kindred.

i went up to my grandma's house a few days ago, and being the only one there of my generation (for the most part) gave me a LOT of time to think about different things (don't worry, all good this time).

kindred spirit is a term for someone who shares similar thoughts, feelings, someone who is close in temperament and nature to yourself, to whom you have a rare spiritual link that is very special and you can't quite explain.
-wikipedia

isn't it weird how someone you've never met can make such a huge impact on you? i mean, just their presence makes you stop, pay attention to what they're doing, and you begin to wonder what their life's all about. what's their story? is it in any way intertwined with yours? this happened to me while i was at books-a-million. mom and grandmom went over to stein-mart after we had all gotten books, and i decided to stay behind and start reading mine. so i got a coffee and went to sit outside in their sitting area. about a minute after i went outside, the guy working at the coffee station and another guy who had just gotten to work (i overheard that part) came out for a smoke break. it was the guy who had just come in that caught my attention. he was dressed in plaid and jeans, with tattoos going up his arms. he looked like the type to have his septum pierced (or anything on his face pierced for that matter), but he didn't. another girl came out to smoke with them and while the coffee guy and the girl chatted on to no end, the guy in plaid just kind of sat there, alone in his own world (it seemed) much as i had been all day. i was taken aback by how much i felt for this guy. never having met him, i still felt i knew him on some level. maybe this was what that girl at the ray-ban store meant by sensing a kindred spirit in me. maybe i was sensing a kindred spirit in him.

i also felt the need to prove to this guy that i was not the preppy high schooler i know i looked like at the moment. so i lit a cigarette, made sure the cover of my book (ernest hemingway's short stories) was visible at all times, and tried to send out the same vibe i was getting from him.



we ate lunch in this restaurant that's kind of in a gated community, but kind of not. they're building all these new houses on the river that no one can really afford in this sort of economy. but they now have almost all of them built and a few stores up in there. it made me feel like i was in an episode of desperate housewives.