Overheard at Booth 3: Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather

Boy, 19: you know I'm gonna miss you like, freakin crazy, you know?


Girl, 19: don't worry, we'll text all the time and we'll skype and, hey, just let me know if there's anything you want, let me know, and i'll like, get it, and send it back to you, OK?


Boy: i don't want nothin, i just want you to come back soon, OK, I mean, i thought it was gonna be OK, but the closer it gets the weirder it feels, you know, this stuy in europe program, i mean, wow, it just like, hit me. you're gonna be GONE!

Girl: yeah but it's gonna be so like, freakin cool, i mean it's like freakin EUROPE, you know? and like, really, if you want me to get you anything, just tell me or text me and i'll like, buy it, really.

Boy: why do you keep asking me that when you know all i want is you. you got me singin old U2 songs here, and you keep asking me what i want? what i want right now is what i'm gonna want for every day you're gone for this semester. thank god you're coming back in 4 months!

Girl: yeah, about that . . . i was thinking that maybe i might stay for two semesters. i mean, they're gonna let me decide when i get there. i think it'll all just depend on how i feel about it.

Boy: oh. OK. that's cool . . . so, i guess there is something you can get me while you're there.

Girl: cool. what's that?

Boy: Spanish boots of Spanish leather.
















Note: This beautiful picture I loaded from another blog, called
Ngorobob House:
Life From The Hill
....little notes and commentaries from a pink house
on the top of a tanzanian hill....
(to the blogger, if you wish me to remove the picture, I certainly will, as I mean no disrespect)

To readers: Looks like a nice little blog, maybe you should check it out.

T-Shirt Left at Table Two

Lucky Moran holds it up and says, I think we should staple this to the front door!

Overheard at Booth 2: Sanitorium

Man, I really hate election years. At some point some doofus always brings up the English Only carpaydiem in order to rally the small minded, the ignorant . . .

- the vigilant . . .-tees!

yes, those! I mean, Sanitorium spewing about making Puerto Rico the 51st state if they learn English just shows the ignorance.

- How's that?

The PRs speak English about as poorly as they speak Spanish, which is, slurred and badly.

- Puerto Ricans: incoherant in TWO languages.

Absolutely straight up. I mean, who's he playing to? He's obviously not playing to the Ricans, he's playing to the same old right-of-nutbar in his own party - people he's already got locked down. The fringe . . .

- the only truth that Sanitorium speaks is that he's doing pretty dang well considering for every dollar he's spent, Romney has spent $60.

Gotta give him that. It's true that if they had had the same cash flow that Santorum would probably have tied up the nom about now. but something about that scares me even more.

- yeah, the "right-of-nutbar"of which you spoke?

They're on their way to the ultimate power grab. Carpaydiem! This year is not going to go well.

- Dang those Mayans were good. They knew the world would end in 2012. You think they foresaw a Santorum win.

I dunno. All I know is the letters of his name can be rearranged to spell "Mor Satun" - now, if those letters were something written by those Chik-Fil-A cows, what do you think the message would be.

- . . . spooky!

Overseen at Table 2: White Stripes, Afternoon Coffee

I was able to snap this yesterday afternoon, as Meg and Jack were taking a break from some secret session recordings they're currently undertaking at his studio on the next corner.

Should be interesting to see what they come up with after a few years' haitus working together, eh?

Overheard at the Counter: Niall Carter's Childhood Name

One morning Niall Carter and John Steppenwolf and Lucky Moran were chatting at the counter over coffee about their parents' nicknames for them during childhood, and Niall (having grown up in Dun Laoghaire, was heard to say, "Well I have to admit that I was nearly six years old before I realized my name was NOT 'Cheeky Bollocks'!"

Overheard at the Counter: Robert Earl Keen's Merry Christmas from the Family

Lucky Moran: Hey, Verble! Are you still taking songs for your ultimate Christmas album?

Verble: Niall, my fine sir, Christmas is a daily state of mind at the Z&T Acoustic Cafe. Whaddaya got?

