October 5, 2005

It's another Wednesday and it means I'm closer to those two days I live the week for. The weather is kind of odd. It's got the autumn chill that one would expect in October, but it goes between being sunny and cloudy. Yeah, it's par for the course. Don't ask me why the hell I'm surprised by this shit.

It's the kind of day I liked when I took drawing classes. After scratching newsprint with chunks of charcoal and graphite for an hour or so we'd get a break to go outside and smoke cigarettes and drink coffee. One guy, Pat, from Montana, was always out there. I never considered myself a smoker, but when it was break time I'd have my cup of coffee in hand and light up a cigarette. It was something about the combination of brisk morning and the dry smell and taste of the cigarette complimented by the warm bitterness of the coffee that seemed to be the perfect partner to drawing with charcoal. Once in a while I'll think of Pat and wonder what he's up to. I never saw him after the class was over and it's not like we were fast friends.

Thinking of Pat leads me to thinking of Matty, now to be known as TJB. I remember him and his letterman's jacket and the yellow '65 Chevy shortwide he drove. TJB liked Marlboros back in high school and last time I saw him he was smoking Winstons. He let me bum one while he gave the stripper a couple of bucks. I wish I could visit TJB and take the piss out of him about his long hair and beard and everything else. In the summer he'd get so tan everyone thought he was a Mexican out in the fields changing pipe. It seems all he ever wanted was to fit in, which is what got him in trouble to a certain degree. I get a little sad thinking about the kid he was and how he got to where he is. He's a good guy- one of the best.

Now my mind floats to all the people I know and have known and hope to meet someday if I haven't met them already. Sitting here seems pointless. I guess I'll go get my pills or something.