This past weekend was, as the Germans sometimes say, prima. Why? One word (well, technically two, actually): Superfest!
(Photos from Atole and lamanyana on Flickr)
Basically, a great show. Starfucker, Atole, Copy, YACHT, Explode Into Colors + assorted others. It's apparently going to become an annual tradition. Cool? Yes, very. The time is ripe for electropop dance parties.
And now, my weird day. Yesterday: Wed., July 1. I spent most of the day around the house, studying, eating lunch, filling out various forms, etc. Then, around 2:00 PM, I went to the store to buy postage stamps. This is when things got weird.
While I was in line at the checkout, waiting to buy stamps, another cashier opened her checkout. She turned to everyone in line and said the usual stuff about helping whoever is next, etc. An elderly woman in front of me started to move toward the other checkout. Then the cashier turned to me and said, "Are you third today?"
I was third in line behind the elderly woman and someone in front of her, so I said, "Yeah." The cashier turned to the elderly woman.
"Who's this???" She asked conversationally. I then realized that she had not said "Are you third today" but "Are you with her today?" And I was very embarrassed.
The elderly woman gave me a patronizing look and said, "She's not with me." I tried to explain my mistake, but they both turned away in the middle of my explanation and started talking about the fourth of July.
I felt very strange after that.
But things only got weirder from there. Next, I decided to go out and do some birthday shopping for two of my friends who have a birthday coming up (yes, they share a birthday--they're twins). As I was walking down the street to a shop, I saw my ex-boyfriend's sister. I kind of nodded at her and smiled; she glared at me. Feeling a little odd, I continued on. I was stopped by one of those canvassers attempting to convince people to "adopt" a child from a third-world country. But instead of trying to sign me up for a cause, she engaged me in a spirited conversation about my t-shirt, which bore a large picture of Bullwinkle (you know, from Rocky and Bullwinkle, the cartoon of my youth).
"OH MY GOD, I took a cartooning class from the guy who drew them, and he was awesome!" She stated emphatically, while simultaneously giving me a high-five.
I moved on down the street. As I entered a bookstore, a girl who had been standing inches away from me at Superfest came out with one of her friends. I smiled at her, and she gave me an awkward look, then turned to her friend and started whispering. Another bizarre encounter.
Later, after leaving the book store, a transient street-kid with a great number of spikes and chains and patches on his clothes shouted, "HEY! I like your sunglasses!"
"Thanks," I responded. He then followed me into the shop I was approaching, singing loudly about LSD. Inside the shop, I wanted to buy a gift card. I was rung up by the cutest cashier I have ever seen. He was very friendly and chatted me up, but I was so awkward and mumbly that it was kind of a lost cause. I became convinced I had something on my face, that I looked somehow bizarre and extremely, impossibly unattractive. I attempted to look at him while he asked me how my day was going, and felt very flustered and disorganized.
"Have a nice day," said the cashier, smiling. I said something lame and left. Luckily, the LSD-kid was actually browsing and didn't follow me out.
My last stop was a store that usually sells cheap used cds, because I really want to get some new music before I leave the U.S. for a year. As I paused to survey a rack of one dollar DVDs, a guy (who I assumed was an employee, as he seemed to be arranging the DVDs) asked, "How are you today?"
"Fine," I responded. "Just browsing the extremely cheap movies."
The man chuckled. "For sure," he said. "So, what's your name?" He stuck out his hand.
I shook it, told him my name. I realized he wasn't an employee. I realized, too, that he was way too old for me, but at least a couple inches shorter than I am. I became a little weirded out.
"Nice to meet you," he said. Just then, one of his friends approached and engaged him in conversation about some movie. I took that opportunity to leave. I decided I was done shopping, and went home.
As I type this, I find that my day doesn't read as weird as it felt. But by the time I went home, I was wondering: what made me such a magnet for attention? Was it the Bullwinkle t-shirt? The huge sunglasses purchased in California? A general aura of approachability I was unknowingly giving off? Whatever the reason, yesterday was a day full of strange interactions. Today I work--I wonder what will happen there?
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