2001:July:9
2001
You would have been really proud of me today, T.L. I didn't go to work today. And I'm not sick and it isn't raining. Instead, I finally installed that little shelf you had talked about for so long in the utility room. It took me about seven minutes and you were right. It really does open up that room. What's the likelihood of you reading this, T.L.? You'd have to search some pretty seedy shit on Google just to get here. But if you find it, Hello! That girl you talked to at that July 4th party last year usually writes these things. Remember when you said how much you liked her and that she was really smart. Anyway, after my handy ass installed that little shelf thing I decided to call Elliott in Atlanta. Of course, I woke him up at 1pm on a Monday. He's living with his aunt and uncle in Roswell. His uncle actually groaned when I asked to speak with Elliott. Elliott is still working at Taco Mac waiting tables. I know, where he works is irrelevant but it is kind of a shock considering the fact that he's one of the smartest men we know. But we're on the phone laughing like crazy and talking about how someday soon we're going to hike The Appalachian Trail from south to north and spring to autumn watching the seasons change, slowly at first and then like a rocket, and he tells me that I seem depressed. No, not depressed, I tell him. Just distracted and relaxed. Or maybe too focused, he says. He asks me if I've been laid or seen any good movies lately. Yes, I say. I've seen one good movie in the past two months. He asks me if I've talked to you T.L. and, as if I have to tell you, I say I haven't. It's pointless, I tell him. You know, considering the latest bullshit and all. He tells me that if he could just figure women out he could get his life together. He says there's a difference between men and women. Men are honest and women regulate the love, he says. Are you talking about sex, I say. No, the love, he says. They're in control of that shit and it paralyzes me, he says. Is that why you're 30 and living with your aunt and uncle now, I say. Yes, he says, Because my aunt still loves me.
