THE FULLY MARBLED MAN

While I sat smoking my pipe I could hear noises behind me from the street person dozing in the doorway. Indistinct mumbling, the occasional recognizable word, nothing that could be strung together to make sense, which, one suspects, might be the root of his problem.
You cannot be fully compos mentes if your mens is missing.

Fortunately I still have all my marbles. Plus several extra.


Usually by mid to late afternoon I am whacked to the gills on caffeine, the substance without which civilization would be well-nigh impossible. Just look at your coworkers. If they weren't jazzed on coffee several of them would be tracing figures in the sand or scratching their armpits looking for tasty grubs.


Drugstore. Transit card augmentation. Groceries at my favourite overstocked provisioners. Smuggled-in cigarettes a few blocks over: good cat, emperor, little panda, and a sparkling new brand which looks bizarre, because it has menthol and a blueberry flavour capsule.

One of my coworkers smokes menthol, so she'll probably try one.
I also will try at least one of these freaks.
Always game for queer shiznit.

The spirit of oral adventure accounts for an overwhelming majority of the stuff I like to put in my mouth, although for some of it a sense of humour also helps. Among the latter, gefilte fish. Absolutely needs hot sauce. And a curry sauce.

Today's scrumptious lunch was in the former category: steamed pork patty with salt fish (鹹魚蒸肉餅 'haam yü jing yiuk beng'). Which is also splendid with hot sauce. Fortunately sambal equivalents are now common at Chinatown eateries.

Plus bokchoy, rice, and a pot of tea.

Did I mention caffeine?

Good.



The caffeine gave me the mental fortitude to ignore the monotonous mumbling which droned on and on behind me where I sat enjoying my pipe. Steadfastly.

Sub-sane gibbering is fundamentally part and parcel of the San Francisco gestalt.
If you haven't experienced it, you haven't really been here.
It's like being at a one-man Trump rally.
With better merchandise.



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