Srubowe

I made this collar out of 3/8ths grade 5 coarse thread nuts.

Moda

More photos of Shelagh. I should stop taking pictures with her, because there are too many!!! BUT NOOOOOOOOO!!!! We just keep taking good pictures so I keep having to!! Darn...

Anyways, more awesome pictures with Shelagh!

I Never Look Classy: A Florida Travelogue in 33 Parts: Part 18: What? I'm Back in Canada?

Oh. Okay. I guess I'm back in Canada now.

Hrm.

Well... I guess that's it for the travelogue! Thank you to everyone for following along.

There wasn't really a whole lot that happened in the last few days while we were there, nothing to write home about. Or write on the internet, either. I did watch "The World is Not Enough" which wasn't the greatest, but whatever.

I'm glad to be back on this side of the border.

We ate at a Waffle House on the way back because I wanted to see if it was the same as I remember (it was: relatively okay).

Then we drove.

Hooray!!!

:)

~Erik

I Never Look Classy: Part 17: From Florida With Thunderballs

In the past couple of days I have watched a bunch more of the earliest James Bond movies and here are a few more thoughts about them.

From Russia With Love:

Following James Bond's defeat of Dr. Julius No in the previous film, the terrorist organization SPECTRE is out for REVENGE AND SUCH. So far I think that this might be my favourite of the James Bond films that I have seen of the early films.

The film continues with Sean Connery and it feels almost like an episode of television instead of a movie. The stakes in this film seem very low-key and almost against the formula that the rest of the James Bond films were made from, including Dr. No.

Even in the very first movie there is an underground lair, miles of henchmen and large contraptions such as the fire-breathing dragon swamp buggy thing. In From Russia With Love there is very little aside from James Bond, an alluring Russian agent, a bunch of nefarious characters, a train, and ESPIONAGE (not the kind of espionage that you do with machine guns attached to your car.)

The fight sequence between Bond and his villain near the end of the movie is superb, and even myself was surprised at the rough nature of some of the licks thrown out by both of the two men. Apparently the scene took three weeks to film.

All in all a very solid film that is, in my opinion, much more of a "spy" film than any of the other large and flashy movies in the series.

Goldfinger: Speaking of flashy, here we are. That's not to say that Goldfinger was a bad movie, but it definitely set the mold from which most films in the series would be cast from.

Auric Goldfinger (HILARIOUS NAME) likes gold and is doing stuff to get more of it. He is helped by Pussy Galore (what was Ian Fleming thinking of?).

One of the things that I think is just bizarre about the first few films in the series is, as I've mentioned, the pacing. In Goldfinger the "heist" part of the movie starts about 20 minutes from the beginning, and things run along until 60 seconds before the end, then Bond and his surviving Bond Girl smile and drop out of frame while "THE END" is displayed.

The set designer is in top form, bringing back the "underground lair" style of design from Dr. No, this time used in Goldfinger's ranch in the United States, and the interior of Fort Knox.

I kind of wish they still made the sets like this, three walls with a missing 4th wall like old film sets, plays and sitcoms. Something about it is really interesting, but maybe that's just me.

--

I also watched Thunderball, but I'll get to that another day. I'm having quite a bit of fun relaxing and doing a bit of writing.

In the meanwhile, Slainte.

I Never Look Classy: Maybe Now I Get Boring While You Get Jealous

So for the past few days, nothing has really happened of importance. Nothing really to write about, nothing really to comment on.

Except that American Netflix is awesome :)

I've been watching James Bond movies with the guys down here, having some laughs and I figured maybe I'd share a few thoughts about the ones we've watched so far.

Goldeneye: Pierce Brosnan is my favourite James Bond, but I wonder why this is. I grew up during his era of Bond films; I even saw 'Tomorrow Never Dies" and "The World Is Not Enough" in theatres when they came out.

Do people who grew up during Roger Moore's tenure as James Bond regard him as the best Bond? I wonder.

Goldeneye feels very much like an older movie to me, and that's one of the things I like about it. It feels like it has succeeded from the cinematic lineage that had been moving forwards from that time. They certainly don't light movies the same way any more and the way the film stock looks is interesting.

Tomorrow Never Dies: Bond gets to use his car this time. I specifically remember loving this film in theatres, but I think I was 11 or something at the time, so what did I know.

I don't know if the film stands up as well as it could have, but I still liked it, even now.

