~Tuesday~ Thong Lady was on the bus—sans thong, or I suppose it would be more accurate to say—thong not visible. She was reading an Agatha Christie mystery, which made me feel connected to her in some small way, considering my recent delve into three Mary Higgins Clark mystery novels.
Right-Hand Rule Lady was present along with her husband, Sci-Fi Fantasy Man. He was reading a sci-fi book (let me put a look of surprise on your face), and she was playing some game on a PDA—presumably some brainiac game to keep her gray cells from atrophying.
To my right, there was a guy who I think I’ve seen once or twice before, but wouldn’t swear to it in a court of law. He was exhibiting whatever trait that is the opposite of charisma. I checked two antonym finders and neither one of them came up with a response for the antonym of charisma. Not to be deterred, I’m just going to take the definition of charisma and negate it:
▸ noun: attractiveness that interests or pleases or stimulates
The opposite of charisma, then:
▸ noun: unattractiveness that disinterests or displeases or stymies
Yeah, that’s what he exhibited. People around him either averted their eyes from him, or outright turned to face away from him. He was particularly trying to strike up a conversation with the woman sitting in front of me, but she was having no part of it.
Diarrhea-of-the-Mouth Lady was on board, and today she let the whole bus know about her gas bill that hadn’t been paid, and how it showed up on one credit report, but not on another. “BUT IT’S THE SAME BILL,” she screamed, presumably to let us know that she knew the credit bureau people were a bunch of losers.
At one of the later stops on the route, a guy got on and I wondered, “Is he Hispanic or some other race?” As he passed by me, I noted his A&F t-shirt with Chinese characters all up and down it. Obviously, he was some other race. Bless my mess.
And finally, there was a new character on the bus this morning. An African-American guy, who took Swapping Dollar’s regular seat up front by the driver, and he had on head phones, was looking at his smartphone, which he held in his right hand and was presumably playing music, while his left hand waved an imaginary baton. If he keeps that up, he’s going to get himself named Leonard Bernstein or Arthur Fiedler.
I had two meetings today, our weekly department meeting from 9-10. Jude brought bananas and Rhonda brought string cheese and Ritz crackers. It’s awl about the food.
I had another 10-12 meeting, and then an afternoon ice cream social for an employee who is leaving our organization. She was “RIFed” during the last round of cuts, but is taking it like a trooper and let us have a little going away gathering for her.
I had some vanilla ice cream, some strawberry ice cream, some caramel syrup over the vanilla ice cream, and some Mini-Oreos (so cute!) mixed in there. Did I mention that it’s awl about the food?
I did the three-mile walk around Lake Johnson from about 6:30-7:30. The weather was absolutely beautiful today (around 78°), and I listened to a podcast episode of This American Life. The first two stories were so, so interesting. The third one was meh, although I love the reader, who was Sarah Vowell.
| 291: Reunited (And It Feels So Good) Stories about getting back together with your spouse, your country, your… Brahman bull. And how it never goes the way you think it’s going to. Prologue. Host Ira Glass talks about some truths contained in the 1970s hit “Reunited” by Peaches and Herb. (2 minutes) Act One. Not Your Parents’ Parent Trap. The story of an Iranian couple who were unhappily married for 27 years. He had a temper. She never really loved him. So they split up, got divorced. And then, two years after that, to everybody’s surprise—especially their grown-up children—they fell in love and married each other again. And this time, everything was different. One of their daughters, Nazanin Rafsanjani, tells the story. (26 minutes) Act Two. If By Chance We Meet Again. Ralph and Sandra Fisher, who run a show-animal business in Texas, had a beloved Brahman bull named Chance. Chance was the gentlest bull they’d ever seen—more like a pet dog than a bull. They loved him, kids loved him. He had a long career in movies, on TV, performing at parties. When he finally died, Ralph and Sandra were devastated. Around that same time, scientists at Texas A & M University were looking for animal subjects for a cloning project. They already had some tissue from Chance because they’d treated him for an illness. So Ralph and Sandra offered up Chance’s DNA for the experiment. Second Chance was born. And he was, eerily, just like Chance. Except he wasn’t. Which they found out the hard way. (21 minutes) Act Three. French Kiss. This American Life contributing editor Sarah Vowell tells the story of General Lafayette’s triumphant reunion with America after becoming really, really unpopular in his native France. Sarah is the author of Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World, The Partly Cloudy Patriot, and, most recently, Assassination Vacation. (7 minutes) |
Listen for yourself here. (Click on the “Full Episode” link just under the picture of the kids on the bull.)
I got off the grid at a decent hour this evening, and I read a bunch of Moonlight Becomes You.
I’m almost up to the day on which the book started. The first chapter is dated October 8th, and on that day the protagonist is not in a good place. The next chapter flashes back a couple of weeks, and so slowly it has been approaching October 8th again.
That means that someone is about to be screwed.