journal scribbles from prague #2

[motcon]

yah, yah, yah; so my suit has a wee bit of a dull shine. it's not like it's reflective.
no, i haven't before today heard anyone say that it looks like shark skin; how clever!
(i wonder if he is on to me...). yeah, the foil uniforms that astronauts wore in the
television shows way back when; yah, i'm familiar with them. (nope, he's not on to me..).

i sprang out of bed early that morning without much forethought into the events of the day. i didn't have a clue as to what i was going to do and for some reason that added a bit of a spring to my step. i threw on a pair of worn, comfortable boxers and a t-shirt, then made my way down for a first cup of coffee.

'good morning'
'good morning, sir'
'i'm doing very well, thank you. you?'
'actually, i have nothing planned for the day and looking very forward to it'

back up to my room with my coffee. as i did every other day, i looked out the window for
some indication as to the temperature. as every other day, i saw only a pleasing undulation of roof tops composed of a pleasantly randomized pattern of new and oxidized copper. i wondered about the stories they could tell. i thought of Franz Kafka, Chopin, Mozart, and Josef Suk, then realized that the stories have been told, for that is why i was there.

the shower felt as if i had thousands of beads of warm honey dripping down my back, each in a seemingly endless track for, just as one would roll off of my skin, there would be another following the same path. i even managed to shave without incident. this was going to be a good day. i dressed, warmly but comfortably, and made my way to old town. in prague it is somewhat of a tradition (requirement?) that you have at least a flask size bottle of bekerovka on you at all times. being an herbal liqueur it warms up the tummy quite immediately, so wanting to keep warm and be a part of the culture, i filled my now empty back pocket with a fresh purchase. off to old town i trotted. i found myself in a section of town chock full of retail establishments. this i found quite odd as full retail stores in prague, albeit europe, tend to be somewhat rare and if they were to be found, most times there'd be a sign on the door, 'closed for inventory.' this i thought meant that they were doing inventory until about the 6th day when the same store, which seemingly could have been inventoried in an afternoon, remained closed with the sign on the door. i soon learned that being 'closed for inventory' meant that they
had no inventory to sell. i chuckled. whether it was lost in the translation or a deliberate
attempt to cover up the truth, i found it humorous. so here were shops. open. full. bustling. it was no surprise to me when my brain realized that i wanted an espresso. as with most things, the cafe facade was very misleading as i was even somewhat predetermined to not be seated, but to take my espresso to the sidewalk. i couldn't have been more wrong. the atmosphere was absolutely dripping. the lighting was very low and randomized throughout. this was not a space shaped like a box; it had many curved walls and oblique spaces. various forms of art covered the walls. of course,
leaving the cafe with my espresso, let alone anytime soon after the consumption of it, wasn't an option. i also felt that i wanted a glass of wine. this cafe happened to serve only beer and coffee drinks. the beer was made locally in bohemia and i was permitted to draw it myself. well heck, i gave it a shot. i can't recall now, nor could i then, how many i had. i did not by any standards have 'a lot'; i'm quite sure that i had two. i had forgotten about the alcohol percentage difference in europe. suppose not having lunch didn't help. the effects of which became very clear to me when i hit the light of day outside the cafe. wooo! time to shop.

i happen to like shopping for clothes, but doing so can quickly become habit in europe. rationalizing a weak moment, i found myself in a clothing store. not typical sales folk, they didn't want me to buy just anything. the dressing room door stayed open as person after person brought me clothing to try and i changed into it. it felt as if i were looking down the length of a moving conveyor in a dry cleaning establishment; the clothing just kept coming at me.

'noh. de sholderz dohn work. yorz are too wide.'
'too many pleatz, yez? (tugging at the pant leg, scrunching up her face). yez.'
'i tink try tuh-ree peez soot'

the whirlwind continued. i rather enjoyed it. we (no, they wouldn't permit me to make my own decision) decided on an elegantly cut 3 piece that wasn't stuffy in the least. before i had any time to react, the tailors had pinned everything and had stripped me of the clothes to go about their duty. well if that wasn't something...

after walking some more, i decided to go back to the hotel for a bit; i needed to unload the bags and get something to eat. i opened my hotel room door, tossed the bags on the bed, washed my face, then made my way downstairs. at the front desk i made some general inquiries about any performances that evening. the older woman behind the desk hands me a piece of paper which turns out to be admission to an invitation only recital...that starts in an hour. i ate as quickly as possible and reasoned that, not having much time to press anything, i would wear my new suit. and wear it i did. the outer jacket and trousers are a charcoal gray. the vest is of, oh, say zone 7 gray/silver. it does have a glimmer of sorts; more of a subtle luminance about it.

i fit right in. the one button design of the jacket, the cut, the luminance; i fit in. back in the states after my stay in prague, i was invited to a get together of local artists. i chose to wear the suit that i bought in prague with an understated shirt to support it. at the function i get into a conversation with this guy and he likens my suit to aquatic creatures and kitchen methods of food preservation....