Dr. No: I watched this movie last night and there was one thing that I found remarkable about it: it was one of the slowest, strangely paced films I had ever seen. I tried my darndest to put myself in the mind of someone seeing it in the 60's when the style of film making was very different, and after some time I found myself relaxing and my brain matching the pace of the film, which in comparison to todays films is very slow.

Have films increased in Tempo over the past 50 years? Maybe so.

I do admire the way the film was made, the camera angles, the reliance on the acting as opposed to camera cuts. I kind of wish movies were still made like this, as if they were almost stage plays that somebody filmed.

I watched it on Netflix and it was an HD transfer, so it looked amazing. On the screen some of the shots looked almost as if they had been filmed fora  contemporary movie taking place in the 50's or 60's.

I also had to remember my history to figure out a part of the plot; this movie was made before the moon landing, in a time when NASA was doing rocket tests, and that one thing was important to remember. It also took place in a time when Atomic and Nuclear energy probably wasn't understood by the general public, and seemed fantastical.

One of the things I am going to enjoy about watching the older bond films is the set design for the various lairs that belong to the supervillains. Something about the way people used to think the future would look like is awesome.

--

So not much has been happening, but I've been relaxing and the weather outside is pretty good :) I hear that it has been snowing for realsies this time up in Canada, and the only thing I can say to that is:

*singing* It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Oh, and also: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

I Never Look Classy: Part 16-and-a-Half

HOLY SHIT IT'S DECEMBER!!!!

It's 28 degrees or something here.

:)

I Never Look Classy: Part 16: 48 Slaughtering Hours

I've gotten into "Dead Rising" in a big way. It's a vidja game about killin' your self some zombies, and that's about all I've been doing in the past couple days.

It's a relatively solid game, with a couple of minor technical issues. The thing I like the most about it is that it isn't a short game, I've sunk at least 30 hours into the thing by now and I don't think I'm more than 60% done. Which is a good time to dollar spent ratio on the entertainment.


When not doing that there has been a lot of reading "The Count of Monte Cristo," which is a LONG ASS BOOK. I've been reading pretty solid for a couple weeks now and I'm about 40% through. I might get it done by the end of the trip, and if that is the case I'll probably post a critique or something about it here.

--

The one thing we did find in the past two days was an awesome Cuban restaurant with authentic and delicious and cheap Cuban food. The name?

Cuban Restaurant.

I don't get business names down here.

It was there that I had my first Medianoche Sandwich (translates to Midnight Sandwich. It is quite similar to a Cuban sandwich, but the bread is a sweet and soft egg bread which is crisped in a press before serving.

The awesome and large sandwich was $4.99. That plus a beer and fries came to a total of $9.

Scrumptious.

--

Regarding the time-scale of these blog posts, each post is approximately one day, save for this entry which covers two boring days where we just relaxed and ate cuban food and swam.

Cheerio!

I Never Look Classy: Part 15: Cuban Sandwiches are Delicious

So, it turns out that Cape Coral is where old people go to die.

I don't really have anything to add to that statement, just something that I noticed and figured I would share that.

--

Miami.

The City of Angels.

We were going back to Miami. (Actually, most of us hadn't been.)

The morning started early as we left Cape Snore-al (it's boring, get it?!?!?) and drove on the interstate.

We eschewed the use of the highway to get to downtown and instead decided to drive through the city streets from the outskirts near the airport until we reached our first stop of the day, The Bal Moral Shoppes. The Mal Boral Shoppes is basically where people with too much money divest themselves of some of it in the search for designer label clothing.

There was a dress that we saw on a rack, not much but a few wisps of sparkling cloth. It's price tag?

DOLLAR SIGN SIX THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE.

$6995.

Plus tax. Oh, but there was a sale. 33% off.

--

We ate at one of the cafes in the mall. It was there that I first tasted a Cuban sandwhich. I don't know how authentic it was, but it was delicious.

Ham and Pork on crispy cuban bread with pickles and sauce. It was very delicious. I would have ordered a second, but it was $11.

After that, Derrick and myself left Clovis and Adam to the fancy pants mall and decided to go for a drive to Miami beach.

It was a bit of a cloudy day in Miami, but as we arrived at the beach it started to clear up. We stood in the water and stared at the ocean for a bit. After about 20 minutes we figured it was still kind a cloudy and the beach was deserted (minus two old ladies), so we bailed and drove around looking for a place to eat dinner a bit later.

