mammal fans, we are back, at least for one entry...i came out of my room to smoke a cigarette and there was mammal clad only in cut-off sweat-shorts and his head band...evidently he had just returned from a run and was psyched because later that night he would be giving the good folks of mid-america some classic new york comedy stylings...i was just about to raise the open flame to my tobacco's end when he stopped me..."[church of al] wait, i want to stretch first and i don't want to do it in the company of smoke"...i relent and he proceeds to lay on his back and bend his knee back for no more than five seconds...he stands and begins to talk to me about the right way and time to stretch...i contend that it is helpful to stretch before and after a run, and he insists that stretching before a run can be hazardous...in reality i do not care too much, i am simply passing the time until the cancerous vapour can once again fill my whithering lungs...i wait and talk to him noticing that he has not done any more than that original five seconds of stretching...finally i can wait no longer, "[mammal] are you done stretching," i ask..."yes, [c of a] you can smoke now"...i light up and collapse into the turquoise blue painted chair while he retires to his room...soon after, the song "you're the best" by joe esposito (the song from karate kid) is playing on full volume from his room...mammal emerges, still clad in his shorts and headband and starts shadow-boxing in rhythm to the song; his bone thin arms flailing wildly in the undersized apartment...sticking and moving he says, "[c of a] this is how i get up for a show, wouldn't it be great [now trying out material on me] if this is how osama bin laden got psyched up...you know from this song...that would ruin our perception of this song forever"...of course i was thinking that simply the sight of the pale and hairy mammal, shadow boxing in the living room, was enough to ruin the song for me...for the present day and for the rest of my life...