let's pretend these are connected thoughts

On the way home from my New Year's party early yesterday morning, I hit a police drunk driving check. Pulled to the side was a car with its back doors wide open. Two chicks (I think in this case it's OK to write 'chicks') in long dresses and heels were outside, engaged some kind of cross between boxing and wrestling. Whatever it was, it was vicious and I wanted more. Unable to pull over, for the first time in my life, I was jealous of cops working the night shift. Three of them were standing, arms folded, watching, all smiles.

And I was all smiles at a book reading by a German writer who was in town. I had never heard of him before, but his publisher had him here to read from his new novel. In his passable English, he tried to warm up the small crowd before launching into the book. He said this about one of the book's characters: "well, he's from the Middle East and he has dark hairs." I snickered. Thank goodness the Middle Eastern wasn't blond.

And while we're laughing at another's misfortune, I heard from the vacationing Sunny earlier this week. She was temporarily stranded in an airport far away that had two fantastic selling points: first, it appeared to be not non-smoking, but smoking-only; and second, it featured a troupe of rather vocal Italian youngsters kicking around a water bottle. Needless to say, she was feeling rather festive.

Finally, on the festive front, my piano playing neighbour is still trying to master 'Silent Night' on the piano. Let me tell you, the night is hardly silent. Apparently the management office of my condo building is "working with them to find a solution for the noise issue." In the meantime, I'm a bit troubled that so much practice is leading to very little progress. I wonder if this person has a live teacher or whether this is a do-it-yourself effort. Sigh.