Oberkaporalie Bipbip

brunch this morning with my lovely girls [d] and [a] from work, on the grass along the canal - the luxury of berlin in the summer... enjoying the sun, free time, green grass, cheeky swans, and socialising with food and drinks lying on the blanket in between us. [a] has just come back from a work trip to the -stan countries. Before the trip she complained all the time about having to go there and how she really didn't feel like traveling, especially as she was in the middle of moving etc. She came back with a big smile and saying it had all been fun after all, in spite of having to conduct three interviews a day, in spite of sitting in a taxi in tadjikistan or wherever with a driver rushing at 190 km an hour on a pourly maintained dust track while eating sunflower seeds.
After they left to attend their respective chores, I stayed outside and read for a while, or alternated between reading and observing the overly numerous swans scratching their wings frantically. Summer in Berlin. Around me, several other people who like me could afford to spend the day lying in the grass enjoying the sun and the scenery. Beautiful life.

Eventually it got too warm and I packed and left. I listed all the items I still needed for the clowning and decided to set off. [r] called before I did to ask whether he could pick his glasses up, abandonned yesterday evening on the kitchen table. We went out for a coffee before I headed for humana, a second-hand shop, in the hope of finding the most absurd colourful clothes imaginable. I picked the stuff I would never otherwise pick - abominable colours, weird shapes, not my size - and tried to get some sort of "uniform" for the action on june first together - a anti-militaristic action. I got a kaki tank top and a kaki trousers as well as a frilly pink mini skirt to wear on top of the army clothing - army people don't like frilly pink things. I also found a hat, and several absurd items to fill my bag within - the idea is to have a bag filled with ridiculous things so that when the police asks you randomly to empty your bag, it goes on and on and on and on... x-tra large pink bras with little hearts on, ducklings, toys and whatever else...
I called [d] up who lives just nearby. He'd told us all he 'd bought lots of clown's noses, so I wanted to see if I could pick one up. He sounded busy but at home, so off I went to get my nose. He and his girlfriend were busy preparing for another clown action. Heehee, activities and preparation for political actions going on everywhere...

Back home, I tried my new soap bubble machine gun out - a bad buy, if you ask me, but I needed some sort of ridiculous army machine guns and wanted something that made bubbles. My flatmate seemed curious about the x-tra large pink bras with hearts on. And then it was time already to set off for dinner at [j]'s with [k]. [k] sent me an sms to see whether I'd pick her up with a bike. flatmate didn't have any bicycle plans for the night, he said, so I ruthlessly stole his bike once again and set off for the food coop first to get wine and the last of the mountain cheese, then to [k] and we both pedalled over to [j]'s place. We had an absolutely loooovely dinner enjoyed outside in the garden of [j]'s house-project and chatted until one in the morning, mainly about the berlin left alternative political scene...

I've decided my clown's name would be bipbip. And those who know will know whence that comes.