Splinters.

So tired I'm nearly blind with it, but here are a few things I saw on the freeways which caught my eye as I listened to something esoteric I can no longer remember.

1) flames gouting out of the Exxon-Mobil smokestacks in the broad daylight, reminding me of when I first met my friend Rick...we bonded oh-so-gothily and spent the night driving back and forth down these roads filled with flaming smokestacks talking Swans and such.

2) a car drives by me at least 10mph faster...a great chocolate brown dog with his chops flapping in the wind grins, and I worry about his head sticking out the window. But he looks very happy.

3) Compay Segundo's Chan Chan comes on the iPod and I try to relate it to every relationship I've ever had.

I found this translation, oddly enough, on youtube:

I'm going from Alto Cerro to Marcané
Then from Cueto, I'm going to Mayari.
The love I have for you
I cannnot deny
My mouth is watering
I just can't help myself.
When Juanica and Chan Chan
Sifted sand together on the beach
How her bottom shook and
Chan Chan was aroused!
Clean the dry sugar cane leaves
from the path
So I can get to that trunk
I want to sit down.
I'm going from Alto Cerro to Marcané
Then from Cueto, I'm going to Mayari.

[Someone] had mentioned that Chan Chan is embarrassed of Juanita's bottom shaking and of his own arousal as they gather sand together. This is the portion I muse on.

Ah, found the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chan_Chan_(song)

So, not embarrassment. Shame. Even better.

4) the San Fernando mountains have been consistently visible, and this is rather remarkable to me...driving to Compton each day and seeing the mountains and the buildings of downtown LA looking like a bum's broken teeth...can't say it cheers me, but it is a marvel.

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