The other day I was hanging out with the sister of my one (half British) (half Sudanese) friend, who's now also my friend, and I started asking her about what her grandparents did.
Her maternal grandfather (the British one) was a prison warden, and had a famous London mobster in his prison.
I said that would have been a good memoir, "I Was a Mafia Prison Warden".
She agreed.
She also said she never really asked him about that, though; she only wanted to know about the War, which he never really wanted to talk about.
He was a parachutist, and was active in France and Germany.
Now, he's gone.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Friday, August 8, 2014
My successful tanning philosophy this summer:
Get out late afternoon like 4pm, stay 3-4 hours through sunset, and flip over repeatedly.
Haven't gotten a burn yet, just lots of nice color.
Haven't gotten a burn yet, just lots of nice color.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Convo: Coffee shop downtown.
The other week I was at a coffee shop patio on a busy street downtown doing some work before my one Greek student showed up for a lesson, and this (young) (Asian[-American?]) girl was reading with her legs up in her seat and her iPhone out on her table, which was right next to the barrier dividing the patio area from the sidewalk, when this (middle-aged) (black) woman walking by real fast stopped out of nowhere and began talking to her.
"I love the world we live in too," she was like, "but if you keep that phone out on the table like that, somebody's going to be stealing it."
"Thank you," the girl meekly said, and took the iPhone and put it in her purse, which she had by the legs of her chair.
"I love the world we live in too," she was like, "but if you keep that phone out on the table like that, somebody's going to be stealing it."
"Thank you," the girl meekly said, and took the iPhone and put it in her purse, which she had by the legs of her chair.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Chinese buyer next door (2 of 2): Intuitions.
Since I like a scandal, I asked all the other renters in my building what they thought of the trees gone next door.
The woman on the back half of the 2nd floor says she'll have to get blinds now.
The (stoned out) (white) drummer dude on the 1st floor was like, "Dude, as soon as that happened, it didn't seem right, and I just knew, they're Chinese. I didn't even know anything, I just knew it, it's so like, weird. I mean, what the fuck, people got to start valuing the right things, man, I mean, what the fuck is this world coming to."
He then added that a guy down the street told him that he remembered when both trees were planted when he was a kid.
The woman on the back half of the 2nd floor says she'll have to get blinds now.
The (stoned out) (white) drummer dude on the 1st floor was like, "Dude, as soon as that happened, it didn't seem right, and I just knew, they're Chinese. I didn't even know anything, I just knew it, it's so like, weird. I mean, what the fuck, people got to start valuing the right things, man, I mean, what the fuck is this world coming to."
He then added that a guy down the street told him that he remembered when both trees were planted when he was a kid.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Chinese buyer next door (1 of 2): Changes.
The other week I woke up 3 days in a row to 8am chainsaws:
The foreclosed house next door had gotten sold to a management company that tried to get way too high rent for it, and then it got sold again when they couldn't rent it, and workers were now cutting down both big trees in the front yard...
One was a tall spindly pine, but the other was a leafy, nice, solid tree, and now there's no shade in the yard at all - or in the windows for all 3 apartments in my building!
When I was going out on the 3rd day I was talking with one of the (Mexican-American) workers, and he said a (Chinese) woman who owns 3 restaurants bought the house to flip it and make a profit, and she wanted:
- Interior renovations.
- Trees cut down.
- A garage built up streetside the entire width of the lot and taking up like 35-40% of the yard (!).
"WTF," I was like, "A lot of people moving in to the neighborhood like yards and don't have cars, and there's good parking on street anyways. And now the yard's not really functional now for most of the day since you don't have shade."
"I know," he was like, "But we just do what she says."
He then added that he didn't know what the f*ck she was doing.
I wondered out loud whether she'd negatively affect the value of the house, and he thought she would, but would still come out ahead, she got it at such a steal.
"They're buying up everything, man," he was like.
The foreclosed house next door had gotten sold to a management company that tried to get way too high rent for it, and then it got sold again when they couldn't rent it, and workers were now cutting down both big trees in the front yard...
One was a tall spindly pine, but the other was a leafy, nice, solid tree, and now there's no shade in the yard at all - or in the windows for all 3 apartments in my building!
When I was going out on the 3rd day I was talking with one of the (Mexican-American) workers, and he said a (Chinese) woman who owns 3 restaurants bought the house to flip it and make a profit, and she wanted:
- Interior renovations.
- Trees cut down.
- A garage built up streetside the entire width of the lot and taking up like 35-40% of the yard (!).
"WTF," I was like, "A lot of people moving in to the neighborhood like yards and don't have cars, and there's good parking on street anyways. And now the yard's not really functional now for most of the day since you don't have shade."
"I know," he was like, "But we just do what she says."
He then added that he didn't know what the f*ck she was doing.
I wondered out loud whether she'd negatively affect the value of the house, and he thought she would, but would still come out ahead, she got it at such a steal.
"They're buying up everything, man," he was like.
Monday, August 4, 2014
Conversation: Opening a door.
The other week I came into the vestibule of the main library at school and then was opening the 2nd set of doors to go in further when I saw an elderly (black) woman hobbling out, so I stepped back and kept the door I had just gone through open for her.
"Thank you so much!", she said slowly, in a creaky voice. "No one ever does that!".
"Really?", I said, laughing, hustling back to the first set of doors, which I then opened for her. "Look! It just happened again!".
She gave a laugh and smiled as she walked out, and the guard at the library desk told me that I probably made her day.
"Thank you so much!", she said slowly, in a creaky voice. "No one ever does that!".
"Really?", I said, laughing, hustling back to the first set of doors, which I then opened for her. "Look! It just happened again!".
She gave a laugh and smiled as she walked out, and the guard at the library desk told me that I probably made her day.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Convo with my mom: Walking the dog.
My parents are taking care of my brother's dog for a while like they did last year, and my mom has been taking a trashbag with her to pick up trash while she walks her.
She told me the other day on the phone that some of the far backtrails in the park near their house haven't gotten any more litter at all since she cleaned them up last year.
"That's great!", I was like. "That's something you never hear about, the positive side of the rural heroin epidemic: people can't make it out of the house anymore to go drink in the woods and leave their beercans there!"
"[My name]," my mom was like, "You are certainly a glass-is-half-full type of person!".
She told me the other day on the phone that some of the far backtrails in the park near their house haven't gotten any more litter at all since she cleaned them up last year.
"That's great!", I was like. "That's something you never hear about, the positive side of the rural heroin epidemic: people can't make it out of the house anymore to go drink in the woods and leave their beercans there!"
"[My name]," my mom was like, "You are certainly a glass-is-half-full type of person!".
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