spent the evening in the ‘downtown’ area. open air street market, a plethora of small cubbies and hideaway places in alleys; this area reminds me so much of atlanta circa 1980. amazing, really.
most of the small bookstores and hangouts i enjoyed in atlanta were run out with the advent of barnes & noble and borders. cafe diem closed up in the early 90’s and last i heard, the owner along with that amazing black and white oil of louis armstrong were in south beach.
i still miss that place. the days of ‘dialog!’ and mcquaid, beck and laura and stimpy and the gang. we used to spend hours in the message bases and occasionally, clustered around a table at diem pondering great and thorny things that we had no hope of actually resolving.
beck used to call me ‘mad’, but he meant it lovingly. we all lost touch some time ago, squarf took the bbs offline and it was something of a stake through the collective heart of us. i honestly think i’d still be logging hours there otherwise.
i remember the day he took me out for ‘touch and goes’ at mccollum. squarf and i, sipping remy at the hangar and casually chatting about life and the wonder of such a motley and diverse crew ever having enough in common to bond.
most of the names are lost to memory, but a few are still swimming up… footnote, donna, a few others. we were a wild and rambunctious set; all insistent and passionate and entirely too verbose. i remember wishing squarf would organize and publish those forums. amazing stuff, that dialog!…. tried to reconstitute it a few years after the bbs closed, but it was impossible.
but the market tonight reminded me of it all, and i ponder the reality that i’m settling here after having sworn so mightily it would be seattle or atlanta. laughing at myself, of course. since when was i ever able to dictate life?
it is a good place, this place. peaceful and busy in all the right ways. i found a book exchange tonight and spent the evening roaming the stacks. coffee and college station music, local color in the guise of old dudes in tie dye and younger folks in various styles of college chic. i suppose i filled out the ‘earth mother’ contingent… sipping latte from a cup the size of the moon and people watching between chapters of ‘nexus’.
i start the new job on monday. looking forward to it. will likely drive into conyers the coming saturday to pick up the rest of my clothes and lug the g5 here. it will be good to have more than intermittent internet once more.
i suppose i’ll be settling into the social scene well enough. artists and free spirits mostly. they remind me of earlier days. little five and nights of laughter. it feels rather like a warm blanket… comfort… recognizable things in and of the world. will maybe look around for the writers groups here. i know they have them. open mic nights seem plentiful as well, though i suppose if you’re not doing the political thing, perhaps not as fruitful.
thinking about sangha. i haven’t given much thought to practice lately, but read just tonight a passage that reminded me of the simplicity of it all. one taste, you know? not getting caught up in the form or symbols. practice and non-practice are the same.
meh. rambling. chuckling at myself. relaxation is having good effect. this time next month, i should be settled and back ‘to normal’… but i suspect it will be a normal unlike anything i’ve classified as such in the recent years. cautiously optimistic. time will tell.
for some reason, the thought of getting back into pottery and sculpting arrives once more… heh. i’ve been almost unplugged these last two weeks and i’m mildly surprised that i’ve only just noticed. hmm.
ah well. enough for now. hope you are well. smiles and hugs and love to you.