Every Sal's

He's changing the register tape.

What's that a euphemism for?

I'd like to Sunday her afternoon!

(She wants to watch the finale...)

They have shots for that

This street goes back in time
(Not directly)


(Not even antique seltzer bottles can save us now.)

The Marketing Decisions

I said to him,
Let's go to the beach and write screenplays.

Busting out of that vintage blouse-
Like a prison break.

(I'd like to subject him to a gratuity charge.)

(I still hold the low score on Zaxxon.)

Hot damn

We were eating Hot Sam
Papa jarred his own jam
Pebbles loving Bam-Bam
Gangsters with their scram-scram.
Cookouts with the fam
Setting up the Zim Zam
I've really grown to love ham.
She was reading Matt Klam
Our DJ name was K-Blam.
We had flim without flam
I'm stripping for the cam
I never could say "ma'am."
Cracker-up with Tam Tam
Makes me think of old Gram

Puddle-inspired

Some good, squishy mud here.

Kids jogging--seems wrong.

That's my moonslice!


The House Hold Names

The Tragically Chubby


(Your animal must be this furry to enter.)

There was so much I wanted to ask her...

(Not actually. But it sounds nice.)

Smile for the satellite

Everybody's a cipher, nowadays.

Pre race rituals

Orthodox exercise.

It pools in you.

Old dirty bastion.

She is a stretch.

That's some forlorn fun you got there.

That being said,

I'd like to congee her village.

The Lugs

I dig her suit and angry look.

They sure know how to order.

Them lagers pour nice.

Let's talk real estate.

(He could use yoga more than anyone I know.)

(I didn't realize she was she.)

Did I?

I must have.

At some point.

Right?

Atomic Snowfall

Meanwhile, back at the computer lab...


All this for one guy?


(At least it smells like a shoe store.)


I'll be at the corner of the corner bar.
Drinking corner juice.


(I'd like to flag her as inappropriate.)

Broadcast thyself

They have these all over in L.A.

(I'd like to pickle her ginger.)

This is what passes for nostalgia?

The Intelliprefix Corp

Not everything was better when I was a kid.

The Wet Cats

(I wouldn't mind coming back here for dinner.)

What took me so long

(I'm still on my way to that track meet.)

You I knew

An open window in the library.

That has to be the town I'm thinking of.


Graffiti with question marks...

A lasting fad

(I'd like to badger her bristles.)


The street had a bend.

I used to bike by her house,
hoping that


(They're going back to the old logo.)

Historic playscapes

The Same Things

The Modest Profits

Moon suits--
(still suits)


(I honestly can't tell the difference.)

The Excused

Not satisfied with satisfaction.

Wrapping things in rubber bands.

I would love to see a porno starring you two.

(Not a pickup line, exactly.)


The fun of work/
The work of fun


Don't tell me that beard isn't art!


(You're only young a bunch.)

The Punkosphere

The way she knocked the snow from her boots.

(What about it?)

Ask the ethnicist.

Enough name-taggery.

We were out-glassed.

(I have no idea how old she is.)

This air has a lot going for it.

How about a hand for the clarity of city lights in cold weather?

(Of course it's stolen.)

Half a word away-

For some reason I never go to this deli.

And I prefer small bananas.


What was that look?


And a child shall chide them.


Beware of professors who overuse "modernity."


Ah, moral ambiguity.


And the soft mint of York...

Similar incidents

She was a space heater.

The overminer.


We should all be so spry.
(Should we?)


Small Sprite--
no ice

Befriend an institution today

The So Not Funnies

Honor bites.

I'd rather be reading the paper.

Of another time.


(Winter reminds me of summer.)

Sacred mistrust

Those campus molecules...

A new mantra?
You don't use the one you have!

The New Old Timers
The Unrealized
The Plucks

(We thought that was hard rock.)


I feel old again!

(While dancing in your head, in a prairie.)


(My name and pseudonym are the same.)

Out vergin'

You sure you should be squatting there?

These fools out searching for "the real."

