February 4, 2012 – 7:51 am
This morning I googled a friend’s name. Nine of him lived in the USA, although the number dropped to one once I typed in his middle edition. I’m not so scarce. There are over 66,000 Peter Smiths in the USA. They live in every state of the union. They work at most professions. I know none.
Once I entered in my middle name, I became unique on goggle except for another Peter Nolan-Smith in Canada and he uses an hyphen, so I am one out of 66,000.
1/66000 = 1 / 66 000 = 1.51515152 × 10-5
That’s 10 to the 5th power.
Some maps are 1/66000.
Same as me.
The one and only of my kind.
But isn’t everyone.
ps the photo is Keira Knightley from BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM.
She’s one of a kind too.
Just like everyone in the world, past, present, and future.
February 4, 2012 – 6:09 am
I once brought a head of broccoli to the counter of a supermarket outside of Poughkeepsie.
The young cashier regarded it with an alien’s disgust for earth.
“What is it?”
“Broccoli.” It’s one of the few words that is the same around the world.
“I’ve never seen it before.” She was probably 17.
“Have you been working here long?” I thought maybe she was a trainee.
“A year.” The teenager smirked like I couldn’t tell she was not a rookie.
“Oh.” I realized in that time no shopper had ever bought broccoli in that supermarket and put the head down thinking it might have been there for years.
America, you are what you don’t eat.
February 3, 2012 – 2:42 pm
Most of my departures are without good-byes. Family and friends have offered to accompany me to airports and train stations. I have told them not to bother. My reason has nothing to do with sad farewells, but an old love for the title of the film NOBODY WAVED GOODBYE, even though I never saw the movie.
This year I left Bangkok, Dussefdorf, Koln, and London alone.
No good-byes. No tears. No sorrow.
A day ago Madame l’Ambassador’s driver accompanied me to Aeroport Luxembourg. Francois didn’t understand why I had to go two hours ahead of time. I explained about my fear of missing flights. It has happened twice and I’ve never counted the times that I’ve arrived late at a train station.
“Pas de problem.” Francois might not have understood my phobia, but he was Madame l’Ambassador’s driver and I was the unofficial writer in residence. My wish was my command.
Arriving at the aeroport I understood his quixotic opinion. The Grand Duchy is a small country and the airport terminal was correspondingly tiny. The queue before the check-in counter consisted of me. Francois smiled with pleasure. He had delivered me to the airport in time. I walked him outside to the Jaguar and before he got into the car, he waved good-bye.
“Come back soon.”
It was a good thing to here and I shouted back.
“I will.”
Maybe I should make this good-bye thing a habit.
It feels good.
ps Addi is good-bye in Luxembourg.
February 3, 2012 – 9:30 am
This past month in Thailand I bought a number of DVDs from the bootleggers in Sri Racha and Bangkok. The quality of each one was less than 90%, but at my house the TV is tuned to either Thai TV or my son Fenway’s cartoons, so I retreat to our bedroom to view the poorly recorded films, one of which was A DANGEROUS METHOD. This movie recounted the psychological menage a trois between Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Sabina Spielrein played by Keira Knightley.
Her interpretation of Jung’s patient was marked by the tightening of the jaw, whenever Sabrina entered into one of her manic stages. I was so unsettled by this mirroring of my own psychosis that I ejected the DVD from my laptop and later threw it in the trash.
She was that good.
Maybe I’ll get to see it on a plane.
Even though it’s not really a plane movie.
February 1, 2012 – 6:10 am
Stunning Keira Knightley by Norman Jean Roy for GQ March 2012, styled by Sascha Lilic in a Yves Saint Laurent jumpsuit and a pair of Gucci heels.
Stunning Keira Knightley by Norman Jean Roy for GQ March 2012, styled by Sascha Lilic in Maison Martin Margiela jacket and Gucci shorts
