November 15, 2020:
Sophistication mimed by expensive clothes, expensive liquor, expensive cigarettes. A parvenu, a neophyte. "I'm a man of wealth and taste," without the taste.
Locales I know. The corner food stand where my friend and I first met, with skateboards under elbows. The seafood restaurant where we taught the bartender to make Brandy Alexanders and shared our epic drunk with a roomful of friendly strangers. The boardwalk we haunted, the pier where we played.
Most of all the vibrancy. Strong colors, with shadows: the anti-gray. Where the sea is blue and the sky is blue and even my lonely hotel room is filled with light.