Lucky: Well, I heard this on my leftie liberal pinko progressive radio station the other day, and as ashamed as it makes me to say, it just took me back to my ute.

John Steppenwolf: Your "ute" ?

Lucky: Yeah, my sordid ute, only my uncle's third wife didn't smoke Salem lights. She thought she was classy because she chainsmoked Virginia Slims.

Niall Carter (after a pause): That's not classy?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P37xPiRz1sg


Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk at our Christmas party
We were drinking champagne punch and homemade eggnog
Little sister brought her new boyfriend
He was a Mexican
We didn't know what to think of him until he sang
Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad

Brother Ken brought his kids with him
The three from his first wife Lynn
And the two identical twins from his second wife Mary Nell
Of course he brought his new wife Kay
Who talks all about AA
Chain smoking while the stereo plays Noel, Noel
The First Noel

Carve the Turkey
Turn the ball game on
It's margaritas when the eggnog's gone
Send somebody to the Quickpak Store
We need some ice and an extension chord
A can of bean dip and some Diet Rites
A box of Pampers, Marlboro Lights
Halelluja everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the family

Fred and Rita drove from Harlingen
I can't remember how I'm kin to them
But when they tried to plug their motor home in
They blew our Christmas lights
Cousin David knew just what went wrong
So we all waited out on our front lawn
He threw the breaker and the lights came on
And we sang Silent Night, Silent Night, Oh Holy Night

Carve the turkey turn the ball game on
It's Bloody Marys
Cause We All Want One!
Send somebody to the Stop 'N Go
We need some celery and a can of fake snow
A bag of lemons and some Diet Sprites
A box of Tampons, some Salem Lights
Halelluja, everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the Family

Feliz Navidad!


Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk at our Christmas partyWe were drinking champagne punch and homemade eggnogLittle sister brought her new boyfriendHe was a MexicanWe didn't know what to think of him until he sangFeliz Navidad, Feliz NavidadBrother Ken brought his kids with himThe three from his first wife LynnAnd the two identical twins from his second wife Mary NellOf course he brought his new wife KayWho talks all about AAChain smoking while the stereo plays Noel, NoelThe First NoelCarve the TurkeyTurn the ball game onIt's margaritas when the eggnog's goneSend somebody to the Quickpak StoreWe need some ice and an extension chordA can of bean dip and some Diet RitesA box of Pampers, Marlboro LightsHalelluja everybody say cheeseMerry Christmas from the familyFred and Rita drove from HarlingenI can't remember how I'm kin to themBut when they tried to plug their motor home inThey blew our Christmas lightsCousin David knew just what went wrongSo we all waited out on our front lawnHe threw the breaker and the lights came onAnd we sang Silent Night, Silent Night, Oh Holy NightCarve the turkey turn the ball game onIt's Bloody MarysCause We All Want One!Send somebody to the Stop 'N GoWe need some celery and a can of fake snowA bag of lemons and some Diet SpritesA box of Tampons, some Salem LightsHalelluja, everybody say cheeseMerry Christmas from the FamilyFeliz Navidad!

Overheard at Table 4: Closing the Books

from 366.

70.

and if you really want to make an accounting of it all, you
can definitely say this, that
when all was said and done there was infinitely more
said
than
done, I
think I read that on a bumpersticker once, or perhaps
it was on one of those metal plates,
custom made to look retro and sold
in gift shops in the Strand on
Galveston Island, down there by where
the glutted Americans families roll themselves every Sunday into
one of three carnival cruise liners, leaving behind
a city full of college students on Spring Break, darting
in and out of headshops to
buy glowinthedark condoms and
billowedglass bongs,

sold in the downstairs of historic buildings with
victorian facades, built by men who
plowed the land under and changed the course of the
very ocean itself, so that this island could become the place
where the world congregated, where all goods intersected,

where fortunes were made so strong they could never
be swept away by hurricanes, only
dribbled away
by simple-minded progeny,

and a succeeding century too slow to progress.