...and I think what I was looking for when I selected it:
As a friend mentioned in an email to me the other day, it's "seedy".
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
3 more things about my new neighborhood...
1) At the one convenience/grocery store I shop at, though they stock like Ethiopian flatbreads and a lot of Africans and Caribbeans seem to shop there, the people who run it seem to be Mexican (to tell the truth, they stock a ton of Mexican products, like Mexican crumbly cheese, and tomatillas).
And, the one (woman) cashier has this tall hair that comes down the sides of her face in big curls, and she has a ton of makeup on, and she almost looks like an over-the-top drag queen from an Almodovar movie, but she's really a woman.
The other day, she was snapping her gum and repeating the price in Spanish to herself as she rang up stuff on the register.
2) The other day when I was walking home, there was this group of white, black, and Mexican kids playing with a soccer ball on the sidewalk in front of the pizza place, and, for whatever reason, though some adults were looking on, this really fat Mexican kid who was about 10 years old stood in front of the wall while everyone kicked the ball at him (though, to be fair, they didn't kick it all that hard).
3) The other night like 9pm when I was coming home and walking up the street, on the 3rd floor on the other wing of the building, you could see the silhouette of someone's cat, and the silhouette of someone standing there looking out and watching everyone on the street (the room they where in was backlit). So, for a few seconds I looked at them to see what was happening, and they reached out and turned the Venetian blinds down so I couldn't see them, so as I kept walking along and looking up (they only turned the Venetian blinds down in front of one window), they step out to the side of where they closed the blinds, and flash a red laser-pointer light in my eye (I'm assuming they had one to play with the cat). As I went up the walk, the person stepped away from the window...
When I got upstairs, I realize that the way the building is set up, that their door is right opposite mine, but I have no idea who lives there, I've never seen anyone walk in there.
"Good job, [my name]," I thought to myself, "It's always a good idea to piss off the cat person who lives in your building."
And, the one (woman) cashier has this tall hair that comes down the sides of her face in big curls, and she has a ton of makeup on, and she almost looks like an over-the-top drag queen from an Almodovar movie, but she's really a woman.
The other day, she was snapping her gum and repeating the price in Spanish to herself as she rang up stuff on the register.
2) The other day when I was walking home, there was this group of white, black, and Mexican kids playing with a soccer ball on the sidewalk in front of the pizza place, and, for whatever reason, though some adults were looking on, this really fat Mexican kid who was about 10 years old stood in front of the wall while everyone kicked the ball at him (though, to be fair, they didn't kick it all that hard).
3) The other night like 9pm when I was coming home and walking up the street, on the 3rd floor on the other wing of the building, you could see the silhouette of someone's cat, and the silhouette of someone standing there looking out and watching everyone on the street (the room they where in was backlit). So, for a few seconds I looked at them to see what was happening, and they reached out and turned the Venetian blinds down so I couldn't see them, so as I kept walking along and looking up (they only turned the Venetian blinds down in front of one window), they step out to the side of where they closed the blinds, and flash a red laser-pointer light in my eye (I'm assuming they had one to play with the cat). As I went up the walk, the person stepped away from the window...
When I got upstairs, I realize that the way the building is set up, that their door is right opposite mine, but I have no idea who lives there, I've never seen anyone walk in there.
"Good job, [my name]," I thought to myself, "It's always a good idea to piss off the cat person who lives in your building."
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Reflections on church abuse.
I was talking with my one friend with the cat the other day about the sexual abuse scandals in the catholic church, and she was saying it was celibacy.
I disagreed, and said that the same sort of horrific thing happens in Mormon polygamist cults where the guys are apparently straight, and they molest young girls and boys just because they can (in one account I read, they traced back this case of oral and anal warts on the family's 5 year-olds to the clan's patriarch).
Then, she agreed with me, and said maybe the primary level is about secrecy and power.
I disagreed, and said that the same sort of horrific thing happens in Mormon polygamist cults where the guys are apparently straight, and they molest young girls and boys just because they can (in one account I read, they traced back this case of oral and anal warts on the family's 5 year-olds to the clan's patriarch).
Then, she agreed with me, and said maybe the primary level is about secrecy and power.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
From Linda Lovelace's memoir...
I sent this excerpt to a friend whose last name is Lovelace, since all through school people would ask him if Linda Lovelace was his cousin (he also ended up working at the post office as a temporary thing, and then ended up working there a couple of years though he had a masters degree in other shit) - (this is from "Ordeal", p. 144) --
Prostitution, like any other occupation, becomes a matter of routines and rituals. There was always a bad moment or two at the beginning - a hooker can never know what lies on the other side of a closed door - but there was a steadily diminishing sense of horror about the rest of it.
It's hard for me to look back and think of myself as a hooker. But if you sort letters for a year-and-a-half in the post office, then you're a mailman. You do it, and you do it, and you do it; then you become it.
...
