Capote! Wandering around in the dark, tanning, gym, studying, studying, studying. I’m finishing Huxley tonight even if it kills me.
The Stalin presentation which I dedicated 45 hours in the library to – not including Monday because John and Aparna had me totally distracted – didn’t go well… blah.
– Opera was fun, although people stole our seats and bald guy next to me creeped me out.
– Denny’s is still a case study in neglect: our waiter was hostile, brought the wrong food (forgot coffee, brought tea instead of coffee, didn’t give Alex her fries, forgot Matt’s Milkshake, forgot Elsbet’s coffee, but then brought it and charged it to me, etc.)
– At Wal-Mart there was a screaming fight at the cash register: A herd of black women were screaming at a small Hispanic girl for “TAKIN THAT BUGGY WIT AN ATTITUDE” “BITCH I’LL TAKE YOU SHIT AND THROW IT ON DA GROUN! THAT BITCH NEED TO BE SMACKED!”
– We spent all of Friday night painting with Aparna till 9am. She had to do this huge banner and no one was there to help her. I kept spilling things everywhere.
– Halloween in South Beach and then clubbing. I was grotesque: zombie makeup with black base fake blood, ripped jeans. Thriller, thriller yeah. We ran into some UM people in the parking garage, hey!
– TGIFriday’s, accounting drama, The Morgue and police drama. We live in the dorms okay?
– A Turkish restaurant masquerading as a German one (we left since the one girl didn‘t get a menu), then the other German restaurant was closed, so we ended up in downtown Coral Gables at Fritz & Franz’s Bier Haus… nasty rank bathroom, brown jokes, messy middle aged blonds, and voiceovers….
– Nacho adventure… okay, see, it’s not Taco Bell without Nachos…we went to like three or four Bell’s – ended it in Little Havana “Okay what you want!?” – nothing but men-women in the cars that night. All the time.
– Party Monster with Joe at Kali’s… not that awkward, and I got animal cracker cookie.
– Downtown Miami excursion with JHR, then deep Kendall – welcome.
– Lyle likes to play “Jump the Tracks” on Bird Road. Bowling night – horrible average for me.
Hurricane Wilma ushered in the week.
Most of the freshmen were snatched home by frantic parents at the beginning of the weekend so most male floors were half empty and girl floors only had a handful of girls left when the hurricane hit Monday morning.
It was a dry hurricane and a non event for my residential college. We lost power for most of Monday but had backup generators in powering the lobby, hallway lights, and elevators. By Tuesday afternoon it was determined that no one would be electrocuted if they went outside and everyone crawled out of their dorm towers to look at the “damage”…which consisted of a bunch of downed trees.
By Tuesday evening class was canceled for the rest of the week so flights were booked and road trips were planned. By Wednesday night I only had five or six (out of 41) residents left.
“For fun? I study and go to class,” I said, realizing how stupid it sounded before I had finished saying it. But it’s true – for the past few weeks I’ve consistently (especially during the week) gone to bed at 10pm, and skipped to the gym at 6:30 in the morning.
After the gym I go to the dining hall, then the library, then class, then back to the library. I leave the library and come back to my residential college, do some RA-work (redoing the hall, fire drill inspections, meetings, programs, desk shifts, etc.) and then go to bed.
Sounds boring but few things are as interesting as working towards grad school and doing your job well.
Oh, my guys took yearbook pictures.
The yearbook people were late and unprofessional and made my guys wait so I was bitchy and mean.
My floor is better than yours.
My guys are cooler than yours.
Oh and I cleaned my room…and lost my cane card at laser quest. I like being boring.
The usual -Shady house party and then indie clubbing (poles included) in Overtown, Lasertag in North Broward, Coliseum and a Dave Chappell look-alike who insisted he was a pimp and would “fuck em! Fuck em!”, a lot of gym time, not enough study time… costume shops and banana shakes in Little Havana, Liberty City four times, the term worst paper ever, Wal-Mart, and Allahpattah.
