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1. airplanes. I have many countless and somewhat overwhelming problems with airplanes, or rather flying on them, and the recent crashes do not help in any way to ease my concerns. Frankly, the fact that they believe everyone was dead in crash #1 an hour or so before the plane fell from the air, is one of the creepier and more eerie things I’ve ever discovered. The image of this big, silent plane save but the limp bodies shaking around, bumping into one another, a floating morgue in the sky, terrifies me. The stuff bad dreams are made of. Personally, I’ve never understood why they don’t include parachutes for all of the passengers. They give you a goddamn life jacket when you’re on a boat. Hmmmm. I confess to often having thought of taking a sky-diving course, and then bringing a parachute as my carry-on. At least I’d die trying if I didn’t make it. What horrors come to mind when contemplating that instant on a plane when everyone realizes that they will die in a matter of moments. Jesus.

2. george w. bush. I will be brief, I promise. If he would just come out and admit that he’s willing to kill lots of people so that Americans can ride around in their fancy, air-conditioned cars, in their rich lifestyles, drugged on mass media, oblivious to the utter despair and turmoil with which many people of the world live, I would despise him less. At least Clinton admitted that he got the blow-job. While his infidelity isn’t respectable either, at least he had the balls {no pun intended} to come clean. {again, no pun intended.} one of my favorite bumper stickers reads: “No one died when Clinton lied.” Well put I believe.

3. tomatoes. the tomato plants in the backyard are not doing well. They were planted by the previous tenant in this suburban box, and I believe I may have arrived too late {too long without water} to save them. Alas.

4. ron. Ron came to my show at the brainwash after which I drove him home. His tomato plants {his and sara’s I should clarify} are doing quite well, and he gave me some basil which has greatly enhanced many of my meals this last week. My god basil is an amazing substance.

5. record label. If anyone knows anyone who works at a record label that wants to release “I Am Not In Spain,” please let me know. I’m ready.

6. Jacob. Jacob Golden’s show was quite a disappointment. Either he’s lost a bit of the magic, or my tastes have changed, or he had a really bad night, or all of the above. Not sure. Goddamn he can sing though. The minute he opens his mouth, I gasp. Every fucking time. It is the precise effect I’ve wanted to have on people for years. I did buy a new ep of his though some of which is amazingly beautiful, as ever. He covers a portion of the song "Africa," by TOTO which brought an old nostalgia crashing.

7. tire. my rear time seems to have a slow leak, which has begun to annoy me, though I’ve admittedly been too lazy to fix it.

8. Keri. I miss Keri.

9. forgotten things. I had more to say, things I thought of while out on a ride up to lake berryessa the other day, fighting the monolithic wind, but they have slipped my mind, as things often do.

10. the quotes. Several from Richard Russo.
About writings from college students in a college newspaper: “as a group they seem to believe that high moral indignation offsets and outweighs all deficiencies of punctuation, spelling, grammar, logic and style. In support of this notion there’s only the entire culture.”

Thoughts from a writer {the main character of the novel}: “back when I was a writer, I might have been able to justify such musings since odd details and unexpected points of view are the stuff of which vivid stories are made, but now such thoughts seem more like evidence of an unbalanced mind, a warped sensibility.”

About a beautiful woman: “in the manner of most truly beautiful women, she reminds you of no one but herself.” I like this idea. I sat there, beneath the redwood trees shaded from the sun, closed my eyes, shutting out the ducks and the water, and pictured my wife.

11. I miss Keri.

12. the booger. I just scratched my nose, and discovered that there was a dried booger, sticking part-way out, which i believe was entirely visible, due to its placement and its size. i am presently at a cafe, and have been running errands downtown. i now of course wonder, how long this bodily secretion has been visible, and find myself wishing that we lived in a culture where strangers would point out such things, or at the very least, we wouldn't give a shit if they did. not that i really give a shit. more a matter of curiosity.

the trees move. a slight breeze. the sound of busses, of bicycle locks, the ones shaped in a closed u, clanking their metal-glass ping on handlebars. a small girl with her mom, wearing matching white dresses, carrying matching white purses. she is adorable beyond belief. the flies buzz, abundant in number. "what a beautiful day," the young girl says, "what a beautiful day."

Posted by jeff pitcher at August 16, 2005 02:09 PM

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