #######. i promised myself that the next time i'm asked to summarize epidimiological studies on deaths in long-term care facilities, i would come up with something that would blow him away.

just when i was imagining long winter nights with the two of us snuggling in front of the fireplace, he smiles and drops a bombshell.

he's married. happily so.

AND with a new baby. in fact, he's working from home because he's on some sort of parental leave.

me= 0, universe = 903,785,696,025,605 + 1

once again, i got punk'd by this cruel cruel cruel world.

...

i couldn't care less if i find myself in close proximity to a politician. to me, they're in the same category as britney's white trash of a husband.

but if we're talking about him, it's a completely different story.

coming from a land where politicians believe themselves as gods (and then use taxpayers' money to treat themselves as such), it's refreshing to see a public servant (unlike all the others in the world, this one seems to actually take that title seriously) take the subway to work, enjoy a hotdog in front of city hall without bodyguards circling him as if he's a national treasure, be warm and gracious to everybody who wishes to talk with him, and have enough sense of humor and broad-mindedness to pose for a gay magazine cover in honor of gay pride day.

i saw him again while waiting for my coffee the other morning, and i couldn't help but think that with those piercing blue eyes, he looks as good, if not better, than bill clinton. except that he seems to be oozing with integrity, so i'm not exactly worried that he has a roomful of monica lewinskys working on for him.

next time i see him outside city hall, i'll pay for his frank and fries. that's how much i like him.