more comfortable than the 6

When I left NYC on Friday morning Meghan rode the 6 train with me to 51st instead of the usual express to 86th.  Somewhere between Union Square and Grand Central she said, "I wish you could ride the subway with me every morning".

My gut reaction was to reply with, "me too" but I stopped myself.  It only took a quick glance around our train car to remember all the reasons I was glad I didn't have to take the 6 train every day for my commute anymore.

I was going to title this post "better than the 6" but I realized I would get arguments from the subway fanatics (I'm looking at you Dan and Will) who will forever stand behind public transportation.  And it is a marvel, really, especially when everything goes according to plan.

But visiting new york during a heat wave was such a good compromise between "oh I miss this magical fairytale city" and literally walking through piles of steaming hot garbage spread across the sidewalks.  Yes, I wish I could commute with Meghan every day, but do I wish I could go back to riding the 6 every day?

Nah, I'm happy with the benz.  And I don't think anyone will argue that the scenery is definitely better.

I've missed this place

From the moment I got to the 6 train platform and saw this terrifying ad I've become quite nostalgic for my life in nyc.

My first order of business was getting 9th St. with Meghan before heading downtown to get my haircut.  The best part about having Christina cut my hair is that I get to hang out with precious angels like dolly while I'm there.

She did not help my wanting a little dog problem.

She did not help at all.

And this other bundle of joy made me miss the detective and reminded me that I should really get a little doggy to be his friend because it clearly makes her VERY happy:

Once Meghan and I finished with all our chores we did the only thing we could think of to warm ourselves.  Jam our faces with delicious pizza.

If I lived as close to motorino as Meghan does I don't think I would eat anything else.

Otherwise our day/night last night was pretty lowkey.  I got to accomplish a long held life goal of getting Meghan and Laura together and it was magical.  I think my favorite was when I reminded Laura of the time some girl threw up on her in the subway and Meghan's face lit up as she exclaimed, "that was you?!"

Unfortunately it was far too cold for any of us to have the energy to pull an all nighter so we eventually parted ways.  It was nice anyways because I got to hang out with Sam a bit when he came home from work and before we all passed out.

I'm not sure what all today will have in store for me but I do know it will include an encounter with the incomparable Dan D.  I can't wait, I think my hair is finally long enough to have achieved his request that he made so long ago.

For now I've got my long johns on and I'm ready to venture to the outside for some coffee.

i won't miss the 6 train

source

While this is not actually a photo of the 6 train it is pretty close to what it's like during rush hour.  It actually might be more helpful to have MTA employees to shove everyone in. 

As long as I can get on the subway I don't generally mind the overcrowding as much as other people probably do because I'm still a good head taller than everybody else.  I definitely feel for the small people that are just stuck in the middle of everyone.  At least I'm up where the air is clear. 

But this morning's train ride just seemed unusually awkward.  It took forever for the train to actually come, and then it was one of those situations where every stop they had to make the announcement that there were trains backed up behind it.  One of those days where you wonder what happened up in the Bronx that made this train get so behind.  Some crazy person causing a scene no doubt. 

So each stop we get to we have to sit there waiting for as many people as possible to cram themselves on to the train, then they make the announcement about the other trains, then we still sit there for an additional 5 minutes or so because there's probably some crazy person at the other end of the train making a scene.  I guess because it's 27 degrees in NYC right now they aren't running any of the fans or anything on the subway cars either so we would literally be sitting at a station, bodies pressed together, in complete dead silence. 

Aaaawwwkkkwwwaaarrrddd

It really was one of the most awkward subway rides I've had in the 8 years of living here.  It's always amazing to me to ride the subway and think that I'm in what is supposed to be the greatest city in the world with the best of everything created by the best minds and the subway is the best we can do for transportation. 

Don't let Dan hear me say that though.  He once chewed out some teenagers for saying that the subway was dumb.  I guess he has a point, it is incredible to think about in theory, but in execution it is terrible.  Especially after riding subways in other cities like D.C. and realizing that it doesn't have to be this way. 

