a weekend in postcards: August 1 - 2

this past weekend i enjoyed a bounty of neighborhood activity. at one point in the afternoon i rolled out a few post cards. i've transcribed them below. there are a few repeated thoughts among them, but i've left them in here.

NUMBER 1:
*note: this first one references a particular beetle. the week before i'd seen this HUGE SHINY BEETLE flying and bumping into my window screen. this thing belonged in Egypt or Brazil. crazy. i sent my pal, suzie, a note about it. she's keen on insects and likely knows just what type of (enormous) beetle it was.
saturday Aug. 1 2009 -- Back patio @ Stories, Echo Park...

ok. crazy beetle update:
this morning i saw two of those same green beetles land in some grass, burrow and DISAPPEAR. i was standing there w/my bike, helmet on, staring at the grass at the base of this jacaranda tree. I'm sure my mouth was agape.
I bent down for a better look, pulled back the grass and saw one. very still. I didn't want to poke it lest it come flying up at me. :|
I'm beginning to think they're some kind of burrowing, years dormant bug that 's not surfaced during my 6 years (!) in that apartment. Both fascinating and unnerving. (I just noticed I have bike chain grease all over the back of my right leg. I'm not one of those cool cyclists. My helmet is goofy & I always get chain grease & tire marks on my legs.) I just came from a new-ish small record store. bought a concert ticket and a 45 rpm of a new Wilco song.
now: cappuccino & shady patio!

NUMBER 2:

*this was sent to my sister linda and brother in law jim*


my initial plan for today ended with me @ work trying to get a little ahead so i could take 2 days off at the end of next week. However. I'm sitting on this shady, breezy back patio of a book store cafe. I just drained the last bit of foam from my cappuccino and thought, "Well, that's not gonna happen." :) so, I will get back on my bike (i rode it here), ride west on Sunset Blvd, from Echo Park to Sunset Junction, where i'll stop @ another amazing coffee shop for a little while. Then, I'll head home. Do a little laundry and a lot of sewing. Bonus activity: I'll box up 4 (FOUR!!) packages to mail tomorrow. There's a shipping place in my neighborhood open Sundays. I love them. One package is a souvenir coffee mug i bought mom in NYC last january. It's been on my desk for 7 months. I've got some good sewing mojo going on. Gonna ride that wave.
also: job interview for next gig next week!


NUMBER 3:

*to my pals, trish and maudie


Saturday (!) August 1, 2009 - sippng iced american @ intelligentsia cafe - one of my favorite chicago exports :)
I just read something that brought to mind the hysterical, and frightfully accurate email re: concert attendees that Trish sent me. It's this, taken from the piece "Disco Hints: The New Etiquette," by Fran Lebowitz: "16 minute instrumentals by West-African tribal drummers are frequently the cause of undue amyl nitrate consumption and shirt removal." in this piece she laments taht while she loves dancing, she doesn't like crowds, and it is unfeasable to bring the discoteque into her home. Again, this turns my thoughts to you all. :)
I've not read Fran L. before. i found this on the "your next book" rack @ the library this afternoon. i'm really enjoying how dated the subject matter is (refs to water piks and answering services).
fun fact: i bought a wilco 45 today that is sitting here on my table b/c i couldn't leave it in my bike basket: it's parked in the sun. NO WARPING!


**wednesday follow up: i never did go into work that saturday. i did sort all my laundry. sunday i washed 10 loads of the stuff. i managed to get all four packages mailed out. this afternoon i got a message from my brother that he received his new shorts. :)

and i got the job!**