Before it gets torn down.


What are we radiating?

Who goes here?

The Try Me's

(He's playing hard to pet.)

Some great piercings...

Do you have an animal in there?


Yellow lights
Foreign books
Arm-in-arms
A map of nooks


Vestigial sweaters

(I don't use those words.)

The Iconettes

Emails from robot poets.

I like when games take place too late for this edition.


The stuff they fed us...

Unwinding wires

Bands:
-The Obvious
-Accidents of Birth

Neon pizza guy.

This whole thing needs to be redone.

Metaphors for Impotence.

Once again, Night saves the Day.

(I'd like to grind her lenses.)

I skipped most of it

Aquaman-like

And here is where I fell in love with the cheese Danish.

(A Hot & Crusty in the corner of Grand Central Terminal)

A salad of dubious greens.

(Not so All-American.)

Women buying pipes

How about those thick black straws?

Monsters of the malt shop.

Those crazies missed you.

Is this enough?

He was as dull as a bank.
(Also as assuring.)

Get pixelated!

Disbelief is as tough as belief

These foggy ballfields.

I threw a coin and
wished to see ripples.


Band: The Minor Accomplishments


That hotel smell...in your house!

To me it's all that street.


(Say a blessing over the people saying blessings over things.)

The week took me off

I could live in that hat.

This plaza and me--we have a history.

The consolation of model railroad details.

Band: The Acrylics

Quartet: The I Feel Sorry Four


(I'd like to crunch her numbers.)

Your sphere or mine?

I'd like to bundle her software.

When the clean is worse than the dirt.

Our interplanetary reputation.

The West Side night clubs.

(I can't believe I watched the whole thing.)

Wildly educated

The greatest blank of our generation.

Portaits of museum life: Portraits

Forks as sculpture.

(I'd like to improve her business district.)

Why the beach?

Meaningful initials.

Outgrowing a brand.

Be wary of: "At least he's honest."

"This isn't a competition."
(He was out of breath when he said it.)

The Empty Restaurants

It's On Me

Bemusement park

Nickname: Old Soda

Bands: The Temporaries
White Guilt

Let's meet by the old ball bearing factory.

I'd like to tune her fork.

(It's a little late in the game for snacks.)

Unpreparedness kit

There are still catchy logos to be created.


Wave that bug away.
But also wave it hello.


You can take this half-way to the bank.

The Disposable Cups

A "party" philosophy.

Tablecloth inventions.

Holding things with your teeth.

Now with more lost episodes!

Christmas is a big thing in her family.

I'd be lying if I said...


(Who am I kidding?
Seriously, who?)

Mystery breeze

A lot to read
(But not in books)

Maybe you shouldn't be all you can be.

Our guile sucks.

It's not for everyone.


(Where were we?)

(A story of almost)

(I'd like to get back there)

(Think outside the parentheses)

(Is that even a saying?)

(I didn't think he'd actually follow-up)

International signs

The Over Its

Playoff Hopes

The Stock Photos

We had a Fun Factory?

This works better outside.

(A slow views day.)

Legible sweats

She's good at applying old phrases to new things.

Pigtail savior.

My favorite shape.

The connotations of "fellowship."

Band: The Terrible Mothers


Don't drink much, but I sure would like a photo of that liquor store.

They still smoke here.

(I told me so.)

The Glugosphere

That's a nice-looking pitcher of lemon wedges.

Should we really be listening to The Cars in this weather?

Depends on where you want music to take you.


The Banana Peel Girls.

They got there first.

The As Usuals

Typewriter on the sidewalk.

(Writer-type on the sidewalk.)


(I think I like this place better in the AM and early afternoon.)

Folk song law

Follow the laundry lines.

All we knew was what we could see from the road.

Real trees that look fake.

The Renditions.

It's against my religion.

(She blew me all out of proportion.)

Pills I've swallowed

The chill I get when people tell me they're "taking my advice."

What did I say?

Can we stop at a humble deli?

Stop denying yourself flavor.


