West Nile, SARS, Purity
2003-05-07 - 12:54 a.m.

before/after
strangely non-functional guestbook

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It was a gloomy day, with breaks of sun through the petulant sky that held back from tears.

I went down to a different park for lunch, sat a this memorial to war with a shitty poem about war inscribed on a very large block of stone.� I only read it once.� I only had to.

The seagulls flocked about me as I ate my tawdry fare.� Fast food.� They hawked and howled, shreiking, flying about and above.

I wasn't going to feed them, but one got so close, and was so quiet, I decided to reward him.�

He ate a french fry, and then swooped up above and waited, his wings buffetted the air.� I raised a fry, noticing that it didn't go too far past my fingers.� It was a small scrap. I noticed too late, too late.

The gull swooped in, drooling.� I pulled my hand back, and tried to extend it again, to reward this trusting creature.

He swooped again...

...and bit the shit out of my hand.� West Nile!� Huntavirus!� SARS!!

I dropped the french fries, and gathered my trash, went in search of a fountain.� No luck.

In the meantime, my mind is churning out thoughts like:

Scavengers, you know...scavenge...eat carrion...dead flesh...roadkill...no telling what was on that beak...dirty birds

I drove to a nearby community center, repetitively washed my hand.� The sink had the old school faucets, the one with the spring loaded taps, where you can only wash one hand at a time.

At one point in time, I liked these faucets.� Not sure why.� Maybe because I thought they saved water.�

Washed my hand, went about my day. Not a scratch on me. But the washing was important.

Went and worked out.� The cute desk girl paid me attention today.� Caught her looking at me.� Interestingly enough, this has occurred after I cut off my attention to her, and had been kinda' shitty to her.

Whatever, you know?� Once I peg someone as fake, that person has a long way to go for me to ever take them seriously.� Don't ever patronize, condescend or be phony.� Its a triumvarate of relational sins that happens between people, and is often mortal.

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