Last week I hopped on the metro and took it to Little Havana late one evening. I milled about the river and reminded myself the nights from last summer and knew that I was failing miserably again. So I’m trying something new.
Highlights (I don’t feel like typing it all out)
– Denny’s with Katrina and Danny…and the rest of UM (including Katrina’s high roommate)
– Laying on I-95 in the middle of the night trying to get someone’s coolant tank from under my car.
I was zipping home from Miami Beach when I almost swerved into the barrier wall because half of someone’s car was in the middle of the highway. Part of it got stuck under my car. One of the guys from the accident was being an idiot and running across the highway constantly to drag car parts away…ugh…I called 911 for him then drove back to campus. The people in front of me on US-1 were obviously drunk – they hit the curve 4 times.
– So there was a fight at Taco Bell and one of the guys was looking for his earring… but the guys from the fight came back and Kali and I decided to follow them. We sped after them all through Little Havana and they then trapped us (two of the cars blocked the road and the third stopped). They all got out and banged on our car windows and Kali almost ran one of the guys down. … we drove off but they found us then we lost them. After that we went to South Beach.
– Pookie at Taco Bell.
– Steve and I being asked if we had “crack or heroin” by some drunk girls on Lincoln Road. “Hm, I don’t know, I don’t have any crack, but I have heroin.”Eariler that night at dinner Steve decided to move tables when we had already ordered drinks… and then ordered drinks with the new waiter… that led to some confusion… I kept zoning out when the waiter came and never heard a word he said… I think he thought I was disabled… I liked the massive birds at the restaurant. Could have done without the Loews drama though.
– Metrorail adventure with Kali. We took it to the Liberty City flea market, saw scary clowns, bootleg Chinese knockoffs, weave, weave, weave, oh-hell-nah foopa, a lady and three kids sleeping in the back of the shop, and guys with red-weave coloring… THEN we went to the Palmetto station, (past the serial killer’s stables) …then back to downtown Miami. We ate at Bayside’s Chili’s terrorized the mall for a while, got ice cream… then got on the metro mover and did a photoshoot (singing drunk Mexicans!) before heading back.
– The fat girl in the Mouse costume made us cry.
The metro rail driver hit on me… oh no.
…college gets better every week.
Busy, constant, and fluid: I need to work at being more boring.
Tuesday I was sick, but I got a new computer, and a Ipod-thing, but…um… yeah. I haven’t figured that one out.
Hosted the Sexologist and then skipped over to the Morgue on Wednesday, Movies at Sunset on Thursday, Wal-Mart Adventure Friday night, Adventure Saturday night (2am, West Little Havana ((think Flagami), “Okay…” “Okay…”), The M.I.A.Concert on Sunday then belligerent up in Little Havana’s latin quarter…
… at Dadeland mall with Anthony, getting accused by Chris not John of something unmentionable and staring at battery acid spilled jeans, oh no. Dropped $70 on hats at Target – Hi, I’m Doug.
I can design again. Expect things gleich…. New format.
I stood with my friends and eyeballed the hipsters. Creepy past-middle-aged Peta people milled about and mingled with dreadlocked art students. This guy who calls himself “TV” was wearing cardboard bunny ears. Emaciated post-punk-somethingcore whatevers with painfully tight jeans, dirty chucks, skin-tight T’s, and hideous piercings mixed with the spot bleached punk-prostitute electocrash girls. Kristen had the cleavage. Kyle had the camera. We were good to go.
We ended up at this indie record store in Wynwood after a long detour through Brickell (we took the pastor’s parking spot while we ran to the atm) and through Overtown/Midtown. As we were walking towards the record store (after we finally found it and parked in a nearby shady alley) a girl walking towards us pointed and said, “You’re going to get so much shit for that shirt!”
Kristen and I both looked at each other, “Who was she talking about?” was Kristen’s cleavage too large? What was wrong with my shirt?