I'd like to import her lager.

Band: Touch My Face With Interest

It would've been fun

Why doesn't he just write a memoir or screenplay?

They're still cranking out box sets?

So Coca-Cola owns summer and Xmas now.

Don't worry about it.

Keep flipping.

(I'd like to find that salesman and thank him.)

But healthy

Check the corners.

This wasn't always history.

Polaroids on the wall.

How is she?

Maybe I overreacted.

That's what hatracks are for!

These people never drank a Mountain Dew in their lives.

An intrigue I want no part of.

One game of Galaga before we go-

Parisian trinkets

That's us running.

Yer Darn Rights.

Nice wall.

(I'd like to press her pennies.)

Ordering things

Almost asleep in a strange bed, pretending to be facing the other way.

The loop around the high school.

It's okay to be the lone holdout.

Those are terrible directions!

The old "Thank-A-Tree" campaign.


I'd rather be thinking up "I'd rather be..." slogans.

This used to be all cornfield

The familiarity of unfamiliar grocery stores.

(I'd like to steam her asparagus.)


Age is wasted on the old.

A mall-chair massage.

Lying low in Koreatown...

A song that rhymes "shooting star" with "candy bar."

Makes me wish I were what again?

The Flanks:
Happiest sad music I ever heard in the subway.

Spectacular headbands

Holiday cheer.

Bless the chatter and buzz.

Cranberry juice and seltzer induced depression.

I'm always in the market for influence.


(I see what you mean.)

A labor of like

Let's keep the line moving.

(I have trouble remembering the substance of those conversations.)

Let's meet at the hot dog cart at the corner of the soccer field.

(I'd like to shroud her skyline.)

Electronically secure

I can't remember the last time I used the phrase, "I can't remember the last time I...."


"That balance is outstanding!"
(Said at circus and bank)

Can I get a drag of that?

Me and the briefcase boys.

I like these plaid pants, but what would I wear them with?

Band: The Like Wows

(I see you took my advice.)

The Kitchen You Grew Up In


(I thought it was common knowledge...)

Dial-a-day

It's just a matter of sitting down.

Look--the wist king.

Left in a bike basket.

The thinker--in a souvenir seat from an old stadium.


Facial heir

(Doesn't necessarily mean anything.)


I like to sit across from that religious dome.

Such as...

Oh, like they know what they're talking about.

Band: The Who Knews

A lost clause.

Corny weather.

(I applied for that job.)

(I think we both know the answer to that.)

Everything you know about being wrong is wrong

What does that remind you of?

The All My Faults

...with her carton of apple juice and gourmet potato chips.

You deserve better.

A novel in text messages.

He recognizes things for what they are,
and he's teaching creative writing next semester!

Soft sun around here.

Printer ink and guitar strings...

Hiawatha-style yoga

I've programmed a computer or two in my day.

Can we drop this stuff off at the car?


(I'd like to soleil her moon fries.)

Dude, you're rich!

Thoughtful followers

Pinball at that Pizza Pit at the edge of nowhere.

We would meet at Hamburger Heaven and take a train to the stadium.


A plain-clothes fop.

(That wasn't me.)

(Sweet face, though.)

Where do you get my ideas?

Trudging down that gourmet tea road.

I'd like to roast her pumpkin seeds.

Band: The Great Investments

(Sometimes I miss Thrift Drug so much it hurts.)

I'm on her way

Twine wrapped around a hot pipe.

I had a blanket just like that.

Can you tell?

(We sang it in elementary school.)

Triptych

Band:
Western Medicine

Bumper sticker:
I'd rather be leafing through a magazine

Poem:
I'll see ya
At the pizzeria

Oh, Whitney

Rung out on old cash registers.

Those pants are a stretch.

So you're the most beautiful girl in the world.
So what.

Tender moment in college football:
player removes clump of dirt from teammate's helmet.


(Not that funky of a funk...)

The Sofa City Sweethearts

Tsintao: China
Singha: Thailand
(I'll never make that mistake again!)


