Tu 1:11 PM 6-29-99
I'm at the beer bar in Farmer's Market.  This is a special place.  I love the bustle and outdoorsiness and the blend of aromas of food cooking from every culture in the world.  I've just bought a new bike to replace the one that was stolen and a new deep-sea rod and reel to replace the one that was stolen, and 440 yds of 30-lb.-test line and some snelled hooks and a 34.-in. softball bat (they had no baseball bats that were long enough) and a weighted "donut" so I can work out with the bat every morning before my shower, and I got a lock for the bike and two new summer shirts.  I thought as I walked through the parking lot to the store that a Kmart visit was appropriate and inspirational since that's what I have to do with Jim and Aaron today, but I quickly forgot and thought nothing of them in the store as I went about the task of finding a decent pair of sandals.       Should I eat here?  I think there's some catfish and a sandwich at home. Or I could have a steak sandwich or a calzone or some crawdads and red beans and rice.  ~~~~~  I didn't write at all yesterday.  I have been slacking big time.  I'm on my second Bass.  I finished Book 3 of The Idiot.  ~~~  Some of us went to El Coyote after work yesterday.  I rode up with Carlos and got there first.  Had iced Kahluers and coffee, a margarita or two, and a few Tecates.  Sofia, a hard-edged Salvadorena b---h, got all crazy.  She wanted to know if she was too aggressive.  I said no, she was assertive, yes, but not too aggressive.  The undertone was :  Why wouldn't I fuck her or hit on her or whatever.  I didn't go for it.  She questioned my heterosexuality.  I didn't bite.  She got falling-down drunk and started trying to slut herself out to strangers at the bar while the rest of the Wilshire Hill contingent cheered her on.  She came up to me and said, "Smoke it," meaning, I guessed her clit or her belly button ring.  I gave the ring a little suck.  We called her brother to come get her out of there.  She must have a hell of a hangover today. 

Su 9:10 PM 6-27-99
I'm on the can in the house on Hudson. Now I'm in the kitchen.  I feel doomed.  Having love pangs.  I feel loss and longing again for a woman I work with.  I'm smoking a hand-rolled (my hand) American Spirit cigarette with a few little boogers of pot Tim gave me at Mexican Village on Friday.  I left the light on in the bathroom.  Our baseball game was at Wilson High again today.  The other team had to forfeit because they didn't have enough roster players.  We played anyway.  I popped up and struck out and squared around to bunt and took a weak fastball off my knuckles.  Then I was removed from the game in the third inning to give another guy a chance to play.  After the game I stopped at Mariachi's.  He 'qued some steaks.  Fred and Esteban came over.  We mostly talked baseball.  They were upset that I've renounced the Dodgers.  Shirelle is watching her video of "When Harry Met Sally" for the umpteenth time.  My cigarette keeps burning out.  Tomorrow is a pupil-free day at work.  I have to do the cumes and straighten out the room.  There may be a party after work.  I'm sharing the table with a bottle of Pico Pica sauce.  Kronos called about fishing out of Oxnard Tuesday through Wednesday.  I've got to figure out how to get there.  Shirelle may loan me her car, but she won't be happy about it.  Can't blame her.  I read about half of the paper before the game today.  I'll begin the Book of Acts tonight.  The thought makes me a little nervous.  It must be the smoke.  Shirelle went into my "office" and drew all the blinds.  She had on "The Witches of Eastwick" when I got home.  They eat cherries and evil is created, "they" being three women with the Devil.  The doorbell rang.  Our next-door neighbor, Carrie Neal, had a bowl of cherries.  "That's so strange," I said.  She didn't know what I was talking about.  She asked that I give the bowl back.  Dead yellow roses lay atop the Sparkletts.  What will happen when I see Isa tomorrow?  Prolly nothing.  I've got to try to work on Jim.

F 12:53 AM 6-25-99
I'm at The Bounty with Thing.  We're exchanging story ideas.  Thing saw a drunk and/or drugged up Korean girl giggling up and down the street in middle of the night out his window.  She dropped her purse and a guy in a car pulled over and snatched it.  Thing went down, but she, he, and it were all vanished by the time he got down to the street. 

Today is the last day of school.

I should have written that in all caps. 

So we've decided on communist North Korean intrigue here on Mid-Wilshire. 

10:02 AM 6-23-99 W
I'm tired.  I was up kind of late last night.  Hippolite talked about the impossibility of knowing God in The Idiot.  John chapters 15, 16, and 17 are the most comforting in the Bible.  I was most intrigued by a description of the world as a malicious entity.  I have to finish John when I get home today.  I cooked up some little steaks for a midnight snack last night.  Then I wrote my third-person page.  I've got to do more Jim and Aaron in Kmart.  I'm probably going to need a nap when I get home.  I told Shirelle she was stupid this morning.  She has trouble comprehending simple statements.  I lost my patience with her after a go-round about bills and visiting her sick sister in the hospital and hiring a maid; a go-round in which she managed to negatively misinterpret everything.  My horoscope says I may be in for an adjustment in my marital status and living arrangements.  The bell rang.  I have to get the kids.  I read the newspaper already this morning.  I ate a donut and a ham and cheese croissant from Lee's.  Maybe at lunch I'll got to Blockbuster and get a copy of "The Empire Strikes Back" that the kids can watch while I do some more report cards.  I still have to fill out the inventory form for class equipment and fill in my cums. What else?  I've got to rearrange the furniture in my office.  I've got to schedule an appointment with the dentist.  I'll have to skip lunch today.  I've got to give the chapter test at night school tonight.  I don't know what we'll do tomorrow.  I read Harold and the Purple Crayon to the class.  They thought it was cool.  Antuan said, "I wish I was that baby."  Then I read The Five Chinese Brothers.  The kids clapped when it was over.  Mrs. Holzt sent over a box of chocolates.  Gladys brought over an invitation to a party on Saturday.  I have gas.  What else?
[pencil copy of a policeman pointing the way to Harold from Harold and the Purple Crayon]

Why People Are Created

11:40 AM Tu June 22, 1999
I typed fifteen minutes this morning.  We had our third-grade awards assembly.  I read the newspaper after that while the kids painted and played on the computer.  I guess I'll skip lunch today.  I have to go to Larchmont after school today and pick up my anti-fungal soap at the pharmacist.  Maybe I'll eat then.  Maybe I'll buy some books or pick up a video.  After this I'll read some more Idiot.  Then I've got to start doing my report cards.  I think I'll put in "Star Wars" for the kids to watch.  Got night school again tonight.  Got to do a third-person page and continue on with Jim in Kmart. What else?  I wonder what's up with Friday.  We've got to have our end-of-the-year party.  I should go to Pizza Hut a day early to place the order.  What about the BCLAD?  I've got to change doctors and hook up my modem.  What else?  Got a lot of paperwork on my desk to get to still, too.  I bought ant traps and spray to try to stave off the invasion at my house.  Dostoevsky wrote, "People are created to torture one another."
I'm at Taco Bell.  So much for skipping lunch.  I'll just drink wine at Larchmont.  That will be less expensive than eating there.  The Taco Bell sign spins like the guy in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Skinny Legs and All. What else?  I'm going to put in "Star Wars" for the kids to watch.  What else?  Should I save a page to write at Larchmont.  [photograph or carob tree in front yard]  Should I go home first before I go to Larchmont or should I leave from here to there straightaway?  I have to figure our what I did with the key to my bike lock.  I should be able to leave the bike where I can keep my eye on it.  Wish I didn't have to work tonight.  Oh, well.  What else?  What else?