This Will Only Make Sense to People who Have Been to the Naked Lounge with Me

This at first glance may just seem like an awkward picture of my roommate and friend Margaret holding my niece Samantha at the Aquarium of the Pacific here in Long Beach. It is, indeed, that. But it is SO much more than that.

Many of my friends from Chico have spent many an hour with me at the Naked Lounge, the best coffee shop in town and probably all of Northern California. It is filled with couches, atmosphere, the scent of good coffee, and eclectics. Many of them know the long history of myself and a certain eclectic man. I invite these friends to take a closer look at the gentleman in the upper left corner of this photo. I shall zoom in for clarity:


OH MY @!#$% IS THAT JEWISH MARK??? WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING IN LONG BEACH?? HOW ON EARTH DID HE TRAVEL OUTSIDE OF CHICO?

**For those of you not knowing the history, Jewish Mark has been someone who has talked at me extensively throughout my days in Chico - since I was 19. It is difficult to avoid conversation with Mark, regardless of whether you are alone or with a group, walking or talking, drinking coffee or reading a book. Not to say that conversation is a bad thing, you know... but I am selfish with my coffee time. The fact that he may have shown up in Long Beach, CA, is similar to the appearance of Moby Dick in the same location, tooting one of those little party wooters and wearing a Mickey Mouse hat.

This is bizarre. This is surreal. This had better just be a doppelganger.