mandalay

alias vortex

so yesterday evening, i stopped by my brother's place to pick up some stuff and look at his new Big Boy bed (for his 21st birthday, ross finally got a double). when i was about to leave, i noticed that an unfamiliar Alias DVD box lay askew on his dining table. my breath caught, a shiver of excitement climbed up my spine. "is that Season 3?" i asked in my most composed voice. ross drew back a bit, and i swear - he shuddered. "yeah" he said eyeing the box as if he was a seven-year-old who has finished everything on his plate EXCEPT the brussel sprouts which loom on the edge of his plate, the only thing standing between him and an evening of ninja turtle drawings and nintendo.

i feel that i must admit now that i am the one who thrust this upon him. i was the corruptor, the one who looked at his pre-alias being and said "you know, ross, you really ought to try it" and handed him the needle. then i was there for the withdrawal pains, when he called me up and said in a desparate voice "amanda! there are only 2 episodes on disc 5!!" and i said "there, there, ross, i'll get 6 from netflix soon."

when we discussed the release of season 3 a few weeks ago, i remember hearing at once the excitement, disappointment and fear in my brother's voice at the prospect of its return. who knows what he would do, what friends and studies he might neglect, the poor decisions he could make in such a state of alias duress? i believe he said something about it sucking the life out of him, and not being able to say no. now if i were still a student, i too might have reservations about embarking upon 22 hours of breathlessness, strife, tears, and all other manners of emotional flogging. and even the down-time will be spent with sleepless nights, expecting the sound of tires on gravel to be followed by gunshots or my closest friends to really be genetically-altered hitmen. have no fear, friends - i am confident in my resilience. my journey begins this eve. i'll see you on the flip side.

posted by amanda @ 3:39 PM