#133: Chiditarod, Eh?

March 4th, 2013 § permalink

I own a hockey jersey now.

It’s black with red hockey sticks crossed pirate-style, which is pretty badass. And it’s number 13, which is also pretty badass. And there’s a patch on the sleeve that says “Danielle’s Bat Mitzvah, November 15, 2008,” which is less badass and also made me realize that the jersey number is not really that badass after all.

But I bought the 13-year-old girl’s jersey… I’m sorry, 13-year-old woman’s jersey from her hockey-themed Bat Mitzvah anyway. Because I was a Canadian for the 2013 Chiditarod charity shopping cart race. » Read the rest of this entry «

#132: The Sketch Artist

March 1st, 2013 § permalink

He drew the hair first, a few lines. They flowed into the outline of a face. Always good to get the broad strokes first. » Read the rest of this entry «

#131: Fear

February 27th, 2013 § permalink

The streetlights didn’t shine on this stretch of street, but the little boy walked down it nonetheless.

He was about 10 or so, bundled up with hat and coat that made his arms stick out a little as he walked, looking around with wide-eyed tension. He knew the area, you could tell. He lived here. But alone after dark on a stretch of street where the lights don’t come on, the familiarity gave way for him.

I took a breath and just accepted that I was about to scare the crap out of this kid. » Read the rest of this entry «

#130: Steaming the Homburg

February 25th, 2013 § permalink

A foot pedal blasts the steam on command.

It takes a while to realize it’s a foot pedal. At first it seems the steam’s just there when it needs to be, curling and whooshing around what in a few seconds will be an elegant beaver felt homburg.

“The kind of hats we make have basically become extinct,” hatmaker Graham Thompson says as he flicks the steam condensation off the hat with what looks like a paintbrush. » Read the rest of this entry «

#129: Your Attention Please

February 22nd, 2013 § permalink

The Brown Line slowed as it made the turn before Belmont. The car and track made that inexorable slow-down groan all train-riders know.

The turn sliced the morning sun at an angle that lit the newspapers of the people facing the back of the car without hurting the eyes of people facing forward. The creak crescendoed. The train slid into silence. Then the three beeps.

Beep beep beep. » Read the rest of this entry «

#128: Social Smoke

February 20th, 2013 § permalink

I thought it was one of those smokeless ashtrays they hang on the outsides of bars, but caught myself before I burned some apartment dweller’s mail.

Knathan, as I call him, saw the whole thing.

“I used to be good about that, looking for places to throw them away,” he said. “Then I set a garbage can on fire outside of a Blockbuster.” » Read the rest of this entry «

#127: Whale Hunting on Clybourn

February 18th, 2013 § permalink

There’s a stretch of Clybourn that for three or four blocks has no bar. No little neighborhood dive. No club. No sports place wallpapered with flat-screen TVs.

It’s just a strip of chain restaurants, chain stores, banks, pet places (a lot of pet places) and a Pier 1 imports which, despite the Blues Brothers’ protestations, does not mean this mall has got everything. » Read the rest of this entry «

#126: When the Moon Hits Your Eye

February 15th, 2013 § permalink

The big man took my $20 bill, set it on the cash register keypad, stared at it for a second, then shook himself alert.

“You wanted that wrapped, right?” he said.

I said yes.

“Sorry,” he said, counting $16 in change. “I’m losing my mind from all these Valentine’s Day orders coming in.” » Read the rest of this entry «

#125: Attraction

February 13th, 2013 § permalink

She was taller and a few years older than him, but they looked at each other and smiled when she got on board the bus. » Read the rest of this entry «

#124: The Smell of Naphthalene

February 11th, 2013 § permalink

“The name is magic,” Dr. Thayer told me as we walked through a gap she had cranked between two of the 80 aisles of dead beetles, roaches, flies and spiders. “So much of taxonomy depends on the name.” » Read the rest of this entry «

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