2001-05-21 4:29 p.m.
ambrosia notion salad with McFries on top

wow, with all of these unexpected readers, I suddenly have the urge to churn out something remotely interesting...(or at least better than that halfassed list from last night...;P)

well, here's the deal...

I just met a stranger/email buddy, who took me on a long walk through Central Park from the west side to the south side....had lots of fun, don't think I acted too ridiculous (or at least any more so than usual).

besides the conversation (which was fun and freeform, by the way), the rain and the green was really soothing...walking around, joking, talking about the Beatles...and for the first time in a long time, I wasn't pissed that it was raining.

That happens a lot; you're on your way somewhere, or you've got something that'll get water-damaged, or you just got yourself looking damn before going out to Tiswas for a sick amount of dancing...when the heavens open and leave you as wet as...well...a stupid human without an umbrella.

this time was nice...being wet just felt good. :) having chill company was pretty nice too...

left turn:

sometimes I don't have complex thoughts.

sometimes I have insane notions, like subcutaneous insulation (nanotech-virus-produced fibers that rests inside skin layers, that provides a boost to the homeostatic machine that is one's body.

some folks look at me like I'm stupid, some just don't know what's going on behind my eyes...and honestly, there's just nothing to explain. I'm living in a moment...if that's meditating on the lifeguard stand on Hollywood Beach (which I did Sunday mornings for three years), feeling the breeze caress my face, if that's holding someone I care about for a long time after seeing a movie that affected us both, if that's closing my eyes when I fall back onto a bed of powdery snow, settling into the moment.

relishing, marvelling, insinuating, captivating....Domino's can't buy, sell, or mass-produce these moments, and damn, am I glad.

left turn again:

someone tried to convince me yesterday that large corporations forcing out older, mom'n'pop operations is just 'business' and that I shouldn't take it personally.

here's the thing: if you open a new location anywhere in America of, say, Wal-Mart, you'll do a survey of the area to see what other shops are there, what traffic patterns are, etc...to make sure you're going to have customers.

that's business.

they open up, specifically in a location to compete with said businesses, to serve the needs of the locals (purportedly) than they're being served now.

that's business.

what I have a problem with isn't that. it's with the fact that we don't care.

I grew up with corporate culture, and I grew up with mom'n'pop shops. My favorite record store doesn't exist anymore; no, not because of a Peaches or Coconuts or Sam Goody taking the traffic, but because of shitty bookkeeping and an even worse location (despite the 7-11 around the corner...convenient for Sunday afternoon bike rides and Slurpees!). My favorite shop, Florida Open Records, got shuffled into an even bigger, but also independent shop (Blue Note Records), both of which were great record stores.

In either store, you could come in and chill. Bring a drink, shoot the shit with the folks who work there, talk music, politics, good tacos in the area, whatever...and if you buy a record, great. if not, well, next time. They always gave a shit about what you were looking for, and they could order *anything*.

No corporate store can give you that. Not on purpose, anyway. Maybe the stray summer employee will, but they're usually the exception.

I'm nostalgic, and that's to be expected, given my values, but I really think we lose something when we don't have individual flair, dirt, and soul in our commerce — when there's no room for people to choose who they want to buy from, when you can't get to know the people who run the greasy spoon where you eat on weekends, or the old guy on Third Avenue who sells used vinyl out of his truck because they've all been replaced by Silver Spoons, Sam Goodys, and the Gap.

Everything's gotta have soul. What we do, what we eat, what we breathe, what we hear...or at least make us laugh. ;) That's a good one too.