clutch kerry i forget how jo knew JP, but he was in budapest for the whole year, packed into a studio apartment with two roommates. the french roommate was chipper and wore red and laughed when i tried to shake her hand, and the indian roommate was a trumpeter who rolled his own cigarettes. we sat in old busted furniture and jo showed off her juggling skills (this was when she dyed her hair nearly black and we were still close, she would even sleep in my bed sometimes, forehead resting on the back of my neck.) and leo played the roommate’s trumpet, blew smoke through it, and iz was impatient because she wanted to go to st margit’s island and sit under the bridge and skip rocks and people-watch. JP spoke decent hungarian. he had local friends, knew hidden spots. we all smoked hookah and ate hummus and baba ghanoush at a little hole in the wall in central pest, and followed him down a back alley in the jewish quarter, near a shop where i later bought a watch without numbers or hands. we followed him through an unmarked door, into a little vestibule where neon cursive lights spelled Kuplung. he said this place used to be an auto body shop, that kuplung means clutch. it was a big open room with picnic tables, with walls plastered in pieces of newspaper and old magazines. dogs wandered and wrestled and snapped their jaws until someone yelled and pulled them apart, then ignored them again. above it all hung the long skeleton of a whale. bor or sör? sör, kérem. we tried to find it again on our own, but there were too many unmarked doors in that alley and none would open. we went to our usual place. 211103 ... unhinged aong_of_the_day 211104 ... unhinged omg Song_of_the_day (so many typos this morning...sheesh) 211104 ... raze it can't be a typo if it links to somethin'. :) 211104 what's it to you? who go blather from