#old white people love redheads. they think we're the most charming species

[britneyshakespeare]

but in less panicky news about my day, i was at a flea market this morning, good classic american fun, looking at a collection of vintage books that one vendor carefully sorted by category. i bought several of his art books. 

while i was flipping through them deciding on what to buy i overheard a conversation between a couple of older men (we’re talkin... 60s to 70s) and i think the vendor asked one of them “where do you live?” and the guy just went “huh... uhhh... idk, where do i live?” and they were laughing a bit about that, because it’s a ridiculous statement. apparently the guy goes back and forth between the year but that’s still funny how it came out.

while they were having their rounds, i was only a few feet away from them, and though i wasn’t part of the conversation i thought i may as well make the joke aloud: “well, you live. i simply exist.”

and they all liked it quite a bit. it got them chuckling; they thought it was quite profound. i also don’t think they expected a young lady to add her own witty remark to the conversation so they were pretty excited. 

but within a minute i went back to looking at the art books, and then one of them said: “wait a minute, are you a poet?”

and i was like... “yes, but, how did you know that?” (i am not in any way locally known to the degree that i would expect to ever be recognized by a complete stranger)

and then immediately i noticed that i was wearing my academy of american poets tote bag. it just says “poets” in a big blue circle on the side that was visible to them. i was like, oh, that’s silly of me.

#tales from diana #bc one of them was about to say i was a poet and didn't even know it but then there my bag was. possibly identifying me as a poet. #they asked if i did readings and i said hell no basically. lol. im published in a few local journals that's it. that's all i want too. #none of those outlets even have a picture of me. so. anyone who reads diana from new england's poetry doesn't know what she looks like #then i was told to 'stay young' (i said 'ill try') and i was also complimented on my hair color #old white people love redheads. they think we're the most charming species #unless i guess they're anti-irish/anti-catholic but this was in massachusetts so. that's not the running assumption i make lol.