Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Tuesday Before Thanksgiving 1973


On the way home, I picked up this girl hitchhiker on Bayard and drove her as far as Negley. It was a very humanitarian deed since it was getting uncomfortably close to five, and the chances of getting massacred in the 5:00 rush hour were rapidly increasing. During the day, Mel's fondue party was constantly on my mind; still, I was not inclined to attend. After a PBJ muffin, I went to GSLIS and put in my three hours for the day. I brought my radio along, and that helped to pass the time immensely. When I thought it to be nearly 7:00, it turned out to be twenty of eight, which left me twenty minutes to get to the Guild Theater for the two Fellini films, Satyricon and Roma.

I neglected to mention the impression of my drive from North Hills to downtown Pittsburgh in the early part of the afternoon. The effect was extraordinary in that I felt I was cruising down Harbor Blvd. through Costa Mesa heading towards Newport Beach. The same hill and slant of the roadway, the same gaudy strip of stores and restaurants. The similarity was far from identical but enough to cause a definite feeling of deja vu. Heading towards Pittsburgh, there was no ocean to be met, just a miniature Manhattan. During the afternoon I was in two places three thousand miles apart and really experienced the effect of their spectral presence.

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