Posted 9:06 AM by Blah blah

Gamma Male

Had a great time at Dolly's Chinese New Year Party yesterday. She also celebrated her son Bryan's birthday. About 20 people showed up, mainly kids it seemed. Had fun talking to Sophia, whom I'd invited from Jane's party. She's more than meets the eye. Originally from Guangdong, she lived in Thailand for ten years and spent a few teaching kids to speak Thai. She invited me to do yoga with her at her company, where she works in software. She's the third girl who has invited me to yoga with her. I must look really bendable. Hehehe...

Dolly is my old friend from International House Berkeley. Her living room floor was scattered with a cornucopia of toys, and Bryan, Kenny, and Sarah spent the afternoon making ZOOMing noises. This morning I'm going to my next rollerblading lesson. Check out our embarrassing skating photos!

I realize why I like Kiefer Sutherland's character in 24 and Mel Gibson's in Braveheart so much. They are both "gamma males."

Unica Hija called me a gamma male last year. Gamma male defined, referring to Adrian Paul in The Highlander:

Occasionally morally ambiguous, but most often doing "the right thing", he is...tough but tender, tortured but not cruel, a lover of women and the finer things in life, as comfortable in jeans as in kilts or silk, physically strong yet emotionally vulnerable . . . . This is a man, an immortal, actually, who can dispatch a villain with his sword in one moment, and in the next, comfort a dying friend. He can cry, he can love, he can kill, he can laugh.

Several years ago I used to be more beta (the soft and cuddly type), but with all the trials I've gone through the last few years, I've become more sarcastic, less innocent, more cold and ruthless when necessary, and gained an ability to be an insensitive jerk when needed. Life has become less pristine and clearcut and more a series of grays to me. I am cheerful in general but look at the world slightly more darkly and world-wearily than before, as you've probably noticed.

I don't know if that's better or worse, but I am still by nature an optimist. Slightly jaded by life, slightly skeptical, but still capable of great feeling and devotion. Perhaps all this makes me a gamma male. What do you think about gamma males?