Three Fragments Overheard in Tucson, AZ

May 2, 2026

Scene: a Tiki Bar.

ᴅʀᴜɴᴋ: I really like that one, you know—

ʙᴀʀᴛᴇɴᴅᴇʀ: The what?

ᴅʀᴜɴᴋ: —you know, with the spins—

ʙᴀʀᴛᴇɴᴅᴇʀ: Is that the one who—

ᴅʀᴜɴᴋ: What?

ʙᴀʀᴛᴇɴᴅᴇʀ: She beat the shit out of—

ᴅʀᴜɴᴋ: What?

ʙᴀʀᴛᴇɴᴅᴇʀ: (long pause) Who is she?

ᴅʀᴜɴᴋ: She’s a white woman.

Scene: the DVD shelf of a pawn shop.

ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ: Ever see this one—

ᴍᴀɴ: Love it—

ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ: —with Carrie Fisher?

ᴍᴀɴ: Ever see the Sicarios? It’s a—

ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ: Those are about the—

ᴍᴀɴ: It’s sort of a real world look at—

ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ: It’s the one with the—

ᴍᴀɴ: —a cartel.

ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ: Oh, that’s your—

ᴍᴀɴ: Yeah, that’s my kind of—

ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ: Better buy up all of these good movies before they—

ᴍᴀɴ: Before they can’t make them anymore because of the—

ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ: Yeah.

Scene: The last Waffle House on Earth.

ᴘᴀᴛʀᴏɴ: Who’s the other—

ᴡᴀɪᴛʀᴇꜱꜱ: That’s my daughter’s godmother I fell out with because of the whole—

ᴘᴀᴛʀᴏɴ: Some drama? There was some—

ᴡᴀɪᴛʀᴇꜱꜱ: We had a whole—

ᴘᴀᴛʀᴏɴ: —situation—

ᴡᴀɪᴛʀᴇꜱꜱ: —thing where—

ᴘᴀᴛʀᴏɴ: What, did she—

ᴡᴀɪᴛʀᴇꜱꜱ: It wasn’t like that, it was—

ᴘᴀᴛʀᴏɴ: —something else—

ᴡᴀɪᴛʀᴇꜱꜱ: —something different.

Happy birthday, Anne!

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Thought:

“It’s my nature to keep quiet about most things. Even the ideas in my work. When you try to unravel something you’ve written, you belittle it in a way. It was created as a mystery, in part. Here is a new map of the world; it is seven shades of blue. If you’re able to be straightforward and penetrating about this invention of yours, it’s almost as though you’re saying it wasn’t altogether necessary. The sources weren’t deep enough.”

Don DeLillo

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