Posted 5:35 PM by Gene

Today being utterly bored I took a brief walk west down Walnut Street. A few doors east of the one-room apartment where Leonard Bernstein lived as a Curtis student and no one knows there was a pretty little bridal shop, I believe named Maria's, all white, for women with exceptional taste. The windows are wrapped in brown paper now. It reminded me that women care so little for their clothes; if only they dressed up in fluffy blouses and frilly skirts -- and then I'd be more frustrated. The few women who do dress up look like sketches from Saul Steinberg.

Some months ago I'd heard that Exelon's local unit was redoing the billboard atop its Market Street office tower. Today I saw it. It looked surreal. Day-Glo colors and the ugly Arial font marching around at 10fps. It made me think again that just because science says you can do something it doesn't mean you should. I remembered reading of LED hubcaps. I imagined emergency vehicles with flashing-light paint jobs. Then I realized anyone could have them. My only solace is I'll be gone before the world becomes a sci-fi nightmare.

Walking back east toward home I passed what was once an eccentric antiquarian bookstore -- long ago out to the suburbs and oblivion. It's been vacant since. Someone tried turning it into a RENDELI and got as far as installing new stairs. Someone else at GMAC Real Estate is selling it. How apt.

At the Chatham, a fine old apartment building slightly disfigured so some of its decoration wouldn't impale the pedestrians below, a little black-and-white cat slept in a cage in a pet store. I felt sad. Do cats have feelings? Perhaps it was perfectly content, dreaming of fat mice. I said once that I thought science would advance enough that we'd know animals had feelings, which would not stop tigers and fishes and birds from eating them. I remembered my little Ginger. She was in my very first blog post. I didn't treat her that well; she's been gone almost six years. I would very much like another cat but I'm not so good at litter duty.

A vagrant asked me for a light. I said no. Somehow I don't take offense when vagrants ask for a light -- I guess because I don't smoke.

From the lamp posts of Rittenhouse Square the local Y promoted a Jewish film festival. What's that? All Woody Allen movies? Some things just sound like jokes.

In the lobby of the building where I live a little girl said hi to a woman passing by. The woman didn't say hi back. It is a duty of people to show cute little kids that somebody likes them.

Sorry if I'm a little treacly right now but it's been a while since I've made something other an inane political bon mot (or should I say mal mot).