Quarter to Ten

Yesterday, I found myself in a store called Quarter to Ten. My friend bought Air Jordan logo earrings and I tried on some wigs. I also found a cabbage patch doll birthday card. It was a delicate watercolor on textured ecru card stock, with a floral filigreed border. The center depicted a cabbage patch doll in red overalls lying on her stomach reading a book. The front said, "Wishing You a Storybook Birthday." The inside read "With Many Happy Endings." The mark on the back said it was from 1983. Not the image, but the actual greeting card. I wanted this to mean that it had been part of Quarter to Ten's floor stock for almost a quarter of a century. Turnstile full of them amongst the turbans, barrettes, and pomade, all patiently waiting to be sent.



Did you ever get a cabbage patch doll for your birthday?

I Can't Stand the Rain

It's all yellow ground now. Yellow ground and naked trees. For a while, too. Gettin' enough water but don't matter's too cold. Just brume and gloom. Sticks and a quilt of cotton over our heads.

Photography Show @ Austin Figurative Gallery

Flyer Final, originally uploaded by whitney lauren.

Can you make it?

If You're Going to San Francisco

The wind was keening as we were sleeping. Gale force and fast, it made for a shrill drone in my dreams. Then we heard Hailey's scream. The instrument room had flooded.

Cables and pedals were addressed first. The marumba was then moved to higher ground, its wood already warping. Amps were stacked. The bass drum went to the bathroom, but the high hats and cymbals withstood the rising waters, proudly. They would beat once more.

The landlady was called and her tenants scrambled to clean the dregs of the keg and cocktails. "Do you have a shop vac?" she said. "Do you have renter's insurance?"

The grocery store stayed open, though, despite the lack of power. We left our friends to deal with dampness and hoarded food for the storm. In the darkness customers walked slower, squinting at the shelves and using cell phones as light. Grocery employees had begun the task of moving refrigerated items to the beer cooler, which seemed to have a separate generator. No one looted. Everyone remained calm.

What's the weather doing?

Drink Champagne When We're Thirsty

Black Eyed Peas, originally uploaded by nep.

What's your New Year's Resolution?