Beans for Breakfast

Robert is walking on the other side of the street, peering at me through his good eye. (Through his good eye, rather than with his good eye, because when he looks at me from that far away I get the sense of being looked at from behind a telescope. It’s as if he felt that [...]

I couldn’t resist posting another Nicholson Baker quote, since it ties into a couple of recurring Bean-themes, tea and the spelling of the word gray. This is from A Box of Matches: “The dawn sky is now visible: the snow is a very light blue rather than a grey. Yes, grey with an e – [...]

“You notice something, some particular quality of the slush at the side of the road . . . or something, . . . anything. You notice it a few times down in the lizard brain area. And then it’s only the third or forth time that you notice it, that it feels as if you’re [...]

He’s turning heads. Matching leopard-spot shirt and pants, leather jacket painted metallic gold, gray cap, new green Chuck Taylor’s, dancing dancin’ the last few steps across the street. He can’t be more than seven years old. He passes by. Written across the back of his jacket it says, “Elvis Lives!”

There were seals flopping around in Elliot Bay while I was down their today. They were splashing around and making so much noise that for a moment, before I had a good look, I thought they might be orcas. They were swimming back and forth, floating on their backs and waving their flippers in the [...]