Along the way back to the Mall, we noticed that we were using our knowledge of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to help us get around Miami. That game was set in a fictionalized version of Miami, and we were shocked to see how accurate the game portrayed the real city.

We drove past the alleyway where you get missions from some sketchy guy near the start, we saw the part of the city where your first save point was, stuff like that.

Good times.

--

An odd thing we saw at the Bal Moral Shoppes. Well, not odd, but something I'd only heard about, and it was cool.

Walking around the mall at a very leisurely and provocative pace was a model wearing a ONE BILLION DOLLAR (not real figures) Designer Dress. This was her job, to walk around in it and show it off. She made slow laps around the second level, first in a coral pink dress, the second in a lime green dress with a fur mantle.

She was about nine feet tall and weighed approx. eleven pounds.

A stunning sight to see, but I hadn't thought we were in a place that would do that sort of thing.

--

Dinner was a bit of a trial, a long trek, a journey to a mythical place that A) serves food that doesn't suck and B) Does not cost $100 per person.

We decided to hit up the part of Miami where you stay in a hotel at the beginning of Vice City after you see your cousin and cohorts murdered. We actually pretty much found the exact hotel and decided to find a place to eat nearby.

I must warn you, do not go to Miami beach and expect to eat food at one of the hotels along there without knowing the following:

ONE) All of the hosts and hostesses along the strip of hotels are vipers and hucksters (Thank you Clovis for that one). Walking along the strip is like walking through a meat grinder where every single one of the establishments are REALLY FUCKING KEEN to get your business.

The first one we walked past said that if we stayed at his place he would give us a free round of drinks, then he gave us a little card with all the menu options. I was really jonesing for another Cuban sandwhich, and saw one on the menu for a reasonable price.

We decided to check out a few more places before settling one, and the Host of the place told us that he would give EACH of us FOUR drinks on the house. For a moment I thought that maybe this was a good deal, but then I realized that something was wrong if 16 alcoholic beverages were going to be given out to us for free.

We left, but deja vu overwhelmed us as the exact same thing happened at all of the restaurants along the strip.

They must have been hurting for customers.

Oh, that's it. There is no second thing.

--

We found a sushi place one street over, not on the strip. The sushi was pretty good, cheap, and we ate our fill.

On the drive home we stopped at McDonalds for ice cream.

A good day :)

I Never Look Classy: Part 14: Baby Back Ribs

On Monday, there wasn't a whole lot to what we did.

We swam. We watched movies.

We ate at Chilli's, which in a sad way was one of the better meals we've had down here so far.

It was the first rainy day that we really had, which is a good thing to have happen in the second week.

A package from Amazon arrived with a $4 mouse for me to use with my laptop.

Aaaaand...

Oh yeah, Derrick set the BBQ on fire for a bit while making sausages.

Just a little grease fire, but still shocking to see through the patio window as I am playing a video game.

Anyways, relaxing was good. More updates to come.

Thrilling.

I Never Look Classy: Part 13-and-a-Half: Story Time!!

Story by myself, Entitled "Whoopsie Doopsie Doo, I Killed You."

I wrote this in 2 hours and 13 minutes, from the start of when I sat down with a vague plot and two character names until I finished the final sentence. I started the exercise with ten minutes of plot brainstorming, an outline of the events, and then began writing.
No editing has taken place to the story since I finished the last keystroke when I wrote it.
It is probable that this needs some editing, but I do like it. With that in mind, enjoy.




Vanessa stood as her friend sat down on the white large black marble floor. She watched coldly as Stephanie hunched over with her forehead on the ground and vomited her entire stomach contents on her dark wool skirt and black stockings.

The pale young man behind the counter stood staring in bewilderment for a second at the mess creating itself in the middle of his clean floor. After a few seconds he remembered himself and rushed around the formica countertop to kneel beside the sick woman.

Clutching Stephanie's purse, Vanessa turned and stepped out of the tiny coffee shop. Her heels clicked on the worn beige tiles that made up the floor of the subway station and, not 30 seconds after her friend collapsed on the floor, making no breathing sounds, Vanessa had disappeared into the warm rainy lights of the dark city.

–

“Do you remember that party,” Stephanie said viciously, “the one on the last day of freshman year?”

“Of course I fucking remember that party,” Vanessa spat back at her.

