Goodbye Ms. H.B. and may we meet in a library in paradise!
Yesterday I was talking with my family, one of my younger sisters asked me if I had known Ms. H. B., who had been a literature teacher in my junior high school. Unfortunately, she had just passed away, while still having been an active teacher (meaning she was younger than 65). The news saddened me deeply. And the answer was, yes, I indeed had known here. My literature and Albanian language classes were in fact taught by Mr. B. B., who was Ms. H. B. husband and she had filled in for him in a couple occasions when he was absent. Having been a passionate reader even back then, I had a chance to interact with Ms. H.B., many times through asking and answering questions. I am not proud of our first interaction though, although we had laughed over the memory many years...
Read MoreThoughts, through a train window…
“…With two tickets torn in half And a lot of nothing to do Do you miss me, Miss Misery, Like you say you do?…” Counting the lights, the trees, the lovers, the people, the neighborhoods, the cities, as I go by. The math suggests that the average yearly train delays in Japan is only about a minute. The trick is, I know, on the way you average. Cause, every morning my commuter rapid stops a dozen time in-between stations, waiting for the trains already on the upcoming station, to keep moving. And I am always late. And the Ms. K., the secretary raises eight fingers to remind me of what time I was supposed to be there. Paper memories. Yeah, I know. The teachers are supposed to come before the students. So, Ms. Misery, did you add all the card you can play?...
Read MoreYou felt like a German Christmas…
I bought a cake and a coke for you tonight. A large coke with a little reindeer in the corner. Returning home, I remembered that I’m out of cigars. I wanted some big Cubans, but the cigar shop was already closed. I couldn’t bring myself to buy normal cigarettes. Returning home, I passed by an Italian pasta restaurant. On the window, I noticed some interesting packs of cigarettes. I went in and asked. Found a brand that said “Keith: Mild. Little Cigars. Caffe Late.” I turned the air con into sucking mode, to trick the three smoke detectors in my little Japanese apartment. I drank coke through a straw and smoked my little cigars. Past midnight. 12:50. I called your name three times, Holly, Holly, Holly, as if it was a rule of the Tradition of the Moon. Then I...
Read MoreDear beloved friend and cousin, E.,
I’m writing from a family restaurant in the east side of Tokyo, where I came to grab a quick light dinner and a ton of coffee. Truth to be told, I woke up feeling dizzy today, but I powered through the day somehow. To relax and blow out some steam, I decided to spend some time drawing. I don’t know why I chose that particular activity, especially when you consider how bad of a painter I am (in school, I used to borrow my older sister’s drawings for my art class). Be that as it may, I got my coffee, I sat down and, following a video-tutorial from Disney Studios, I ended up drawing a couple of Minnie Mouse versions. I was thinking of you the entire time. Probably because you threw that fairy tale wedding, where you looked like a Disney Princess, now...
Read MoreThe goodbye of an introvert!
Okay, just a little bit about me! I’m an introvert, as in loner, who thinks that going outside is overrated, who doesn’t like answering a phone call, who prefers to address others by writing over talking to them etc. But, in the last couple of years, it has become a little bit better. I learned to maintain a conversation, to some extend! I learned to play the normal guy as much as I hate everything that has “normal” on it. (Why, than, do I do it? Because this way, you can save some time from wasting, when you actually have to go outside and interact with people). When I’m around no more than three people with whom I’m familiar, I can maintain a more or less normal conversation. True, I often feel the need to throw out jokes or...
Read MoreThe J.-magic: A different kind of “tail”!
I was in the dark for too long and at some point, I thought I was already beyond saving. I used to be such a romantic but then life just lost meaning. Yet, today I’m not writing about that. I’m writing about this girl, J. We were in the same class during high school, so many years ago, that it feels like an eternity. She was a close and a dear friend. In the graduation year, our school took us outside the country, for a trip near the sea. In front of our hotel, there was a guy who sold things like lighters, cigars and so on. Among the things he had, I really liked a keyholder, attached to something that appeared to be a squirrel tail. Touching it gave rise to a weird scratchy feeling. I bought it and gave it to J. She was so happy to receive it. It was something...
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