7.21.2005
What is that, velvet?
Last weekend we went to the fabric market, which is pretty much exactly what you'd guess it is: a big, covered market that has hundreds of stalls with people selling fabric. I know, who would have guessed? Yet, despite all the stalls and the many types of material available, the place gets boring pretty damn quick. Once again, who would have guessed? I mean, fabric is, lake, super-exciting, right? Yeah ... or not so much.
Whatever. We were at the market looking for material for me to get a new suit made, and after poking around two or three shops we realized that, regardless of what the various proprietors would like you to think, they all pretty much had the exact same stuff for the exact same price. Sure, they might call the light gray stuff a wool-cotton blend, a wool-silk blend, a wool-cashmere blend, or even just straight-up wool, but none of it looked or felt that different. (Then again, with my fabric-knowledge, it could have been a llama-Chihuahua mix and I never would have know. Assuming someone got rid of that ratty little Chihuahua tail at least ...)
Anyway, after about ten minutes, I started looking for ways to amuse myself. Luckily, this wasn't hard to do, thanks to the wide variety of "English" signs all over the market. Like, say, the one below. The trippy, dippy, hippy background and the completely random capitalization really just make the sign, don't you think? If only the owner had mentioned suits, I would have totally gone here--he is very trustful, after all.
Some signs were just a wee bit stranger. I'm not sure what sort of warm welcome Chinese silk is going to give me, but it doesn't sound like the sort of thing you should be doing on a busy street.
Then there's this guy. Is this just a classic case of being all dressed up with nowhere to go? Maybe. Or just maybe he's going to give a "warm welcome" to those sheep. I mean, why else would he be hanging out with them?
And finally there's this last sign, which has some advice that is pretty much just always applicable--if you're a male, anyway.
How true that is--especially with that sheep guy around ...
Whatever. We were at the market looking for material for me to get a new suit made, and after poking around two or three shops we realized that, regardless of what the various proprietors would like you to think, they all pretty much had the exact same stuff for the exact same price. Sure, they might call the light gray stuff a wool-cotton blend, a wool-silk blend, a wool-cashmere blend, or even just straight-up wool, but none of it looked or felt that different. (Then again, with my fabric-knowledge, it could have been a llama-Chihuahua mix and I never would have know. Assuming someone got rid of that ratty little Chihuahua tail at least ...)
Anyway, after about ten minutes, I started looking for ways to amuse myself. Luckily, this wasn't hard to do, thanks to the wide variety of "English" signs all over the market. Like, say, the one below. The trippy, dippy, hippy background and the completely random capitalization really just make the sign, don't you think? If only the owner had mentioned suits, I would have totally gone here--he is very trustful, after all.
Some signs were just a wee bit stranger. I'm not sure what sort of warm welcome Chinese silk is going to give me, but it doesn't sound like the sort of thing you should be doing on a busy street.
Then there's this guy. Is this just a classic case of being all dressed up with nowhere to go? Maybe. Or just maybe he's going to give a "warm welcome" to those sheep. I mean, why else would he be hanging out with them?
And finally there's this last sign, which has some advice that is pretty much just always applicable--if you're a male, anyway.
How true that is--especially with that sheep guy around ...