“Well, I have a few dark spots from that night. I remember doing shots with you early in the night. There was jello shots and then some other things happened, but the one thing that I do remember very clearly is being in the hot tub with Franklin.”

Vanessa's eyes flashed with anger.

“Yeah, we were all along. It was the hot tub on the porch of the master bedroom. It didn't even take that long before he was complaining about you. 'Oh, Vanessa? She can be a real stuck up bitch sometimes,'” Stephanie impersonated Franklin with a flourished, over-emphasizing tone. “'Sometimes I wish that her and I had never gotten together.'”

“Shut up,” Vanessa hissed. She looked quickly around the small, empty coffee shop and over to the barista behind the counter, but her had not noticed anything. He was reading a fashion magazine with some young thing on the cover. Dark hair and a pink ribbon wrapped tightly around her throat.

'Oh how I wish I had a ribbon wrapped around Stephanie's throat,' thought Vanessa.

Stephanie was continuing her story about Franklin in her cruel voice as if Vanessa had never said anything. She seemed to delight in twisting every word as if they were knives in Vanessa's side.

“I spent the night with him. We spent hours and hours just fuc-”

Vanessa grabbed Stephanie by the wrist, pressing her long red fingernails into the tendons in Stephanie's carpel tunnel. Stephanie was cut-off mid sentence, yelping in pain.

For the first time she noted the coldness in Vanessa's eyes as Vanessa glared at her from under her short black bangs, over the top of her delicate glasses.

“You know, I actually knew about,” Vanessa said, pressing harder and encouraging another sigh of pain out of Stephanie, whose expression of anger had been replaced with one of fear. “I knew all about you and Franklin. That's actually one of the reasons that I was happy to take this assignment.”

Stephanie tried to pull back on her wrist, but Vanessa dug her nails in deeper. A small trickle of blood splashed against the wooden tabletop and leaving a few speckles on the folder file that Stephanie had in front of her.

Vanessa put a finger to her lips and shushed Stephanie gently.

“Now now, we wouldn't want our host to hear us,” she said, looking at the bored college student behind the espresso machine. “It was icing on the cake, actually. I was so angry at you when I walked in on you and Franklin in that hot tub. You were on top of him and it took everything I had not to run over and throw you off of that balcony.”

“You see, Stephanie, that day I made a vow, and the vow was this: 'I am going to kill her.' Her meaning you, Stephanie.”

Stephanie was frozen, blood slowly oozing out from her wrist as Vanessa twisted it backwards, all the while keeping her nails pushing further and further into the nerves in Stephanie's wrist.

“I never did see you after that. I mean, it was summer time and I ended up going away for the next seven years. Do you want to know where I went?”

“Please let go-” Stephanie stammered.

“Nope, that's not where I went. Actually, I went overseas. There was a recruiting program, and I had caught their eye. It turns out that they were very interested in me.”

“What- What do you mean?”

“Well, I was Romania, staying with my family for a few months over the summer. The group was... as I had said, interested. In me specifically.”

Vanessa moved her mouth in such a way as to resemble a smile, but there was not a shred of mirth or happiness found there.

“I won't say much about the first few years, because really it's not becoming of a lady to talk about that kind of place in polite company. It wasn't a good place, and they did not treat me kindly. I have scars from the first few times I tried to escape,” Vanessa sighed. “At one point they did push me too far, though.”

“That's when they noticed something else about me, Stephanie. I wanted to survive. Do you want to?”

Stephanie made to reach into her purse. Vanessa yanked her wrist to the side.

“What are you looking in there for, Steph? Your gun? When you were in the bathroom I stole it just in case you made a dumb move.”

Stephanie kicked out with the sharp heel of her shoe, aiming for Vanessa's instep, at the same time yanking her torso backwards in order to break Vanessa's grip.

The pale man behind the counter remained oblivious, listening to his headphones.

Vanessa let go as Stephanie pulled back, leaving her own momentum carrying her off balance, making her surprise move useless.

In a split second Vanessa had pulled out the small matte black pistol that had once resided in Stephanie's purse.

“It doesn't matter, really, Stephanie, you trying that. Let me finish the story though, before we settle up our 'account' so to speak.”

“They know I am here,” Stephanie said, putting pressure on the wound on her wrist to stop the bleeding.

“No they don't. You may be the aide to the Prime Minister, but they aren't following your every movement. And by the time you don't show up for work tomorrow, I will be long gone. Now, as I was saying, when I was noticed for a second time by the group I currently work for, it was because they found me in a room with two dead and one blind man, covered in blood and a bootknife in my hand. That's when they decided that maybe I could be of use to them in other ways.”

Vanessa leaned in close across the small circular table and whispered in Stephanie's ear.

“You're not my first, you know.”

Vanessa pushed the barrel of the gun into Stephanie's abdomen.

“Bang,” she whispered.

Vanessa leaned back and checked up once more on the clueless dude, now counting muffins behind the counter.

“It doesn't matter. I know you, and of course, just like in the old days, you ordered the exact same thing every time. A cappuccino, it takes a few minutes to make, and while you were in the bathroom I slipped just a taste of cyanide in your drink.”

Stephanie's eyes widened in realization. “You fucking-” she gasped as she flung herself back from the table and out of the chair.

Vanessa watched as she made it partway across the tiled floor before she stopped, clutching her stomach. Stephanie teetered as if on the brink of stepping on to a train bound for parts unknown, before one of her heels twisted underneath her and she collapsed.

–

The lights in the concrete ceiling swung ever so slightly as the vibrations from another subway train shook the minuscule coffee shop gently.

“That could get irritating,” Vanessa said with a smile, “but I guess it's lucky that we don't work here!”

Stephanie smiled back.

“You may not work here, Vanessa, but sometimes I feel that I do. I come in here usually every day before and after work. I am thinking of asking my boss for a raise, just so I can help pay for the coffee's that I get here.”

Stephanie sat down on one side of the small wooden table, Vanessa on the other.

“Would your boss do that?”

Stephanie laughed a bit, to herself more than anything.

“Well, he's a nice guy, but a bit hair brained. I suppose it's to be expected, the President has been giving him a lot of hassle over this Conduction bill they've been trying to get passed into law. Either way, he is also a big connoisseur of coffee, so I suppose the case could be made to him.”

“You should do it! Even if you don't spend the money on coffee, it's always nice to have a bit of extra cash around, if you can find the time to spend it.

“I guess.”

There was an awkward pause as Vanessa sipped her coffee and Stephanie looked to the barista who was going through the process of still making hers.

“So what about you?” Stephanie asked. “What are you up to these days?”

“Oh, you know, just working on a bit of- well, consulting is a good way of putting it. I'm just in town on a bit of business.”

“You travel a lot, I didn't know.”

“All over. Last week I was in Brussels, but the food was bad and the company- unwelcoming.”

“I wish that I had a chance to travel, I can barely see the sun shine here. Maybe one day I can make it down to the south, my 'Nan has a bit of a cottage down there.”

“A bit of a cottage? That sounds nice. Is it right on the sea?”

“Oh yes. I've had a weekends of fun and games down there, but with the new job and everything I haven't been able to get away for the last 18 months.”

Vanessa nodded in commiseration.

“No rest for the wicked, I suppose.”

Another pause as the two of them tried to bridge the gap that lay before them.

Stephanie watched the barista and Vanessa took a good look at her.

Her blond hair, long in high school and in freshman year was now cut short in the popular fashion that was going around. Stephanie had put on a few pounds since then as well, but it only served to round off her sharp features and give her a more wholesome, grown up look.

The barista rattled the espresso machine and twisted and pulled some of the dozens of shiny brass levers and knobs that formed the shiny coffee denizens countenance. Steam hissed out of somewhere on the machine.

Stephanie excused herself to the bathroom for a moment while waiting for her coffee.

Another train rumbled by and shook the small coffee shop again.

The barista finished his work with the brass beast and placed the cappuccino on the table across from Vanessa before retreating behind the counter and picking up something to read.

Vanessa pulled from the manila envelop a small vial of white powder.

The cappuccino had a flower pattern of steamed milk poured into the foam, the creamy brown and foamy white mixing along the edges and creating a very pretty marbled effect.

Vanessa sprinkled the white powder on top as if icing sugar. The foam flattened and began to break apart.

Stephanie returned from the bathroom, buttoning up her pea coat as she walked back over to the table.

“So,” said Stephanie, “how about the cinema on tuesday? I have a free night that day, perhaps we could go and see a film together?”

“That sounds lovely. What films have come out?”

“I don't really follow, but I am sure that we could see something.”

