The other week I was hanging out with my one (half British) (half Sudanese) friend (the sister of the brother-sister pair), and we started talking about Trump.
Then, she made a confession.
"I always knew he was going to win," she was like.
"Really?!", I was like. "You never told me that!".
"I didn't," she was like, "But I knew it all the time and was just dreading the election. Everyone was saying it was so safe and in the bag and not to worry, but then the crazies won, it was just like Brexit."
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Friday, September 15, 2017
A work day at the library:
I'm in the stacks, shelf-reading.
Out of nowhere, a guy speaks to me and makes me jump.
"Do you know the way out of here?", he's like, and I tell him.
"Thanks, sir," he's like.
When I go to leave a little while later, the heavy clicker for recording the number of mistakes, bounces from side to side on my chest as I walk, since it's hanging there from a cord.
I look at it, and it's almost like it's bouncing on this firm pad of fat right below where my ribs stop.
Out of nowhere, a guy speaks to me and makes me jump.
"Do you know the way out of here?", he's like, and I tell him.
"Thanks, sir," he's like.
When I go to leave a little while later, the heavy clicker for recording the number of mistakes, bounces from side to side on my chest as I walk, since it's hanging there from a cord.
I look at it, and it's almost like it's bouncing on this firm pad of fat right below where my ribs stop.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Odd dream of an alien invasion.
The other week, I dreamt -
At some point, there was an alien train-ish truck sort of thing pulled up on some tracks, and it had like a boxcar with a lot of variously cartonned shelves which were all open with a lot of space in between them, and so I sidled up to it and climbed into it and upwards towards the top here and there on the open shelves, to get out of sight and and hide, so that when the truck moved I could move with it and out of the area that I was in with much less risk of being captured.
It was some sort of odd alien invasion, and I was by forests and swamps, trying to evade capture.
At some point, there was an alien train-ish truck sort of thing pulled up on some tracks, and it had like a boxcar with a lot of variously cartonned shelves which were all open with a lot of space in between them, and so I sidled up to it and climbed into it and upwards towards the top here and there on the open shelves, to get out of sight and and hide, so that when the truck moved I could move with it and out of the area that I was in with much less risk of being captured.
Up there, I got on to a top shelf, and then I noticed that there was an area that was further above that that was like a windowed cab with bunks, and there I saw two old friends from years ago from my masters program, who had been caught by the aliens and were being used as watchers and so lived in that cab, and they took me in.
At some point, we set off, and the boxcar-like thing drifted up, and it was tied by a long string to the truck that was pulling it, and at some point we hovered over swamps, and at some point swung up and high to where we could see treetops, and I felt disoriented because the boxcar-like thing's motions violated physics, since it seemed to have much less weight than it should, though it roughly followed the faraway car like a half-empty balloon being tugged.
All the while, my friends watched out the sides cautiously, fulfilling the aliens' commands and seeking people who hadn't been rounded up yet, though I was there with them, hidden, thanks to chance.
. . .
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
An observation by a fellow bar patron.
After being asked what book I was reading at a bar the other week, I showed a fellow bar patron the cover of Ursula K. LeGuin's "A Wizard of Earthsea."
"Oh," he was like, "Is that part of a series?".
"Yeah," I was like. "How did you know?".
"Because it's short," he was like. "And also, all books about wizards are like that. There's always three or four."
"Oh," he was like, "Is that part of a series?".
"Yeah," I was like. "How did you know?".
"Because it's short," he was like. "And also, all books about wizards are like that. There's always three or four."
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Beach barbecue occurrence (2 of 2): Moonlight swim.
During all of that going away party / beach barbecue, the air was chilly and there was a slight breeze, but people kept saying that the water was warmer than the air, though I didn't quite believe them.
Even though I was in my swimsuit, I didn't feel like going in all that much, but finally when it was about time to leave, some people were swimming in the moonlight, and my optometrist student friend who was going away convinced me to come in.
As I was swimming, two of the party guests who are these brothers from the neighborhood that everyone knows, got out of the water one and then the other, and they were both naked.
"I'm not sure how cool I am with this naked brother action," I told my optometrist student friend, and she laughed that loud laugh of hers.