(You've just made a powerless enemy.)

I'd like to shred her sensitive documents

Library fine pride.

Cherry Street.

Mini-kites (about as big as your hand) being flown along the river in Chinatown.

It's loud and peaceful here.

Name that gesture: exercise or disorder?

Secret skatepark.

Flags with bank symobls.

Try the rice noodles.

The New Brewing Methods

Pill shudder.

The Skin Tones.

Cement mixer painted like Captain America.

(I'd like to manage her hedge fund.)

No flashy photography.

Out of our white cups...

I blew an opportunity to blow an opportunity.

The responsibility that comes with having an apartment people can see into from the train--

(It's hillier up here, and the small flowers on your shirt need water.)

The No Duhs

Check that family out.

I think I owned that sweatshirt.

How bench-sleepers tweak a space-

I can see at least 15 squirrels right now.

(I'd like to split her infinitives.)

What do you want from Mee?
(Mee being a noodle shop.)

Is that really "news"?

I keep meaning to get to the transit museum.

What're you not looking at?

Buzz-cut beauty.

Fishnetted and dangling.


Bands:

The Uneducated Guesses

The Technicalities

The Screaming Footnotes


(I'd like to sun-dry her tomatoes.)

The "meh" generation

Kid in stroller drops slice of pizza and weeps.

Eternal flame outside the Hudson Hotel.

Woman trying to shove pug into water fountain.


Old timey detective: Step Tracer

(Nice nachos.)

I like my apples waxed

The chubbification of cheeks.

A rice knack-

The You Wishes.

(Taking off your shoes in places where shoes aren't normally removed.)

Legs in winter.

A deeply areligious man.

(Reading a book on the history of aspirin would give me a headache.)

By the time you read this

Tree leaners,
Point gleaners.

We'd grown close over the minutes.

And to think that dress could fit in my pocket.

I keep forgetting what I learned in my 15 minutes of yoga.

Pastry on the wind

The squeak of beans.

Does anyone ever use those balconies?

I'll never forget that joke.

It doesn't translate into nothing.


The world through Advil Liqui-Gel colored glasses--

Twiggishness

You and your leafy greens.

The kids are hanging upside-down by their knees.

Autumn screen.


I'll do some detective work.

And maybe Wild Cherry LifeSavers will be my new thing.

(This is not what we trained for...)

Repeat after me

We were out smarting.

More sad banjo

What's so wrong with being a zombie?

I'm jealous of this cheerily mournful music--
Perfect for chopping vegetables.

Bring on the translucent bowls!

(He and I share a plaid.)


(I'd like to mix her metaphors.)

Mutter museum

Band: The Oh No He Didn'ts

There's ink on my pants.

This is quite a romantic train.

Sheconomist

Furriness-lined boots

They met during freshman orientation.

Everything's a hate crime, nowadays.

Late for ninjitsu class-


(Reincarnated as a celebrity jogbra.)

Pigtail vengeance

Career woman power-smoking. Takes me back.

Do I look as crazy as that?

I've been meaning to buy a Chip Clip for the last seven years.

Small market stuff

I've wondered about that bowling alley.

(A lot of ads on this station.)

When the light in her bedroom window really meant something...

That high tech bull

My mantra was there all along.

I need some start-up cash.
And something to start.

Enough of your Brooklyn Bridgery.

Some competitive leisure-

Hey--they're serving our seasoning!

Those dreamy side streets...

Looked up

These pointless errands have a point.

Over caste

Be careful of the insults you use.

(I don't know how to act.)

Be more present...

I don't deserve you

That familiar stretch.

A woman's sense of shoes--

You don't have to come up with universal maxims.

(I'd arrange those freckles to spell something special...)

That can't be right

Death is as afraid of you as you are of it.

That guy rules

Sit across from me.

My stomach hurts.

If I open a pants store, it'll be called Trouser Town.

Is that a phrase?

Am I the only one who still calls them freedom fries?

The hoboes took that over a long time ago.

Ziggy would be a great name if not for "Ziggy."

