It’s a Sunday, and it’s, thankfully, not nearly as hot as it has been. A massive heatwave has been static here in this city for days now. By Wednesday it’s going to be back up to 105 with the heat index. Now I’m all for the heat; one thing everyone should know is that the South is like the proverbial kitchen. If you can’t stand the heat, and so on. Me? I live for this weather. An excerpt from my other blog dated Friday, August 10th reads thusly:
<i>People are dying, literally. The poor are dropping dead under overpasses, the rich fainting on sidewalks, briefcases in hand. This is the time everything solidifies for me. I wouldn’t trade this heat for love nor money. Opening doors and stepping foot outside is like walking into hot oil. It will rain later, but it will only get hotter then. The heat will cling to the moisture in the air and this city will be a rainforest, awash with sweat and the anticipation of a Friday night.
This is it. Summer rolls her hips the sweetest and hardest this one last time and everyone in Atlanta sucks in and moans out deep and low. The blues were written for days like this.
Barefoot and moist, I find myself smoking on the front porch.</i>
A bit abstract, but that is the more luscious way to describe it. However, these past few days have gotten me closer and closer to retracting those words. It’s so hot, I’ve seen things I thought I might never see in this city:
a. The Corner Tavern (known also as The Coroner Tavern to those who are fans of the band) has closed their giant garage door to bar out the summer heat. Even in the winter they usually keep it open and blast heaters.
b. The homeless guys at the intersection of Freedom Parkway and Boulevard have ditched their scrawled “Homeless; Give $; God Bless” signs for buckets of ice with bottles of water in them. They charge anywhere from $2 to $4, but I can imagine those frosty bottles look pretty appetizing to the people who have no AC in their cars.
c. Even the cats are staying inside. Arthur’s lovely silver shorthair Sally, who usually delights in turning into a kitteh throw-rug in the odd shafts of sunlight, is now opting to decorate the hardwood floor of the kitchen next to the AC vent.
My advice to those that are unfamiliar with Atlanta in August, here is my advice to you: watch SurvivorMan. (Don’t settle for Bear Grylls, that guy’s a hack…FAKE ACCENT ALERT) There are two different episodes of the show in which the host strands himself in Rainforests. One in Costa Rica, and another in the Amazon. That will help you survive this intensity. You might have to bust open some coconuts to stay hydrated, but it will help.
In other news, Arthur is back from Italy as of Friday, and bearing gifts! But the best purchase decision he made, I believe, was this (purchased here). He’s been obsessed with Plague Doctors for a while, and I could tell he was excited. It’s going to become a pretty bitchin’ Halloween costume.
I am still a little sad about the whole thing; him going to Italy, having all that amazing fun. I don’t even really care about the fact that he went without me, but I put Italy so high on a Renaissance pedestal, that I ache every time I think about it. But that is all getting better. Slowly, but surely.
Lastly, in internet news, there is a pretty sweet article in the latest issue of Wired (the one with Martha Stewart on the cover, in the middle of icing a Wii as though it were a cake…way to go, Stewart. Some unfortunate nerd could have used that) that is all about how to make a meme and do it right. It’s pretty awesome, y’all should check it out.
A side note: The Word ‘Meme’