Later, when we were both about to get out, and we both were paddling by the ladder by the rocks, I was like, "After you," and she was like, "No, after you, I'm peeing," and I was like, "I need to pee too!", and so we each held on to one side of the ladder and gently paddled, peeing.
"Synchronized pissing," I was like. "I'm not sure if this is more or less disturbing than the naked brother action."
Even though I was in my swimsuit, I didn't feel like going in all that much, but finally when it was about time to leave, some people were swimming in the moonlight, and my optometrist student friend who was going away convinced me to come in.
As I was swimming, two of the party guests who are these brothers from the neighborhood that everyone knows, got out of the water one and then the other, and they were both naked.
"I'm not sure how cool I am with this naked brother action," I told my optometrist student friend, and she laughed that loud laugh of hers.
Later, when we were both about to get out, and we both were paddling by the ladder by the rocks, I was like, "After you," and she was like, "No, after you, I'm peeing," and I was like, "I need to pee too!", and so we each held on to one side of the ladder and gently paddled, peeing.
"Synchronized pissing," I was like. "I'm not sure if this is more or less disturbing than the naked brother action."
Monday, September 11, 2017
Beach barbecue occurrence (1 of 2): Conversation.
Like a month ago at an optometrist student friend's going away party / beach barbecue, I met a ton of new people, including this wispy (white) (late 20s) woman with brown hair and short shorts and an olive shirt.
She did massage, and was going out to northern Cali / Oregon to give cash-under-the-table massages to people who worked the pot harvest.
And then, she was done.
"I'm done touching other people," she said, softly.
"Oh," I was like. "How long have you been in massage therapy?".
"Two years," she was like.
Between the massages and helping out with the pot harvest, she was hoping to save enough to move to India for a while.
"Their philosophy resonates with me," she was like.
As we were snacking and talking by the taco table, some guy in swim shorts passed by and it looked like he had three bed bug bites on his back, two over below his left shoulder and one higher up on his right.
She saw me looking, and so I was like, "I think those are bed bug bites."
She then said that she stayed a month between leases with some friends, and she got 63 bites, and they stayed there for months, though some people don't react to the bites at all, like one of her friends.
So, that opened up a floodgate, and I told her about my bed bug ordeal.
Amidst all of that outpouring, I also told her how my bed bugs were back, but I hadn't had anything for like a week.
At that point, she was like, "I know they're gone, I get that vibe."
She did massage, and was going out to northern Cali / Oregon to give cash-under-the-table massages to people who worked the pot harvest.
And then, she was done.
"I'm done touching other people," she said, softly.
"Oh," I was like. "How long have you been in massage therapy?".
"Two years," she was like.
Between the massages and helping out with the pot harvest, she was hoping to save enough to move to India for a while.
"Their philosophy resonates with me," she was like.
As we were snacking and talking by the taco table, some guy in swim shorts passed by and it looked like he had three bed bug bites on his back, two over below his left shoulder and one higher up on his right.
She saw me looking, and so I was like, "I think those are bed bug bites."
She then said that she stayed a month between leases with some friends, and she got 63 bites, and they stayed there for months, though some people don't react to the bites at all, like one of her friends.
So, that opened up a floodgate, and I told her about my bed bug ordeal.
Amidst all of that outpouring, I also told her how my bed bugs were back, but I hadn't had anything for like a week.
At that point, she was like, "I know they're gone, I get that vibe."
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Two sights on the same stretch of street, the same day a few weeks ago:
1) On the way biking in to work in the morning:
A (young) (black) woman in a gray car with her window rolled down, making a lefthand turn and singing along to that Rihanna song that goes "work work work work work."
2) On the way biking back from work in the nighttime, maybe like at 9:30pm:
A (young) (black) girl in shoes with bright white flashing lights in the soles, standing between a car parked by the curb and a van idling in the street, and these (black) adults in a group around her talking loudly, and as I get closer I can hear Creole or some West African language or something.
A (young) (black) woman in a gray car with her window rolled down, making a lefthand turn and singing along to that Rihanna song that goes "work work work work work."
2) On the way biking back from work in the nighttime, maybe like at 9:30pm:
A (young) (black) girl in shoes with bright white flashing lights in the soles, standing between a car parked by the curb and a van idling in the street, and these (black) adults in a group around her talking loudly, and as I get closer I can hear Creole or some West African language or something.
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