2002-01-04 - 12:56 a.m.

I did some food shopping and got some vegetarian hamburgers. They were pretty tasty, but I was very disappointed when I learned that they weren't actually good for me. Just not as bad as actual hamburgers.

I was washing dishes and I started thinking about Kenchi. Kenchi. Who is Kenchi? Jim and Kenchi? Did I know a Kenchi? Was he good at computers? Was he a character from a Japanamation cartoon I used to watch as a kid? Kenchi. Not my former roommate Ken Yee. Not kimchi, the Korean (?) pickled cabbage dish. Kenchi...

I left the water running and walked into the room I share with the Girlfriend. She's been sick lately, and I checked first to make sure that she wasn't asleep. Queer as Folk was on TV, so naturally she was not sleeping.

Did I used to know someone named Kenchi?

Her eyes narrowed to questioning slits, as if we had just discussed Kenchi two days ago.

He used to take pictures of things. He was friends with Matt Moore.

Oh.

I've been with the Girlfriend for going on six years now. I'm amazed at her ability to remember more details about my life than I can. Like she's carrying some of that burden for me. Thank you, the Girlfriend. Were it not for you, I'd still be endlessly repeating Kenchi... in my mind, like some sort of mantra, like I was calculating Pi to its most infinite digit.

Queer as Folk is still running. I think that it's some sort of marathon. Playing now is the one where Emmett joins that wacky see the light church. I'm constantly being sucked in to this show. Wanting to watch Queer as Folk is like wanting to own a cell phone. They're both distracting and hard to ignore when they're running in the background. They're both silly and unrealistic, yet alluring. Not quite fitting of my personality, but not out of bounds either. I envy those who enjoy them. I pass by stores, I flip channels, and I consider. Suddenly, I give in?