eatdixx's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- mr brown pen This little story is for jamez musik. I see this homeless guy on the tram pretty regularly, I call him Mr Brown-Pen. I met him months ago at the tramstop, i think he's really fascinating. I don't know where he goes or why he goes there, but he does it at the same time every morning and is always quite organised, although dirty and obviously not quite right mentally. The first conversation we had involved social issues, sustainability and the lack of brown pens in the world. Since then i've been looking for a pen with brown ink to ease his mind. His teeth are dirty and worn down into little spikes, his clothes are musty smelling but he's kind of clean and carefully put together. His age is hard to define but i'd guess he's about 40-45. I don't think he talks to many people very well. He has a different way of communicating, it's mostly through his eyes and gestures, little noises, not many coherent words. We play games with each other without words. I like making him smile. Sometimes he'll be very fluent in his conversation and we have a great time, other times he just stands near me and pretends that he's part of my jacket, aligning himself in my shadow. He had four beanies on this morning. He says that's because he can't wear the blue without wearing the grey, and he needs to balance them both out with a black beanie on each side. I pick the lint off the beanie. He follows my hand up to his head and back towards the floor where i drop the lint...very slowly, watching him all the time, i smile at him as i do it, his eyes light up and he gets this funny intense expression, like i'm about to tell him the biggest secret eva. Standing on the tram together we find a spot, without holding on and juggling his Rugrats backpack, he gets an old worn exercise book out to show me some 'designs'. All cars drawn in blue pen. Cars that look like they're from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, spaced out long cars with weird bits, but all with names like GyroScopic 09808908980898089. 'All cars are given design numbers, i particularly like the word GyroScope'. 'And there's this one, it's quite aero-dynamic' [tram passengers are looking on, quite fascinated at a bum with car designs and a kids backpack] 'This page was taken out for someone to borrow, he hasn't given it back yet' [me: what the fuck would a dude want to borrow a page of this shit for? this is great] 'Did you know that I am completely rational?' I smile politely at him, at the same time doubting him as well as questioning my own rationality and end up wondering just who really does have a grip on the right kind of reality, anyway. 12:16 p.m. - 2004-07-08 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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