9:48 am | 21 March 2003 | mystery solved

For a while now i've noticed the same car parked in various spots along the 2000 West block of Augusta. It's an early-nineties Toyota Camry, red, kind of gracefully old (the paint has that matte, faded appearance that seems specific to red cars and jeans at Abercrombie). What is most noticeable about this car, however, is the back windshield--in a vaguely "Asian" font (the sort used on signage for bad honky Chinese restaurants), white letters spell out "PATTY Y ALEX."

Every time i pass that car--on the way to or from my glorious job, stumbling tipsily from Club Foot, yawning as i bust home from another pillow fight at four in the morning--i wonder whose it is. Putting lettering like that on one's car seems specifically male...but on the other hand, that's usually limited to souped-up, annoyingly loud and shitty drag-racing Honda Civics, and additionally, the message is usually something like NO FEAR or MIGUEL ES EL HOMBRE or whatever. So i decided that it must be Patty's car--besides, women tend to be the ones advertising their eternal love on their vehicles (annoying license plates like TIM4EVA or what have you).

I saw the PATTY Y ALEX car again this morning. It's Alex's car. Alex is a sixtyish guy in a windbreaker who looks like a blue-collar Latino Bob Vila. This made me extremely happy. �VIVA PATTY Y ALEX! clm.