True Story: A Monday Evening

9:02pm: Say goodnight to roommate, head to back patio with a stack of cardboard, matches, fire starter, fire wood, a good book, mosquito repelling candles & wrist to toe mosquito proof clothing in search of adventure/ relaxation. Turn on twinkle lights.

9:06pm: Cardboard fortress surrounding fire starter in a satisfactory manner, light corners of butter & pizza boxes.

9:08pm: Veiled in a cloud of smoke- nothing but 1/8 inch charred box corners, admit defeat at hands of wax coating on cardboard.

9:09pm: Enter significant mass of grocery ads to even the score. Move scooter cover to avoid melting due to large flames.

9:16pm: The un-aided sweet sound of crackling remains... Logs appear to have caught fire.

9:17pm: I love twinkle lights.

9:19pm: Enter roastable hot dogs on sticks. Excellent.

Sitting Bubbles, Karoly Karsay

9:21pm: Sticks may be too short. Fingers may be burning.

9:22pm: Flame very small to not actually there. Commence blowing on heart of the fire to maintain dog roastage.

9:23pm: Face covered in soot, getting kinda sweaty, hot dogs still looking geometric & cold to the touch.

9:25pm: Begin packing up. Throw last pieces of cardboard & paper on firepit more in an attempt to burn 'em up & avoid walking back to the recycling bin I fished them out of earlier than an attempt to re-start the fire. Think pitifully,"Dear God, save my fire?" Go inside to microwave hot dogs.

9:27pm: Return to check that fire is out. Find it cheerfully crackling almost as big as before.

9:28pm: Grab a beer from the fridge. Settle in to put a dent in my book anyway while the flame goes out.

9:29pm: Minor incident with frozen state of beer. Briefly ponder the science of temperature & matter.

9:55pm: Finished a chapter in the book. Fire still burning.

9:56pm: The moon is beautiful. Is this really happening?

10:01pm: Roommate #2 comes home to find me with snack, beer, book & flame. "This is awesome!" she says. I smile & shrug. Not ready to betray my frustration & near defeat. Bid her goodnight after briefly re-counting the events of our day.

10:44pm: Full of book & snack, face still covered in soot, smelling like campfire, satisfied with adventure & the simple pleasures in life, I retreat to my quarters to disengage from consciousness for the day.

Scootah

I recently purchased a vespa-style scooter.  It's awesome.  Honestly, everyone is jealous.  It saves tons of money, time, and it's really really fun.  There are some drawbacks - it can be kind of a theft magnet, you have to be a much more defensive driver.  Also, if you have the occasional habit of yelling things at people from the safety of your car while driving--as I do-- you should really try to remember that on a scooter the whole block can hear you shout "Seriously buddy, this is not a parking lot!" in your exasperated voice.  But my favorite things are people's reactions (or least favorite, depending on the instance).

They literally stop me at traffic lights.  I'll be on the sidewalk, and they stop driving--blocking traffic-- and come over to ask about this thing.  It's kind of ridiculous.  There have been some funny, some annoying & some startling ones.

A very consistent repeat is: "Whoa! Is that a scooter?" as if they've seen a ghost. Their brow is furrowed, their eyes intense & jaw dropped.

I don't know how to answer that question. Sometimes I'm reduced to "Hey yeah. Yes. It is. Ok, green light. See ya."

They've got stories about scooters.  Stories they'd like to tell me the full version of as I'm mid-way through fishing my lock out of my tire, or holding the elevator open so they can finish, before they've introduced themselves.  They find it about as likable and novel as you might find this guy. They just want to hang out.  As a person who's not real talkative with people I don't know this is a unique new phenomenon to me.  I have somewhere close to five of these kinds of conversations every day & feel bad for cutting them off cause I'm actually going somewhere (hence, the scooter).  Is this normal?  Are people just really that distracted by shiny things?  Should I be validated or confused?