Thursday, June 22, 2006

The Home Office


So I'm hanging out at a coffee shop today minding my own business. I'm keeping a low profile, surfing the internet, and occasionally trying to get some real work done. The place is air conditioned and filled with people who seem to be doing the same exact thing. For some it seems like this place is an actual office. It's a sea of laptops. The Mac to PC ratio is especially high too. Most people are alone, but there are a few people who are sitting at a table together. I tend to think they're doing the same type of work I'm doing, but they look so stern. I try not to think of my work as being THAT serious.

IT guy is next to me. His cell phone startles him every twenty minutes with it's obnoxious ring and he digs for it in his dancing pants. He's far more flamboyant than any IT guy I've seen before. Mutton chops too. It's a real treat. And I'm listening to Morrissey. I swear you can't plan these coincidences.

No new emails yet. I have my gmail placed just underneath this page so I can see any developments that may occur in the inbox. In case I miss the action there, I have my gmail notifier at the top of my display. It's a sealed envelope right now, which is kind of a weird icon to have when you have no new mail. Maybe the empty mailbox is patented by AOL in every conceivable way.

It's a weird existence when you don't have to talk to someone everyday. You clear your throat to make sure you're capable of talking if the need shall arise. I get my practice with the counter girls too. "Just that?" they say, and I get my opportunity to answer back. "yeah, that'll be it. For now." I like that "for now" part. It means I'm not going anywhere.

I had another excuse to talk soon after I got here. I was rocking out and trying to write (yeah, this was before Morrissey) and this guy stands right in front of me. I ignore him. But he doesn't go away. He sort of motions for me to take off my earphones, and I'm thinking this guy really has balls if he's just going to ask me for money or something. I mean, I'm in a groove. Or at least as big of a groove as I'm able to get into this universal home office away from home. So I take off my earphones and what does he say? What are these words he exchanges with a guy who's had very few words with anyone all day long?

"Were you the one I was talking to about anxiety issues yesterday?"

Nope, that wasn't me. At least not yet.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Todd. Welcome back. I missed you. Did you see that Nick Cave just made a movie? Could be pretty good. Guy is an excellent writer, so I'm sure he could handle a screenplay.

Anonymous said...

Hey Jon...thanks. The Proposition. Excellent movie. Very hard to watch at times. It may be the gritiest movie I've ever seen. I seldom look away during movies, but I had to at certian times during this one.

I also saw it on one of the hottest days of the year. Seemed appropriate, even if it was in air conditioning.

Anonymous said...

This kicks ass Todd. Well done. VERY well written. I really really like the paragraph about not talking to anyone.

You wrote this while you were at the coffee shop, right? It's a total stream of concsnioussness thing (holy shit did I fuck up that word).

Anonymous said...

Yeah, this won out over the first of a four part planned series of posts about Dylan's later day albums. I couldn't get the You Tube video I wanted to post, so I decided to try to write about what was going on around me.

Anonymous said...

This is good.
The real awesomeness will be when you can do multiple posts that are also as good as this that are also about sitting in a coffee shop.

grr. you people who live in cities with the culture get the movies. more movies. better movies. movies that i won't see for months because tehy don't come out here.