the calicreeps (or, why i will never live in california)

mes amis—

yesterday i arrived in sunny dan siego (you know the one…).
the weather was perfect, the ocean breeze refreshing, the air restorative.
the hotel where i reside (on behalf of the office-i frequent-monday-through-fridays) even has a pool.
overlooking a bay.
and a hot tub.
i had a mediocre salad but an outstanding fish taco.
in short, life seemed full of possibility.

today the weather is exactly the same.
but somehow it feels oppressive!
a cloudless sky is fascist, as i mentioned in an earlier entry.
the conferenza set up complete my hands were left devilishly idle.

allora, i went on a stroll of solitude.
but where to amble?
the hotel is in a kind of convention center area.
there is a stadium near by and something they call an “embarcadero.” hmph!
the old town, i am told, is a taxi cab away.

and this kippy is on a per diem.
so  i trotted along the bayside walk way and oh the souls i saw!
the calicreeps!

people doing “activities”

people “exercising” in the late afternoon.
people “hanging out” with their dogs.
couples just “lying down” on the grass.

degoutant!

exercise should either be done in groups or in private.
certainly not in public!
plus, i have seen more than one person wearing exercise gear without actually exercising.
sneakers worn without irony.
i saw a man in his 60s doing push ups on some grass and grew very depressed.
meanwhile, corporate robots zoomed round outside the convention center.
they were on their devices, oblivious to the glittering sea beyond.
one sorry soul seemed a bit off and he carried/cradled a transistor radio looking gadget while walking.

i always have the strong sensation, especially in southern california, that this is a place where people come who have decided to give up.

the sun was so bright that it pained me.

adults on skateboards, frozen yogurt, overly friendly waitstaff: all reasons i will never live in california.

as i strolled and brewed (and brooded!) and stewed i considered the cardinal rule of playwriting.
the importance of constraints.

in california everything is so limitless from the sun to the sky to the overstuffed lounge chairs that i feel there is nothing to work against. and mustn’t life provide some push and pull?? i find the limitlessness both bizarre and beautiful but also deeply unsettling. i would be curious to hear what a southern californian thinks of this but i fear that the pleasantness of my surroundings dictate that a conversation like this might prove to be impossible. and isn’t that strange in the land of possibility!

kippy

 

a new day and hooray (very domestic musings)

mes amis—

isn’t it nice when the weather surprises us? it started out so rainy this morning that i tucked into my john hughes overcoat and settled for an outfit that would withstand the inclements. (white repettos, skinny jeans, a simple tee from calypso, my lover’s flannel) but lo and behold around 3 p.m. or so I spotted sun and then more sun and then a bit more…!

my coat is my new uniform

a sky speckled with clouds is unforgivably cheerful. and thank goodness. for a sky without clouds is fascist!

ma che bello

i trotted off to the atm to deposit some measly checks but i love doing that. even when i deposit a check of $22.02 (no really! the audio book realm is not sustainable…) i feel like a wealthy aristocrat. i carelessly tap “deposit without an envelop” and a thrill of financial security wraps around me like a warm cashmere throw on a late winter’s night.

then i went to the duane reade. i needed to get a birthday card and a father’s day card (oui mes amis, this kippy, despite being ageless, does have a dear sweet padre). i was excited to use a coupon i had printed out and very pleased about finding a card fit for a teenage boy (complete w/ a sound effect!) but then at the cashier i realized my coupon was for cvs!

dear me

usually this mishap would cause me to turn a deep crimson shade, stammer and feel very foolish.

is that dawson?

i considered taking the cards back to where they were and going to a cvs, my preferred drug store by far, but then i thought about how much time i’d spent inspecting the images and phrases. (some of the father’s day cards brought a small tear to my eye) allora, i decided to live dangerously and bought the two cards .. only to discover that i had a $1 off coupon after the gal rang me up!

“would you like to use it?” she asked

“you bet!” i replied.

life was looking good. i wasn’t ready to head back to the office-i-sometimes-attend. my palate told me it was time for a season’s first: a chipwich. the delightful confection in which vanilla ice cream  resides between two chocolate chip cookies. i also got a banana for health.

heaven

and off i wandered into a quieter part of the smelly garment district. and the man tried to tell my fortune and i ate the chipwich and  it tasted good! and i walked on that stretch of 37th toward 10th ave that feels like a little bridge and it felt good in the sunshine. and i remembered being a whippersnapper in summer and going to the barn of fun in cape cod and saving up tickets i earned from ski ball for one big prize (that i never did cash in on) but eating things like a chipwhich, or a frosty, or oooh a piece of fried dough! and i felt so glad to be alive. and i looked up at the clouds in the blue sky and i was so overwhelmingly happy to be in new york.

a bientot,
kippy

ps go see jenny schwartz’s 41-derful at clubbed thumb before it closes. it’s a fabulous production. i was in the front row and the actors are out-of-control good. their faces are like water–they can do anything! also go see julia jarcho’s nomads, it is too many things to say in a p.s. but i read about it here!