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June, 2006
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June 23, 2006 - 1:41am
a pact, a tree, a sticker
phillip and i made a pact, related to the fact that he won't refer to himself a poet. if someone asks "what do you do?" he doesn't say "i'm a poet." for him to say anything else is really a lie (in my opinion), so this is interesting, but he seems to think that to call oneself a poet openly is some kind of polarizing stance. me, i just fucking hate when people say "so, what do you do?" i just can't believe that how we make money is something that most people find important enough to ask about as a first getting-to-know-you question. though "what do you do?" can be interpreted other ways, and can be answered in many bold ways besides explaining what one's job is. you could say "i sleep, and i look at the sky, and i pet my cats, and i beam love at things." and those would all be things you "do." however, i think most people who speak this american english and have been in a situation where someone says "what do you do" would probably agree that this question almost always means "how do you make money?" and honestly i would rather someone ask me, "how do you feel when you wake up in the morning, most days?"
the pact phillip and i made is that just once, he will try saying "i am a poet." maybe on a plane, to some over curious stranger (who wouldn't be over-curious about him?). my end of the pact is that just once, i will gently and lovingly challenge someone who has asked me "what do you do?" with a counter-question about why they (or anyone at all) asks things like "what do you do?" in small talk situations.
later, after i left, i stopped at the front entry way of an old victorian apartment building to call a cab. the fog had rolled in and the lower haight was cold and bringing back memories. i wanted to walk, a little, but i've also grown weary of ambling through sketchy neighborhoods at night. just before the cab arrived, i looked up from my phone to see a tiny, hand-typed label sticker on the wall inside the entryway. it said:
it will never
be good enough
i tried to take a picture but it was dark and the cab arrived so it's blurry.
...
and earlier today:
my sunglasses have this wonderful quality of making red things redder.
i think these deep maroon leaved trees around town are ornamental plum trees. xep told me that. a little googling tells me they are called 'cherry plums' sometimes. i love them deeply. in the spring they make pink flowers. now, in the height of summer, they are an insane shade of deep maroon. with my red-making sunglasses on, and sun on the other side of the tree, amazing red:
i actually held my sunglasses over my camera when i took the picture, so you could see.
there is SO MUCH TO DO at work tomorrow. i am worried about it.
yoko is stalking a moth.
