Overheard in DC: Capes and Spies. Oh my!

Last night I went to the Kennedy Center to see the musical "Memphis." (It was only ok.) While out and about, I overheard a few bits of conversations that had to be shared.

On the shuttle to the metro:
"I think I saw a person in a cape today. It looked like a batman cape. I was thinking, 'It's 9:30 in the morning on a Tuesday. Why are you in a cape?'"

This made me smile given my own recent caped outing. I really wanted to tap her on the shoulder and ask if it was the timing of the cape she objected to, or just the cape itself.

On the metro, a presumably not-quite-there woman talking out loud:  
"You don't want to go there. The cat is not black."

I thought this was just amazing. The cat is clearly code for something, but what? Is it good that it's not black, or bad? Is she using it as a synonym for kosher or something similar? I must know!

But, seeing as this is D.C., and I've seen too many episodes of "Alias," I've decided she's not actually a crazy metro lady, but is a spy. Maybe she was delivering a message to her handler, who was elsewhere in the car.

So, yeah, basically I've intercepted a coded spy message. Don't be too jealous.

Diamonds are forever

I love overhearing conversations. I don't know why, other than the fact that I can be really nosy and gossipy. It also may be related to my being a news addict -- I just NEED to know things. Or because I'm a writer, and I'm always on the lookout for a good line or character I can use in a novel. (Sidebar: When a friend says something interesting or has something funny happen to them, I claim it and tell them I'm going to use it in a novel. If I ever do get published one day, I am going to be SUED beyond belief.)

I also like to people watch, in a casual way. I can't just sit somewhere and watch people -- I need a book, my iPod, and a plan -- but I do notice people. Like today, at the Barnes and Noble in Georgetown. A mid-20s woman reading a magazine caught my eye because I liked her shirt, so I did a double take. She had the magazine on her lap, and her left hand ready to turn the page, engagement ring sparkling away, and she wiggled her finger a few times to watch it catch the light. It lasted probably only three seconds and then she was right back to reading her magazine and I turned so she wouldn't know I "caught" her. She didn't know anyone was watching, or didn't care. She wasn't grinning or being googly-eyed at it, just admiring the sparkle. Maybe it's because I like shiny things, I don't know, it just made me smile.