umbrella

on the 5 today i looked in my rear view mirror and realized there was a police car right behind me. i looked at my odometer and i was shockingly doing a perfect 65. i felt glad that the people around me had had the foresight to slow down since i certainly never would have noticed the need on my own. the police car fell back and was a silent predator in a reef of well-behaved fishes, each trying to be less conspicuous than its neighbors. the orca finally picked its red fish and turned on its bloody bells.

my mama took me boot shopping because she loves me. we had dinner at a bbq joint, where she repeatedly commented that her pulled pork should be taken home and made into fried rice. this little girl at the table next to us was reading her tiger beat with selena gomez at the table. what is it like to know that you've been made into a child star specifically to corner the latino dollar? after dinner, the barista at the starbucks bar kept announcing my drinks with a very interesting whine in my name, valerie, two lattes, valerie, valerie

my vanilla latte was horrible. no foam, all syrup.

after three weeks with kittens, and then coming home to missy, i find that no one will ever love me the way my dog does. cat love is very tangible but it just can't compare. miss missy was elated to see me and collapsed her now-larger body next to my now-larger body on the couch. put her head in my lap with a sigh. she follows me around the house and doesn't get annoyed even though i've just gone up and down the stairs five times in a row. she finds me if i go to the bathroom and she sleeps and wakes with me. i am nice in return because i throw my jeans on the floor specifically so that she can sleep on them as she likes to do.