He showed up wearing a rooster hat. A hat. In the shape of a rooster. With little strings hanging down so it could be tied under the chin lest he lose it in the wind, god forbid. The rooster hat had several little buttons all over it -- the kind you get at protest rallies or art openings. He was wearing one of those itchy, striped, vaguely South American pullover hooded shirts in lieu of a real coat. Did I mention that he was 52 years old? And when he finally did remove the rooster hat (after ten minutes of conversation) he was almost completely bald? I decided to just go with it and asked him about his "chicken hat" first thing. Very politely, he corrected me, referring to his rooster hat, and his general propensity for wearing Ecuadorian hats.
Rooster Hat told me all about his music, his art, his throat singing and his MFA studies. He asked me if I ever had the urge to perform, and I told him about my dance classes. So, he told me about how he put together a performance piece where he conducted a group of dancers using hand gestures.
Truthfully, a lot of his work sounded interesting. I had to admire his commitment to making art, no matter the financial consequences. I had to appreciate the fact that I didn't have to do a thing on this coffee date -- I didn't even have to talk much because he was willing to share a lot about his own work.
After an hour, I couldn't take it anymore, and I called the date in the most obvious-subtle way possible. Saying that "I should get going," I shook his hand and said it was nice to meet him (it was, truly.) I walked down the street to the book store vestibule and called my friend. She gave me wonderful advice about dating in general (enjoy, learn, have fun) and about artists specifically (they make better friends than boyfriends.)
After we talked, I walked into the bookstore to get a coffee and write this post. As usual, there were several young college freshman milling about. One young woman caught my eye. She was wearing a hat in the shape of a rooster, with little strings hanging down so it could be tied under the chin.