Prostitution, like any other occupation, becomes a matter of routines and rituals. There was always a bad moment or two at the beginning - a hooker can never know what lies on the other side of a closed door - but there was a steadily diminishing sense of horror about the rest of it.
It's hard for me to look back and think of myself as a hooker. But if you sort letters for a year-and-a-half in the post office, then you're a mailman. You do it, and you do it, and you do it; then you become it.
...
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Forwarded article from my mom...
My mom sent me an article about how our U.S. Representative is retiring after the health care vote (I had been pissed at him because he was initially going to vote now, though he later changed his vote), and the 'write your message here' part was just -
happy?
happy?
Monday, April 19, 2010
New neighborhood tidbit (3 of 3): Walking home from the bar.
Last Sunday night a friend from high school happened to be in town for a concert for one night - she met her brother spur-of-the-moment - and so after meeting them for drinks after the concert got out - the venue was like a 10min. walk from My Haven of Peace and Light - I walked home...
And, as I was crossing the street, out of the corner of my eye I see a middle-aged (black) woman walking towards me with her arms folded under her breasts, and she has on this black spandex and white tennis shoes, but she's topless.
I walk past without looking, and as I pass her - she was coming up on my left - I see some police officers out on the right out of the corner of my eye, and I hear her saying, "I apologize officers, but I can explain everything..."
As I walk faster, there's another (black) woman a few feet ahead of me, and as I go by her, she turns to me and she's like, "I'm sure she can," and as she says this, I can smell liquor on her breath, and then she elaborates on how she's in her building, and the guy at the frontdesk should have warned her before she came out, because she ran into that woman, who had been going in and out of the building topless all night.
"Man, she doesn't seem wrapped tight, but what can you do but feel sorry for someone like that, who has mental problems," I was like.
"Yeah," the woman was like, "She crazy, or on drugs," and then after a pause, "Or both."
After we chit-chatted a bit more, I said goodbye - I walk fast, and this woman was strolling - and introduced myself.
"I'm Sharita," the woman said, and smiled and waved after me and was like "Have a nice night" as I left.
And, as I was crossing the street, out of the corner of my eye I see a middle-aged (black) woman walking towards me with her arms folded under her breasts, and she has on this black spandex and white tennis shoes, but she's topless.
I walk past without looking, and as I pass her - she was coming up on my left - I see some police officers out on the right out of the corner of my eye, and I hear her saying, "I apologize officers, but I can explain everything..."
As I walk faster, there's another (black) woman a few feet ahead of me, and as I go by her, she turns to me and she's like, "I'm sure she can," and as she says this, I can smell liquor on her breath, and then she elaborates on how she's in her building, and the guy at the frontdesk should have warned her before she came out, because she ran into that woman, who had been going in and out of the building topless all night.
"Man, she doesn't seem wrapped tight, but what can you do but feel sorry for someone like that, who has mental problems," I was like.
"Yeah," the woman was like, "She crazy, or on drugs," and then after a pause, "Or both."
After we chit-chatted a bit more, I said goodbye - I walk fast, and this woman was strolling - and introduced myself.
"I'm Sharita," the woman said, and smiled and waved after me and was like "Have a nice night" as I left.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
New neighborhood tidbit (2 of 3): Pizza.
Last weekend I went to a warehouse loft that young 20-somethings had converted into tent-living spaces and then part of it into a lounge/performance space, which is where my one [white] friend from Mississippi got invited to perform last time at hipster karaoke after one of the residents heard him sing his song there...
(These lofts seem everywhere... I had been to one last Halloween after singing at hipster karaoke, this drugged-out old white punk guy had invited me - he had been invited by his roommate's girlfriend, and so we hopped a cab to the Latin part of town and then went down this hallway and up this staircase into this room packed with young hipster 20somethings, all of them on drugs... There was this giant-upside pentagram on the wall that had the five sections of the wall painted different colors and then in caps in the different sections the words PISS SHIT FUCK CUM and then something else I can't remember, and also there was this giant pink birthday cake at least ten feet tall made out of cardboard, and there were cartoon skulls painted on it, and there was Asian hipster girl in a torn-up wedding dress with a see-through umbrella that had day-glo strips down the spines, and she held it over the heads of this dude she was making out with forever, and also there was a bowl of 'jungle juice' that had Everclear in it, and at the end of the night I ended up on the side of the room where the kitchen was set up eating some hipter's box of Teddy Grahams I had stolen off the pantry shelf, and when I got a red solo cup and went to get some water from the sink - it was one of those industrial sinks that are really deep and have two sides to them - I had to turn the spigot over to the lefthand side before turning it on, since this Asian hipster kid had his head down in the right side and kept vomiting into it...)
Anyhow, the crowd was young, and it was kind of boring, though cans of beer were a dollar. My friend and I sat on this couch they had out and chatted a bit before the show started up - he was 3rd to perform - and for lack of something to talk about, I started telling him about Linda Lovelace's memoirs, and how her boyfriend had her get fucked by a dog to degrade her.
