santa cruz, call me lazy

i woke up at 3am and decided to wander downtown semiconsciously. the city was doing its thing-somewhere between a sleepy ruin and a place that pretends it’s not a sleepy ruin. the weather was this weird 16-degree fog that clings to your skin like a bad memory. i just checked and it’s…there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. if you get bored, la or berkeley are just a short drive away. honestly, i’m not even sure why i’m writing this. maybe because the coffee shop i was in had this absurd noise level and the barista was using a espresso machine like it was a weapon.

i took a photo of a streetlamp that looked like it had seen a ghost. probably did. the light was flickering like it was trying to tell me something.

i heard that the local pub has a secret menu item that involves a potato and a mystery sauce. some kind of rumor i absorbed while drunk. another person told me that the beach here is so crowded that you can’t even walk without stepping on someone’s sandcastle. i’m not sure if that’s true or if they were just being dramatic. either way, i didn’t go.




i also saw this sign that said ‘no dogs allowed’ but then immediately next to it was a guy feeding a seagull with a taco. priorities, people.

someone told me that the tram is the best way to get around but also the worst because it’s always late. i didn’t believe them until i waited 20 minutes for a ride that took me three blocks.
another person warned me about the street performers-they said one of them had a hidden camera. i don’t know if that’s true but i’ll never trust a guy playing a violin on a curb again.

i checked yelp and saw a review for a bakery that said the croissants were ‘overpriced but worth it if you’re a sad person.’ i went there anyway. the croissant was good. the barista was weirdly into poetry. we talked about emily dickinson for 10 minutes. i’m not sure why. trippadvisor review. i also linked to a local board that had a map of all the weird art installations. yelp link. and another one for a community center that hosted a weird poetry night. local board.




the neighbors here are…mysterious. some of them seem to exist in a state of perpetual confusion. i saw a woman watering her plants at 11pm with a hose that looked like it belonged in a horror movie. others were just lying on the sidewalk like they were part of the scenery. i’m not sure if they’re homeless or just really into their aesthetic.




i’m running out of things to say. maybe i’ll just go to sleep now. or maybe i’ll go to the beach. either way, the weather is still this 16-degree thing. i just checked and it’s…there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. maybe i’ll write another post. or maybe i won’t. who knows.

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