bookmark_borderIf I could read your elbow

I am not anti-tattoo. But sometimes I wonder about what was going through someone’s head just before the needle touched the skin.

For example, at my coffee shop there is a barista with a few small stars tattooed on her inner arm. On the other arm she has a word just above her inner elbow. I’ve tried to make out what is says but I have not been successful to date. It’s hard to read someone’s elbow casually.

Now this young woman looks, in all other respects, like an English Lit graduate student. (Hell, she may well be!)

There’s a story there. If I could just read her elbow — maybe that would be a clue.

bookmark_borderNothing to miss

I miss smoking so much.

If I could look into the future and see that I live to 85 — and that I die peacefully in my sleep of nothing more serious than being old — I would light up right this minute.

Conversely, if I could go back in time and visit myself at 14 or so, I’d kick myself in the ass and take away that pack of smokes (Benson & Hedges Menthol Lights in those days) in my pocket.

If I never started smoking I’d have nothing to miss.

And maybe I’d even be taller.