March Optimism Challenge: Day 26

1.  I've had my wallet for about five years now.  It was a cheap thing that I bought from a street vendor in Chile and is now looking worse for wear.  It used to snap shut but that part has torn off and the corners are all tattered.  It's pretty embarrassing to pull money out of it to make a purchase.  The cashiers all raise their eyebrows at me and make snooty faces.  So today I bought a new one!  I was wandering around J C Penney just killing some time when I spotted their wallet rack and guess what?  They were on sale!  My new wallet was only $5 and I love it.  It's much smaller than my old one, which I like.  It won't make my butt look so bulgy.

2.  Breakfast at Tiffany's.  It's my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie and the song "Moon River" is awesome.  I think my favorite part of the movie is when Holly and Paul are trying to shoplift various items in a store.  They end up walking out with animal masks on their faces!  I don't know why but that scene always makes me laugh.

3.  I did some writing tonight on my book.  Not a whole lot, but something is better than nothing.  I'm working on a bit of a backstory for Jack's mother Jean.  I'm not sure where I will put it in yet, but here's a bit of what I wrote:

“Now the 70s,” said Margery Daw, pausing only to throw back another shot of tequila.  “The 70s were the shit!”  She slammed her palm down on the liquor-soaked table.  “The shit!”

“They weren’t that great…” said Nancy.  She took the shot glass from Margery and then nudged the third friend on the arm.  “Your glass, Jean.  We’re doing another shot.”

Jean looked Nancy’s way for just one moment as she handed over her shot glass, but even before her fingers had let go she had already turned her attention to the corner of the bar.  A man had walked in mid-tequila-shot who Jean didn’t recognize and he was now seated on a red barstool talking to Bobby, the bartender.  Bobby stepped away and returned with a beer which the stranger took into his large hands, drinking greedily and wiping the foam off his mouth with the cuff of his flannel shirt.

“What do you mean they weren’t that great?” asked Margery, jaw-dropped.  “They were the absolute shit!”

Nancy shrugged and poured tequila into the three shot glasses.  “Well, I think right now is the shit.  The 80s.  Gotta love them.  Now, take your shot glass, Margery.  And Jean—”  She snapped her fingers in Jean’s face.  “You’re so distracted tonight.  Are you here to have fun or not?”

“Sorry,” said Jean.  She turned her body away from the stranger in the corner and focused on her two girlfriends in the high-backed booth.  Margery was already far gone, picking up her lime wedge and licking it.

Nancy broke into laughter.  “You’re supposed to lick your hand, dummy.  Not the lime.  You lick your hand and salt it.  Here’s the salt.”  She sprinkled some onto Margery’s now-licked hand.

“Let’s do the shot!  Tequila!  Tequila!” chanted Margery.  She giggled so hard that most of her tequila spilled out of the glass.

“Tequila!” shouted the other two.  All three women licked the salt, shot the tequila and bit into their lime wedges.  Margery put her glass down and held her arms above her head, swaying them back and forth as if she were at a rock concert.

“I love this song,” said Margery.  “I love it!”

“It’s from the 80s” said Nancy, speaking a little louder than she had been earlier and stressing the decade.  “Duran Duran!  Way better than anything the 70s came up with.”

Who's the stranger??  Wouldn't you like to know!