Albina Press Still Life, a photo almost entirely unrelated to this post
I like 1AM. I like the day seeming to be over, those hours when I'm in no hurry for the next day to come. I like the darkness outside, emphasizing this in-between days time when it's too late to do anything productive, like dishes. I like writing on the blog with the thought that no one is looking at the blog, that most of the people who look at the blog aren't even conscious now. The one exception is Kristin, and I love that her occasional appearance on one AM email only highlights the fact that she is the only person in my world who is likely to show up at this hour.
Okay, it's not really one yet, it's really only 33 minutes after midnight as I write this, sitting on the couch in my pajamas with one sock on, drinking cranberry juice, ginger ale and sparkling water and listening to Sly and the Family Stone. I'm only wearing one sock because the other is still on the needles, but the one finished sock is so good that I can't resist wearing it. This is one of the rare pairs I'm actually making for myself. I think about every seventh pair turns out to be my own. I should really be keeping a photographic record of all these socks I've been sending out in the world. Enh, whatever. Next lifetime I'll do things like that.
I watched Stranger Than Fiction tonight. Who's seen it? Speak up, people! Ah, I loved it. Of course. Emma Thompson's twitchy, splotchy performance, Will Ferrell, so hapless and blinky, and Maggie, pronouncing the word "cookie" in the most loving way a human being could ever say a word! Dustin Hoffman and all that coffee, what the hell? Loved it. Sigh. I won't write more in case you haven't seen it, Ali. It was a movie that loved people. As much as I love people.
And today was a good day for me to be reminded of the fact that I do love people, since yesterday I wasn't feeling as generous. On Friday I drove home from Portland and listened to Modest Mouse with the volume on 35, and felt generally like swearing a lot. I talked on the phone for a few minutes and noticed that I was indeed swearing a lot. Then yesterday I did a lot less of the productive stuff than I meant to, though I did finish that sock, and as we know, I'm pleased about that.
Today I woke up not really meaning to do anything, so I can't say that I failed at it. I meant to go to brunch at Cafe Campagne (with four fantastic former coworkers) and I managed to do that. I even wore a skirt and pretended I could pronounce a little french. The food and the company were both divine.
Before brunch, I walked through the market and smiled at the fish guy who was smiling at me, then went to the little magazine stand where I bought the New Yorker and New York magazine. After Ouefs en Cocotte I went and bought a little case for my camera, the Tokidoki kind with the zippers that are all different colors, and a silver Kate Spade case for my ipod, so I guess I'm getting ready to travel, right?
After all of that I went to the coffee shop, where I stayed for a very verrrry verrrrrrrry long time. Longer than I care to tell you, actually. Long enough for the man who struck up a conversation with me to tell me that he knew how my mind worked, and long enough for me to actually consider the idea that he might be right after he asked me 1. if I had a hard time doing just one thing at a time (yes, please see "constant knitting"), and 2. if I was a "Paris person", when I had been thinking all day about how I want to go to Paris, but feel guilty that I want to go to Paris again when there are so many other places I haven't been. But really, I do want to go to Paris, even if I do find the idea that I might be a "Paris person" (so different from being a Parisian), more than just a little embarassing. Anyway, it was extremely pleasant to read the entire New Yorker in one sitting without really doing much more than occasionally look around, occasionally sip a little latte.
But even more importantly, Bobby was so thoroughly uncharming that last night in Portland that it was nice to spend a whole afternoon thinking he was charming again. Sometimes it's more important to retain a person in the "charming" category than it is to hold them completely responsible for their actions. I'm sorry, but for me, it's true, and in the coffee shop, as one of my favorite baristas, Bobby's charm is remarkably resilient. People can decide for themselves how much of that is the actual charm and how much of it is due to the fact that I prefer that the charm be resilient. Since it was slow, he taught me a little more about coffee, and oh how I love to be taught things like that. That's an unequivocal good, I think.
Well, except for the teeny little bad part, namely the fact that learning more about coffee is that you might drink some of that coffee in order to learn about it it, and that doing it on the afternoon shift means that when it finally does get to be 1AM, well, you're a lot less likely to feel tired.
