you could, you know, like ... lay off the drugs

i don't know if i fancy myself some sort of philosopher or not, but i do like to brood. and part of brooding are the steps taken along the way. so when the sun goes down, it can be a good thing to get out and see the world. ok, not a philosopher.

walking is nice, though. and as is usually the case, i waasn't bothered by the cold, or the people around me. i just walked forward, deep in prayer ... or meditation ... or something, and i moved across the street toward the park.

it seems that the best part of walking around a ghetto in the middle of the night are the conversations you stumble into. taking this same walk, just a week ago, i was stopped by a police officer.

he was a young chap, clearly not well versed in the ways of poor people, and probably a little uncomfortable being this deep in the hood anyway. he was a tall guy, with a neat buzz cut, and glasses that screamed geek.

now me, i don't like that i can't just walk through the fucking park no matter what time it is, so i knew i had to make some sort of comment, even if it was just to the rook.

"you can't be in the park," he said as he stopped his car 20 feet away from me, leaning and speaking out the passenger window.

"no," i said, "i am just walking through the park"

"you can't walk through the park"

"no, man, i am just walking through the park."

we wen't back and forth, and i just kept repeating the same sentence over and over, until he gave up and drove away.

i don't know what that did for my walk. in the times following that encounter, i kept on having this feeling that i shouldn't be doing this, and that the last thing in the world i wanted to do was to have to speak to a cop. but whatever.

tonight, though, i just walked along. i figured the best thing to do was to walk on the sidewalk across the street, making up for the paranoia. and really, i barely noticed the dude ride by on the bike, and probably wouldn't have even thought twice if it did not look like pieter from a distance.

anyway, as i am on the other side of the park, making my way back toward the house now, the guy on the bike rides up to me. it was a guy i knew, though he did not know if he knew me.

he was a shorter guy, with an overgrown mustache and few teeth left. and i just got thrown into this episode of the twilight zone. it was like i was the cop, or something. this guy just kept saying the same thing over and over and over. i can't even write it, as i have know idea how to spell this gibberish.

and he kept on wanting to shake my hand, twice riding his bike half a block down the street, only to turn back to shake my hand yet again. he was clearly tweeking, and what little of what he was saying that i could make out seemed to indicate that he was pissed off at someone that had a mother.

i guess there is no point.