U of C, Represent

In line at Fifth Third Bank during lunch to deposit a handful of checks.

clerk: You wanted … some money back?

me: Yes, $40.

clerk: Do you have your ID with you?

me: Yes. Wait, no. I just have my school ID. Is that okay?

I hand him my University of Chicago ID card and give him my social security number so he can verify the account.

clerk, looking at my deposit slip: How much did you want back?

me: Forty dollars.

clerk: Um. Your math’s a little off.

me, trying to be cute and nonchalant at the same time: Mmm. That doesn’t surprise me.

clerk: According to this … you want $310 back.

* * *

current book: Finished Magellan on the Metra home. Will begin DeLillo’s The Body Artist tomorrow morning. I also purchased Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day today. It’s worth having a hard copy of.

current music: After listening to Os Mutantes’ first album three times in a row this morning, I couldn’t find anything that hit the spot. I’m tempted to listen to Calexico nonstop, but I don’t want too much of a good thing. So I bounced from Cat Power to The Clientele back to Os Mutantes.

current socks: A friend just gave me a pair of socks she got for me in Japan. They are white crew socks with black cats all over them, and the turquoise toes are divided in two… so that you can wear them with flip flops. Maybe I’ll do just that and tell everybody it’s a Japanese trend that I’m on the cutting edge of.