coffee no. 97

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are".

Anais Nin

coffee no. 96

I asked some people: What was the best present you have ever received? The thing that made you smile, cry, jump, everything. That you felt like running and shouting: Look at this! It is mine! It is mine! That you felt wonderfully dizzy and for a moment believed that you are the happiest person in the whole universe...
My interlocutors were always smiling, thinking for a couple of minutes and begun: 'When I was a child...'
There were nice stories, but very similar. Majority of them, who knows why, were talking about bikes.
"When I was a child..." stories are usually beautiful and moving. And almost every gift we got then was "the best". But tell me, what was the most wonderful present you have ever received in your adult life???
The people smiled again, started thinking, but after some minutes said: 'I do not know. There is not any. You know, I got a lot of things, but the "wow" one?... no... I do not remember.'

Sad. Very sad.

coffee no. 95

In my neighbourhood lives an old woman who's got the ugliest dog in the world. It is a round, fat, white creature that never run or bark. You can hardly see its eyes, ears, paws, and tail, so the dog looks like a snowball trundling on the grass, and getting more and more dirty. But the woman loves it with all her heart -- I saw very often when she was gazing at the Snowball Dog with a huge admiration and happiness.
Today I was waiting for someone in front of my house and the dog slowly came up to me. I stroke him and said to the owner, 'Oh, he is very nice'.
'She' -- the woman sent me very scolding look. 'SHE. It is my little girl!'
'I am sorry. She.' I repeated and saw that "She" was eating the torn paper lying on the pavement.
'And what is HER name?', that was the question I always wanted to ask that woman.
She smiled, stop smiling, and after a moment of silence answered, 'Pearl'.
The manner she said that showed a little anxiety. Hey, you cannot see that it is She not he, and even you cannot guess that Her name is Pearl. It is obvious that She looks like a pearl, doesn't she?!!!
And at once she took her dog on her arms like a small child and went away...

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Another cool T-shirt
"Boys come, boys go", worn by about 40 year-old-girl.

coffee no. 94

"Under the dark warm waters of sleep
your hands part me.
I am dreaming you anyway."
(...)

Carol Ann Duffy SLEEPING

coffee no. 93

I do not know where it comes from but the last four of five nights I had wonderful dreams. I dreamt about familiar places that did and did not look like in reality. So I visited my friend's flat which for example had utterly fantastic, unbelievably fairy-tale view from the windows. Or my favorite cafe that was 50 times bigger and reminded a maze where one could meet a lot of unique surprises.
The only thing that always recured was night. Every single time it was dark in that mysterious THERE...

Those dreams made me think: what if everyone had the second world in their dreams. The world where they would move as soon as they fell asleep. Every night. The same streets, houses, shops and cafes. The same friends, dogs and names. But everything more colorful, more crazy, "tailor-made".
I am going to write something longer about it but I do not know if I can... Anyway, I will try.

coffee no. 93

Like in winter I adore observing people's headgears, in summer interesting could be T-shirts, and sometimes other items of clothing.

The obese young girl in too tight white T-shirt anouncing: I'm too sexy for you.
Woman in her mid sixties wearing black, sequinned shirt with a huge pink inscription: Marry me in Las Vegas.
Old tired bum and his navy blue, unveiling the navel "Big Brother" T-shirt. The woman he is holding hands with is wearing normal jeans. Normal as long as you see them in front. When they are passing me I see golden letters on her bottom: Gangsta rules.
And the most bizarre. Not too lovely, but very in love couple. White new T-shirts with each other's photos. He is wearing "her" on his chest and vice versa. Photos like from their Identity Cards.

coffee no. 92

Another interesting vehicle:
the hearse with the huge inscription HAPPY END.

coffee no. 91

After a lot of insanely hot days there was a big storm and the weather automatically changed. The following day was cloudy and cool, everything looked like in September. I was going very slowly and suddenly noticed really lovely view. On the bus stop there was standing a woman with her small, about four-year-old son. The boy was dressed all in red and was holding a big yellow duck-lifebelt, a kind of the children use when they are learning to swim. He really loved that crazy toy, hardly bore it, but the duck apparently must have been with him all the time. Not a plastic car, not a teddybear -- just huge, rubber, extremely yellow duck-lifebelt that looked fantastic against the red boy's outfit. And both of them looked fantastic against the sad and grey city background.

coffee no. 90

My third island is full of very funny fluffy creatures I see sometimes in toy shops. I think of the toys that start moving and singing (in their own mysterious language ) when you touch or pat them. I know, it's crazy and infantile, but such sweet monsters always make me happy. So when I'm feeling blue, I go to a toy shop...
I have always dreamed to have one of these peculiar toys at home but it is always so many other things to buy instead...

coffee no. 89

In "inner words" of some people there is an archipelago called OBSESSION ISLANDS.
Every island is full of various, often strange things, which are completely incomprehensible for others. This way such places are most of the time private and somewhat savage. Only their owners feel themselves at home -- they are absolutely happy to be there alone.

The archipelago consists three islands. The first one is an island of dreams that came true. It is full of objects that can be touched, smelled, used. At first sight a lot of them are very similar -- they differ in shade, size or other mysterious details (one has three dots in some place and the other only two...). Each has its own history and importance, and always it is not enough of them.
The second one is an island of dreams -- pure dreams that have not came true and probably never will. It is full of thoughts, images and belief. Even if those things are not material there, they put smile on a face of somebody who give them so much attention.
And the third one is an island of oddities. It is completely messed and funny. There are the things we would like and, what is important, can to posses but we do not. Because: they are too kitschy, because there are a lot of more necessary objects for us, because we want to spend our money on something else, because we like to play with them and leave until the next time, because they are so available that there is no need to have them at once, because, because, because...