date: 08.28.2002
entitled: "Unnerving Things"

It's strange. A year ago this Labor Day, a friend and I went for a frolic in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. We are both Michiganians, originally, and were missing the trees and grass and fresh air. We plopped down on the grass and chatted about mutual friends, while plucking blades of grass from the ground, tying them into small knots, and trying to make that whistle noise which never works for me. We watched people walk by, saw people galloping on horses, and enjoyed the puffy cumulus clouds.

I also began to compose a list in a small notebook I purchased in China Town a few weeks prior. I love lists. I will probably write quite a few lists in future entries. This specific one was entitled, "Unnerving Things". Here are its components:

-Concertina Wire

-Cops nonchalantly carrying guns

-Hasidic Jewish women's wigs

-Stiletto heels

-Cockroaches in your apartment

-Apathy

-Smelling body odor on the subway (where is it reeeally coming from??)

-A priest placing 'the body' of J.C. Superstar on your tongue at Catholic Mass

-People who clip their nails at work

It may seem like a short list, but I will consistantly add to it from now on.

I wish to elaborate on the 3rd item in the list: Hasidic Jewish women's wigs. I find Hasidic people extremely fascinating and myserious. The men, especially, look to me as if they have travelled here from a different century; ghosts from the past, if you will. While at the park, we saw a family of Hasids walk by, with two little kids, and a baby in a stroller. This is when my friend informed me that when the women marry, it is their cultural custom to shave their heads, and wear wigs the rest of their lives. I had no idea. It really makes me wonder: does anyone else out there know about this? Was I the only one in the dark?

song stuck in my head:

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