Tucson

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Dark brown saucer chair, RIP

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

A while back, I needed some furniture and I needed it fast. And I didn’t really care what it was, I just wanted something to fill the space in the living room in my old apartment.

So I went to the logical place to find junk furniture, craigslist, naturally, and after a day’s worth of perusals, I found a couple of low swivelly chairs for cheap. I wandered over, tried them out, forked out cash, put them in the car, and drove them home. I knew they were kind of cheap and cheesy, but they worked.

Last night, in the midst of an absolutely epicĀ  role-playing game, one of them gave up the ghost. Faced with several hours of supporting the muscular frame of one of my players, it simply folded.

Which means that now I’m faced with the prospect of going out and buying furniture. Right before monsoon season begins, when the temperature and humidity conspire to be as lethally miserable as possible.

Which means I get to spend the day with a friend, lounging about in comfortable furniture in air-conditioned showrooms while solicitous salespeople come by and ask us if we need anything periodically.

So basically, you know… score!

A hot dramatic pause

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Tucson is the only city I know of that has an acutal season devoted to dramatic tension. Once the temperature hits 100 and stays there, the whole city starts wondering when the monsoons will get here. We all know that at some point the clouds we see building up ominously over Mexico will unleash apocalyptic thunderstorms upon us all, and that then is when our swamp coolers will stop working.

So we swelter, and we wait, knowing that soon our streets will become rivers, washing our garbage cans away downstream. In the meantime, it’s so hot that after driving for five minutes, your ignition key is too hot to touch.

Weirdly enough, I love this time of year. And so does everyone I know.

I guess you have to be kind of strange to live here.