# journal scribbles from prague #2



## motcon (May 8, 2007)

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....


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