: standing on the train, looking down at the Timberland boots, three layers of shirt, scruff off the chin, the frequency curves of his lips, horn-rimmed glasses, dirty cap; or the salaryman in business suit, dozing off against a metal pole, grabbing himself; stop at 7-11 for food; an episode of The Sopranos before bed.
* * *
: ride my bike to the farmers market; a plastic bag of apples, potatoes, and carrots; some Y. 2-nensei in kerchiefs and aprons selling udon; omuraisu and bread; later a trip to the grocery store for wine and other essentials; moving through Sopranos episodes; A. wants to meet early for soup curry so we can go to K.’s surprise birthday party; we arrive at Obar’s early, hang on the couches; Y. (Toriaizu) hand us “crackers”, paper cones that shoot confetti; we gather in the dark corners and wait for K. to arrive; she’s the owner of the place; A. tells me about her friends, M., who reminds me of Gail Simmons on Top Chef, her mother owns a bar across the street; A. was there, went for a picture, hung around with some patrons; some men get a little touchy; we talk about this small town, how these people are very friendly, that they’re very interesting to us; a boy with a loud, colorful, comic print jacket wearing a black hat with white words that say “Fuck Babylon?”; so we call him Babylon; we wait for K., A. and I hold a handmade sign that says, “Happy Byrthday Kaory!” flanked by two palm fronds; she arrives, the crackers sound off, a Happy Birthday R&B song; drinks all around; free tequila shots, no thank you; songs I remember from junior high; sign a booklet of photos; a DVD of birthday wishes from many people; I leave around 10:30; Project Runway and Models of the Runway before bed.
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