garran: (Default)
Andy H. ([personal profile] garran) wrote2005-02-19 01:49 am

On the way to school today

The man sitting in front of me on the 240 had (a thoughtful demeanor and a bald spot and) an instructional pamphlet for voters in the upcoming provincial election; when I next looked ahead, he had replaced it with a farsi newspaper. I thought about bilingualism, and what it must be like to be able to just switch between systems of meaning that way. I wondered if he found one easier to read.

Later, the Main bus paused for a while next to where a young man was leaning up against a wall, in a very "disaffected youth" pose, sort of British punk rock, and archetypical enough that I wondered if he'd cultivated it. Standing close in front of him was a girl with red ponytails, and after I'd watched them talk for a little bit, there was an interplay: she reached out and gave him a gentle punch to the chest, clearly just an excuse to establish contact; and he brought his own hand up to rest on her upper arm; and she leaned slowly but inexorably forward to rest her head on his chest for a moment - just a moment, perhaps two seconds, before she came back up again, because it had awkwardly dislocated her baseball cap.

The Main bus stopped again later, this time at a stoplight, and a japanese girl on the street corner smiled hugely and waved apparently right at me. After a long moment, I smiled hesitantly back, although I can only assume that she was actually looking at someone else, seated nearby; she had an air of assumed familiarity, and I'd never seen her before. On the pole next to her was a flyer for a show featuring "the Hounds of Buskerville", and, from Nanaimo, "the Kiltlifters".

My Asian Mythology teacher told us a story about the turtles who live in the pond outside Langara, but all I ever see is ducks.

[identity profile] meta4mix.livejournal.com 2005-02-19 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Garran! Did you ride the bus on the 14th?!? I forgot to bug you about that before the day itself. ^___^

Also, this is a very fun entry. Wai.

[identity profile] garran.livejournal.com 2005-02-19 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
No! I thought about it, but in the end I sat at home to write the paper that was due the next day, instead. Sigh.


-Garran

[identity profile] meta4mix.livejournal.com 2005-02-19 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
AAAAAAAARGH! YOU MAKE SHOUJO MANGA-KAS WEEP WITH SNOW AND FURY!

Whee, teasing you is such fun. Sorcy, you should poke him for this, too!

[identity profile] masamage.livejournal.com 2005-02-20 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't know she was a shoujo-manga-ka as well as cute, outgoing, and an apparent songwriter. The plot thickens!!

[identity profile] lady-panther.livejournal.com 2005-02-19 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for this entry. It makes me happy. ^_^ I like reading how you discribe the moments that you watch.

[identity profile] masamage.livejournal.com 2005-02-20 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
My feelings exactly. ^^