The thing was so weird but appealing to me I stopped dead in my tracks and openly laughed at it when first it caught my eye amidst the spread of strictly Obama-themed goods. I became aware I was having a singularly New York experience, looking up at the construction cranes rebuilding the WTC, enjoying the springtime sunshine and feeling lucky to have come across such a little find. I think the heart shape of the wooden tchotchke makes the famous men on it look like heartthrobs from "Tigerbeat" magazine, which is definitely not a bad thing.
I paid 5 dollars for it, haggled down from the original 6...
I haven't bartered in so long, it felt amazing, even though only a dollar was at stake.
I hung it up in the romance sector of my bedroom, as per my usual adherence to the the laws of Feng Shui-- that's where heart-shaped pieces belong:
Next time I walk down Malcolm X Blvd. here in Bushwick I'll have something new to think about...
PS My old roommate recently moved her things out of my house, where she'd been storing them in a spare room for a month while setting up things at her boyfriend's... her dad was on hand to help, and she worried for a minute when he disappeared (although he's a hale fireman, he also has diabetes, and has been having more trouble with it than usual lately).
After a few minutes he showed up beaming, procuring some "Master of Puppets" pajama bottoms that looked as though they were woven from some itchy-looking combination of felt and asbestos as well as a package of official Topps Obama trading cards, which I couldn't believe actually exist.
"You never know what you'll find at dollar stores in the hood!" he said happily.
