-^-for posterity-^-

a comedian i heard once recounted a phrase he overheard one day. the phrase was this, (if i remember correctly) ‘if it wasn’t for that horse, i wouldn’t have gone to college.’ if you think about it too long, your brain will inadvertently short-circuit. there’s no sense to it.

the same applies here: there is a large football stadium in the center of long xuyen. in front of the stadium is a gym for people to go, lift weights and stare at themselves in long mirrors. the advertisement on the front of the building used to be comical but recently, because of some political news, has turned macabre.

there is a ten foot tall painting of arnold swartzenegar (spelling?). his body is turned to the side and he has raised his left arm up. his right arm is swung below is left and both are flexing furiously. the shadows the muscles produce are vivid. the muscles look ominous. there are muscles i didn’t know existed. arnold is looking to the right, directly at one of the main streets. he is smirking a bit, his hair cut close, and his upper lip a bit too fat. he is wearing baby blue bikini briefs.

if one is dedicated enough, evidently, they can come to this gym every day and stare and mirrors, grunt and sweat, eventually emerging like arnold. now he’s running for governor of one of the most important states in america. if you think about the picture of him standing in baby blue underwear, overlooking a grey street as hundreds upon hundreds of people pour home on their motorbikes, and you imagine the same man running a state, your mind will, eventually, explode.