Lately I have been going on a lot of walks--sometimes I go alone and bring along music so I don't get lonely, and sometimes my sister goes along with me. But mostly, I go alone. I live in a neighboor adjacent to Bittersweet Park--and, for some reason, this neighborhood is called Bittersweet. As a kid I didn't realize the meaning of Bittersweet--I merely associated it with a color that was some orangey brown in my box of Crayolas; right now I can't actually remember if there ever was an actual color called Bittersweet, but this orangey-brown, perfect for coloring in the empty outlines of a running Deer--I called it such. Once someone visiting from out-of-town commented in this odd name for such a place--Bittersweet is a weird name for a neighborhood and a nearby park. My friend answered his question by saying "Children play here, but blood has been shed." I like the idea of some ancient mishap going down at Bittersweet park; the settlers drinking the tainted water from bittersweet lake and going nuts and killing their own children. I know it's ridiculous of me to want such a thing to have happened--but I can get away with it because I know it didn't occur. Bittersweet was some before-sleep daydream constructed by a bored mid-70's developer. Twenty years ago this was dirt. But I often take a walk by the park. The other night I made a new friend--a jaunting collie that was chasing geese. I never know what to do with my hands and arms when I am walking. One could move them back and forth merrily, but I always feel sort of dorky doing that. Usually I end up shoving them in my pockets teen-angstily. But I was walking along and this Collie jaunted beside me throughout the duration of my walk, eventually coming to regard me as its owner--perking up at the sound of my voice, obeying my random claps and whistles. We walked together for a while, all around the park and then through the neighboring houses, and I eventually lost my new friend. I had daydreamed of me actually being able to live that 12-year old's fantasy of "He followed me home"... but, I lost him somewhere. Last weekend I decided to take another walk with a B&S mix tape I'd made. It was mid-afternoon, around 3:30, and I had to weave through about three hundred canadian geese that were milling around the sidewalk--I was really enjoying myself, don't get me wrong.. the setting sun and the frosty air accompanied with a few of my favorite Belle and Sebastian songs. But I did find out something I didn't know; I never know what to do with my hands when I am out walking, but I found that a few hand claps can stir hundreds of geese into flight. lv mandee +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+