climbing down from...
my loft bed, i do my usual routine of drinking water out of a giant venti-sized seattle seahawks mug and turn on my computer. check my email which i already checked before i go to bed to delete the spam that has accumalated over-night. eyes groggy, i play tetrnet. armed with my custom key settings, it has become easy to spot whether i have to rotate a certain piece clockwise or counterclockwise. just like back in the days when i used to play counter-strike, the people in the morning are in general, easier foes that those that play later at night. i was having fun winning 5 rounds in a row, when just as i was to win my 6th straight in honor of lance armstrong, a big message screen blocks my vision and i am defeated. "this can't be a good sign." i say and check who would put my record in jeopardy.
it was my friend george who was messaging from work to talk with me a bit in between selling tahition noni to middle aged women trying to do all they can to get signs of youth back. "hey! i have some friends in chehalis that said they were cheering on people in the STP!" hey says.
"oh that's cool dude. tell them i said thanks."
"yeah, they're from enumclaw. they told me they were flashing guys all day from their house"
my jaw drops. "you know them! dude they almost made me crash!" and i give him the link to my online blog.
"you saw amy and theresa?!"
"yeah, tell them they owe me."
"i'm not telling them anything. i don't know them. i already read the post."
"jerk" i turn off the computer and get ready for another day at the cages. so i put on my old work pants from when i used to work in the restaurant and dashboard confessional shirt. it has a picture of two asians from the 70s fighting kung fu style. blood splattered all over as one guy hits the other in the face.
we got there and in the next cages there was an amazing hitter. i tried to be polite and not look, but the sweet sound of solid contact followed by the hard splash of the ball hitting the net after every pitch lured me to watch. "he's incredible man! look at him hit! he was batting on the left side while you were up russell and now he's on the right! hitting just as hard." i tell russell as he gets out of the cage. it was my turn now. we were having enough trouble just making contact with each pitch so we tried to make a point of doing so. the only way i could do it was by bunting. coming out of the cage, with a big grin on my face that flattened out after seeing that the batter next to us was not a man, but a girl. "i have to start practicing more." i tell myself and pull a book out of my bag.
we met up with our friend hyunah at part 2 of buffet day. russell already had another interview the next day that he was telling us about. it was a translator job for an anonymous company. hyunah had just graduated from western this year and she too was on the look out for a job. "you listen to dashboard?" she says with a hint of disapointment in her tone. russell asks who they are. "they're just this band that whines a lot"
i pout and tell her, "i only listen to them to get girls! now i'm gonna go home and cry." smiles all around. we catch up on people and remember old times. she tells us dirty jokes and how she smokes. in that moment i get multiple images of the things she possibly could have done since high school. almost like it was a vhs tape that i stopped at graduation, played, and fast forwarded to our little table in the mexican restaurant in federal way.
"when did you get so sassy?" she asks me
"huh?"
"you weren't this sassy in high school. you used to be shy..."
"yeah, i've become quite the diva since last you saw me."
we get a buzz from jen "celery" about a movie she scored free tix with that started in an hour in downtown seattle. "check please!"
we say bye to hyunah, and i drop russell off.
i had forgotten to turn off my brain before viewing so it wasn't too enjoyable.
what was enjoyable was the walk through downtown seattle afterwords. not with anyone else. the girls went off to get something to eat, and i had just come from a restaurant so i passed. the air was warm and thick and a smile stuck on my face. i heard the cheers and walked toward it. it led me to safeco field. outside, two young kids were playing percussion on buckets. i sat in with some admirers across the street and we bobbed our heads together. i thought of aira, and the day we played bongos.
the game finished and crowds of people filtered out of the stadium. i blended in with the people to head back to my car and return home.
it was my friend george who was messaging from work to talk with me a bit in between selling tahition noni to middle aged women trying to do all they can to get signs of youth back. "hey! i have some friends in chehalis that said they were cheering on people in the STP!" hey says.
"oh that's cool dude. tell them i said thanks."
"yeah, they're from enumclaw. they told me they were flashing guys all day from their house"
my jaw drops. "you know them! dude they almost made me crash!" and i give him the link to my online blog.
"you saw amy and theresa?!"
"yeah, tell them they owe me."
"i'm not telling them anything. i don't know them. i already read the post."
"jerk" i turn off the computer and get ready for another day at the cages. so i put on my old work pants from when i used to work in the restaurant and dashboard confessional shirt. it has a picture of two asians from the 70s fighting kung fu style. blood splattered all over as one guy hits the other in the face.
we got there and in the next cages there was an amazing hitter. i tried to be polite and not look, but the sweet sound of solid contact followed by the hard splash of the ball hitting the net after every pitch lured me to watch. "he's incredible man! look at him hit! he was batting on the left side while you were up russell and now he's on the right! hitting just as hard." i tell russell as he gets out of the cage. it was my turn now. we were having enough trouble just making contact with each pitch so we tried to make a point of doing so. the only way i could do it was by bunting. coming out of the cage, with a big grin on my face that flattened out after seeing that the batter next to us was not a man, but a girl. "i have to start practicing more." i tell myself and pull a book out of my bag.
we met up with our friend hyunah at part 2 of buffet day. russell already had another interview the next day that he was telling us about. it was a translator job for an anonymous company. hyunah had just graduated from western this year and she too was on the look out for a job. "you listen to dashboard?" she says with a hint of disapointment in her tone. russell asks who they are. "they're just this band that whines a lot"
i pout and tell her, "i only listen to them to get girls! now i'm gonna go home and cry." smiles all around. we catch up on people and remember old times. she tells us dirty jokes and how she smokes. in that moment i get multiple images of the things she possibly could have done since high school. almost like it was a vhs tape that i stopped at graduation, played, and fast forwarded to our little table in the mexican restaurant in federal way.
"when did you get so sassy?" she asks me
"huh?"
"you weren't this sassy in high school. you used to be shy..."
"yeah, i've become quite the diva since last you saw me."
we get a buzz from jen "celery" about a movie she scored free tix with that started in an hour in downtown seattle. "check please!"
we say bye to hyunah, and i drop russell off.
i had forgotten to turn off my brain before viewing so it wasn't too enjoyable.
what was enjoyable was the walk through downtown seattle afterwords. not with anyone else. the girls went off to get something to eat, and i had just come from a restaurant so i passed. the air was warm and thick and a smile stuck on my face. i heard the cheers and walked toward it. it led me to safeco field. outside, two young kids were playing percussion on buckets. i sat in with some admirers across the street and we bobbed our heads together. i thought of aira, and the day we played bongos.
the game finished and crowds of people filtered out of the stadium. i blended in with the people to head back to my car and return home.