Barnes & Noble

My family go to Barnes & Noble a lot.  And by a lot, I mean enough that people have started to recognize us, and in return, we've started to regconize them.

I usually write these posts after-the-fact, looking back on my memories of an occasion.  But I didn't feel much like reading tonight, so when we made our weekly trip to the bookstore, I decided to bring my laptop and do a bit of 'live' posting.  Of course, I'm not really posting this live; you're reading this through the magic of the internet and writing.  Cool, isn't it?  So let's harness that magic a bit:

I'm sitting in the back corner of the cafe, and from here, I have a lovely view of the sleepy people that trail in on a Tuesday evening.  To the right of me is my father, back against the wall as he types wildly (looks like he's writing an imporant email, judging by the way he keeps sighing and rubbing his forehead).  There's a pretty girl a couple tables down with her headphones in and a highlighted book in front of her; she looks like she's been here a while.  A water bottle, mug, and laptop are strewn across the table in front of her.  Her bangs keep falling in her eyes as she reviews the pages.

To my right is a guy with a coffee and a stack of books that he's not reading.  He's scruffy, a bit of beard sprinkling his chin as he focuses on his phone.  I'm not one to judge; I'm surrounded by thousands of books and I'm writing, not reading

There's a busty woman with hair like a volcano made of fluff walking off, a lanyard in hand, and another man ordering at the cafe (hopefully he's not trying to use a starbucks giftcard.  PSA:  B&N doesn't accept starbucks giftcards.  Save the card, save a barista's life)

A man with silver hair, librarian glasses, and shorts that are just a bit to short just lumbered down the side aisle.  He looks friendly, like he just came from the beach (his flip flops attest to that.  Life that party life, man).   He crossed paths with a woman with a ponytale and gum I can hear her chewing from twenty feet away.

The only other occupied table is claimed by a tutor with the patience of a rock and a student whose study habits are so bad they simultaneously horrify and impress me.  They've been here multiple times, and as far as I know, no studying has occured yet, though they seem to be getting along well, dicussing politics and facts.  Still, the tutor remains patient, calm.  It's honestly impressive.  If I were a little bald guy with bifocals and a student like that, I'd have strangled them long before today.  The student and I have chatted a few times, just the normal 'hey how's it going, have a nice day now'.

Those are the only people in the cafe, but more people are filtering in as the evening picks up speed; there's a few more hours of business time, after all.  This is my world, right now - and you saw it all, through magic.

Who did you meet today?

Church People

Every Sunday I attend a local church with my family, and every Sunday I see new people.  Since we sat in the back on this particular morning, I had a lovely view of all the various people that I hadn't noticed before, including (though definitely not limited to):

-a girl no younger than five in a fancy dress, with a purse and her hair done up nicely,....barefoot
-a boy walking down the aisle with a pencil in his ear (pointy side in!)
-a woman in a full-blown veil (it was a very pretty veil)
-a baby who I swear was cosplaying as a strawberry
-a family of all guys who came in twenty minutes late in sports jerseys
-at least fifty people who left before Mass was over (and not even subtly)
-and finally, a guy who slept through the entire Mass, and as far as I know, never woke up*

*I wrote this as I was watching people file out, since we had to stay late.  The man eventually did wake up, and we realized that he was most likely homeless (judging by his attire and the fact that he was carrying a shopping back filled with miscellanious items).  He's in my prayers, and I'm glad he feels safe enough at our church to sleep.  God bless!

Who did you meet today?

Tennis Ball

Today I noticed that there's a tennis ball in our gutter.  It's only visable from my parent's bedroom, where the blinds are usually closed, but today they were open and there it was: an old, filthy tennis ball.  So filthy, in fact, that I couldn't tell what the colour of it was - black?  I've never seen a black tennis ball, so maybe it was just really that dirty, having sat in the gutter like a sad, forgotten relic of whoever lived here before us.  I wonder who was the unfortunate kid who lost it - were they playing with a dog?  Eachother?  Just tossed it up there by lucky throw?

So many questions, and all inspired by an old dirty tennis ball.  What did you notice today?