I echo: "Oh, Saratoga"

A few questions & observations.

City Hall
I've wondered for quite sometime about the birds that chirp when I walk by here at night. I always mean to ask someone about this, but I usually pass "them" when I am leaving the restaurant alone and headed to meet friends. Tonight, I headed straight home, and so now I ask the blogger world (aka my friends, digitalized): what is their purpose? I know they aren't real. Is that some sort of alarm? Someone please explain.

Creepy Goblin Dolls
Today, I heard a woman say to her husband, "Oh, I love those. We should get one for the downstairs bathroom" about the long-haired, red-eyed goblin dolls that stand in the window of the gift store in the Arcade building. They have scared me probably since my freshmen year of college. Why do they exist?

Caroline Street
I also heard a lady say, "Oh, honey, that's the street that scares me. Let's not turn down there" when passing the intersection of Broadway and Caroline today. This time of year, I almost agree. But this was late morning when she said this. Again, don't get it.

ICU Optics
I C U Optics. Clever, I guess. I see you. I can see you because I have great glasses from this store. Still, I think this is a terrible name for a store. I hear "ICU," I think "Intensive Care Unit." Maybe that's just me. Maybe I watched too much "ER" in my youth.

That's all. I wasn't walking around town today, wondering "what can I blog about?" (This would probably be a more interesting post if I had been.) I think I am just super observant lately. Probably because I am leaving soon. Taking it all in while I still can?

In other news, last summer a very nice old man struck up conversation with me one lunch break while I was reading Absurdistan outside Uncommon. He wanted to know about the book. Then we got into a long talk about politics and discoverd he had audited one of my favorite Skidmore government classes. We chatted a few more times after that, but then one day I waved and he didn't register it, so I stopped waving. I've probably seen him every day since, and we haven't spoken. I didn't take offense. He's old. Bad vision or bad memory, whatever. Today, he and I were both on the corner waiting for the light to change, and he turned to me and said "HEY! I know you!" We let the light flip from red hand to little man quite a few times and caught up. It was nice. He wished me well in my "future endeavors."

I like this bizzare little place.