Last weekend, I shopped for food in western Alexandria, near where I used to live. Where Duke street becomes Little River Turnpike, there's this run-down shopping center near highrise apt. buildings, and it's brimming with stores of various nationalities: Korean supermarket, Afghan kabob restaurant, Peruvian chicken restaurant, Latino / Mexican bakery, and Korean restaurant.
I was drawn to the bakery and walked in. There was a self-serve section of baskets and covered bins of various pastries (some familiar and some not). I was reminded of a bakery or two I'd explored one night in Mexico City.
Adjoining it was the Korean supermarket, a slightly shabby and crowded place full of people, many not Korean. Years ago, the space was a Shoppers Food Warehouse, but they had moved into a larger space in the mall across the street. Even back then, the clientele was quite international: Afghani, Central American, Asian, and sometimes European (I once heard some Caucasian shoppers speaking French).
I'm glad I left, 'cause the traffic has gotten worse. In fact, the adjacent highway 395, looked all cracked and abraded, as I drove toward DC.
It seems at the moment that Yasser Arafat is in some vegetative state. This reminds me of a similar condition that the late comedian, Rodney Dangerfield, experienced.
If you recall, he was briefly brought out of coma by some kind of "neuro feedback" therapy by Margaret Ayers.
Would anyone be interested in trying that on Arafat?
If so, would a temporary revival help or hurt the confusion over determining Arafat's successor?
It sounds like the making of an absurdist play or tv sitcom.
I can just see it now: "He's baaaack!!! In a return engagement, that wild, zany guy who's turned the Middle East topsy turvy for a generation..."
(Or better yet, if he passes on, I can see him being reincarnated as a Jewish comedian playing the Catskills... oy vey!) :-)