Fragments


this was long ago, written in a long ago handwrote journal.

I asked her what it was about me, purely out of curiosity and intrigued by the secrets we hid from others but in total confidence, complete trust. she thought about it for a spell and said “you’re so poetic” and I was satisfied with the terse answer. nobody ever accused me of this before. I was actually wanting a purely shallow answer like I like your eyes, or your bubble shaped ass. those were typical ones most chicks threw my way. but this wasn’t no common garden variant chicka senorita she was all business class. she projected that vibe from the get-go. she didn’t even bother complimenting me on a $120 steak dinner, either. Most Chicago based hunnies would’ve been truly thrown aback, and it might’ve been a direct route into the bedroom to be perfectly frank. I was still a lowly intern at Motorola and of course bored out of my skull. the commute was one thing, but having to hang out in my cube pretending to be busy was another entirely. so naturally I started hitting up the senoritas online. Installing web browsers and teaching the technologically illiterate how to use their work stations was getting monotonous. I was getting pretty hooked on designing websites and started to, charging some local companies some $1,500 for a simple website. those were the days! Cha chinngggg. never mind the cost of updating content lol, $350 for updating html for 10 minutes worth of effort. me: “yeah uh I have to update the css and javascript also or it’ll break your entire website! and oh uh hackers also might get in there to steal the code if I don’t fix this stat!” I would tell some clients emphatically. “well get on it son!” they’d usually answer, pleased to be lining the pockets of such a strikingly handsome Adonis like this. one of them even wanted me to go on a blind date with her niece (a girl named Beth) “oh you two would look so cute together! and she loves Asian boys!” heh heh how lovely. now there was a eeuggggeeeee distinctive advantages in those earlier 1.0 times of the interwebs. maybe to a degree they kinda sucked in many respects: all these crazy website(s) + retro pages weren’t well designed (or maintained) but: certain websites you could go and actually communicate with interesting characters on some semblance of a deeper level. no BS, no politics, no political correctness or putting up a front like come worship me I’m better than everyone that most people project. also the newness of this all still had that new car smell so it was exciting, not boring af like today. whereas everybody was deeply cynical, suspicious, scornful, salty, hating and deeply bitter. too much toxic crap to wade through and by the time you do, you’re spent emotionally, mentally, spiritually. gradually it would all decline into the stagnated state it was presently in: overused, over-abused. the offline world was still very much intact and the online one was still scratching its head as to what it was, and where it was headed. it didn’t dominate our existence and affect us so badly as it has in recent years.

the 4 hobos

there’s a gang of 4 bums that lurk nearby, they fish the Haw river and at times they convene at the pit, which is an outdoor fire-pit at the entrance to the hiking path. I quietly observed them from my balcony after doing a warm up exercise. I pretty much do a hodge podge mix up of exercises I bit off of ShaunT’s T-25 series.

they’re cooking cat-fish in the fire-pit I noticed, and drinking some cheap looking wine and bread. one of them even has a smart phone: an iPhone 5. these guys have some pretty impressive survival skills I thought.

ironically I just finished this weird ass game called Hobo: Tough Life.

one of them, the leader brags that he recently killed a deer, skinned it and had made some fresh venison stew. he caught said deer by making a boobytrap. he also has been thieving some of the herbs and veggies in the outdoor veggie garden they’ve got going on outside near the parking lot (not sure why they even grow it to be perfectly honest, attracts lots of deer + silly rabbits). He later complains that he was bitten by a lonestar tick and the venison was the last meat that he was able to ever eat and enjoy.

saddest thing I’ve ever heard. I mean it’s one thing to be homeless, but another thing entirely to be: homeless + can’t eat meat!

“at least you can still eat pussy!” one of his friends chimes in, trying to lighten things up. they all laugh like its the funniest thing ever.

I see them the next day and they of course love my dog, Sabi. they start calling me Bruce Lee because they saw me practicing my martial art skills. I learned they were ex military. I gave them $20 to buy something good to eat. actually Sabi found this $20 bill on our morning hike, somebody must have dropped it. they didn’t need to know what strange luck I had.

the next day I hadn’t seen the four bros, and I wonder where their journey has taken them. hopefully to some better places in life.