When we got into the record store, we understood. It was a vegan event thrown by Peta.
My shirt said “OFFICIAL TURKEY TASTER” and had a turkey drum on it.
So, um. Yeah.
CJ was there (of course) with Pete. Frank was there too. We were there to support Luz, Katrina’s band. We waded through the pretentious herd and then went outside. The muddy backlot of the record store was set up as a sort of mini vegan fairground. Veggie burgers, wall painting, small vendors… I bought a bowl made out of a melted record. Oh, and apparently I’m on the Peta email list… we’ll see how that one goes.
Luz began playing in the center of the mud fair about 30 minutes after we showed up. Katrina turned on the power vocals and impressed all the pierced, tattooed, and ultra-naturals. They had a goofy drummer who kept smiling mischievously as if she just farted and got away with it. It was endearing. Danny and Patrick played some violin-like string instruments which weren’t violins – an interesting touch.
While Luz played I looked at the crowd and had a sense that this was one of those nights that people refer to when they talk about the college experience. This sense of guilt and shame also crept in – a night like this was a novelty I didn’t have time for. Underground parties and local bands will be forever associated with high school. That time of exploration should come at 15, 16, maybe even 17. But wasn’t I too old for this? Standing there I looked at the middle aged – the thirty somethings, the forty somethings… had no one told them? I didn’t want to be the 25 year old attending events populated by people barely past puberty, dressed as clowns and enveloped in their middle school rebellions.
Harvard Law remember? Flex remember? LSAT remember?
I stood in the dark mud fair with friends and stared at the “indie vendors” and their backdrop of dilapidated houses (across the street). Katrina belted out lyrics as I accepted that this night belonged to a time that had already passed.
Reality hit this week. I’ve realized that there are a lot of opportunities and choices closed to me because of my age. Every day there’s one less opportunity for me, something passed, something missed out on. I think part of the problem of growing older is this pervasive awareness… the awareness of so many opportunities and options, and the knowledge of when they pass.
There was an interpretative dance afterwards…
Afterwards Kristen, Kyle, and I drove through Allahpattah, saw some car racing and got caught by a bridge. 20 minutes later we were zipping through traffic on the Dolphin and avoiding a lake on the Palmetto Ramp.
Into Kendall we went. After figuring out which theater to go to we parked at one of Kendall’s massive strip malls-masquerading-as a real mall deals and saw a fight behind Pier 1. Apparently there’s a club in front of Pier 1. Oh, and a Chuck E Cheese across the street. Now that’s class.
Of course we were too late for the movie so it was time for Wal-Mart and an intense discussion about FlipFlops and purses. We also saw the creepy guy who used to work at the bowling alley arcade. Woo… There was a trip to Wal-Mart earlier in the week as well. It was with Kali and Eric I believe. A lot of car dancing and a nice pitstop in Liberty City.
…then Steak and Shake. Steak and Shake made me want to cry. So of course the creepy dude from Wal-Mart who is like 45, with medium length blond hair, a red face, and the creepiest child molesting-clothes on sits RIGHT across from us. We couldn’t stop laughing. Well, that’s not true, we did. But then this semi-homeless guy with a sore throat came and the girl in the booth next to us decided to play peekaboo and the laughter was back on.
Oh Steak and Shake.
So we finally get to the movie theater and the movie turns out to be a documentary about a joke. I did not need to see the father from Full House tell a vile joke about incest, vomit, and poo. That ruined my worldview.
The next day, the week ended where it began – at Oz. (that’s the official name now by the way)
It was packed. The parking lot was as packed as the club and you could hardly move inside. I was so drenched when I came back that my jeans were dripping with sweat. Gross, I know. It was the best night at that club ever. No leprechauns this week but all my FIU and MDC people were there …also some UM people I know but don’t really talk to. Heck, even Loochkartt made an appearance but then disappeared. OH! Even the exchange student was there!
