People Watching

So, I'm at my favorite coffee shop waiting for my friend to arrive and dinkin' around on my laptop and there's this guy that I can't stop watching. He's on his laptop and every now and then he starts to giggle to himself, trying not to be loud but I can hear him over my headphones. Minutes later he looks pissed, swearing to himself and everything. He then continues to read whatever it is that he is looking at...he is totally a mouth reader. I can practically read his lips.

Later, after Patti and I had been playing cards for a while the chess 'club' comes in. Its not an uncommon thing here. There is even a sign on the door that says "all chess games must be completed an hour before close". Two guys come in and sit a table next to us. They are playing chess with a 'Muppet's' themed set. A few minutes later there are probably 10 guys hanging out around two other tables watching and playing in a tournament fashion. They are kind of rowdy. Yelling moves at each other and cheering others on. It was interesting to me that they completely ignored the guys playing with the 'Muppet' set. The spectators were surrounding their table watching the two other games going on around them. These 10 other guys didn't even glance at the 'Muppet' players... I found this interesting.

Watching people reminds me of my dad. Any crowded place he would constantly be watching people. I love watching my dad watch others. I remember going to Cedar Point when I was younger. He would be able to tell the dynamic of the group he was watching. Things like, "they're newly weds", or "he's trying to get his step-son to like him more, its not working". Occasionally he would make small talk with the people in line with us, the sometimes 2 hour line for a 2 minute roller coaster ride. Assuring the kids around us that there is nothing to fear about this "awesome ride" even he'd never ridden it himself. I guess you could say that through this he taught me to be a better observer. I could sit and watch people for hours. I enjoy it. I enjoy watching the people around me in crowded places. My favorite places are at out side concerts, amusement parks, and the 4th of July carnival. It's amazing the things people do when they think no one is watching or the things they say when they think no one is listening is fascinating.

My dad died when I was 15, a freshman in high school. I miss him the most when I realize I am doing things he 'accidentally' taught me.

Thanks Dad for teaching me to be a better observer and therefore a better listener. I miss you, I love you.

Untitled

A few days ago I was browsing around the itunes music store when a song popped into my head. I quickly typed "Domestic Problems" in the search engine and hit enter. I didn't expect the song I wanted to be listed, after all it wasn't this past spring. As I anxiously scrolled through the listed songs I found it. I played the preview (why is it a preview, I'm just listening) and was disappointed, not the version I wanted. Then I sorted the songs by title... there in the list was the title of the song I was looking for, three of them. Three versions of my second favorite song in the world. One of the three listed had that all important word behind it, acoustic. Without hesitation I bought the 6minute and 40second song "Untitled". I was elated, I jumped up and down, I did 'the-happy-white-girl-dance' then I synced my pod. I promptly marched into the living room plugged the pod into the stereo, cranked it up and sang along...twice!

I can tell you the story
battles never won
people standing blindly
out of reach of the sun

And I'm telling you
that I am in love woah
I am in love
I am in love
with a girl that
holds me with her eyes

voices surround me
bicker and i shame(?)
I wish with a passion
why can’t she feel the same

and I'm telling you that
I am in love woah
I am in love
I am in love
with a girl that
holds me with her eyes

trying to be a friend
and maybe that it'll be
I know what i feel inside
please see the beauty in me woah
please see the beauty in me woah
please see the beauty in me...

my heart feels empty
soul shakin' pain
I wish I could hold her
man I lose but I gain

and I'm telling you that
I am in love woah
I am in love
I am in love
with a girl that
holds me with her eyes
and I'm telling you that
I am in love woah
I am in love
I am in love
with a girl that
holds me with her eyes woah
holds me with her eyes woah
holds me with her eyes...

Domestic Problems Untitled

My friend Patti and I would sit in her mom's hot tub and sing our favorite songs. This was one of the songs we would sing often times more than once. I don't remember the first time I heard it or how long I've known it, I just feel that I alway have. I sing it in the shower, I sing it when I shovel snow, rake leaves, or while mowing the lawn. I sing it when I am in a hot tub with or without Patti. I, like Patti, write the lyrics on my note pad rather than doodling. This song is a part of me.

This Reminds Me

This weather reminds me of the summer of 2002 when I worked for the City Parks and Recreation department. I was a grounds-keeper seasonal with another seasonal and a grounds-keeper level 2. The three of us took care of 9 city parks. Toward the end of the summer the other seasonal was painting murals all over the city in areas that were usually tagged with graffiti. On rainy days like this in the late summer and early fall B and I would sit inside the office at our main park drinking coffee, reading books, eating doughnuts and smoking. Not much to do in a city park in the rain. I miss that job.