Hee! Off to go stare at the ceiling now.
XOXO
H
Okay, it's not really one yet, it's really only 33 minutes after midnight as I write this, sitting on the couch in my pajamas with one sock on, drinking cranberry juice, ginger ale and sparkling water and listening to Sly and the Family Stone. I'm only wearing one sock because the other is still on the needles, but the one finished sock is so good that I can't resist wearing it. This is one of the rare pairs I'm actually making for myself. I think about every seventh pair turns out to be my own. I should really be keeping a photographic record of all these socks I've been sending out in the world. Enh, whatever. Next lifetime I'll do things like that.
I watched Stranger Than Fiction tonight. Who's seen it? Speak up, people! Ah, I loved it. Of course. Emma Thompson's twitchy, splotchy performance, Will Ferrell, so hapless and blinky, and Maggie, pronouncing the word "cookie" in the most loving way a human being could ever say a word! Dustin Hoffman and all that coffee, what the hell? Loved it. Sigh. I won't write more in case you haven't seen it, Ali. It was a movie that loved people. As much as I love people.
And today was a good day for me to be reminded of the fact that I do love people, since yesterday I wasn't feeling as generous. On Friday I drove home from Portland and listened to Modest Mouse with the volume on 35, and felt generally like swearing a lot. I talked on the phone for a few minutes and noticed that I was indeed swearing a lot. Then yesterday I did a lot less of the productive stuff than I meant to, though I did finish that sock, and as we know, I'm pleased about that.
Today I woke up not really meaning to do anything, so I can't say that I failed at it. I meant to go to brunch at Cafe Campagne (with four fantastic former coworkers) and I managed to do that. I even wore a skirt and pretended I could pronounce a little french. The food and the company were both divine.
Before brunch, I walked through the market and smiled at the fish guy who was smiling at me, then went to the little magazine stand where I bought the New Yorker and New York magazine. After Ouefs en Cocotte I went and bought a little case for my camera, the Tokidoki kind with the zippers that are all different colors, and a silver Kate Spade case for my ipod, so I guess I'm getting ready to travel, right?
After all of that I went to the coffee shop, where I stayed for a very verrrry verrrrrrrry long time. Longer than I care to tell you, actually. Long enough for the man who struck up a conversation with me to tell me that he knew how my mind worked, and long enough for me to actually consider the idea that he might be right after he asked me 1. if I had a hard time doing just one thing at a time (yes, please see "constant knitting"), and 2. if I was a "Paris person", when I had been thinking all day about how I want to go to Paris, but feel guilty that I want to go to Paris again when there are so many other places I haven't been. But really, I do want to go to Paris, even if I do find the idea that I might be a "Paris person" (so different from being a Parisian), more than just a little embarassing. Anyway, it was extremely pleasant to read the entire New Yorker in one sitting without really doing much more than occasionally look around, occasionally sip a little latte.
But even more importantly, Bobby was so thoroughly uncharming that last night in Portland that it was nice to spend a whole afternoon thinking he was charming again. Sometimes it's more important to retain a person in the "charming" category than it is to hold them completely responsible for their actions. I'm sorry, but for me, it's true, and in the coffee shop, as one of my favorite baristas, Bobby's charm is remarkably resilient. People can decide for themselves how much of that is the actual charm and how much of it is due to the fact that I prefer that the charm be resilient. Since it was slow, he taught me a little more about coffee, and oh how I love to be taught things like that. That's an unequivocal good, I think.
Well, except for the teeny little bad part, namely the fact that learning more about coffee is that you might drink some of that coffee in order to learn about it it, and that doing it on the afternoon shift means that when it finally does get to be 1AM, well, you're a lot less likely to feel tired.
Hee! Off to go stare at the ceiling now.
XOXO
H
3 comments:
I *loved* Stranger Than Fiction. It was so kind to its characters. It made me feel terribly affectionate toward the entire human race.
No, but if you haven't seen Science of Sleep - do. I'm sure you've already seen it.
I KNEW it!! I KNEW you would buy the silver Kate Spade i-pod case!!!!!!
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