i noticed a new underwear store for men opening up on matt and eliza’s block when we were walking past the other night. this is the sign in their window:

are there more cock and ball logos like this? the only one i can think of is that old skate company limpies.

it’s funny that kids used to skate with that giant flaccid phallus silhouette on their chests.

tonight i went out to dinner with matt, eliza, and jesse. it was going normally until eliza thought that michael bolton was sitting two tables away (though really, something like this was bound to happen, as it always seems to). it seemed somewhat implausible, as this wasn’t fancy dinner, it was neighborhood sushi dinner in seattle washington and definitely not the best neighborhood sushi dinner in seattle washington.

whether or not this person was michael bolton was hotly debated for some minutes, with pictures being brought up on iphones and held up for comparison. i was pretty sure that it wasn’t him (no nicollette sheridan, in seattle washington, etc), but i had a hard time convincing eliza. i had one piece of information that i was pretty sure would clinch it, but couldn’t bear to bring it up as it had been used as a weapon against me some months ago when someone said, ‘hey jay, you know who else is vegan just like you? michael bolton.’ boom. ouch.

however, my competitive instincts took over and on our way out, i told eliza to check and see if he was eating fish. he was. not michael bolton. ‘really?’ she said, ‘then why would he wear his hair like that?’ double boom.

a dude had a cardboard sign that read:
will take verbal abuse for change or cigs.

he was near the spot where another guy has a sign that reads:
i will do 20 pushups for $1. 100 for $4.

i know who has stronger arms and back but i wonder who makes more money.

there’s this tree that lives outside my window. it pokes its head out between the north and southbound lanes of i-5. i’ve been trying to photograph it since i moved to seattle and today i think i finally got it, though tomorrow i’ll think that i didn’t.

i don’t know if i love or hate this tree. love it for saying ‘fuck it’ to the thousands of cars that drive by each day, or hate it for not realizing that it should just give up. i also don’t know why i am powerless to not try to give this tree a personality and a story.

i do know that i’ve only felt this way about a tree a few times in my life. there’s another tree that grows between the north and southbound lanes of 880 in oakland (it might actually be an oak tree now that i think about it). that tree seems tough as shit and there’s no way the gentry will knock it down. that tree makes me so incredibly happy, though i kind of wish that it was elsewhere and could rest quietly. something about these isolated freeway trees makes me nervous and completely nuts.

you know how i know it’s spring in seattle? inspirational messages are popping up all over!

this is my favorite piece of graffiti that is currently up in my neighborhood and ‘burple’ could be my new favorite word. i think the dude who owns the wall likes it too because he left it up for almost four days now.