January 14, 2014

January 14, 2014

I woke up with not a hangover, which was an odd feeling for me.  Usually when I open my eyes in the first thing in the morning the pain makes me close them as fast as possible.  I try to pretend its a cold that is going around or an allergy attack of some vague sort, but the fact is I am a huge fan of Charles Shaw red wine.  All sorts of red, as long as the color is red and it stains my round white table.    This morning I woke up to some painful process of writing that as usual took me to places that I didn't need to go to.  What I did need to do is have lunch with one of my best friends Jenny at Mohawk Bends.  Most of the dishes there are vegan or vegetarian, but it is sort of really good trash food at the same time.  She ordered a healthy looking salad, but I went for Avo and Chips, which is fried avocado and of course french fries.

Since it was noon (approximately 12:03 pm) I ordered a glass of Chardonnay which was $9 per glass.  My meal itself cost $12, and I hate the fact that my wine was almost as expensive as the food.  Perhaps through my upbringing, I always felt all beverages should all be in the $2 or $3 range.  Even alcohol!  

Jenny was very excited because she started reading the works of Pierre Loti, who to be honest, I knew very little of.   But anyone who wrote a book called "Flowers of Boredom" is OK with me.  Jenny is very much of an adventurer of body and mind.  Although I never shared the body part of her adventure we have shared literature that was important to us over the years.  I was more of a Yuki Mishima man myself.  I always liked the idea of a writer dressed in an uniform, and if he was photographed by Cecil Beaton, or made into a film by Joseph Losey better yet.  Sadly as far as I know Mishima was neither photographed by Beaton nor made into a film by Losey - nevertheless Jenny didn't know that, so as long as I tell these 'facts' loudly enough, she will of course believe me.  I always prefer the images by Beaton than say a photographer like Garry Winogrand.  Too much realism destroys the illusion of fantasy.

After lunch we went a couple doors down to visit my new favorite record store Blue Bag Records.  Happily they just received a shipment of 7" EP's from the 1950s.  I purchased around 20 titles, all from that era.  After saying goodbye to Jenny and thanking her for the meal (as a principal I always have someone else pay for my lunch) I rushed back home to photograph and play my new (although technically old) records on my sort of new, but old portable turntable.   I can look back today where I didn't have a hangover, had lunch (paid for) with a great friend, and surrounding myself with the beauty of music not processed by the 21st Century.