i've been back in st. louis now for a few days, staying with my friend zach. i met him at webster university 5 years ago. we've remained friends ever since. i got to watch him knock out 125 t-shirt prints in his basement with a bunch of friends. he's a great artist, doing mostly design work, some freelance on the side of his regular design job.
zach is a smart, funny and honest person with a work ethic like you would never imagine. he's got a delicious sense of style. our day begins at 6:15 a.m. and i lie in bed trying to fall back to sleep after hearing his alarm. he leaves for work at 7:00 and i eventually fall back in and out of sleep until around 8:30. i get up, let the dog out. mojo is his huge black lab. a total sweetheart who will jump all over you and put his head, then his entire body in your lap if you let him. he likes to snuggle. i went on a long bike ride through tower grove park and beyond. i recall living right next to the park but don't venture over to where me and my ex husband lived. i guess i am over it. i made enchiladas and they were devoured.
then, i get on the computer and mess around for a while... see what all my facebook friends are doing. there is an extra bike for me to ride here, so i call up lambert, another friend i met about 5 years ago here in st. louis. he's at a construction site building pools and landscaping and such. i ride zach's extra bike over and we have lunch. i meet him again later after work and we go to his house and shoot the shit after grabbing some great pork rib bbq. i'm back to eating meat. i had a bad stabbing stomach ache one night after eating pork ribs, so i stopped. but now that i'm in st. louis, and there is bbq everywhere, i have to have it! san francisco has every type of food you can imagine, but in the bbq dept., slim pickings. i guess i'm biased since i'm from santa maria, the mecca of west coast bbq. and st. louis is also known for it's awesome bbq. they're rivals with kansas city.
anyway, so we shoot the shit at his apt. let me talk about this apt. and zach's apt. for that matter. they are old brownstones with hardwood floors, a deck, a foyer, two bedrooms, an extra office space, a living room and full kitchen and bathroom. they pay $550 a month. split two ways, you can do the math. i mean, it IS in st. louis, but that's what drew me here in the first place. it's hard to complain about that.
lambert is named after lambert international airport. i think his grandfather owns(ed) it. we don't really talk about it. adorned at his mom's house are old aviation photos. pretty cool. lambert is a man with a huge heart. he's absolutely gorgeous, self-deprecating but honest as can be, hard working, and sober. he's someone you want to protect, and someone you want to have protect you. he's still a boy in his personal growth process, but he's wise beyond years in self realization, if that's not an oxy-moron.
today is friday and i have nothing to do until this evening. tonight, i am going to some fancy shmancy restaurant with lana, my hilarious russian friend who will never tell anyone how old she is. we met here while i was going to art school and taking a sabbatical from doing hair, and decided to work as a gift wrapper at a family-run gift shop. we were instant chums, always making each other laugh our asses off. lana was an air traffic controller in russia until she moved here 19 years ago. now, she has a radiology degree, and is a single mother. she's an amazing woman, a very strong and independent woman with a sense of humor and a smile and laugh that lights up my spirit! her accent itself cracks me up. she makes up her own "sayings". one of my favorites is "i am on cloud 69". i say, "you mean cloud nine?" she laughs so hard. another good one: "i feel like i been hit wiv bag of flour". this is what she says when she's hung over. and when she has bad breath, she says, "i have mouf full wiv kitty litter". she's hilarious!!!
tomorrow i will go to visit my old gift wrapping people. i love them! there's an old crotchety lady named wanda who everyone thinks is the devil. she's a 75 yr old chain-smoking little black woman. she's totally unapproachable at first, stand-offish, arrogant, and cold. but i broke her. she is one of the loveliest, most honest, experienced and practically funny women i've met in my life. she still talks about getting laid. i can't wait to see her. then, there's helen. oh helen, this angel. she's a big old black lady who sings that humming sing when she works. she's very quiet and so so so so sweet. she's about wanda's age and is still working. i'm afraid she may pass away soon and i want to see her and hug her before she goes. these two women are polar opposites, yet they have been working side by side for over 25 years and they get along swimmingly. when i hug helen, she's going to almost cry and laugh. when i hug wanda, she's going to say, "get away from me girl!" and then hug me and laugh anyway.
sat. night, it's a pot luck hay ride drinking extravaganza with lana the russian out in some far away county. why did i agree to this??? i'll make enchiladas again. that should do the trick.
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