A cute kid came by with his mom. He just turned sixteen and is looking for his first car. Her father-in-law is a mechanic so the radiator problem etc. is not going to cost them much. He’s been saving his money and he’s the one that saw it out in my driveway. He convinced his mom to come look. I told them I was out of town until Sunday so they would have a chance to think about it. Maybe bring her father-in-law by to take a look at it. I told her everything that I could think of that was wrong. It would be a great first car.

I bought a piece of artwork this morning that I’ll tell you about later. I think I got a good price for it. I also put my name on waiting lists for booth space at two different antique malls. I have sooooooo much shit I could sell. It’s time to start unloading. Why did you buy art? It’s a gift. Oh, ok.

I met Tyler for a working lunch and he advised me how to proceed in developing a contract that would protect both of our interests, Joseph and mine, in this book deal.

I have been a bum for the past few days, no point not being one. The beard is coming in nicely and went well with my ripped up jeans and various t-shirts. Brad is pro beard, M.B. is anti beard, she thinks I look like a seventies porn star. It’s always odd to have people weigh in on your face.

M.B., “Beards are for people without jaw lines, you have a jaw so ditch the beard. And when’s the last time you saw yourself with short hair?”

Karl, “1991”

M.B. “What’s the first thing they do on queer eye? They ditch the hair. I imagine you have a totally different face from boy Karl, you might consider revisiting the length question.”

So, I figured if I was actually going to have a business lunch in down town Clayton I’d get dressed up a bit, so we did camel hair professional Karl, in blue silk shirt and navy slacks, black belt, black shoes, and shades of course. I felt like a costumed crusader next to Tyler’s casual sweater look. Identity is always a performance and he conceded that he’s normally in a suit.

Karl, “Does this coat go with all this blue?”

M.B., “Are you kidding? Camel hair goes with everything.”

Karl, “Off to have lunch with the law.”

M.B., “Is Tyler a Democrat or a Republican?”

Karl, “Democrat, why?”

M.B., “Because if he were a Republican you’d have to say you were going to have lunch with your attorney, but since he’s a Democrat you get to say lawyer.”

Now that’s funny!

I’ve been cleaning the house much of the day for our evenings soiree. I am tired and can’t find my portable cassette recorder anywhere. If you will it, it will come. I am so glad that I found my portable cassette recorder, rinse, repeat.