"You ever see a dog fuck a pig?", my friend was like.
After a few moments, I was like, "No."
Then, I was like, "Why?".
"Oh, back on the farm I used to see that," he was like, and he told me how they had this one female pig in a cage, and next to it they had a pen where they caged the dog sometimes, and the wire fence had this bigger hole at one point, and one time he came in and the pig was backed up to the hole and the dog was there, fucking it.
And then, after a moment, he was like, "And you know the pig wanted it, too, because all it could have done was move away from the hole, and the dog couldn't have done anything about it."
Then, he said that he would find the pig and dog fucking not every time he went into the barn, but often enough.
Anyhow, after a bit of the music that night, I started getting tired and went to bike home - my friend stayed since he had another set coming up, and other friends of his were due to arrive any time - and when I got home, I was hungry, so I went to the 2am pizza place across from my house (it was like twelve-thirty then).
In there was this really fat (black) guy with "LORENZO" shaved on the side of his head, and this really fat (light-skinned black) woman, and they ordered like 2 pizzas for them both, and then left to go do something else while the pizza was being made.
I went to the register to get a cheese slice, and this lower-class (white) woman took my order, and while she went in back to get the pizza, I look at the register, and there's a picture of some young kid in a toy rolly-car, and they have the sign above it "OUR FAVORITE DELIVERER".
Then, as she brings me the pizza, the kid toddles out with her.
Before I leave, this Polish couple in their mid-20s comes in, both blonde - he's like 5'6" and has a short beard and is wearing a brown sportscoat, and she is taller than him, really really fat, and has too much makeup on, as well as a short turquoise skirt and black fishnet stockings.
dog and pig
lorenzo and woman
woman and kid
polish couple
(These lofts seem everywhere... I had been to one last Halloween after singing at hipster karaoke, this drugged-out old white punk guy had invited me - he had been invited by his roommate's girlfriend, and so we hopped a cab to the Latin part of town and then went down this hallway and up this staircase into this room packed with young hipster 20somethings, all of them on drugs... There was this giant-upside pentagram on the wall that had the five sections of the wall painted different colors and then in caps in the different sections the words PISS SHIT FUCK CUM and then something else I can't remember, and also there was this giant pink birthday cake at least ten feet tall made out of cardboard, and there were cartoon skulls painted on it, and there was Asian hipster girl in a torn-up wedding dress with a see-through umbrella that had day-glo strips down the spines, and she held it over the heads of this dude she was making out with forever, and also there was a bowl of 'jungle juice' that had Everclear in it, and at the end of the night I ended up on the side of the room where the kitchen was set up eating some hipter's box of Teddy Grahams I had stolen off the pantry shelf, and when I got a red solo cup and went to get some water from the sink - it was one of those industrial sinks that are really deep and have two sides to them - I had to turn the spigot over to the lefthand side before turning it on, since this Asian hipster kid had his head down in the right side and kept vomiting into it...)
Anyhow, the crowd was young, and it was kind of boring, though cans of beer were a dollar. My friend and I sat on this couch they had out and chatted a bit before the show started up - he was 3rd to perform - and for lack of something to talk about, I started telling him about Linda Lovelace's memoirs, and how her boyfriend had her get fucked by a dog to degrade her.
"You ever see a dog fuck a pig?", my friend was like.
After a few moments, I was like, "No."
Then, I was like, "Why?".
"Oh, back on the farm I used to see that," he was like, and he told me how they had this one female pig in a cage, and next to it they had a pen where they caged the dog sometimes, and the wire fence had this bigger hole at one point, and one time he came in and the pig was backed up to the hole and the dog was there, fucking it.
And then, after a moment, he was like, "And you know the pig wanted it, too, because all it could have done was move away from the hole, and the dog couldn't have done anything about it."
Then, he said that he would find the pig and dog fucking not every time he went into the barn, but often enough.
Anyhow, after a bit of the music that night, I started getting tired and went to bike home - my friend stayed since he had another set coming up, and other friends of his were due to arrive any time - and when I got home, I was hungry, so I went to the 2am pizza place across from my house (it was like twelve-thirty then).
In there was this really fat (black) guy with "LORENZO" shaved on the side of his head, and this really fat (light-skinned black) woman, and they ordered like 2 pizzas for them both, and then left to go do something else while the pizza was being made.
I went to the register to get a cheese slice, and this lower-class (white) woman took my order, and while she went in back to get the pizza, I look at the register, and there's a picture of some young kid in a toy rolly-car, and they have the sign above it "OUR FAVORITE DELIVERER".
Then, as she brings me the pizza, the kid toddles out with her.
Before I leave, this Polish couple in their mid-20s comes in, both blonde - he's like 5'6" and has a short beard and is wearing a brown sportscoat, and she is taller than him, really really fat, and has too much makeup on, as well as a short turquoise skirt and black fishnet stockings.
dog and pig
lorenzo and woman
woman and kid
polish couple
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