Or might not miss

The old guy.

You can no longer call someone and let the phone ring 50 times. Technology always picks up. But there was poignancy to eliciting that mechanical ringing in an empty house. Or, even more fraught, in a house where someone was avoiding the phone. It was a statement with echo.

This we'll miss

Churchless grandeur

Or the breeze is the truth.

Get a load of that definition!
(Said at gym or library)

Where my frisbee friends at?

It's like my dad always said,
(Well, not exactly like it.)

They've been working on that building awhile now.

Compiling evidence against what I'm not sure.

But the past is one thing that gets less real by the minute.

Tattoo ruins

Somebody like that walking towards me-

There are better things to be obsessed with.

Nice Kikkoman bag.

They'd better have bad aim.

(It was a lot of money back then.)

Hey-I was drinking that

Is it fresh?
I want to see the lemons.

Some of that old-fangled sincerity.

And no muck to muck things up.

What kind of monster do you think I am?
Seriously, what kind?

Under the overpass

What's your deal?

We're so stupid.

What am I looking at?

Crushed cars on a truck.

How "radioactive" sounds quaint.

Her diaphanous plan-

(I'd like to stuff her animal.)

(Hey-I know him.)

Small fries

That sweet, sweet bitterness.

Those legs should be the new symbol for eternity.

I miss the life of the mind.

Counter offer at the Waffle Hut

I fell in something.

Not sure I trust those scale models of the universe.

We're necessarily kidding ourselves.

The interchangeability of baby pictures-

(And me a member of the incompetentsia.)

I'll be at the Lake Forest Oasis, watching cars.

Fly season

I bought myself out.

I'll be at the sushi counter.

To them, we're the oddballs.

What about if tragedy goes on strike?

Burger momentum

Need to get away and lose some perspective.

A time machine that transports us to right now.

You're welcome to come to dinner with us.

Those little earrings...

Eternity is a temporary concept.

Still

Blame the cable company,
But also praise the cable company.

The new disconnectivity.

Smells like farmer's market.

Battle of the ice cream bells and rock and roll.

My new cliche:
That's pepper through the grinder.

But I really would like to buy the world a Coke.

Hey there young sport

All these philosophies cancel each other out. Or in.

A song to protest protest songs.

That ending was a cop out.

What's the big idea?

Don't spit that back!

Business, lady.

Aspire to amateur.

(I thought those were extinct.)

The English Muffin truck

I love that she made fun of me for that.

Turf has its own beauty--
Check out the pick-up soccer games in Sara D Roosevelt park between Broome and Grand.

Now that's the Harley I'd ride if I rode a Harley.

(I said she could Hoyt my Schermerhorn any day.)

You should go

With this in mind.

The Lyric Diner

(I'd like to post a menu in her window.)

That is some sexy gray hair.

I have those shoes!

The comfort of an old church gym-


(There are plenty of men in shirtsleeves leaning out of windows, but they're not necessarily lonely.)

I was talking to the fries

Gentlemen of the evening-

No bad clam jokes.

Let's run off to small town USA.

Deep breaths might work,
but they'll have to be pretty deep.


(Just some basic lesson I never picked up.)

Helicopters for peace

More essays on the eroticization of childhood.

Downloading old Loudness.
(Thunder in the East)

These storms aren't symbolic.

(I wouldn't mind icing her coffee.)

Temporary fencing

That accent will kill us all!

Beauty needs distance.

(I'd like to picnic on her Great Lawn.)

Forgetting the setting

Those daytime moons...

Keep me downdated.

Salad compliment: "Nice toss."

Everything must glow!

Are you sure about that dog?

(My two favorite spots in the park are: here, here, and here.)

Countless essences

Even when I know it isn't her...

The long legs of the law.

The decline of the internet: e-rosion

(Where did that building come from?)

I was reading immortal poems on the beach

The right to pursue interpretations of the pursuit of happiness.

The mournful joy of listening to The Replacements while driving.

Whether it's relevant or not is irrelevant.