expiration date 

two days off for me. today and tomorrow. it couldn’t be more perfect. besides being outside of the office after the day, today was warm… i think it was around 70 degrees. scogin said that it might be our last warm day for this year. so, i spent most of my day outside.

i had lunch at Piu Bello sitting outside, drinking iced tea and eating fried chicken. since i was alone, no one to talk to, i started drawing. i started with poles (yes, poles on the side of the street), cause i thought i need practice first as i haven’t drawn for a while. but then i got bored and started to draw people around me and listened to their conversation.

there were one girl and two guys sitting on my right. one guy was young, talks loudly and wears gold chain around his neck. he’s having some problems with his ex-girl (whom he called “that fuckin’ hoe”) and just got back from a court for resolving the problem.

the other guy was a lot older and had his laptop and wireless modem set up. i think he’s doing some trading on his computer. the young sexy girl with them was the older guy’s girlfriend.

the cafe owner kept trying to kick them out (three times) of their table for drinking Starbucks coffee instead of the Piu Bello coffee. the younger guy go upset and threatened to “call some of [his] people and trash this fuckin’ place”. and, oh, the younger guy also kept talking about how him and his posse beat up and “kill” people. i’m not sure if he was just bragging or not.

i didn’t draw them. i was too scared to look their way. instead i drew the couple who sat on my left. an older guy with turtle neck and brownish shade. and a lady. she wasn’t young, but she was quite pretty. i think she’s a bit high maintenance, though. she insisted not to have her coffee refilled because she refused to use the same cup. for some reason, i convinced myself that the turtleneck guy was a mafia boss. but then again, maybe i heard too much of the guy with the gold necklace stories.

after that, i went to the Astoria Park and met up with Nikheel there. it was my first time in that area. it was pretty. i can see the city skyline and the Triboro Bridge. there were kids playing soccer, ice cream truck making their rounds, and two young couples making out in their car. we spent most of the late afternoon sitting on the bench facing the East River, talking. just like the old couple next to us.

i took some photos, but i’ll have to upload it to my computer first.

a note from the night before: as i walked home from work last night, i ran into pink, blue and green catwomen and a bunch of cops. it didn’t hit me until i get to 6th Avenue that Halloween Parade is right in front of me.

it quickly reminded of two years ago, which was my first time seeing the New York Halloween Parade. i was as confused as i was last night. except that i was with ari, who were at that time was working in the same building as i was… way before he got laid off. we didn’t have the monthly subway card, so we had to wait 15 minutes to cross the street. we were excited for watching the parade and the dressed up people around us.

last night, i was far from excited. i think i was tired, alone and sad. so, i went straight home and ate chinese take-out instead.