the smoking lounge

gentlemanly pursuits with luther jimenez-reyes

Number One

(Excerpt from Pronounced Transfigurations)

9 March 1971 

Clouds pushed within the wind along the skies across the earth 

sanding deserts on their way without the hope of death or life in 

souls of Angels who can't exist for the sakes of Gods who are not 

accepted by men who are not worth vomiting for. 

Number Two

Linh House of Barbering and Beauty in Burbank, California.

Mr. Linh is a wonderful gentleman and a great barber, not a stylist who will charge 300% more for the exact same thing and have you sit on the chair for two hours blabbing away total moronic stories. 

Mr. Linh will greet you with a smile and a gentle bow. He will ask you how you would like your hair cut even though he already knows. After that initial courtesy exchange, you will only hear the buzzing of the trimmer and the snip-snap of the scissors. 

When he is using the trimmer, he has a way in which he can get the power cord to follow him and not the other way around. I find this fascinating.

Mr. Linh is always impeccably dressed and groomed. He wears a crisp, starched, ironed white smock with a soft, delicate baby powder scent. His hair is neatly combed, and he is clean-shaven. 

This is a big contrast to other past barbers, with tank tops displaying hairy armpits with clumps of dried deodorant or out-of-control beards with clinging pieces of a Burger King Whopper.

Mr. Linh has cut my hair for a while now, and I’ve never had anything to complain about. He’s a great barber and a gentleman.

- LJR