Stephanie sipped her cappuccino and Vanessa bared her white teeth in a somewhat predatory smile.

“Okay. It's a date.”

“A date?”

Vanessa tilted her head

“A plan, then.”

Stephanie nodded and sipped her drink again. Vanessa did the same and once again the awkwardness of two people who haven't seen each other in quite some time was thick.

Especially that one of them had just poisoned the other.

“So what ever became of you and Alex?” Vanessa started.

“Alex? Oh, I haven't seen him since-- a long time ago? I think the summer of freshman year.”

“But you two were so in love, weren't you?”

“Oh, I thought that we were at the time,” Stephanie said, shaking her head. “I think that he was in love with me, but I was looking for someone a bit more- exciting.”

“Exciting?”

“Oh, yes. You remember how I was back then. Though now I've settled down a bit, my husband actually works in the office across the hall from me. A boring chap actually, but we still get up to a bit of fun now and then.”

“You're married? I hadn't heard.”

“Oh, yes, for three years now. He have a flat not too far from the city centre.”

“My- well, congratulations.”

Vanessa thought back to the details inside the Manila envelope. It hadn't contained any mention of a family.

“Hopefully,” Vanessa added, “this one lasts a bit longer than Alex did.”

Stephanie's smile faltered at these words.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you were a bit of a wild child if I remember correctly.”

“A 'wild child?'”

“You know what I mean, Steph, it was barely a week that went by that you didn't have some new young thing on your arm, and that's even when you were dating Alex. He never knew because he was always at his studio painting.”

“I never did anything with those other-”

Vanessa nodded in mock agreement.

“Of course you didn't,” Vanessa cooed.

Stephanie's cheeks flushed red and she shoved across the table, splashing some on one of the file folders that she had set in front of her. She look around at the empty coffee shop to ensure that no one had seen her embarrassment.

The coffee shop was still empty, save for the barista reading his magazine.

–

The subway train sped along the tunnel, lights flickering past quickly. The evening train had very few people on it, and Stephanie was sitting alone at the front end of the second car.

Every few seconds the lights in the car would flicker, but Stephanie's attention was on her cellular in her hands.

She saw that she had two messages.

The first was from her friend, Vanessa, saying that she was going to meet her at the Alperton Tube station, which is where Stephanie was headed.

The second was from her husband.

'Hun, I'll see you tonight. Make sure to bring those files home and don't stay out too late, you know I worry ;)' said the text message.

Stephanie smiled to herself and looked once more at her purse and the few file folders that she was carrying with her.

The new Conduction Bill that had been introduced was getting a lot of flak from some of the other parties in Parliament and Trenton, her husband was worried about some sort of political attack, but Stephanie didn't think so. She wasn't worried.

She checked in her purse once more for the two devices that she now always carried with her.

The first, a small Walther pistol, given to her by the Prime Minister himself not six months ago when she had become one of his chief aides.

“These are dangerous times,” The Prime Minster had said.

Indeed they were, thought Stephanie as she checked the second device.

About the size of two decks of cards was a black box with a red button and a metal disk where something was made to go.

Taking the black device out of her purse, she mated the peculiar pattern on her wedding ring to the design in the device and turned the metal disk until it clicked.

“One can never be too careful,” Stephanie muttered to herself. She placed the timed incendiary device back into her purse, the timer reset for another 60 minutes. It nestled in her large purse beside the sensitive computer drives that she had brought home with her along with the paper files.

The conductor called out the next stop and Stephanie collected her things.

“Alperton Station, Alperton Station,” said the conductor.

As the train slowed to a stop Stephanie saw her old friend about thirty metres away, sitting on a red plastic bench on the platform. Her hair was the same, dark and short, messy as if she had just gotten out of bed. She seemed thinner and taller than Stephanie had last seen, dressed in a pair smart leather boots and fashionable red leather coat with black buttons.

Stephani stepped off the train and began walking to her sitting friend.

Vanessa pulled a yellow envelope from her purse and opened it, taking something out and looking at it. Even though Stephanie was relatively far away she could see that her friend was concerned for a moment.

'I wonder what that is about,' thought Stephanie, 'I'll be sure to ask her about it after coffee.'

“Vanessa!” she called to her friend across the deserted tube station.

Vanessa looked up and the two of them waved,

'Old friends,' thought Stephanie as she walked briskly across the white tile, 'some people never change.'