walking around

so i had 2-3 hours to spare yesterday, is that a dirty word in our day?, so i decided to start walking around downtown, doing the touristy thing without the map. i really haven't done that a lot since i moved here cause things moved to fast you know with the housing panic and then classes started... anyway, i had two goals yesterday, to find a record store, always a great goal in an unknown city, and to find a quiet cafe to just sit and read. it was cold but not cold enough to walk around for a while. the streets were mostly quiet downtown, a few tourists here and there, my ear caught some french at some point, the usual food vendors and asian laundry places advertising "new management, we love customer" with a big heart in the place of love on an electronic marquee. i walked and walked and was getting hungry when i spotted a "vinyl only, no cds or tapes" store and i walked in. the familiar smell of old records engulfed me and i felt closer to home. the owner wasn't there and when he came in he asked us (me and another guy) if we were looking for something specific. i replied no and the other guy asked for something that i didn't recognise and therefore can't recall and the owner left through the front door to go to his basement next door where apparently a lot of good stuff is hidden. the rows of records at knee level had "no touching" signs on them and i obliged. the place was extremely expensive, cheaper lp i saw was $10 but i imagine the mean to be around $25 or so. i left and finally found a quiet cafe with only two other people in it. walked in and ordered a quiche and a lemonade and then changed the lemonade to a capuccino. the ladies next to me were having a really sad conversation the one woman's mother and her mental breakdown. i stayed for about an hour reading and then wandered back, up mercer and made a stop at a record store i've been in twice before. this time however i went downstairs to the vinyl section where they really have an excellent and affordable collection. most lps were around $11-13, new. their reggae stuff was almost impressive. however, until now amsterdam remains the king of dirt cheap vinyl and lots of it. i left, without buying anything but knowing now that i need to buy a turntable, and then i wandered back and went to class. by the end of the walk i was listening to tom waits, nighthawks at the diner, and i challenge any man or woman to listen to this record while walking around and not laugh aloud at the stories, especially the one where he takes advantage of himself, "i'm not weird about it or anything, i don't tie myself up first"