I went with Kristen, John and Kyle… Kristen was mortified… well to be fair she did get a rave review (seriously now) about the cleavage. I think Kyle was a bit freaked (because he’s closeted) and John seemed to have fun. They left early and I stayed until 2:30 (curfew’s at three).
Simply insane, best night ever, I think my ears were about to fall off afterwards. And I think I dozed off during the show. Whatever. One of the best club nights ever.
I’m glad Oz was so amazing since I’m not going out again until November 2nd. This week has simply been too heavy between the late night movies, adventures (like with Kali driving to six different McDonalds at 1 am to get milkshakes and ending up in little Havana, … or during the day to get the hamsters and that THING (with the white wig) walking down Je Leune… oh oh hell nah), class and the project I feel like I’m only available to the guys on my floor in passing. On the 2nd I’m going to go to the Morgue and I’m dragging Rafa there. But nothing else until then.
I got off schedule this week (the hurricane being a very poor excuse) and things have gotten really deplorable. I’m also ‘talking’ to possibly maybe dating someone? Uh… we’ll see how that goes.
And booooooooooks. Ugh. I have a crapload of reading to do and my room is a mess and and and… more next week (I think post day is officially moved to Monday).
So Kali, CJ, and I were walking down a perimeter road near campus reliving the dozens of crazy moments and characters from the club. We had left John and Anthony a few minutes ago. Hurricane Drive was pitch black since the area still doesn’t have power and we had to be careful not to stumble over the branches that littered the sidewalk.
I tripped over part of a palm and almost ate into a meter. Oops.
Hurricane Katrina managed to cancel classes from Thursday to Monday. It seems as though the category one hurricane managed to take out half the trees on campus – including all of the UM-Iconic strangler figs. For the past few days students used muddy paths that cut through lawns and hug the sides of buildings since some sidewalks are blocked by huge overturned trees.
Working the hurricane was like being on a NBC primetime drama. Busting underaged drinkers, druggies, collapsing ceiling tiles, flooded rooms, belligerent/uncooperative students, hallsports, electrical fires, and and and…
My guys got a bit creative. They taped post-it notes all over the floor.
I seriously have the coolest guys on my floor. I think I lucked out. I’m really proud of them and so grateful that I got the best guys in Hecht. Everyone is interesting, they get along with each other, they are wild but not in a bad way, we don’t have that many serious writeups, and I think they’ve realized that I’m not an asshole.
Classes also started this week… bejesus. I have some of the dullest teachers ever and an oppressive amount of homework. Half of my classes are in this tiny hole-in-the-wall in the history department. It’s actually like the break room or something. We all sit around this conference table in hard plastic chairs dreading being stuck with a teacher all up in our personal bubble for two and a half hours every week.
I’ve had two of the three classes that are in that room already. The first teacher barely speaks above a whisper and I couldn’t hear her even though I was right next to her. The other teacher speaks up but is so flamboyant… he had maroon glasses with diamond studs in the side, an embroidered cowboy shirt with heavy vertical stripes, a tie with darker red vertical stripes, striped pants, a shiny (silver?) belt, and white shoes.
…and he’s quite serious.
That class was miserable because we were only four.
My English classes are going to be a chore too. ENG212 looks like it’s actually going to be interesting but we missed two classes because of the hurricane and I’m not sure how we are going to make up the time (the teacher is showing a movie). My two 400-level English classes were … we’ll lets say the teachers need some time to get in the groove of things?
It’ll be alright with some Starbucks…right?
I was good about the gym at the beginning of the week but the hurricane killed my routine. I start again tomorrow? I didn’t want being busy this semester to be an excuse for becoming slovenly and it really won’t.
I actually like being this busy. Being a ‘good’ RA takes as much time as they say it does…but I’m surprised by how good I’ve gotten at budgeting my time. I’m on my floor a lot of but I’ve gone out a lot this week too – I saw Skeleton Key with Kali, Mikela, and John, at Sunset, and also saw 40-year-old virgin with Kristen at Sunset too… then went to South Beach with Kristen and saw Broken Flowers. I also had time for a Wal-Mart adventure (and it’s always an adventure) and clubbing with Kali, CJ, Anthony, and John.
