Things I am enjoying right now

Words of wisdom

• "This is way worse than Britney. This is serious." -- A reporter, on Charlie Sheen
• "Why does anyone care about Charlie Sheen?" -- My mom
• "Maybe this is just a big scheme and CBS is in on it, and they are going to put Charlie Sheen back on his TV show. And then they would make a lot of money." -- My mom, again
• "My personal philosophy...I've just never been into sports, never cared about them. With so much going on in the world, I really don't see the point." -- The guy sitting next to me at a bar, talking to his silent date. It was a sports bar, across the street from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. A Wizards NBA game had just ended.
• "It's all about making sacrifices. I make sacrifices everyday. You've got yourself, your boyfriend, and your family. Not necessarily in that order." -- The same guy. I almost fell off my bar stool when he said this. First, because, apparently this silent woman was not on a blind date, but his girlfriend. Second, because he felt the need to add, Not necessarily in that order. How humble.
• "We should get rid of all the Republicans." -- A woman in her sixties, who was walking past the White House and turned toward me, looked me in the eye, and began speaking as if we were in the middle of a long argument. I didn't bother to tell her that I am a registered Democrat, didn't vote in the last presidential election, and learned about politics by reading novels.
• "That's the people house, right? Well then all the homeless people should move in?" - - The same woman, said while pointing at the White House. I actually thought this was a more sensible idea than getting rid of all the Republicans. I mean, where would we put them? But I laughed when she said this about the White House. I think it was because an image came to my mind of sleeping bags and garbage bags and brown shopping bags, and cats and dogs, and people wearing over-sized flannel shirts covering the floors of the White House.

Art (in a loose sense of the word)

• The new logo of Starbucks. According to a news article my dad sent me, the company decided to get a face lift for its 40th anniversary. (Dad, what is your job again?) Of course, I rushed out to see it on a cup for myself. Four dollars and change later, skim chai tea latte in hand, I know it's true. There is still the image of the mermaid/princess/goddess with long wavy hair and a crown. But, the image is green and white now, not black and white. The company's name, "Starbucks Coffee" is no longer there at all.  I guess they assumed we were all smart enough by now to put two and two together.

Writing

• Lauren Groff. I've read some of her short stories from the collection, Delicate Edible Birds. Now, I'm reading her novel, Monsters of Templeton, and you should, too. Family secrets and scandals, a hometown that comes alive on the page, a prehistoric monster, and a central character that you find yourself willing to make sense of it all. Best yet, the writing is good. No, great. Its lyrical, smart, not overdone, pulls aspects of the mystery together, and makes it seem believable - even the monster.
• Forbidden Lessons in a Kabul Guesthouse by Suraya Sadeed, a memoir coming out this summer. This book will take you to places in Afghanistan you never knew existed, and change what you think (or don't think) about the country, its people, the Taliban, humanitarian aid, donating, education, and maybe even hope.

Life Values

• Not lying or fibbing, which includes white lies and fibs for simplicity sake.

Colors

• Black. My boyfriend - who inspired the above life value (although I prefer not to go into the details about that right now) and who will probably fall off his bar stool when he reads his name in my blog - points out to me four or five times every week that I always wear black. Austin, I know, I like black clothes.

Riding the train

Today I'm thinking about trains. For the past few weeks, I have been riding the Metro North line from Connecticut to Grand Central. To put it in the least whiny way possible, this has been a tough winter for Metro North. The trains are (again, being as least whiny as possible) outdated, and the snowfalls up until late have been relentless. Of course, I mean relentless for southern Connecticut. In central New York, on the campus of Colgate University, I would call this weather, a mild winter. But in any case, because of the amount of train cars that were somehow damaged by the weather and in need of repair, Metro North had to reduce its New Haven line peak a.m. and p.m. trains by 10%. A letter put forth by Metro North explained that there simply was not enough space in the repair shops for all the damaged cars.

Yesterday (Monday), the New Haven line trains returned to their normal schedule. Today, the 6:33 a.m. train from Darien was canceled. "A train will be arriving in 15 to 20 minutes," a male voice came over the speakers and into the cold air of the tracks. I went inside the station house and as the minutes passed, I waited for some explanation to come over the speakers. Why was the train canceled? When the train came, 21 minutes, (the regular 7:54 a.m. train out of Darien), no explanation had been given. They didn't even tells us, I thought, as I sat in a train car with no heat (apparently the only one on the train, a different voice told me over different speakers).


It only occurred to me later, after I was off the train, had taken a subway ride, and was walking through downtown Manhattan, that I didn't know who "they" was and that it didn't matter at all why. At a comedy show I went to last year, a comedian was talking (joking, which I'll butcher) about traffic: Do you ever notice how you always need to know why there is traffic? And when the report comes on and you find out the reason --traffic is due to an accident at the bottom of the exit ramp--it's like yes, OK, uh-huh.
One could probably devote an entire year to blogging about Metro North. A train-ride-a-day-experience. It is always something. In the mornings, in the evenings, peak, off-peak. Off-peak, evening might make the best blogging material, though. I've seen someone take a baloney sandwich to the face. Actually, I sat behind that person and was splashed with Coke when a different person threw a paper cup in the baloney guy's direction. Actually, actually, though, the subway might make better blog material, entirely.

Two weeks ago, I was standing on the express train at the Union Square subway station, surrounded by many people (an understatement, but let's keep things simple). Nothing was strange about it until nothing happened. The doors were closed but the train did not move. No announcements were made. Why is this train not moving?, I thought. (But you already knew what I was thinking.) From one corner of the back part of the train that I was standing in, a jumbled, stuttering voice called out.

"Everybody wanted to go to work today. Because. Nobody went to work yesterday. No. Yesterday was President's Day. Well, you know what?" Pause. "Fuck the President. Today is February 22. My bills are paid. I didn't go to work. I stayed home and got drunk. But, no, everybody had to go to work."

Seven or so minutes and many more Fuck-the-Presidents later, a different voice called out.

"Folks, Union Square is this train's last stop. The doors are not operating properly. Everyone must get off the train."

Several seconds later, the doors opened, and several more seconds later, I stepped onto the platform. Claustrophobic, feeling a little air deprived, worried I'd miss the next train out of Grand Central, but somewhat satisfied because I had not one, but two explanations. The doors weren't working and too many people decided to go to work today and ride the subway. Now, if I could just figure out why that Metro North train was canceled today...