Raining in Paradise

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending another day alone downtown, but this time I was determined to not spend so much money. I am rapidly going broke.

So first I made the trek, on foot, to East Bay Meeting House to buy a raspberry Italian soda and read At the End of the Alphabet. On the way there an old black woman with a limp approached me with a pile of pamplets and shoved two at me and shouted, "Come to Paradise!" I thought Paradise was a resturante until the woman was gone and the pamplets professed Jehovah Witness beliefs. I felt tricked.

Upon arrival I gave my order to a chubby college girl with multi-colored curls, to which she replied, "Si, amigo." I found her obnoxious. Soon after I sat down a kid started throwing a fit, so I left.

And what better place to go when your broke than the library?

Nowhere, that's where.

I didn't feel like going Nowhere, so I went to the library. I got some books and left. Outside the door I felt what I had been dreading. A rain drop. So I sprint down Calhoun, bent for the Francis Marion Starbucks. Its a funny thing how people in your same possision like to smile and nod at you.

In the Starbucks I dropped my book bag by a chair that was trying to be way too artsy and attempted to dry off with paper towels in the bathroom.

Back at artsy chair I began reading At the End of the Alphabet again when I noticed a woman in a red dress trying to dry her legs with a paper towel. She seemed to be in her early forties with long black hair pulled up in a loose bun.

Feeling social, I offered, "You get caught by the rain, too?"

"Well, kind of," she said in a northern accent with a light smoker's rasp. "I had an umbrella but my shoes the water all over my legs. Looks like its letting up now, though." She continued to wipe the legs and shoes. "Jesus," she laughed, drying herself. "Take it easy," she said, standing to leave.

"You, too."

The End of the Alphabet

I had to check my brother's homework today and one of the questions was, "Which of the following is a squared number." He chose the correct answer, which was a box of dots moving five across and five down. The next problem was, "Explain your answer." He wrote, because the dots make a square.

I found it humorous.

After checking homework, I went to get a hair cut to find that Mrs. Haircutter had a herniated disk and needs surgery or she'll go paralized.

Also, I've started a new book, The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson. In it, a married couple go on a series of vacations with each destination begining with each letter after discovering the husband, Ambrose (love that name), has one month to live.

Thats whats happened. Boring, but such is life.

The Blue Bicycle

A privilege of being a senior is being able to leave school at eleven forty seven everyday (except Thursday, I have chapel). But there lies a hindrance within my dismissal time. I can't drive.

So today Mom picked me up, but since she didn't have time to drive me all the way home and and go back to work, she dropped me off on the corner of King and Calhoun. She was a nervous wreck. I was ecstatic. I had never spent a moment downtown by myself. The possibilities were endless. With three hours to waste, I had time.

I actually had three hours where time meant absolutly nothing.

I ate at Momma Kims to start, then I ventured to a place that has changed my life forever.

The Blue Bicycle.

The Blue Bicycle is a small used book store where you can get just about anything. The books had that bitter old smell that I love and there was nothing but wall to wall books. I was like a kid at a candy store. I spent an hour, but limited myself to a twenty five dollar budget to keep myself in check. I have to do that in book stores. I bought Return to Laughter, 5000 Quotations for Every Occation, and Utopia. Twenty three fifty. And to top off an amazing time, the indie chick at the counter was listening to Sufjan Stevens.

I still had a pretty piece of time, so I walked to Planet Smoothie, American Appreal (for the first and last time), and a tiny art store to get more charcoal pencils and a charcoal shader. I tried the library, but I couldn't pay off mmy twenty two dollar late fee with a card, so no books were checked out. I made a run by Starbucks, then met up with Ms. Ravenel.

It was a good day.

The Begining of the End

So senior year has officially begun as of Friday and I can not get over how great school is. I have four classes (british lit, econ, yearbook, and philosophy) so I get to leave at eleven forty seven everyday.

How great is that.

The only problem with that seems to be the whole lunch situation. Everyday so far friends have gone out to eat, and I have joined them two of the three. This will cause two things; I shall be fat and broke come Christmas.

But if lunch is my biggest worry, I think I am doing quite well.