– Anthony and I harassed a leprechaun.
– An interesting find upstairs
– Mongolians
– BAND AID!
– Lots of screaming because someone kept following us
– Flowers from CVS, oh and relaxer…
– Guess…and Guessing…
– Abercrombie kid …AND THAT NUMBER EXCHANGE! AH
Also,
– Scurrying from Shalala
– Jesus of the ducks and popcorn
– $6 Grandpa shoes
– Wallet theft at Chartwells
– Things that I didn’t need to mention but everyone got
– The one with the massive heels who was so busted
– Kissing the DJ (who never played my song by the way)
– Starbucks mug
– Library incident
– Creepy security people on bikes
– And and and…
Ready for another week like this…
So the residents have finally come and I can honestly say that they are all cool. Not one asshole! Not one! I was surprised because in training they make you think you’re going to have a floor full of Bebe’s kids who do nothing but have keg parties, cut themselves, and talk about suicide. Well, not quite that bad, but you get the idea.
Someone in the other tower burnt popcorn at like, 2am. The fire alarm lights were flashing on our hall but I was asleep. One of my guys actually woke me up and then we all started knocking on doors getting everyone off the floor. Everyone was real cool about it. Again, in training we watched a video about this RA who was burned alive knocking on doors by herself because none of her residents would come out and evacuate. But we were all downstairs within like 2-3 minutes. Awesome again. There are some real interesting characters on my floor. No one’s creepy, – I expected to have at least two creepy guys, and no one is an obvious druggy.
I also had duty this weekend – ugh. How do freshmen get beer so quickly? We wrote up so many people it was ridiculous. Heard some stupid excuses too.
The top 5 stupidest underage drinking excuses of the weekend:
#5 “I don’t go here. Erm, yeah I do. Ye-no, I’m 21. I’m a junior… my student ID? I don’t know it. I don’t go here. Or wait, yeah I do. But I’m 20, I mean 21, and leaving. Bye.”
#4 “I tried to find a place off campus to drink but couldn’t!”
#3 “I like having my coke in plastic cups and shot glasses…”
#2 “…we only had a little bit a beer.”
And #1 “No one told me the rules.”
Hmmf. Yeah, whatever. It’s not the massive problem that they said it was going to be though. I think once the brunt of the class work comes along the partying will die down.
My next duty weekend? Halloween. Yes, I know – shut up.
Oh, and I’ve reintroduced myself to that thing, you know, the gym. I’ve lost 10 pounds since I moved to campus. Rockt. I’m sure most of it was muscle mass and water weight… dehydration is fun for the whole family (and yes it’s like 85 and I’m drinking coffee).
I haven’t had time to read journals. Sorry. One noteworthy entry from another journal is from thatbitch.com – “something happened last weekend…something pre-eminent and noteworthy. serena and I crossed a very important milestone. yay the kind of milestone that is indeed a true test of what kind of parent you may be for the rest of your life. my child…my angelcake…my mild mannered sweet honeypot…wigged the FUCK OUT in public…” (read it)
Floor meetings and programming tonight… class tomorrow… aie. I need to pick up writing again. Ladidida.
I’ve been so busy lately. I’ve been in RA training for the past couple of weeks and I’m a bit tired. The day I moved on campus I saw a car accident. This guy was semi racing me, ran a light, and crashed into a van. No one was hurt. Just a lady in shock and five screaming kids.
This weekend we had a RA retreat in Marco Island…basically a big hotel’s penthouse by the beach. Team builders and bonding, lectures, programming, training, meeting,…etc.
Oh, and when we were driving back the luggage compartment of the bus busted open launching our luggage and food into the road. Bejesus.
My days have been spent doing team builders and attending training sessions and afterwards working on first my room, and now since that’s done, my floor.
