October 22, 2016:

Mister Surfer Shorts with his blue star calf tattoo and his affected hipster stubble busts his move. "Cute," he smiles, nodding toward the pretty Asian girl's little leashed spaniel. No points: she passes without acknowledgment, without breaking stride, as though his existence were of no more importance than the smallest random gnat.

Tall beauty in track pants, chestnut hair tied back, classical features. College athlete: curvy but toned. Stunning, really. Feels me looking; feels everyone looking. Absorbs herself in cell phone video, head down, defensive, bowed by burdens of biology and backward social rules.

Chris Isaac overhead: what a wicked thing to do. Pynchon on iPad: events seem to be ordered into an ominous logic. The storm is coming. We're all leaving early.