beach blank I miss the days where I had somewhere to go when I felt like shit 010715 ... Fido snoogy woogy boogy down to Santa Monica buggies boogying down the sea-walk shell shock for less than minimum wage past a coast of crystal with sidewalk smoothies! for sale! only 5.00 a cup! cups a pair of tan hands over a dry mouth flaky from spiced beach winds and all that jazz 030329 ... kali There are pink shells that look like slippers There are black shells that come in twos and fold up like a sleek black briefcase There are spiral shells that are always, always broken and missing a snail There are circular white halves of shells like dinner plates for crabs There are crab shells There are strange glass shells shaped like bottles and strange plastic shells shaped like pens There are large colored shells suspended upside down, with brown lumps motionless in their shade There are strange animals kicking at nothing, shouting numbers, covering their ears, running running running; their glassy eyes see only their quarry of perfection There is sand; there are hills There are birds and shit There is the blue that burns shoulders and the blue that soaks shoes, and the thin line where they meet There are stones that hurt bare feet, but it's worth it There are people speaking to me, but I don't understand them 050605 ... skyburst777 i have a rocky beach i should rake it 050606 ... nom i didn't go to the beach 060307 ... nom we stuck our hands in the water got our feet wet, the water rushed in 070509 ... kerry showed up totally unprepared as usual. no umbrella, no blanket, no chairs, no change (eight dollars for a beach tag, and who ever heard of a beach tag??) and empty bellies. so many dollars later we are sunblocked and settled in with our rainbow umbrella amongst all the other umbrellas, watching the amateur surfers and some kids building a giant sphinx in the sand. you can tell who's been out here all summer; the bright shocks of tan lines, the older women with their leathery brown skin and flip flops, salty hair. at one point we get in and both forget to take off our sunglasses. two waves and a spin through the undertow and mine are long, long gone. he said the ocean took them right out of his hand. i forgot to even remove mine from my face. it reminded me of when we were driving home from tara's birthday god it must have been fifteen years ago and he and i were sitting in the backseat and he had been drinking and he leaned out the window to throw up and VVVWWWOOOOPP, glasses gone forever. vomit streaked on the car. this was better--just a lot of sand in my suit and both of us semi-blind until we got our specs from the car. i still prefer the gulf. i like the quiet, flat beaches and gentle dunes. the ocean is also gentle and warm as bathwater. as kids we would slather up sticky Bullfrog sunscreen and bury each other in the sand and bob in the greenish water and didn't notice the jellyfish stings until we were out. they were never that bad and i was usually back in the water right away. most of the jellyfish were so little. i have a clear memory of floating with jess, clinging to the sides of an americana inner tube, and peering into the center to see two of them there together, as if they were slow-dancing. and if you went out far enough you could find cannonballs, giant blobs without those delicate trailing threads. 210819 what's it to you? who go blather from