Residents start coming in this weekend I think. I still have so much to do… this retreat thing drove me nuts because I couldn’t work on my hall…but I now can so I will… hah!
RA training is amazing… but there’s so much work, but this is awesome.
Simply awesome – the resident halls staff, my bosses, resident masters, and other RAs are all really cool. The awkwardness is slowly going away for us new RAs as we are getting to know everyone else – I’m probably the least social because I’m always either working on my room/floor or thinking about it,… …or simply exhausted. Naja.
Oh, and my room… let’s just say my beat is correct. Pictures Sunday.
Already? Seriously? Well, yep. It’s come. Summer is finally fertig, but I’m ready for it to be over. Summers like this one definitely have an expiration date and it’s time.
By next Sunday I’ll already be back in Coral Gables, finishing up my dorm (which is going to be amazing this year, I swear) and preparing for RA bootcamp. Woot. I’m excited.
This upcoming week is going to be hectic – preparing things for the dorm room, last minute hanging out, websites (luz!) and a lot of sewing. Wal-Mart is my friend right now.
Last week:
– annoying Otto (sorry Paris isn’t that interesting)
– midnight beach runs with Matthias (I may be chubby but I have endurance. Yessir.)
– 9 mile walks from UM to my house (and the creepy people along the way)
– A lot of metrorail and library time.
– Merrick Park at 1am
I’ve also spoken a few of the guys who will be on my floor next year. They seem pretty cool. Hopefully all 40 are so laid back? (maybe that’s too much to ask?) We’ll see.
It’s sort of strange getting back to work and coming back to the world after this summer. I didn’t exactly go to the woods of India and sit in silence with a guru or anything, but I did sort of disappear – my internet access has been sort of limited and I made an effort to stay away from AIM. I focused on discovering Miami, meeting as many new people as possible, reading, and of course, writing.
Lots of reading.
Reading and oh, having as many adventures as possible – And although I’ve almost gotten arrested, robed, killed, abducted, and eaten too many times to care for I can’t say it wasn’t fun. “Just because I’m sorry doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it at the time.” Country roads filled with trailers at 3am or a dark alley at 4 will always hold special memories. But no more of that, business mode from now on.
Besides wreaking havoc and doing incredibly stupid things that should have been done at 16, I also managed to set some goals — one thing that I want to do in three years from now is to be driving to a new city to attend a top 10 law school. Yeah, I know that means start studying for the LSAT… yesterday or something. I’ll tear it up.
There were some things I didn’t accomplish this summer too – even though I did exercise a lot, I ate a lot more. McDonalds keeps luring me back. So does Taco Bell and the Cuban-Chinese place on down on 8th street.
Chartwell’s (our dining hall) will be my saving grace next year.
Oh and the gym…yeah, that.
Room pictures next week.
So I’m on the street outside of my car in my undershirt, it’s just past 1am and I’m listening to a wino explain to me how valuable this 1953 calendar with a nude Marilyn Monroe on the cover was. “I can get some real money for this shit.”
The pile of junk across the street from my apartment building seemed to be from an eviction, or an angry girlfriend. I had seen various semi-homeless people picking at it all day, but this short guy with the dirty beard, cap, and piercing blue guys was by far the most industrious. He had been looking through the pile on the curb when I had left for south beach, and four hours later he was still there.
After politely nodding and listening to him speculate about the worth of the calendar for about five minutes I started to inch towards the gate. “There’s a lot of good shit here. They didn’t know what they threw out,” he said.
“Probably an eviction,” I offered.
“Nah. This guy is dead.”
“Or maybe it was a girlfriend,” I suggested, now having exhausted all of theories.
“Nah,” he approached me again, “There were cremation papers there,” he pointed to the pile, “Jul-ly twenty-second, yessir.”
“You serious?”
“Yep.” He was serious as syphilis.
I had just gotten back from seeing Devil’s Rejects (for the second time) with Matthias. Funniest movie of the year, I swear.
