Dirt, literal

at home i get dirty in a mild kind of way. i shower after a soccer game, say, because i'm sweaty. occasionally a day of yard work will leave me with dirt lines around my socks. but for the most part, i shower as a mode of refreshment and because, well, it's just socially coded that you gotta bathe at least every few days.

here, you shower to get clean. and even if you've only been sitting around the apartment in your boxers (not that anyone we know does that), you will need it, because this city is DIRTY. the second step of clinique's three-step skin care, the toner, was invented for places like this. you wash your face with soap and water, carefully. still, when you go to "sweep away the dead cells," as the lady at the clinique counter clinically put it, the cotton ball comes away dark. my eyes are constantly filled with grit, as are my ears. my shoes are filthy. my computer is choked with dust. after a day of walking about, my capri cuffs are carrying pantloads of the city and i have a tan line around my watch.

must go. we're on our way to the zoo with marcia's kids and mo needs advice about her shoes. "i'm just thinking my white shoes will get really dirty if i wear them today." you see what i mean?