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January 17, 2004

Last night I went

Last night I went to my studio to do some painting. My window overlooks an alley. As I was working at my desk I watched two women walking toward the back door of some run down apartments. One of them was obviously drunk. She kept screaming for the other one to give her something. The other woman said no, which sent the drunk one running like an inebrieted orangutan (arms waving above her head and everything) towards the door, which she promptly hit at full speed. She bounced hard off of it and somehow landed under a van parked near by. She stayed there in the cold for a few minutes until a passerby told her to go inside.
About fifteen minutes later two Guardian Angels came jogging up the alley in full gear; combat boots, red jackets, and the red berets. They peered around some with their flashlights and then jogged off. At first it made me feel a little safer knowing they were out patrolling, then I started to worry about the fact that they needed to be out patrolling. Either way, it keeps things interesting.
I left some chocolate pudding out for the alley dwellers. I figure after all that crack smoking they could use a little calcium. It was gone within five minutes.

January 11, 2004

counting sheep (and the undead)

As I was falling asleep last night I suddenly remembered an image from our hike along Hadrienne's wall in northern England. As we hiked along a ridge in a cold drizzle I looked down into a valley and watched a flock of sheep jogging along, splitting and regrouping like a school of fluffy white fish. It took a minute before I noticed the dog in their midst correcting their course and chasing down the stragglers. In another minute a farmer on an ATV came into view and then they all disapeared over the next hill.
Then I fell asleep and dreamt about zombies.

January 05, 2004

30 minutes on monday

8 am and 5 degrees. The sun is low and the only colors are black and gold. A dusting of snow swirls around the traffic on the freeway like an anemic fog. 15 minutes and blue begins to creep into the snow in the shadows. 8:30 and I'm at my desk.