i'm sitting in books a million, joe's cafe, listening to modest mouse. there are others in the cafe, each attending to their own business and interests. a black man in a florida state baseball cap sits in the faux leather, gray chair next to my table. he has his headphones on as he begins perusing through three books containing countless comics each... all about wolverine. i think of samuel l. jackson's character, the unexpected arch-villain in unbreakable. the woman next to him is old; early seventies maybe. she's reading and puffing something that produces what looks like smoke. i'm initially indignant. is this a blatant disregard for florida's indoor smoking prohibition? but when the end of the object lights up blue with every inhale, i realize that she's toking on some sort of high tech repiratory devise. it's reminiscnet of a fancy smoke from the 20s -- the great gatsby era. i think of cruella de ville from 101 dalmations. soon the woman is fast asleep and her husband comes over to wake her so they can leave. the black man also leaves after thoroughly enjoying, with sporadic laughter, his comics. villains did not surround me... just people who resembled the villains in my head. how many times, in like manner, have i projected villainy on those around me? defeating and dismissing the deviants of yesteryear frees us for trust today.
Oct 17, 2009
vaccuous villains
i'm sitting in books a million, joe's cafe, listening to modest mouse. there are others in the cafe, each attending to their own business and interests. a black man in a florida state baseball cap sits in the faux leather, gray chair next to my table. he has his headphones on as he begins perusing through three books containing countless comics each... all about wolverine. i think of samuel l. jackson's character, the unexpected arch-villain in unbreakable. the woman next to him is old; early seventies maybe. she's reading and puffing something that produces what looks like smoke. i'm initially indignant. is this a blatant disregard for florida's indoor smoking prohibition? but when the end of the object lights up blue with every inhale, i realize that she's toking on some sort of high tech repiratory devise. it's reminiscnet of a fancy smoke from the 20s -- the great gatsby era. i think of cruella de ville from 101 dalmations. soon the woman is fast asleep and her husband comes over to wake her so they can leave. the black man also leaves after thoroughly enjoying, with sporadic laughter, his comics. villains did not surround me... just people who resembled the villains in my head. how many times, in like manner, have i projected villainy on those around me? defeating and dismissing the deviants of yesteryear frees us for trust today.
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interesting. a black man reading wolverine, and laughing. an old presumeably black woman smoking a high-tech fake cigarette.
ReplyDeleteim not entirely certain these werent villains.
actually the wooman was not black, and the fact that she fell asleep, at the very least, lessened the degree of her menace even if she were a villain.
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