Lola at the Coffee House

Happy Valentine's Day Joe. And here, before you run away, let me give you this long stem red rose. It's re-gifted, but it's good to pass the happy valentines around, recycling, don't you know.

Thanks for stopping by. Good to see you. Come back when you have a little time to hang out. I know you're happily busy these days, but still........old friends and stuff.

Hi Walter. Tad here will get you the cafe gigolo and amoretto cake. Happy Valentine's to you too. Tad is new around here. He's a sophomore at Columbia University uptown. He needs the job, so we're giving him a try. He told me he might be interested in politics, but I don't know. We're evaluating.

Tad???

I thought he said his name was Lance.

Welcome fm. My my what a loud voice you have today. You're so kind to Spendi. I'm hoping it will pop his eyes open and help him move on with his day. It certainly helped me. I'm much more motivated now than I was when I came in. Of course, that may be the pills kicking in. Who knows. Oh look, Spendi's grinning at you. He's been pulled through a hedge backwards. How terrifying that must have been. Now he's leaving, saying he'll be back later.

His name is Tad, Frank. Later in the day, after mingling with us for a while, he begins to admit that his real name is Tad the Lance. Some strange, unknown customer (ordered to-go) tried to convince him that he had to choose. His name is either Tad or Lance. But Tad couldn't make up his mind. He says that he keeps changing from one to the other.

But what do you think, do you think he'll make into a politician?

Damn, I knew my bill was too high for some reason. Except I don't actually have a plan with much data. I don't use it much. But the bill is high and it's too much for little ole me.

it's a conspiracy. i think Mr. Wassau is french, and found "lance" cycling round his home country. "lance" has since fallen on hard times, and now, through the kindness of Mr. Wassau, earns a living as a waiter in a virtual cafe. But, no-one must know his true identity, such is the feeling of hatred towards him at the moment, so he is going incognito as "tad". tad THE lance.

Asp, I do know what you mean about getting away from it all for personal thought. It is necessary to maintain sanity. Good for you.

Have you ever laid (been recumbent) on a couch while someone who sat behind you diagnosed you? That's a good way to go, if possible. Particularly if you're in the business of diagnosis yourself.

Welcome to the Cafe. Tad, aspvenom needs more coffee, I think.

Berty, no need to apologize. We knew you cared. I like it that you stop by. Scottish huh? I hear it's beautiful in Scotland. I would love to see it for myself. Except all the film I see set in Scotland....... it seems much of it is unpopulated. Beautiful, but so much spare space makes me feel a little nervous. I think I'd have to make it to the nearest pub or restaurant after a trip on those lone spaces.

Osso, how are you coming on your desk top? News, yes. What do you see there about what's going on in the world today? I love the news. I do. I don't think I could live without it.

More coffee? Or is it time for a bit of tea?

Now, Spendi. Sorry to interrupt. I had to do a little talking. It's good for me. But I was listening to you as you read to me from your book. I know, I talk too much. Some people tell me that all the time. And I don't listen, either. But it's not true. I do. I just don't listen all the time.

I like it when you read to me. So glad you're here on the sofa with me for now.

Berty, Conspiracies abound, it's true. Tad ,may be a cyclist on hard times, having been exposed for the cheater he may be. However, I think Tad is actually confused about how he changes from small to large for no apparent reason. We owe it to Frank for pointing that out to us.

Lemme read this one to ya for Valentine's Day, Lola.

It is by Richard Brautigan...and titled: It's Raining In Love.


I don't know what it is,
but I distrust myself
when I start to like a girl
a lot.

It makes me nervous.
I don't say the right things
or perhaps I start
to examine,
evaluate,
compute
what I am saying.

If I say, "Do you think it's going to rain?"
and she says, "I don't know,"
I start thinking : Does she really like me?

In other words
I get a little creepy.

A friend of mine once said,
"It's twenty times better to be friends
with someone
than it is to be in love with them."

I think he's right and besides,
it's raining somewhere, programming flowers
and keeping snails happy.
That's all taken care of.

BUT

if a girl likes me a lot
and starts getting real nervous
and suddenly begins asking me funny questions
and looks sad if I give the wrong answers
and she says things like,
"Do you think it's going to rain?"
and I say, "It beats me,"
and she says, "Oh,"
and looks a little sad
at the clear blue California sky,
I think : Thank God, it's you, baby, this time
instead of me.

lol don't feel nervous in the unpopulated parts of scotland...they're the only decent parts. i'm a city boy, and frankly scottish cities aren't all that. my nan lived in the glens, and if you can put up with the rain, and a bit of cold, the scenery is stunning. edinburgh is the only nice looking city in scotland (in my opinion), but (in my opinion) the people are a bunch of nationalist miserable pricks...scuse the french.

Thank you, yes - in regular life I just poured myself some hot coffee, hits the spot.
I'll have some of the cantucci though.

The desk top, which I actually love, it is getting older and if it succumbs at some point, I won't be able to dig up the bucks for a new one, I don't think. It's a mac, and I'm now comfortable with them and not pcs. Maybe a used mac, but a used one would probably have its own bucket of worms. And I don't think I can have wifi here without my present mac, but I don't need it now since I don't have a smart phone in the house.. or elsewhere. I'm a little dumb on this stuff, besides being half luddite.

I just have a basic cell phone, good enough for just in case situations. I'm the type that doesn't listen to music on walks or jogging - am a big watcher of neighborhoods, people, birds, dogs, buildings, city life, sometimes even country life. If I have anything technical with me, it's a camera.

I'm about to make a ricotta/egg vegetable torta, but I'm sitting here recovering since I opened a can of pickled jalapenos, carrots, and onions, which I've never bought before since I usually just buy fresh or dried peppers. That made me blink, it did, nice and spicy, I nearly fell down after I took the lid off.

Oh, on the news, I've been following the Pistorius story as it develops. Geez.
Plus I'd been following the rogue cop in LA story, still am, somewhat.
And the papal drama.

surely oscar pistorius can't be the first man to wake up legless on valentines day and shoot all over his girlfriend while imagining she's someone else!

Lovely, Frank. And it makes me miss Dyslexia all the more. He introduced me (and Diane) to Richard Brautigan, at which point I bought every book Brautigan ever wrote. I should read it more often, remembering my good, good friend.........and friends on a2k. The perfect day for that poem, with which I completely agree.

in the most secure property in South Africa, at that.

I can see why he would feel vulnerable, for a lot of reasons, but apparently there is more to the story. I don't know, of course.

Didn't he do Revenge of the Lawn?