I. Last night, about a block from our house, two girls were standing on the sidewalk by the side of the road. They looked to be about 12 years old. They were barefoot, wearing short shorts and itsy tank tops…and each had a 4 litre plastic bucket on her head, worn like a helmet. As we drove by, they waved at us. So we waved back. They shouted something we couldn’t really make out but it sounded like we like you! you’re cool! and I felt a wave of nostalgic fondness for being 12 on the last day of July – only one month till high school! – and for 8 pm when the sun’s going down and it’s fireworks night so you get to stay up late, and for the prickle of hot concrete on bare feet…and for having the kinds of friends with whom you can do something utterly insane like stand outside with a bucket on your head. (Or do Showgirls high kicks down Granville Street…or sing out loud at bus stops…or dance in the rain in UBC’s rose garden. Say.)
My childhood best friend and I used to sit on the front steps of my parents’ house, waving at passing cars while the backs of our thighs burned on the hot concrete. Most people didn’t wave back but some did and that made us feel very important. Someone had seen us, registered that we were kooky, decided it was cool and acknowledged our presence.
I salute the best friend bucket-headed girls. They are very cool.
II. Icepack down the pants; spritzer bottle of water; fan.
III. This lousy t-shirt and by lousy I mean cool, which my parents brought me from Newfoundland:
IV. Central Park. It is temperaturily cool in Central Park because of the trees. Central Park is also notable because the fattest squirrels in the world live there. They are so fat they move like a frame from The Matrix. You could crush one with your foot if you were walking at a leisurely pace and not paying attention. They have no fear because everyone feeds them, so even if they could get out of the way of your leisurely-paced foot, it wouldn’t occur to them.
The other, Fonzie-cool thing about Central Park is the ducks.
These ones were fearless teenage ducks. They thought maybe I had chips. Or an XBOX. Or a cigarette. But when I told them I didn’t, they quuckackled low-like and jumped back in the pond. I love ducks.
V. I turned my computer off and left it off overnight. The temperature in the house this morning was a good 10 degrees cooler. Apparently I have an Athlon Processor which is sort of like importing a small African country into your house. Except for it runs faster. Zoom!
VI. Coolest use, possibly ever, of a bridesmaid’s dress in Texas.
VII. Babaganoush in a can! Recommended by a man from Lebanon! Just add garlic, lemon juice & olive oil. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Gonna be an afternoon of dippin’. Salsa, hummus, baba, guacamole. Bring it on and I’ll dip into it.
VIII. My sunflower:
