Luana Patten

            On Tuesday morning during yoga the heat from the radiator raised pools of sweat that the breeze from the window chilled.

            There’s a guy in an electric wheelchair that comes to the Coffeetime every morning but sits outside smoking and sending fumes up into my apartment. He also shouts and swears at people a lot. There’s another guy he talks to and this morning he said that he only had one beer in the fridge. The guy in the wheelchair said that’s good because he always saves a beer for when he gets up.

I memorized the first verse of “Vu de l’extérieur” (From the Outside) by Serge Gainsbourg and made some adjustments in my translations and my rhymes as I learned how it is sung.

            I typed more of my lecture notes.

            I took a siesta from 9:30 to 10:40 so I’d be fresh for work.

            It had been raining all morning and still was when I left for OCADU but though the downpour was steady it wasn’t heavy and so I was only a bit damp when I got there. The instructor took me by surprise because she just looked like another student and gave off the same amount of confidence. Lima Lenaghan is very slim and shy and she’s the first teacher I’ve seen who lectured with hand written notes. I assume she’s very new to this but will rise to the job.

            I started with two minute and five minute poses and then just did twenties for the rest of the class. During breaks I worked on my journal with my laptop.

            As I was leaving I looked over to the sign-in desk in case Brian Haddon was there on his way in. He was, so I went over to say “Hi”. His van dyke beard has gotten very white. I told him he looked distinguished but he said he looked scruffy. I walked him across the street and we chatted briefly. We arranged to meet for a beer in December.

            On my way home I stopped at Loblaws because I knew Freshco has only green grapes right now. I bought two bags of red and one of black, plus a strawberry rhubarb pie. My cashier picked a hair off the box and explained he’d been worried that it had been inside on the pie. I thanked him for looking out for me.

            I had potato chips and salsa with a bit of yogourt for lunch.

            I took another siesta.

            I worked on my journal.

            My upstairs neighbour David knocked on my door as I was cooking dinner. He wanted to give me two slices of pizza. I tried to turn him down but he insisted and so I took them. He also wanted to give me an electronic device that he’s been hyping to me for the last few weeks. I went upstairs with him and he gave it to me. It’s a Bluetooth Portable PA system and voice amplifier. It also apparently records onto USB and comes with a headset. Off hand I can’t think of what I’d use it for since I can record at home with my computer or camera and I don’t need to amplify my voice at home. We’ll see.

            I grilled a pack of frozen drumsticks that I spiced with cayenne. I had two with a potato and gravy while watching wanted Dead or Alive starring Steve McQueen.

            In this story Josh comes to the town of Varga in response to a letter sent him by Gabe Henshaw. We never see Josh with a home base and so I wonder where a letter would be mailed. Henshaw wants Josh to find his son’s dead body because he knows he’s been murdered. When Josh asks around he hears everyone say that Wilt Henshaw is still alive and that Gabe is a delusional drunkard. Josh learns that Wilt had been in love with Abbie Fenton and Gabe says they were going to be married. Everyone else says that Abbie was out of Wilt’s league. Josh is almost convinced that the town is right about Gabe but on his way out of town he is accosted by Abbie who tells him to meet her behind the school that night. But when Josh goes there three men beat him up. When he confronts Abbie about it the next day she tells him that she didn’t set him up. She says she was in love with Wilt and that he was murdered by Jed Miller because Jed wants to marry her. Josh tries to raise a posse against Jed Miller but he finds that no one would do anything against Miller because he single-handedly saved Vargas from dying when he opened up his sawmill. Josh confronts Jeb alone and when he’s ambushed he kills him.

            Abbie was played by Luana Patten, who was a child star in Disney films like Song of the South. She stopped acting for eight years and then returned in her late teens to be the leading lady in “Rock Pretty Baby” starring Sal Mineo.