Magickal Realism

03
Oct

Chapter 11: Artist’s Date

author: Diana Rajchel category: Artists_Way

Image via Wikipedia

I feel so weird titling anything “Chapter 11.” It’s one of those chapters that, as a business owner, I strive to avoid.

I had my artist’s date today - shooting pool over at Fat Boy Billiards. The rates are cheap enough on my budget; $5.50 an hour. And while the hall is ancient and musty and the woman working seemed thoroughly locked in her own personal late 70s/80s time loop, the 40-70 year old men that were there scoped me out, realized that I was in no position to play for $100 a game and, after observing my lapse in skill, one guy realized that I was also not ready to wager coffee as he proposed. There is also the possibility that the barkeep (for lack of a better word) gave him a kick and reminded him that his grandaughter would not be so approving of pursuing a girl younger than her.

Shooting stick isn’t one of those things I do to get inspired. I do it to remove obstacles, to clear the cobwebs. I do it mostly to get off my ass. It’s not viewed as a heavy exercise game, but for me, it’s activity, and any activity lately is good.

The hall is musty and it’s only a matter of time before the whole not-quite-white thing rears its head. Still, a few of the men in the hall passed by to monitor my progress, and respected my space when I explained I’m reclaiming lost skill.

One guy chuckled as I swore under my breath at missing a ball altogether. “Don’t worry m’girl. You keep working at it, and you’ll get better.” The men there are foul-mouthed and highly competitive, almost coming to blows over politics AND pool in one afternoon. But for me, they were supportive and it looks like they’ll continue to be so. It’s quite a bit different from the hyper-competitive boyfriend that taught me to play pool - in its police-officer loaded, testosterone driven way, these guys were downright nurturing towards me.