Mr. EJ

With hair that was swept to the side only enough to retain a reasonable field of vision, Mr. EJ was hiding. He hid his insecurities in the guise of a hipster, behind too long hipster hair, hipster blazers, books of poetry, cans of PBR, and a wealth of knowledge greater than his unfinished education would warrant. Mr. EJ didn't have much to be insecure about in the time I've known him: the facade was probably developed in defense of some past woes which never seem to cease in their haunting. A hipster in Juneau is an outcast in the sense that a hipster in Juneau is far too hip. In high school he was likely an outcast of a different sort.

He can often be found sitting hunched at the bar with a book in one hand and a beer in the other or standing outside never donning anything more weighty than a wool winter coat while he smokes cigarettes, brooding, looking listless, or participating in some other hipster pastime. His taste in movies is pretentious, 60's, 70's, French. His taste in music, equally so, discordant, obscure, experimental. He wields a guitar and an off-key and slightly nasal voice, with which he can successfully serenade a woman in no fewer than three languages, most notably: Portuguese. He has wrinkles around his eyes which bely the experiences which may surpass those of his peers.

"I used to be a junkie," he once confided to me with such nonchalance I was almost baffled.

He is fickle and unreliable, perhaps due to his general unhappiness with his situation. He has been talking about leaving again for as long as I've known him. It's been months. Sometimes he appears to be gone, as he has disappeared from the downtown scene for months on occasion, but he resurfaces again to pick up where he left off. A different book. Same everything else.

He leads a rather humble life, living at home because it is free and tolerable, working a job which likely pays a wage many would scoff at, wearing thrift store clothes and spending most likely only on beer, coffee, and cigarettes.

He is interesting though. He is interesting and when he is interested he is engaged. So engaged that one would imagine being the only person worth a glance in the room, until his attention is stolen away. He can converse for hours on end on numerous subjects; biology, literature, music, art... he has seduced, he has romanced, he has broken hearts, all while maintaining what could only be described as a professional level of aloofness. If aloofness were a profession, he would be the CEO, or more likely still, a most desirable yet elusive free-lance consultant.

He strikes me as someone who could get anything, everything, anyone, and everyone he wants, yet still be unsatisfied and generally unhappy.

But as Ryan Adams said, "There's something really sexy about sad."