But Call Me Betsy

It's weird how I seem to daily encounter people who appear f-ed up super early in the morning. Like this lady on the right in the bottom photo, who was flipping through a Macy's flyer and said to her friend (who seemed sober): "It's strange how some things are way more expensiver than others." And her friend goes, "You mean more expensive?" The lesson? Drugs make your grammar worse. Or is that "bad?" Also, it smells like pot on the trolley.

I had a guy come over last week to beautify the back yard area and to also create some fencing that maybe, possibly the cats can't leap over. It took him two days and here are the results. Next, I'm going to get some lights to make it sparkle at night. I may actually have to invite people over to grill out or something. Ernesto has yet to jump up on the ledge, but I know that day is coming. This is the custom-built door that now hides the unsightly air conditioning unit. Need to figure out what to do about that long pipe though. Maybe grow something? Side view. And then another custom built piece to hide the pipes.

Hard to keep up with the blog these days. I'm taking a 6 week writing course that has Tuesday and Thursday writing deadlines and so am somewhat consumed by that. This leaves the morning subway and my iPhone as the easiest means of doing an update here. Two invasive photos of my co-travelers this morning.

But I'm stuck in Jersey for a little while longer, in this coffee/ice cream/bakery shop in a strip mall; a place that plays non-stop fifties music just this side of too loud. It's okay though, because it's closer to Dan's yoga studio, and I got my 750 words done this morning. Am suddenly working on this story about an introvert named Hazel. Isn't that a great, under-used for good reason name? Anyway, it's strange how you can start writing about something and then, if your write like me and just want to get words on a page, you find that there are other pieces to the story that you didn't plan out. Like, for instance, I started with Hazel having this unrequited crush on an attractive guy from work, and she's a little strange, so instead of trying to talk to him, she follows him home to find out where he lives. The next day, she calls out sick and goes back to his house and rings the bell. An old man answers (her crush's grandpa). She pretends she need...

I lost two Penn library books and was in despair-- the fine to clear my name was $195, and so I called them and was told I could buy the books and replace them and the fine would be reduced to like $50. So, I ordered them from Amazon and was able to check out more books. I'm really going to try to keep hold of them. Liz picked this one out for me and I'm already hooked.

Maybe I'll go back to my project from last fall, taking pictures of subway people every morning. Yesterday, watched this old couple squabble. He had a tiny ponytail, gold hoop earrings, and an oxygen tank. She wore a visor and a fanny pack. They made up and she gave him a little peck on the lips, saying, I love you. He grunted something back.