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our next door neighbors are in their 60s and pretty well-to-do. we don't see them that often; mostly we just hear when their dinner parties let out and the stairway reverbs with the boistrous end of conversations and bonne soirées. from our crow's nest windows we caught sight of the guests in the street leaving tonight's episode. nice suits and eveningwear. clean cut silver hair. real classy. i was a little sad because i realised that even in our heyday we threw way fewer parties than these guys do now. oh well.

it's almost midnight now, on a friday night. that means in exactly one hour there's going to be tons of loud singing drunk people walking below our window. you can set your watch and calendar by it. "hey, it's thursday!" "must be 1am!" to the minute accuracy. there's a second wave at 4am thursday through saturday of folks that somehow know the right people or the right places. and usually a couple stragglers now and again until 7 or 8.

makes me feel like a real square every time. they seem to be having so much fun. we were never allowed to sing in public in the states! and with my working hours being everyone else's partying hours i get a seussian grinchy attitude peering down on the whoville frolickers.

so anyway, the image. maybe it's offensive to some of you but i get a kick out of it. a german art project idea "aimed at" helping to clean up cities. it's a life-sized iconic ceramic tree that could be planted variously around urban areas. it's got a small trough at the bottom that drains into the sewer. use the canine part of your brain and you'll catch right on. some things about europe really are awesomer.