document the curious images and anecdotes i witness day to day

in my recent visit to new york i had an interesting encounter with a bongo player in central park. the man had a strange magic to him. his song was simple and there were hula hoops scattered across the grass where he played. maybe it was the city getting into my blood, maybe i was drawn by his magic, but without hesitation i went up to him and greeted him, my eyes and heart open. he encouraged me and my friend to pick up a hula hoop and spin it as he played. the people watching us hula-hoop from a distance were similiarly drawn in, slowly but inexorably, until the hill was covered with hula-hoopers, self-perception unraveled by rhythm. together we smiled, with the sunshine on our faces and the silly little song perfuming the air.

i walked away about a foot above the ground, the hula hoop man and his strange little song trailing me in the sound of the wind.

look at this neat little ice sculpture she left in my yard!

gus, sitting erect on the edge of the bed in the dark, whining miserably because he can’t get down, framed perfectly in the blue of the window behind him, the tip of his quivering nose silhoutted against the cerulean sky outside like a distant mountain peak.

i had “dirt off your shoulders” by jay-z caught in my head today, and as i left school, i rapped the chorus to myself…

this kid i know was walking past me in the parking lot and rather than issue a standard greeting i just kept rapping.

...and rather than look at me oddly and walk away, he covered his mouth and he beatboxed the drum part and melody back to me.