still-sound 195. Bark

My phone was stolen on Saturday.  I know who took it too.  I was working at the perfume store when a couple came in during the weekend rush.  An exaggeratedly flamboyant dude and his big gal pal.  They were larger than life and I enjoyed showing them fragrances.  They complained about the high prices in a comical way but were interested in smelling more and keeping their minds open.  My coworker Yvettra and I showed them countless fragrances and offered to make them samples.  I eventually had to concentrate on the other end of the store as more customers came in.

The store thinned out in the late afternoon.  Yvettra and I sat down and recapped the onslaught.  I told her how I liked the funny couple.  She made a face and said "I think they were up to something".  She explained how the dude was about to buy a perfume and took out his credit card, but then his sidekick whispered something to him and they abruptly left, saying that they wanted to go to an ATM to get cash. 

When Yvettra and I finished our chat I wondered where my phone was.  I hadn't seen it for a while...  Yvettra's face went blank and she uttered, "Steve....they took it!  I know they did!"

They did.  Or, at least Bonnie did and then whispered her misdeeds into Clyde's ear, prompting them to scram. 

I walked to T-Mobile down the street to put a block on the phone.  I described what had happened.  One guy working there said that he knew exactly whom I was talking about.  He saw them at the bus stop yesterday.  They were unmissable.  They were casing the street.  The girl and the dude with the huge hand bag.

I got a new phone because I'm 100% completely dependent on my phone - like an external organ.  I took pictures of trees in Elysian Park because my stolen phone had a nice textury bark picture as its wallpaper.  I wanted to recreate it.  

I loved the outcome.  The very first additions to my new camera reel.  I bet you want to know which picture I eventually chose as my wallpaper.  You'll have to steal my phone to find out.

still-sound 194. Echo Park

I've written so little in this blog lately.  I blame Instagram.  I also blame my search for a new house.  Since midsummer I've spent most of my free time looking at ugly places online and visiting them in real life.  I might be moving rather soon.  It depends on a lot of things.  But it's likely.

I will miss my neighborhood - especially Elysian Park.  When I run, I ascend several hills and can see the 5 freeway for miles.  It's almost always packed and I think to myself how glad I am that I'm not stuck in the traffic.

It's usually dark by the time I finish my run.  Once I saw a little light in the distance that kept changing color.  As I approached it I realized that it was dangling from the collar of a little dog.  The dog probably wore the light to help the owner find him when walking in the dark.  It offered little help that night since the dog seemed to be alone.  I tried getting closer in the hopes of finding a tag on his collar, but he scurried away.  I even made little clicky noises - something Rosie usually likes and responds to - to no avail.  I continued my run and found a little search party at the bottom of the hill.  They also spotted the lost dog and were trying to capture him.

As I got closer to my apartment building I noticed nice shadows on the pavement.  The streetlights cast them.  There will likely be shadows in my new neighborhood too.  But I will still miss Echo Park.