Shower rings: now that is a revolution. It took two months before we found ourselves two plastic rods. A month ago Ryan scored a cheap curtain that unfolded this penguin's frigid life. I'm not sure if the sheet intends to remind us of how greater life is in warmer regions, but no matter. Lately the plastic drapery has hung folded on the rod. But tonight, tonight! Ryan brings home a handful of crystal clear rings.
I'm waiting for some freak accident. Perhaps the water pipes, shy of their sixtieth birthdays, grubbed up with mold and showing spots of rust, even the occasional leak, will shatter miraculously.
Ryan and I walked home tonight and saw two glittering fire trucks and a gaggle of beefy firemen in helmets and thick jackets, glowing with nylon stripes. Last month a fire took out a spot in the basement and smoke fumed through the walls up to the second floor, encouraging firemen to rip through our building doors' flimsy deadbolts. Thankfully, we live on the third floor and they didn't touch our door--although one of them could have barreled through it like Eddie in "Fool for Love". Eventually the fire chewed into the bottom right of the front door downstairs. Tonight, walking down the sidewalk after a nice long day rowing in a Whitehall gig on the Hudson river then meeting up with a friend who has been at Parsons in Paris for the past year, clutching a bag with a cold, unopened Sam Adams inside, I thought of how interesting it would be if our building burned to the ground.
But our building didn't look on fire. And that's beside the point--my left ear is totally plugged up right now, it has been for four days. Not only can I hardly hear what people tell me, but I listen to my breathing over a faint ring all day long. I don't have a fever, so I don't have an ear infection. I probably have wax blockage, so I've been using plenty of ear drops and Q-tips. Until I found out tonight from WebMD that Q-tips cause wax blockage. Off to the doctor? You tell me.
