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"Yeah, well, now that I'm working here you'll get to know her!" Katherine gives Alexandria a smooch on the forehead and returns behind the counter.
"Ms. Helga, what's your favorite word?" Alexandria asks without looking away from her coloring.
"My favorite word? I'll have to think about that, what's your favorite word?"
"Oh, well if I'm telling you then it will be harder for you to think about it, but it's okay, I'll keep coloring until your ready."
Helga found this very amusing to hear coming from such a tiny person and marveled at her talent for being assertive yet polite and most of all considerate. She felt she was taking too long digesting what Alexandria had said, and then said "oh, uhhh, Turquoise!"
This made Alexandria laugh, but then she says "I really doubt 'Turquoise' is your favorite word, Ms. Helga. I bet you just thought of that because of my crayon says 'Turquoise,' see, look,"
Helga knows she's right and responds "Oh yes you caught me, okay, I'll sip on my coffee and think about it."
*'Newton,' oh dear what's that about; 'lingerie,' actually, I do like that word but doesn't seem appropriate; 'boutique,' lord, I am awful at this; 'apple sauce'; 'danger'; 'hope'; 'pearls'; 'snowman'; 'whisper;' 'island'; 'cannabis'; 'wind';*
"Wind," Helga states.
"Wind?"
"Wind."
"Why wind? I like wind," Alexandria says this and grabs a gray crayon and writes 'w-i-n-d' on the page.
"I like wind too. I think the word is kind of cute because it's small and doesn't try to be fancy."
"What's a word that tries to be fancy?"
"Oh...um..."
*'lingerie'; 'gelatin'; 'crysanthemum'; 'spoke' but in the sense that relates to wheels; actually, maybe I can just describe it*
"Hm...fancy words are complicated words. Actually, it's hard to describe. But for instance, 'tornado' sounds fancier to me than 'wind.'"
"Oh, I think I know what you mean, but Tornado sounds silly to me, not fancy. It reminds me of 'potato.'"
"I could see that."
"Can I tell you something, Ms. Helga? I really like words, so I try to play this game sometimes where I try to remember my favorite word I heard in the last week. Maybe if you play that you'll get better at remembering what your favorite word is."
Travis quickly looks to see if Helga looked offended, instead when they make eye contact Helga burst out a laugh. Travis turns back to his plate laughing with his mouth closed, his shoulders shaking with each chuckle.
The narrator worries this is a very boring story. But the narrator also knows that Helga is experiencing joy in a way she can't remember ever experiencing. This conversation is far from anything she's heard in the boutique, so to her, this feels special, and unusual. The unusualness will linger with her until she realizes she might have been missing out on an entirely distinct human experience. |
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hashtag "no revisions," #norevisions
Helga is managing the lingerie boutique on a lazy Tuesday. By noon she only had one customer, a woman about her own age who asked for help finding a sports bra because that’s what her friends are into these days. So, she flips the hanging sign from open to closed, locks the door, and with just a few steps to the left and she’s in the cafe.
“Hi, Ms. Helga!” Katherine, Newton’s daughter, calls from the cash register.
“Hello, Katherine,” Helga replies....
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March 12, 2021, 11:48 p.m. |
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| Candice Accola |
I love spin classes. I'm also very big on music, so I make a mix on my iPod that's 45 minutes to an hour long of music that pumps me up so I know how much time I've been at the gym without looking at the clock. Put your favorite songs towards the end of the mix, so this way you keep going until you hear your favorite song. |
| Herb Caen |
Just two days in Manhattan and you find yourself looking for a place to wash your handkerchief after you wipe your forehead and it comes away black. Is there a dirtier or more fascinating city anywhere in the land? The answer to both parts of the question has to be positively negative. |
| Ron White |
But I work harder now because I have so much more exposure. And actually the harder you work as a writer, the better you get at it. It's like anything else. It's a muscle you have to exercise. I write more now than ever. |
| James Joyce |
Your battles inspired me - not the obvious material battles but those that were fought and won behind your forehead. |
| Allen Iverson |
Man, I'm 31 years old and a husband with four kids; I hope I'm no thug. I hear all those negative things and don't hear anything positive. I think that's all those people feel... that way that's all they hear about when you hear Allen Iverson did something negative or something. |
| Joey Adams |
A psychiatrist asks a lot of expensive questions your wife asks for nothing. |
| Julia Cameron |
When we put the pen to paper, we articulate things in our life that we may have felt vague about. Before you write about something, somebody says, 'How do you feel?' and you say, 'Oh, I feel okay.' Then you write about it, and you discover you don't feel okay. |
| Jonathan Ive |
True simplicity is, well, you just keep on going and going until you get to the point where you go, 'Yeah, well, of course.' Where there's no rational alternative. |
| Jermaine Jackson |
To see him there lifeless and breathless was very emotional for me. But I held myself together because I knew he's very much alive in his spirit, and that was just a shell. But I kissed him on his forehead, and I hugged him, and I touched him and I said, 'Michael, I'll never leave you. You'll never leave me.' |
| Laura Ingraham |
We know that Europe loves President Obama. He had adoring crowds. The press loves Obama. The question is how will this date end? Okay? The question is, to what end? Why do they love President Obama? They love his personal story, they love his wife. North Korea, China and Russia don't really care about Michelle's arms and, you know, whether they gave an iPod to the Queen, okay? |
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hashtag "no revisions," #norevisions
Helga is managing the lingerie boutique on a lazy Tuesday. By noon she only had one customer, a woman about her own age who asked for help finding a sports bra because that’s what her friends are into these days. So, she flips the hanging sign from open to closed, locks the door, and with just a few steps to the left and she’s in the cafe.
“Hi, Ms. Helga!” Katherine, Newton’s daughter, calls from the cash register.
“Hello, Katherine,” Helga replies....
This post is a comment.
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What's your favorite book?
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I wonder if my cat has any opinions about the clothes i wear. What's her favorite outfit?
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When I was in middle school I thought it was weird that people had favorite colors and lucky numbers so I decided that I'd have a lucky color and a favorite number. My favorite number was 17.5 and my lucky color was orange.
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Arjun and I were at Saica and A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton started playing. We looked up at each other and at the exact same time he said "this is my favorite song" and I said "this is your favorite song".
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your favorite number is really close to my favorite number divided by 2. my favorite number is 34.
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If you sit quietly long enough, you'll hear yourself telling you stories about who and what you are, and why you do the things you do. In fact, you'll never be able to stop telling yourself these stories.
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favorite number* is 17.5
This post is a comment.
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My favorite would have to be milk
This post is a comment.
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"never thought id say this, used to be an atheist. actually i believed in unification. but now i found a way that made sense put some faith in it. wanna help others, helpin people is my favorite. remember how i thought, looked down on god. thought i had it right but realize now im wrong"
This post is a comment.
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