Now and Then Do the Tango, Fifteen Beautiful Things, and a Tardy Daily Photo

Sometimes I retreat to my fictional self when life seems hard and futile. And now becomes a story that I will someday tell myself with added detail and a structured plot and a pleasent moral lesson. I tell myself my story so vividly it almost seems real. I can almost smell the bus exhaust. I can almost taste the burned fried rice. I can almost here the children laugh, the children scream. I can almost feel disappointment, I can almost feel relief. I can almost hear the musical hum in my fictional ears as I walk that long walk home after an endless day of work. Scarf wrapped tight around my face, cap pulled past my ears. And as I walk beside myself I close my eyes and whisper, "now is just a memory we haven't had time to remember."

* * *

An Incomplete List of Things that Give Me Chills:

1. Sleeping under the stars
2. Hiking in blinding fog
3. Physical exhaustion
4. Watching storms
5. Storm clouds
6. Colorado
7. Conversations with strangers
8. That last moment of conciousness before you drift off to sleep
9. Tragically earnest people
10. Making people laugh
11. Shadows
12. The films of Michel Gondry
13. Listening to salespeople/proselytizers
14. The music of Sigur Ros
15. Magic

* * *

PHOTO OF THE DAY
(In an attempt to stay awake during the movie show of life, I decided it would be prudent to give myself the assignment of taking a photo everyday. I gave myself this assignment almost a week ago, but better late than later. Without further ado I present today's photo. Taken aboard the bus home from work.)