Third Root

Third Root (Easy Lee & Marco Cervantes).

Gifts and Censorship

I was driving down South St. Mary's street and saw this dude airbrushing on the sidewalk outside of a tattoo shop. I got off to talk to him and he told me that he was given a gift from God to draw. He said so in a very humble way. In a way that even though I am not religious, it was still welcoming to my ears. I still avoided religion though and began a conversation with my belief that we are all owners of some type of gift that needs to eventually be unearthed... I usually don't have such conversations on the sidewalk. About 3 minutes into our encounter, the shop owner (I assume) came out and said I couldnt take pictures since any drawings were property of the tattoo shop, even the drawing the man was working on, with the gift his God had given him. I said nothing, the man said nothing (didnt catch his name) and both of us left each other sad. I could see it on his face, I felt it on my own. truly fucked up. a layered sadness since such actions rarely make me angry anymore, its almost expected. more accurately, Im first hit with a feeling of disgust, and THEN a feeling of sadness... disgusted that I saw it coming and sad that it doesnt anger me. this lack of anger comes in waves... lately crashing too frequently. this is some very revealing shit im not proud of. we may each possess a gift, but who is really the owner of that gift?

Joe

Met Joe as I was taking my clothes down to wash it at the washateria that shares the same bldg as The Cove. For some reason. I dont really like the cove, but am very amused when the yuppie crowd that frequents it enters the wrong door and sees the laundry mat, or the people that wash their clothes there. Apparently Joe works at the cove, cleaning up. I wish I was eloquent enough to describe him, but he's the type I really admire. Probably void of any influence of modern media/internet/advertising bullshit, he seems like the classic southside/westside chicano dude that has maintained the same personality for probably the past 30 yrs, genuine. I can appreciate that.