the first day of august

i have a feeling that it's going to be a good month. how do i know? blind hope. it's a hullava lot more practical than thinking it's gonna be a bad month, anyway.

there are some things i want to talk about. i wrote them down during work on a business card i found. too bad i can't read what i crammed on there.

Things I Saw Today:
little black girl sitting in the back of a Lexus. She had all of her short hair tied straight up on the top of her head with a yellow scrunchie. she was probably 3 or 4 years old.

guy selling flowers at a stoplight. he was middle aged, clean shaven, light brown skin. he had on a white t-shirt that looked like he got it for free at a promotional event or something. he walked down the street as we waited for the green light, holding up two bouquets of roses to the cars ahead of us. then he spots us, the gardeners, and starts whistling. he's thinking, 'what the hell do gardener's want with beautiful roses?' he quickly passes us and holds up the bouquets, but only for about a second, and doesn't even bother making eye contact.

guy smoking something in an alley in Venice. i saw the Pacific Ocean today. we clean a house right next to the Venice boardwalk. we parked behind the house in the alley. we see a older, probably homeless white guy with a thick beard stroll under some apartments. when we come back half an hour later, the air smells funny around the alley. i look under the apartments where the parking spaces are for the tenants. the guy is sitting against the wall, smoking a joint. at least i'm pretty sure it was a joint. it could have been shitty weed he was smoking, because the alley smell really unpleasant. he might have smoked crack.

imagine an Elliptical - you know, those stepping machines at the gym - attached to handle bars and three wheels. yeah, saw a guy riding one today - standing up and Ellipticalling - - (not a word). he rode down the street, like a bike, only not a bike. the helmet didn't help his coolness points.

some cashier at Rite Aid was shaking with cold as she checked-out customers' items. i think the AC vents were blowing directly down on her, the entrance blew in cold air whenever it opened, and the freezer of the nearby ice cream section must have been cranked all the way up because i could feel the freezing refrigeration while i stood in line. the cashier faced a perfect storm of shiver-inducing icy frigidness. I only said three things to her: "No thank you," "Have a good day," and "Stay warm." She chuckled when i said that.

a couple of twenty-five-year-olds stood next to each other on a bridge overlooking the 405 freeway. they were alone on that long bridge. i saw them through a green mesh. the mesh is there to prevent anyone from falling over the railing. i could still see the colors of their clothes: the girl wore a black t-shirt; the guy wore a gray t-shirt. they stood an arms length apart. every so often the guy would lift his right arm out, and the girl would take something from his hand. a little while later, she did the same thing with her left arm. they were getting high, I think.

That's about everything i can remember.

Oh, I'm not dreading work tomorrow like I usually do.

I'm getting very excited for school to start. I want to graduate already. Two years - which is probably what i'll take me to finish - seems like an impossibly long amount of time away. I will not waste my time like I did the previous two years. The past two years have been chaotic and underachieving for my school work. I'm making an effort to change my destructive habits.

I don't look forward to the first day of class. That's always surreal. At least for me. You can't imagine ever getting to know any of these strangers around you. Now that I think about it, living in dorms, you have the advantage of knowing a lot of people already. In commuting colleges, you don't. At the same time, I get to go home at the end of each day. Take the good with the bad, I guess.

Or maybe you don't already know people. I don't know anything about living in dorms.

My friend from San Francisco called me yesterday, asking me if i wanted to hang out. i said i was too tired from work - which i was. i said friday would be better. the other guys will probably be doing something anyway. he said it was fine. we talked for a bit. it's weird how unfamiliar we are to each other. after two years apart, i don't know any of his speaking rhythms anymore. i tried to make a few jokes, and he continued talking like he didn't even hear me. i wonder what the future holds for us. And to be honest, i don't even really want to hang out with him.

Even More Things That I Like:
when people are happy to hear 'please' and 'thank you'
really fit older people - like fifty, sixty, and seventy year olds who are toned and muscular
the smell of coffee - although i don't drink coffee
driving with the windows down, going 70 mph
old women who happily smile at you before you smile at them
the power of floss
the frothy first sip of a can of Coke - i had one this morning for the first time in about 3 years
when bicyclists don't get in the way of traffic
when people look both ways and are not looking down at their cell phones when they use crosswalks
peeing when you're ready to explode in your underwear
the powers of allergy pills
turkey, bacon, avocado at subway
sitting down for the first time in four hours
after a long day's work, walking around barefoot in shorts - bonus points for walking on cold hardwood or tile
being nice to Jehovah's Witness that i sometimes run into on Saturdays - they're generally pretty nice people
cleaning under my fingernails with my pocket knife
having money in my wallet
when i pull out my phone and it's already on - my old phone turns itself off a lot
lying on the floor with a pillow or a soft jacket
moonlight - a full moon casts shadows! very cool
the start of rain - when you first feel a drop on your skin, and you look up at the overcast sky and ask, "is it raining?"
people who smell good when they walk past you - woman with nice perfume or soap, men with subtle cologne or soap


oh yeah, we did those big apartments yesterday where the really kind woman lives. yesterday, she gave us water, popsicles, and ice cream cones filled with caramel. really sweet of her.