Staring At Me Differently

Simply allow life to happen without there being any fixed point.
-Tony Parsons
"As It Is"

Twenty-five years ago today:

September 11, 1985
Wednesday

I woke up at 10:30AM or so to Paloma’s phone call. Then I lazily got up and went to the gift shop where she is working. I stayed there for a while when three of her good friends showed up. First, there was Ann, who had a weird haircut and a zipper in her ear. Sandra was another one with a weird haircut. And then there was a Western outlaw-type long-haired dude. They took me to the Boulangerie where I had two croissants and a hot chocolate. Marco, the guy who waited on our table was nice. I thought he was QBL (Questionable), too. He kept staring at me ‘differently’.

After that late breakfast I went back to Paloma’s store for a while. Then I left for the gym in the Pigalle area. The gym was really kind of small but it was ‘okay’. I worked out only for a little while. It was hard.

I left the gym at 2PM or so and then went to that famous street that has all of the expensive looking stores. I was looking for some suede boots but didn’t find any. I decided to head back to Paloma’s gift shop. I had no trouble on the METRO train this time. I remained at Paloma’s store until 6PM (when I decided to come to the apartment for a nap until 7PM).

Paloma and I went to have dinner at a Chinese Restaurant with some of her other friends: Reggie, Coco, Beate, Pelo and Jiggie. It was fun.
I especially liked when Coco asked, “Do you know the girl in the Chinese cap?”
What she was really trying to ask was, “Are you familiar with that sort of cap that the girl is wearing.”
It was fun. I had wine with dinner and afterwards, we went to Reggies’ parents house where we had Champagne and more wine. They were trying to get me to mention famous people in France that I knew.
I said, “I only know Catherine Denueve and Julio Iglesias and maybe a few others.”
They seemed disappointed. I just didn’t know of other French actors, etc. 
PHOTO: Catherine Deneuve

Coco and her boyfriend left. Paloma and I stuck around only to find ourselves drinking gin and more wine at Reggie’s apartment. Paloma and I were really “wasted”. It was fun though. I even lit a cigarette for the fun of it. We left by 1:30 in the morning. I just crashed on the bed when I got home to the little apartment.

He waited, strangely disturbed, as if he had walked through a mirror and found everything the same, and yet nothing similar.
-Bette Bao Lord
"Spring Moon"