11.16.2009

over the weekend, sometimes i can't take a sec to sit at my computer and log into my blog to relinquish the demons and share my joys, soooo... i'll do it now while i have the chance:

friday the 13th was a weird day for me. it's supposed to be, i know, but it usually isn't because i don't care about things like that. i do care about rest though. i took the day off from work because i needed a day to myself. no schedule, no priorities, no nothing...

i went for a walk just before noon that day. i take a walk just about every chance i get. my walking course charted, a nice mixture of city and residential. the rhythmic melodies pouring from my earbuds keep my mood light and my mind open. i tell people that i like to zone out during my walks while i'm listening to music. that statement is entirely literal, too. i somehow go miles without realizing it.

but, on friday some weird things happened. as i walked out of my building a friend bbm'ed me to wish me a happy 13th. oh..yeah...i guess it is friday the 13th. who cares?

again, not me.

but, stuff started happening. weird stuff. for starters, i was almost hit by 3 different cars in a time lapse of 1.5 hours. what are the odds? one was coming out of an alley entirely too fast, another was making a right turn on red and apparently didn't see pedestrians crossing directly in his peripherial vision, and the other rolled through a 4 way stop. where are the police? anyway, each time i was directly in front of the vehicle upon our collision...i braced for death - my heart stopped, my arms and hands formed a protective shield in front of me, my brain sent out the message to my body's nerve endings to prepare for blunt force trauma. this is it.

each time i lived though. glad your brakes were working.

the alley incident was the worse. it was the most unexpected. whenever i cross a street or intersection, i always have some sense of fear that a car will coming barreling down the road like a bat-out-of-hell and make a brunette hood ornament out of me, so i'm always aware, alert, and cautious when crossing...but the alley incident took me by complete surprise. it was practically the scene straight out of home alone. i'm completely zoned, oblivious, unaware while this van comes shooting out of an alley between store buildings. my timing was impeccable - oh, hey fast moving van that isn't stopping. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! the driver slammed on his breaks just as the grill neared my chest. like a deer in headlights i just stared at the driver in shock. as soon as my brain processed that i had survived this near head-on collision, emotion took over and i mouthed "YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKER. SHIT!"

i only mouthed it because, obviously, there was a windshield between us and my earbuds were kind of loud so i couldn't hear myself speak anyway. regardless, the driver got the drift and, while grasping the steering wheel, lifted is fingers off the wheel and pointed them straight up if as to communicate "ok, i get it, my bad, peace be with you, lets both move along now"...or something to that extent.

whatever. i could have died because you were in a hurry and apparently are too old to recall anything you learned during drivers education concerning safe driving in alleys. i just glared and continued on in a noticeable huff.

3 times people...almost hit by 3 cars. what the bleep.

something else weird happened. i was walking up broadway street when i noticed this old, hunchy-looking woman hobbling down the street toward me. all things pointed wrong with this one. first of all, she was wearing a cloak.

a cloak.

it was a dingy, brown cloak that looked straight out of robin hood or something else medieval and old. and what's weirder is that, from what i could see of her face since the hood of the cloak was up and drooped over her head...was that she had black dreads. surely it was a wig but still...old, white woman...black dreads. not something you see every day.

she looked up at me as we drew closer. upon seeing me, the old lady made a face i will never forget. it was like she was trying to scare me. she walked directly into my path, too, as if she wanted us to play chicken. it was that face though...it was so scary. i would really like to show you the face she was making but i would never photograph myself looking so ugly and weird and let such a thing be accessible on the world wide web. but just know the face she was making was super ugly, her teeth were super not straight or white or...all there. think of popeye's signature face minus the pipe but plus wiry, oily black dreads everywhere. and wearing a cloak.

again, a cloak.

so, crazy lady...cloak, hunchback, and dreads...coming at me making a horrible face and trying to scare me. what does one do in such a situation?

i sidestepped her (clearly losing the game of chicken) and tried my best not to look at her. making eye contact would have scarred me (and scared me) and i don't need visions like that forever squatting in my subconscious.

after sidestepping the situation i walked really fast to gain ground between us. i never looked back, i had already seen too much.

were these events related to friday the 13th? probably not...it's just a normal day in a big city. but the timing for freaktastic events such as these were spot on.

you win, calendar.