everybody lies & quad toms

i've been sitting at home tonight, nursing body aches, a stomachache, headache, chills and sore throat. i'm getting through it with 'drumline' (the movie, yes, i was watching it) and dvr-ed episodes of 'house'.

i have played an instrument from the age of 8 or so. i started out with piano, and took up the flute in 5th grade, for the sole purpose of playing 'yankee doodle' in a parade. i played both until 8th grade, when i dropped piano and stuck with flute until high school graduation. my flute is currently stashed away in closet. our piano is still played by my mom. unfortunately, the one song i had re-taught myself after forgetting how to play, i've now forgotten. it was 'fur elise'. cliche.

i wish i hadn't stopped playing the piano. and though i never did play 'yankee doodle' in a parade, i don't really worry about this dream being fulfilled.

today when i was walking franklin, a parking enforcement guy was ticketing someone on my street. he stopped and looked at franklin, and asked if he had one eye. yes, i said, and i explained frankie's history. he began to tell me about how he loves dogs, about his four dogs. we talked about franklin and about how we could always want more dogs, then he got in his car and drove away.

in college, a roommate of mine and her boyfriend got into a fight about whether or not meter maids (and men) were vindictive by nature. i never knew the outcome of their argument, but after talking to that guy today, i am firmly landing on the side of "no, they are not".

my point? i'm not sure if i really have one. maybe it's not that, in the illustrious words of one g. house, "everybody lies", but rather that everyone isn't what they seem.

everyone is dealing with something that you don't know about. i'm learning to not expect to know how anyone would react.** which is why i'm asking absolutely everyone for money. because, the truth is, you just never know.

you just never know who is going to say, "you know what, i don't have time for this, i don't care about your walk." you just never know who is going to say, "you know what, my grandmother/mom/sister/aunt/friend/lover died last year from breast cancer. thank you." you just never know who is going to say, "you know what? i'm in remission!" and until you know, it can't hurt to be polite, friendly, caring and passionate about what you're doing. and it's with this philosophy that i stuck up a neon green poster in our building's laundry room with a ton of tabs for people to take and tabs i will continue to replace until september, because you know what, you just never know.


**case in point: i texted my friend in new york: "i'm alone on a friday night watching drumline." response: "hey, we were watching that too, in a bar!" you just never know.



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Day Four- 1/30/09- pings: 1