Monday, June 22, 2009

365 - 33: Hot Nite Out

10 p.m. 88°F (31°C)
Humidity: 45%
(High today 94°F)
God I hate the heat. I don't have air conditioning, and the house is an oven. I've lugged the couch cushions out onto the little outside deck and am going to sleep out here. I took this self-portrait by the light of my laptop. (The green behind me is grape vines.)
I hope the alley's not too noisy tonight. Sometimes when it's really hot like this, the place is jumping. Right now I can hear a couple folks calling to each other in Spanish (lots of people from Latin America live in the neighborhood), but mostly I hear the hum of window fans and air conditioners.

This evening to get out of the heat I went downtown to see the remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Good enough, & John Travolta was worth it. Shades of Al Pacino. When did he get so intense? I haven't really followed his career much since Saturday Night Fever. Maybe the time has come for me to see Pulp Fiction...

Afterward I stopped for an Icee and milk for my morning coffee before going home. A homeless guy came up to me at the bus stop and asked for some money, which I gave him. Then he sat down and started talking--he said he hadn't eaten today, which was easy to believe, looking at him. He was rough. He looked at my Icee cup and asked if there were any left. (Hey! Like me asking the senator for the chicken off his plate!) I'd finished it, but I asked him if he wanted some milk. He said yes, and didn't mind if I poured it into the Icee cup. He drank two glasses before the bus came. I asked him if he wanted the whole half-gallon, and he said no, that was OK, I needed it for my coffee in the morning. I'd told him that, and I'm glad he turned it down.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey! Hello-in-the-heat! And...cool that you are sleeping outside in the 'hood! I love this foto of you; it's intense and focused and raggedy and the colors and essence of it, tied in with your day/night experiences, remind me of that painting by Rousseau Ive always loved since i was little of the gypsy sleeping in the desert with the moon and the lion in the 'scape, i think. Know which one I mean? Is it called "The Sleeping Gypsy"? I'll have to google it manana cuz it's so f-in' hot, I'm gonna try to sleep again. I love your spirit and all of you! (Veriword is "formas", is that Slovenian for something; as you can probably guess, it means "shapes" or "forms" in Spanish. Fits the images you've evoked in this post, anyway!)

See ya Soonish!/

Stefalala

Anonymous said...

Hey! Keep sleepin'! ('Tho I doubt that's what you're doin"! I DID google Rousseau and found there's a lutelike instrument in the work, also. It's a Lorca-esque landscape. And, for some reason, the lion's nosing around never seemed threatening of any maiming or killing to me. More like a totem or companion on the trail sort of figure.

Anyway, hope you slept comfortably and safely! Veriword is "pingst"; I do believe that MUST be the opposite of angst! Do have a pingst-filled day, dearie.

Love!

Stefalala

Fresca said...

Thanks for the art connection, Stef! I love it. Just posted it too.

Alas, didn't sleep all that well--couch cushions will keep coming apart-- but I'd rather be uncomfortable than hot.

bink said...

Wild pix! Very intense.

Fresca said...

It's just a fluke, really (angle + laptop light) but I like it. Quite a lot of photography's just a fluke, come to think of it. Or mine is anyway.

Nancy said...

Pulp Fiction is actually quite good. There's a nasty violent part in the middle for which you should close eyes and ears, but mostly it's entertainingly weird, as I recall.

Fresca said...

Hi, Nancy!
Yeah, it's that nasty bit I'm worried about--I should find out when it comes so I can skip it.