Postcard Stories

Portland, Oregon

Missed Connections - Portland, OR

Kingston Club / F —> M / Saturday Night Dub (2/4)

Date: 2012-02-08, 5:13PM PST

Reply to: svuy-295748590@missed.gregslist.org

I’ve never done this before. I’m new to town. Just accepted a teaching job here in the city, and moved out from Alabama early last month. But anyway, I saw you at the Kingston Club last Saturday (2/4) during their weekly dub night (it was my first time there) and I really wanted to introduce myself, but I was too nervous to walk over and talk to you.

You were wearing a blue and white striped shirt, and tan pants (maybe chinos?). You had short dark hair and were standing – sometimes dancing – with a group of friends over toward the DJ booth.

I walked in with my friend around midnight. It was dark, and the smoke machines were running at that time, but I saw you look over in our direction at one point as we sipped mojitos on the couches in the far right corner of the room. I had hoped that maybe it was me you were looking for.

Full disclosure, I had butterflies the whole rest of the night.

Anyway, please don’t think this is weird, but I made you a mix of some of the songs from that night. My hope is that maybe, if you don’t exactly remember me, one of these songs will trigger your memory.

(I have an app on my phone that can identify what songs are playing…)

1. Dub Specialist - Dub It Easy
2. Scientist - Cry of the Werewolf
3. Augustus Pablo - Jah Light Version
4. Lee “Scratch” Perry - Black Panta
5. King Tubby - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
6. Sly Dunbar - Dirty Harry
7. Prince Far I - A Message
8. Tommy McCook - Bigger Things
9. Big Youth - Skylarking
10. Augustus Pablo - Natural Way
11. Roots Underground - Black Brigade
12. Bobby Ellis & The Crystalites - Alfred Hitchcock
13. Dub Specialist - Love of a Dub (Love of a Woman)
14. Mad Professor - Bengali Skank
15. The Clash - Justice Tonight/Kick It Over
16. Skin, Flesh & Bones - Bammie Fe Fish
17. Tapper Zukie & Brethren - Rub a Dub Weh Them Want
18. Soul Syndicate – Riot

I know how unlikely this is. I wish I could be more assertive, but it’s difficult for me. I don’t know your situation – maybe you have a girlfriend already? If so, ignore me and I’m really sorry for all this.

If you do remember me, just know that it’s been several days now and I’m still thinking of you.

Postcard: Found at the Melrose Trading Post in Los Angeles, CA in October 2011.

Mazatlán, Mexico

K met May while walking along the beach late that afternoon. He was in board shorts, with a straw hat covering his face. May was skinny, in polyester athletic apparel. Swish, swish, swish, went May’s clothes as she walked.

Cautious, upon meeting a stranger, they both used false names when introducing themselves.

K, to May, was named Kirk and May, to K, was named Sally.

K said that he had a dog back home, but it was his brother’s dog, and he wasn’t even sure of the breed. He made something up. May told him she was in real estate, but she actually worked in IT. K told May, while wading ankle deep in the warm water, that he was from California, hoping it would somehow impress her, but he was really from somewhere else. At the time, May enjoyed the attention. Deep down, she could see the holes in his stories, but enjoyed the attention she was getting from him and blocked it out. She told K that she was from Colorado, even though, she too, was from somewhere else.

They spoke tentatively, making sure to keep their respective stories straight. They both enjoyed the prickle of excitement in their pretense. May was reminded of tight-rope walking, careful to push straight forward, and not look down or back. K was reminded of the feeling of skipping class in boarding school.

They walked along the sand, pretending to be other people for the rest of the afternoon, and into the early evening as the sun bronzed and drooped in the sky.

Later, they purchased drinks at a tiki themed resort bar, and found an open hammock to sway in. A calm wind blew across the sand, their faces, and reggae music pulsed nearby.

K put his arm around May and kissed her on the neck. K liked May, and May liked K, but both were too scared at this point now to reveal their initial deceptions. They both, unwittingly, continued on, pretending to be other people; kissing one another, liking one another.

They spent the next three days together, building lies upon lies, until they both had to leave and return home. They exchanged false phone numbers and made up contact information.

Neither saw or heard from the other again.

Postcard: Found at the Melrose Trading Post in Los Angeles, CA in October 2011.