Lip Balm

What you see here is Wet 'n' Wild Megamix lip balm. It comes in umbrella drink flavors such as Mango Margarita, Cosmo-tini and Jungle Juice. Let me tell you that NO self-respecting woman uses Wet 'n' Wild products; if one did, she would be me. Therefore, this lip gloss is for little girls and young teens. Is this acceptable?

The Wonderful Smell

There is a wonderful smell that hovers between the ballet studio and the Intiman Theater as I walk to and from work each day. I have tried and tried to identify it, and I don't think there's a single type of plant or tree that I haven't sampled and crushed in my hand to try to find the source of the smell. (My olfactory ventures sometimes result in the discovery of a human sleeping like a deer in the autumn leaves, but I can usually sniff him out well before any actual intrusion.) Sometimes I stumble upon it in other places, but I can never find its source. And now the season is ending and the smell has been getting fainter. This morning I couldn't smell it at all. But then our 8 o'clock appointment came in with orange lipstick smeared all over the lip of her Tully's cup...and she smells for all the world like the smell! Now, I enjoy guessing at the various scents that people carry, but I never ask the temps what perfume they use. I could not resist asking this one. She said she wasn't wearing perfume at all, but that I was probably smelling her Herbal Essences shampoo (probably rose or strawberry, she said). People often bear the unique Seattle outdoor smell when they come in here, and I wonder if the magical smell is some kind of aeri-alchemical melding of many sources, arising spontaneously when the mix is just right.

Relief

Economic turmoil spells my hours being cut spells a sunny afternoon in the park! Day seems to dawn about every 72 hours lately, and today was fine and actually warm. I was overcome with ease on my way home, and I curled up on a bench in the Seattle Center along with the other bums. I stayed there for about an hour watching the fountain and the kids sluffing class.

Street Kids

This is a rainy city, so pretty much every store entrance has a little covered space by the door, and street people curl up in them like birds in a dovecote each night. One little series of abandoned storefronts shelters an array of young people. Each morning on my way to work, I see them, still curled up in their sleeping bags or just getting started on a big 32 ounce PBR. They are fascinating, but I worry about them.