The sneezing is driving me nuts. My whole face feels swollen. So when I met B. finally again, when I thought I'll never find her, it was easy for me to stay calm and seemingly disinterested. Any real facial expression would be harder to do.
She was trying to enter the gimnazija while our 13:05 rush was exiting. So she's in 2nd, now I know. She didn't look so pretty and mysterious, more like tired and in bad mood. Also looked somehow smaller. Must have been the lights. So I stood outside with her while she was waiting for the rush to pass. Said just a few words and parted ways.
The next day we were supposed to start shooting at D.M. and while Višnja didn't come, the third girl did. D. did record the album somehow, so we played that and just enjoyed the music and had fun. And Višnja didn't come, as we heard the next day, because of her trenchcoat - it was finished, but the buttons were not covered in the same cloth. She cried. Must mean something to her.
Had a literal task (a work written on the spot, in maths, perhaps physics, languages) in latin. I usually don't help others cheat (and there's mostly no need, we're a strong bunch with very few who need that kind of help), but in this case I make an exception.
The sneeze is ebbing, now it's just a swampy nose.
On 25th Veca and Sneca came with R., a quite cute girl from Veca's class, they need escort for Dom. Okay, not that I like to do that, I've had enough bad experience, but since you're here and you brought a pretty friend, fine. Once we got there, a thousand people were waiting outside, there were already some cases of variola vera in the country, so all public gatherings were off until further. It took a whole hour until permission from civil defence came. Then they let us in but dismissed us after thirty minutes. Got acquainted with Š., who was probably senior then in, imagine, 3rd gimnazija - a spitting image of Art Garfunkel, just looking better. (I'll meet him again many years later, when he'll be working in Iskra Delta headquarters in Novi). Bosa had a birthday. One guy from DC-99 heroically survived the ticket crowd. And this R. is really a girl and a half (of whom I remember nothing).
On 28th I astonished Tejka by being deadpan and calm, despite the last minute rush for the literal task in maths. I guess I learned that haste makes late, so I hurry slowly (festina lente - ha, we know that latin). During the break we played pantomime again, just like we mostly did this winter during the practice in the printery. The text to guess should be a title of a known movie (ie. someone else also needs to know it), and I got to expain "Murder by cruel and sleazy method, from low motives" (yup, it exists, yugoslav movie from, I'd guess, the black wave*) to Sredljak, and I did. Still unclear on how.
D.M. in bad mood, Višnja likewise. I asked if it was because of her ex**, she said not to mention him if I mean us to stay... let's say friends. "Don't know if it's the trenchcoat reflecting, but you're a bit greenish in the face" "Yes, I'm pale". Two more sentences and we agreed to thursday, 15:30. With a promise to be in better mood, don't want a rainy day on the screen.
Afternoon, editing "Can not" with scotch tape, ran out of glue. Seems to work much better than acetone glue. Passes to every projector, though it shows as a 1/8 second smudge.
Veca and hers are in panic because of the variola, as expected.
On 30th the historian was 30 minutes late, had a car crash, probably just a fender bender. The guys played cards in the class, cheating a lot: Siške had six kings and five sevens, the others didn't seem to have that much imagination. At the break, spoke with D.M. and Višnja about the movie and the importance of the mood, which in a project like this may mean the whole difference between nice but shallow and intriguing and elegant. We agreed that the mood shouldn't matter, that it's actually all good between us. Višnja will start from home about 16 and we'll find each other.
And we did. Walked a lot around downtown, the city hall park, finally alone for the first time (longer than 5 minutes, that is). Met my traffic cop, talked with him a bit. Made the pedestrian crossing there at least ten times. Walked a round around the 3rd/economy high building. I made lots of shots. In these ninety minutes (we finished at 17:54) I learned more about her than I did in a whole year. And she said that while she may often look disinterested and not listening, she is listening, and remembers many things I said. And, amazingly, about half of the ideas on what and how to shoot were hers. The one 360 degree walk around her was probably mine. By that time (actually for "Can not") I already mastered the cameraman's walk, with slight sway of the hips, so the head and shoulders don't swim up and down. Used that a lot today. [some fifty years later Melanija said she noticed my weird walk, well, that must have been that]
We almost made plans for a vacation.
On 31st, Tejka is in bad shape, there's a blood vessel in her neck that was allegedly hurt, but the doctor says it's all nerve based and prescribed a tranquilizer, just relax before it progresses to a dangerous stage involving even surgery. She's drowsy all day. Some brotherly worry welled up in me.
Tried to translate the "American pie" and gave up. It's too convoluted, with too many words which obviously don't have the obvious meaning. I'd need to know twice as much english to get it.
----
* Now (december 2024) I found it, it's a movie by Žika Pavlović, with Miša Janketić and a heap of other great actors of the time, about the murder of lawyer Sotirovski from 1966, which is mentioned only indirectly, because the court process was still ongoing when the movie was made. The story revolving around a reporter is no coincidence, the „Ilustrovana Politika“ stretched the case for months, almost like a fauierllle... well, a feljton, over 1967 ans/or next year.
** I remember the guy somewhat, by likeness and behavior, and by name he should have stood with us a few times during the break, even walked with us after school at times. He must be the guy who later married Ruška, though at the time when I wrote the draft of this article I wasn't quite sure, but over time the tiles fell into their highly respective places.
31-XII-2020 - 10-XII-2024