|
contours provocations
journal - 2001-0226 - mon 2100 Eminem, the hawk, Sat lunch, a trip downtown, "manifest destiny"
Comment from Feb issue of "Spin" regarding Eminem in "Hype of the Year"
T-shirt slogan seen Saturday on a customer in Barnes & Noble:
I spend most of the weekend keyboarding away trying to come to grips with a web project. Very much akin to an electronic scavenger hunt. Go to authorized source for info, which may or may not have info. Repeat with next source. Repeat again. Look for matching image. Incorporate. Repeat. Hours and hours of this. Not difficult, just tedious. Saturday morning I was awakened by the wind snarling and growling. The bushes outside my living room window would bow to the right, then the left and back again within seconds. Strong winds are not unusual in this area, but these seemed especially virulent. In fact, in the evening tornadoes hit several communities to the east. I did my customary Saturday lunch thing at "Little Tokyo." Sat at the sushi bar. There were no strange conversations around me, so I have nothing to report. The owner and his assistant work in the very small area behind the bar that includes a hugh tub of rice, various small ovens, glass cases containing strips of odd-looking fish, stacks of dishes, many very sharp knifes, and a large mound of ginger. He always appears to know many of his customers by name. And frequently makes a comment about someone known to the customer. It did occur to me that maybe he's actually babbling away about Japanese vegetables, but everyone assumes it has something to do with them. Now that I think of it, there is really not a lot that he says that I completely understand. Today was another one of those times when I needed to make a raid on the credit union for money to cover a check I'd written. The credit union is downtown, a block or so from the state Capitol, so it is always a busy place. This is the oldest part of the city with narrow, uneven, congested streets that date from the 19th century. Streets that are perpetually being repaired and re-surfaced. As indeed was the case today. Luckily, I was able to be in and out within a few minutes. As I headed back to my car I noticed that the nearby church had taken over some more property for parking. The church itself sprawls across an entire block and has a sanctuary with enough red carpet and spotlights to rival a Vegas nightclub. But the true excess is the mad lust for parking. The church has gobbled up parts of at least ten blocks in all directions. This same denomination holds title to a hospital several blocks to the north. The hospital has had an even more aggresive "manifest destiny," even to the point, if romors be true, of attempting to purchase the adjacent Jewish cemetery. PAX!
|