How fickle fortune is! Just recently a downtrodden, broken man, a friend of mine is now flying high on the clouds... having being a regular victim of fate's temperamental disposition, I wonder when will turbulence bring this joyride to a sudden halt, plunging our SQ into the Petronas Towers.

Never being an object of desire for the fairer sex, and having being repeatedly rejected by a girl he has pursued for years, he was the epitome for perseverance, if not masochism.

perseverance: n. a lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves an inglorious success.

But now, things are different, his luck has suddenly changed for the better. The predator has become the prey. At the lowest point of his romantic life, where everything seems bleak and grey, he received an unexpected invitation from a female colleague for a date on the eve of Christmas. Either Santa found that he has been a good boy for the past year or all the flirting, joking and teasing of that colleague finally paid off.

Technical issue 1: Though at this point, it must occur to one to ask if that colleague does as well have a masochistic streak, since she seemed to like being teased and insulted. That being said, it brings to mind another question.

Philosophical inquiry 1: It has been said that the worst way to torture a sadist is to pair he/she up with a masochist. But in this case, one cannot help but explore the mechanics of a masochist-masochist pairing.

He: "You whip me first. "
She: "No, you whip me first."
He: "I hit first last week."
She: "Do you think I care? You whip me first. "
He: "I am not going to whip you. Why am I always the one to give in?"
She: "Because I am a woman and I am entitled to be a bitch. "
He: "Look, bitch, I am the man around here and I will be the one who gives the f**king orders. "
She: "Oh yea? Look who is the one cuffed to the bedpost wearing nothing but a leash and my panties. "
He: "..."
*silence then the sound of whip cracking*

Philosophical inquiry 2: Can one inflict pain by withholding pain?

Technical and philosophical difficulties aside, how this story unfolds has shown that it remains true to the cultural and literary influences in the manga tradition where the male protagonist starting out often as unloved, ostracized and often ridiculed, later turned out to be a babe magnet as the plot develops...

He was a skater boy
She said see you later boy
He wasn't good enough for her
Now he's a super star
Slamming on his guitar
Does your pretty face see what he's worth?

~ Avril Lavigne
Sk8er Boi
Let Go

He could have finally found someone who laughs at his jokes. And good luck does not end there. Where did I read that most one night stands occur during Christmas eve dates? It will be a dinner date and given the number of interpretations about dinners, I suggest holding back the oysters.

What do men consider foreplay? Buying dinner.
~ Cindy Garner

He has been looking for love in all the Wrong places. And now Love has found him in the Wrong place. Everything seems so perfect and right but I can never shake off Murphy's Law which resides always at the back of my mind.

There are so many questions to be asked. What if she is a psycho? What if she is just treating him like a rebound? What if she just needs a guy to go out with and carry her shopping bag? What if she just needs someone to pay for that expensive dinner? What if she has not been a "she" all her life? What if all she wanted was his body? What if she is not truly interested in him but derives a sick and perverse satisfaction from adding notches to her bedposts? What if the light at the end of the tunnel was really a red light to warn unsuspecting victims and my friend, who happens to be medically certified colourblind stumbles into a web of deceit and lies? Will this be the story which Sex, Lies and Masking Tape will be based on?

So many questions asked and so little answers given. Sometimes, for the important questions, one should direct them to the person who brought one into the world. And I do not mean God.

Mother, you who conceived without sinning, teach me how to sin without conceiving.
~ Katia Yaksic

It has been a rough year and we look to ending this one with a bang and start the next afresh. Maybe once in a while, we can throw caution to the winds, and leave these questions and doubts behind as we embark on a new journey... it is, after all, a brand new year.

Even though, it is the same old people...