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Adria's afraid of heights so of course we had to walk over Aurora Bridge. She, Craig and I hoofed it from Fremont to the Rendezvous to see the Factums play their 6th concert (their first since July 2005). It's not a very pretty walk along Highway 99. There was some kind of party going on at Simply Volvo (a specialized fix-it shop). A band sounding like Fugazi was rocking in a secret room while two guys stood on a balcony. One shouted to us that his dick was hard. We kept on. We found a piece of BMW grill in some roadside ivy, then a headlight and other scattered parts--evidence of what Craig called a real fucker-upper. Here it was in my hand, a stamped piece of sheet metal in a shape even I recognized, a status symbol gone awry. Someone at sometime cared then it became a liability to be forgotten and denied. I hung it on a parking barricade and we moved on past a low spot where the sidewalk was under a brown puddle. Adria sidestepped it for the grass and ended up toe-deep in mud. She freaked out. These were new boots. Then they started to hurt and she hobbled bravely along. We decided to wait at the next bus stop for the 5 downtown. It was under a new pedestrian overpass. As soon as we got there a man appeared who said it'd be along any minute. He had a flashlight with him with which to flag it down because they often just barrel on by. Homeless by choice, camped out in the woods above, Glen peddles watercolors which he withdrew from clear plastic bag to show us by his big light and my keychain LED. They were really good. Adria and Craig bought two, the bus came, we boarded, then I bought one for Sarah reminiscent of The Living Barge. Lost in talk we by far overshot our stop. We got off at Pine and 5th, walked up to 3rd, and caught a 5 going the other direction. It would turn soon, so we jumped off at the first stop and just as quickly got on a 3 headed north. On it too we only stayed for one stop but the combination of the two saved us several blocks. We just showed our pink A transfers each time we got on. We walked one street too far but as a result bumped into Arne at a cash machine. Then we all went to the bar. The Factums were factastic, a transcendental rhythmic noise illustrated by Brent Watanabe's live video mixing of his own material. Later, on the sidewalk, Adria was still pumped from the walk. Unlike driving or even bikeriding, walking puts you right where you are. You're moving towards a destination, but the pace is such that you don't get ahead of yourself. You're present every step. |
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