the diary

things i saw downtown after midnight

i think i like the city better when nobody is looking

There is a very specific hour at night where downtown stops feeling like a place where people actually live.

The restaurants are closing. The buses are mostly empty. The people walking around look like they're either coming home from somewhere or going somewhere they shouldn't.

I bought a magazine from a convenience store, walked past a theater with an enormous old movie poster in the window, and sat outside a closed bookstore for twenty minutes.

I kept thinking about Dracula for absolutely no reason.

Maybe because everything looked black and white. Maybe because I was tired. Maybe because I'm becoming a complete lunatic.

Anyway, I got home at 2:36.

Nobody noticed.

i bought another black jacket

this is becoming a problem

I don't need another black jacket.

I know this.

My closet knows this.

My bank account definitely knows this.

And yet.

It was perfect.

The collar was slightly too large and the sleeves were ridiculously long and it made me feel like I should be standing on a balcony overlooking some cursed European village.

Obviously I bought it.

things i currently believe in

• old movies are better at night
• silver jewelry fixes everything
• black eyeliner is a personality trait
• the best music sounds slightly haunted
• you should always explore the weird little side street
• nobody looks cool carrying an umbrella
• Dracula would absolutely hate TikTok