This was the week of movies; towards the beginning of the week I went and saw Wedding Crashers with Jose R. at Dolphin after enjoying the human-entertainment at Top’s China Buffet. Mmm classy. Enough “oh hell nahs!” to go around. Wedding Crashers was funny for a while, the two main characters have great chemistry but it loses steam three fourths of the way through. Corny ending.
The Miami Beach Regal got most of my money this week. Seeing Modigliani had been on my to-do list for a while so I looked it up on Fandango and saw that Kontrol was also playing. But it happened to be the last night Kontrol was playing at the Regal, and the Lincoln Road Regal was the only theater in South Florida showing the movie. So I saw Kontrol instead.
It was spectacular. It’s actually my new favorite. It takes place in the Budapest subway-underground, and well, is simply amazing.
The next day I saw Modigliani. I was worried it was going to be another Frida, but it succeeded in being a convincing tragedy without slipping into melodrama. Well done Andy Garcia.
– Riding the metro rail is fun.
– Raided Barnes and Noble’s. Even got some hardcover books, mostly on economics.
– Had Chinese a whopping 5 times this week. I think I should try and get an internship at HSBC’s home office.
– Diet Mountain Dew y’all.
– Dates in the coming week? We’ll see.
– Hairspray, hairspray, hairspray… plastic chic.
– so many perfectly shady people…yes, this is Miami.
Oh, and this guy at the movies (at Kontrol I think) was ridiculous. I was in the theater early, first one there actually, and sitting with my feet up on the back of the seat in front of me.
So what does he do?
Of course he walks to the row right in front of me, with his chubby sidekick trailing behind him, and sits right in front of me forcing me to put down my feet, and then puts his feet up on the seat in front of him.
Ass.
Then, after the movie, as I’m walking on the side of the theater, guess who comes flying out of the parking garage and runs the stop sign in front of the side walk almost making me eat windshield?
Yep. Same guy.
Double ass.
Anyway, I should head back to my book. Next week seems interesting… then again, every week does, and is.
This week,
– Canned Salmon isn’t a great idea.
– Uni Miami At night (they redid Hecht’s lobby, the new architecture school looks like a mosque)
– Me, Jose R. at “Me and You and Everyone We Know” which made up for last week’s terrible movies.
– Screaming (“debating”) about OPEC for six hours on the boardwalk. (and I was right, by the way)
– A few long midnights
– This was a vacation week, time to regroup. “This novel isn’t writing itself!”
It’s official. I’m a recluse. I haven’t seen anyone all week and haven’t gone out save a few more past-midnight adventures/walks through Little Havana, Riverside, and Downtown. (and even those are deplorably rare) I’m going to get mugged hardcore one of these days.
I finished Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” which is definitely one of the most important books I’ve ever read.
So I’m halfway through summer and I’ve managed Atlas Shrugged, (1169 pages mind you), Truman Capote’s Biography, John Grisham’s “King of Torts”, and some short stories by Kafka.
– Two men slept on a faded yellow mattress in the breezeway of a shopping center on 17th Avenue.
– A homeless man, who swore I spoke Spanish followed me a bit of a distance from 16th Avenue to 12th, shrieking. I stopped and glared at him. He stopped, stared, and continued rattling off in Spanish.
– An old Ricky Martin song could be heard from the closed metal screens of the dollar store. When I passed it again a half hour later they were playing Reggaeton. (impromptu party?)
– More drug deals and prostitutes going around the neighborhood than I care to remember. Why to prostitutes always ask for a cigarette?
– this week: work, no exercise (alas!), Coors nonalcoholic
While driving through Rosewood:
“Arguments can be endearing and I’m thrilled beyond belief,” he said.
We all looked at him like he was a moron. (At that moment he was).
“So anyway,” I said, “Taco Bell right?” The fire taken from his speech, he pouted in the corner. Everyone else in the car was laughing.
“Right.”