wednesday

a cadre of old italians leading even older italians down the street. When they came face to face with a group of jewish folks doing the exact same thing there was a veritable road block, one of the widest avenues in the neighborhood completely strangled by geriatrics.

thursday

A man telling an animated story to a woman wearing those gigantic glasses that go over prescription glasses. They made her appear indifferent as he said, "She say 'don't be playing all mr. nice guy wit me mothafucka. I'm the one let you outta jail, tough guy.' I said, 'bitch what is it? mr. nice or mr. tough?" Stomping his feet and waving his arms with nearly every syllable while the woman stared back like a television set, he continued "Cause maybe you forgot, i'm OUT that mothafucka now and you know..." Even the slowest walker couldnt have found a reason to stay within earshot. So goes the walk to work.
A policeman walking with purpose down the steps of the highschool, looking at me then scanning every young man on the street, finally making eye contact with a plainclothesman coming out of another door to the school. He made a gesture that said, "I dont know where the hell he went," to which the plainclothesman responded with another gesture. Crossing his wrists behind his back and wrenching them into the air he said it all.

wednesday

a young man smoking a cigarette with panache, strutting with a limp so hard he seemed to move sideways like a crab. he peered out from under a tweed newsboy cap that matched his jacket, smiling at the ladies and licking his lips between exaggerated puffs. he wore blue polyester pants and the featureless black shoes common to janitors and security guards.
a red haired man wearing a porkpie hat and malcom x glasses eating a cheese pastry like a chimp. as he chewed his mouth went up and down his face in a circle from the end of his chin to the base of his nose. a banana could not have made him more simian.

monday

a man with a perfectly shaved head wearing a black velvet blazer complete with a dazzling glittery button. he was indignantly smoking a cigarette in front of the sign that read, "no se fumar."

Sunday

a thin girl with corn rows who looked simultaneously hard as nails and beautiful as anything. she wore a purple leather jacket.

a church lady with an amorphous body wrapped in one of those sleeping bag jackets that reaches the ankles. peaking out from the jacket were a pair of fashionless shoes and a kindly face. her perfume was strong and sweet and made me wish like hell that I could be a kid again.

PIcture Repost!

MULLET MAN! I see him around all the time and despite that fact that he has a fashionable disposition begging for open mockery he terrifies me. The drawing is a little Mike Judge but it looks pretty close to the real man. The first post I ever made about him is as follows:

oct 1: "A terrifying man with a mullet in a pony tail, gelled top, tapered sweats tucked into no-name sneakers, 40oz and a bagel in hand. He moved fast as hell and I was afraid of making eye contact with such a strange beast."

Then:

oct 3: "The same mullet dude from a couple days ago! A tiny lunatic on a huge bike was ringing the bell on his handlebars, heckling "don't be jealous just because you dont got one of these" (RING RING!). The mullet man replied, "I got a hundred of those" and walked away fast as hell, 40oz in hand."

Most recently:

feb 16: "Mullet man with a fresh cut talking on the phone, leaning on his snow shovel, standing in those terrific shoes, leering at the world."

Picture Repost!

You can see the original post here: that one day. http://iseebrooklyn.blogspot.com/2010/02/wednesday_17.html

It's not as terrifying as the real thing but it's been a while since I posted a pic so I put it up. I think this one may be revisited.

friday

The good men of Brooklyn shoveling the sidewalks with varying scruples. Some dig a hasty shovel-width path. As pedestrians walk past these shovelers pause their shoveling but, irritated by everything that prolongs their exposure, refuse to yield their fresh shovel-width. Some dig big haphazard trails, clearing great uneven swaths of sidewalk yelling to their neighbors or blasting radios as they do it. These are the rosy cheeked fellows (or at least as rosy as their race permits) who look up at everyone, smiling in the flakes and saying things like "How are ya?!" and "Can you believe it?!" and "Look at all this cocksuckin' snow." Some paths are already filling in, having been shoveled and salted from stoop to street first thing in the morning. These paths reek of landlords.

wednesday

shining in the semi-sun and dripping with rain, a 1970's Mercedes Benz looking like it had never been driven.

wednesday

A lumbering beast of a man with a nose the shape of a deli pickle indiscriminately asking pedestrians for cigarettes. He was so animated and hideous that Jim Henson would have flushed with envy. Despite a concerted effort on his part to be polite, he yelled directly into my face "I"M SORRY TO BOTHER YOU SIR BUT MAY I BUY A CIGARETTE FROM YOU? I HAVE SEVENTY FIVE CENTS!" I had no cigarettes. He offered the next person a dollar.

A pair of clear-eyed twin boys fiddling with something electronic. Their faces mirrored malice and incuriosity.

monday

a man gently weeping as he played tetris on his blackberry.

wednesday

old school headphones, the kind with metal arms and foam ears, that nobody wears anymore sitting half-buried in the snow.

monday

the shining bronze camel in the inaccessible park behind the fenced-in asphalt square regarded by ten eyck elementary school as a playground.

above the playground, behind many layers of barbed wire, a hooded man pissed on the roof of a warehouse.

wednesday

the silhouette of a plane floating behind the clouds. in front of it, the pigeons that threaten to shit on passersby flew in a menacing cirle.