Daily Grind

Sometimes, well, actually most of the time while I'm on gchat I'm invisible. I like being able to decide who I want to talk to and when. Feel lucky if I talk to you when the Red Light is out. I don't want to sound conceited, but it seems I get bombarded by people when I'm talking on gchat, hence invisibility. It's like having a super power without actually being able to tell anyone about it, because then I'll have to talk to them on chat. It's funny though, I've told a friend of mine from home about my invisibility technique, and now she either messages me when I'm actually not on thinking I'm ignoring her, or, she'll be invisible and neither of us will be none the wiser. Tricky.

I get a ride to work with my boss every day. Sometimes I get one with the Art Director and other times I catch one with one of Ode's main salesgirl. But usually, I'm cruising to the North Bay with Marco. It's a good deal. I leave with about 7 minutes to go, walk about 7 blocks and then wait at the corner of 22nd and South Van Ness. 8:15 am rolls around and Marco's wheels roll up. He's usually speaking in Dutch to someone—Ode's publisher, family member, other miscellaneous people. Sometimes I can pick up what he's saying, like words here and there. Last month, and I think still, there's been a mouse living in Marco's car. I haven't seen the little bugger, but I know it's there. One time Marco was talking to his father (I picked up) about the mouse (also picked up, the word is mouse, but more german sounding). When I asked Marco after he was done chatting how his father was, he was kind of taken off guard. For some reason because I could pick up the subject line and the person he was speaking with he assumed I had just begun taking Dutch. Oh, I might have forgotten to mention: Marco is Dutch. Actually, Ode was originally a Dutch magazine, and we still have offices in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In any case, I think Marco's been trying to speak Dutch faster so I can't pick up, or maybe I just am not as language savvy as I had hoped. We've begun listening to books on CD using his portable disc player connecting it to his hilarious cassette set in the car. This thing is a piece of work, let me tell you. If you open the dashboard of the car you'll find a collection of tapes from the 90s and before including Dutch bands that have the sound of Pearl Jam's Eddy Vedder, Elvis and some Sigur Ros. We have a fun time rocking on the drives home when he's not speaking in Dutch to someone using his tiny earpiece. But perhaps the best part of Marco's Toyota Camry is the fact that it's eensie. At least for him, as he's over 6 feet tall and can hit his head on the top.

Well, today I caught a ride with the Art Director, and now I'm riding smooth in his Dodge, kind of reminds me of a hearse—but it's not.