Pat, Genius of Brasil
It started just like any other China day, i wrote as i passed an old lady dressed like an extra from an 80's post apocalyptic film, complete with red hair, red boots and some kind of weird 80's Madonnaesque denim thing, i dunno, lady clothes.
But today wasn't like any other day. Today was the Time Passage. The car-left-in-the-sun scorch of summer calmed to a summer warmth. I awoke to my favorite Calvin and Hobbes pages and followed that with making moves in all my correspondence games-only winning ones left, as those always go slower.
My shirt felt a little more comfortable than usual because it had caught the hanger to dry just the right way probably 4 days ago. My shoes are the most comfortable shoes I've had in my whole life.
Yes, today was the Time Passage.
I got the best bus line, 127. Even the beggar by the temple was better today. He had legs and almost hands, and he wasn't too pushy. On the crosswalk, only one car cut me off (usually this is 3-5 per crossing). Everything was clicking today.
As I sat down across my opponents, of course I made some brilliant moves. We even played several games on a 4-player board! Of course the best move of the night was done by myself. Behind me blow-smoke-in-the-face tactics squared off against legends of years past trying to get their groove back, but weighed down by drinking and womanizing. Normal Time Passage stuff, which I wish I could say was my favorite bar.
But my mind was elsewhere. I kept thinking back to that life changing game with my longtime coach, Pat. He is a genius from Brasil with a flare for teaching the great Brasillian arts of Capoeria/Brasillian Jujitsu/Chess, often simultaneously.
"The key," he would say, "is to not drop pieces. And focus more."
That's it for this week. Please leave all your thoughts/questions/insults in the comments. You must.
