12:59 a.m. | 2003-08-03 I�m Lost In My Head. You guys remember Alex right? She�s one of my new friends from the Senior Center next door. Born 1932, 72 years old, forever the Beatnik Alex? Likes to chat Alex? Remember her? Anyway, I took a walk earlier this evening when I heard someone walking behind me. I took a quick glance and continued walking, deep in thought. Then, this happened. (Alex:) Cruel-Irony? Is that you? (CI:) (Recognizing her voice and turning around.) Yeah, Alex. Sorry, I was lost in thought. Note that we were quite a distance apart. (Alex:) What? (CI:) Sorry, I was lost in my mind. (Alex:) What? (CI:) SORRY, I WAS LOST IN MY HEAD. (Pointing to my head while waiting for her to catch up to me.) (Alex:) Oh, me too. I just saw �Seabiscuit�. You need to see that movie. It�ll make you lost in your head. Wow. You know, horses really get it. It was so great though because everyone �got it� in that movie. It�s real too. (CI:) Yeah, I know. Horses have that sense about them and it is a true story. (Alex:) There was so much� I was born in the Depression, you know, 1932. But I was born into The Oil (i.e., money � and she was). My Dad� he had 15 racehorses (again, true) you know? Oh, that movie just makes you lost in your head. It captures the whole rich man world, and the horses and people� the relationships. It even covers �God�. But, they call it the �invisible�. Like us� they just call it something else. (CI:) Yeah, I know. The horses are special, that�s for sure. My GreatUncle bred race horses. That�s part of that whole �invisible� thing. (Alex:) I�m going to that meditation class on Monday. That one we were talking about. See, �Seabiscuit� was all of THAT put together. And, you know, I�ve been meditating for a REALLY long time. But I need direction from a real �healer� to get back to where I used to be with it. (Eating chips out of a bag.) Look at me! I ate this whole bag of chips. Please help me and take it. Really. I mean it. Take it away from me. (I took the bag.) This heat, it makes you crave the salt, you know? (CI:) Yeah, it does. (Contemplating the crumbs in the bottom of the bag.) (Alex:) Oh! I almost forgot! I need to look up ThisThing. (I thought she was talking about a busline or something.) Yeah. I called my son after I watched the movie because, even though we clash, really, he�s just a Beatnik like me. Anyway, he told me that I had to look this up because he wrote in it. Remember that. (CI:) Uh, okay. (Alex:) Oh no. I lost my grapefruit juice. GD (translation: god damn), I know exactly where I left it but I�m not going back there. (CI:) I don�t have grapefruit juice, but I have grapefruit upstairs if you want one. (Alex:) Thank you sweetie, but I wouldn�t take your grapefruit; you need to eat. (CI:) Hell, I eat one every day. I always have grapefruit. If you ever want one, let me know. (Alex:) See, you�re gonna be fine. Eating grapefruit and all. You already know. (Translation: You know about good nutrition. Me � um, I like grapefruit.) Anyway, my son, yeah, he wrote that article. Funny thing about my son� you know, I was tired of being a 25-year-old GD Catholic VIRGIN. Then, I met his father. His father�s Italian you know? And, I didn�t think anything of it. But, I was like Jesus� mother, you know, MARY, I got pregnant THE FIRST TIME I ever� (Editor�s note: Yes, I do realize there�s a whole discrepancy issue there but I chose to ignore that.) (CI:) Well, that happens sometimes. (Alex:) Then, I found out that he was Sicilian. See, I didn�t know the difference back then. (CI:) There�s quite a difference between Northern and Southern Italians. Quite a bit. (Alex:) That�s what I found out. And, you know, it didn�t work out, but he was always part of my son�s life and he�s (her son) always been fascinated with Sicilian history. Do you know that he�s seen �The Godfather� 30 times? (CI:) No, I didn�t know that, but it�s a good flick. This whole time, while I was listening, I was piecing together other bits of our conversation. I can multitask like that, you know? (Alex:) Yeah. Huh. It didn�t work out, but it was very interesting. (CI:) What did your son tell you? I mean, about his writing something. (Alex:) Oh, he said to �pull up ThisThing�. Do you know what that means? (CI:) Does he write for a newspaper? (Alex:) Well, he did. Now people worry about him because he doesn�t have a regular paycheck. But that�s because he comes from a long line of Beatniks. His father was a Beatnik too. He just keeps going though. He�s smart, you know. My son�s smart. (CI:) I�m quite sure that he�s smart and he�s a free spirit like you. Does he freelance now? (Alex:) Yeah, that�s what he does. He freelances. (CI:) Tell me the name of the newspaper he told you. (Alex:) It�s ThisThing. What�s that mean to �pull it up�? (CI:) It means it�s on the internet. I can pull it up and print it for you. Tell me your son�s name again. (Alex:) Really? They have newspapers on the internet? (CI:) Yes. From all over the world. (Alex:) Do you really think they�d have THIS paper on the internet? (CI:) Yes, I do. I scan them all the time for work and I believe it�s on there. Can you tell me your son�s name again? (Alex:) Yeah. Yeah, it�s MySon. (CI:) Can you spell the last name for me? (Alex:) Just think Italian. Sicilian. It goes like this� (Thankfully, she spelled it out for me.) (CI:) Well, I better dash back inside and look that up before I forget it. And, I�ll drop a copy of the article by your place later. (Alex:) Just go to the desk and tell them THIS. If you say that, it means your part of my family or something. Just tell them you�re my niece. (CI:) Okay. See ya later Alex. I came home and pulled up the article. It�s the feature article and quite lengthy. Alex will be very proud. And, I really need to take some time to visit my senior friends. Carl has the pictorial history of MyTown, Chuck has the political history of MyTown and Alex just knows a hell of a lot of stuff. Oh, and I made quite a bit of headway on one of my history boxes tonight. I would have been further along had I not run into Alex, but on the other hand, I�m not lost in my head anymore. Well, for the most part anyway. And, for god�s sake, please note that I�m much more techno than Alex. I mean, you really do have to give me one for that. your thoughts? seed flower