I think it's fitting that everytime I come and go from the airport I have to pass through one of the absolute worst subway sections in Manhattan, the transfer from the 6 to the E at 51st St.  You half to walk about 3 city blocks underground, going up and down stairs 3 different times, through these really gross and kind of scary tunnels.  Depending on what time of day you're going through you can be in a section that is completely isolated from everyone else where you imagine the subway guy from Ghost is suddenly going to appear to tell you to get off his train.  Because I have to get to the airport by 7am for the flight to Sarasota I am always going through when there is nobody else around and it's really creepy. 

Except for the last time.  I guess there wasn't any E service at the 51st st station but they didn't have any kinds of signs up or make any kind of announcements on the 6 train so I still got off at 51st and started to make my way over to the E.  I was at my second set of stairs, the climb up for those of you who are familiar, when I heard somebody making an announcement over the loudspeaker.  I had my earphones in so I stopped to take them out, which is when I looked up and realized that there was actually just a woman standing at the top of the stairs with a megaphone making the announcement. 

When I first stopped she was still in announcement mode, saying very standard things in a monotonous voice, "there is no E service at this station, late nights and weekends, going through blah blah blah".  But at some point she realized that I was the only person listening to her and that I was actually standing there right in front of her.  At the same time I kind of felt like I needed to hear her out, like it would be rude for me to just turn around and walk away while she's in the middle of saying something that has become, for my ears only. 

So now she's basically just talking to me, she's at the top of the stairs and I'm at the bottom, and she's talking in a normal level voice, but still through the megaphone.  She's also talking to me more like a normal person now, "So what you're gonna wanna do is go down to 42nd St. ok honey, you'll get the 7 there and take it in to queens, it connects with the E out there alright?".

I think I said thank you before I turned and went back to the 6 train, but because it was so early I don't think either of us really appreciated how hilarious the interaction was.  It wasn't until I was remembering it later that I started cracking up.  I wish I had it on video, of us standing maybe 20 feet apart and having a normal conversation except she's talking through a bullhorn.

a post for lilly

I sat at work all day and played this and thought about how I had nothing at all to write about today.

But I had completely forgotten about this morning when I got to the 96th St. 6 station.  There was a river flowing between the tracks that immediately made me think of my friend, who was a writer for the NY Times.

As soon as I saw the flowing water I broke out in the biggest grin.  I was excitedly scanning the river for signs of life but quickly became ill from the amount of gross garbage I saw instead.  I feel like I haven't been eating particularly well lately and the culmination of all my bad food choices along with floating garbage was too much for me.

But before I was overcome with the urge to vomit I was having really fond thoughts of you Lilly!

And to think that I almost forgot all about this.  I was actually downloading my pictures because I wanted to post these nice ghosties I saw on my walk home:

At first they just made me smile because they're funny and nice but then as I was walking past I realized the true genius that is the big one's crazy mouth:

It was like a section of the wall that had missing bricks and they turned it in to his crazy smile.  I love it.  It also raises many questions in my mind.  Like it seems like the addition of the ghost features was an afterthought, perhaps by a different artist altogether.  It doesn't look like the same paint as the swirly pattern, as if somebody saw the white shapes and thought that the really looked like ghosts and needed to be painted thusly.  In which case the mouth is really a brilliant touch.

The only alternative that I can see would be that the original artist had planned the ghosts from the beginning in which case it seems like all of that patter around it was based entirely on the sight gag of the crazy snaggle tooth mouth.

Either way, I love it.

And I got this post in before midnight!

::wipes sweat off brow::

Godbuns

For whatever reason, when I go through Grand Central, I always go one specific route if I'm headed to work, and one specific route when I'm coming home from work. 

Going to work I know I need to be as close to the front of the 4,5,6 as possible so I can dash up the stairs and out the doors of grand central as quickly as possible before I get stuck behind some shuffling old person or child in a stroller. 

My route through Grand Central on my way home is pretty much completely a result of Lilly working at the market.  I would go out of my way to pass through the market each evening to see if I could catch her, and even though she's not there anymore I still find myself going down the hallways of Grand Central and entering the subway at the opposite end. 

So the other morning I had the most surreal thing happen.  When I got to the 6 train uptown there was a train just pulling up so I had to run and get on the nearest car which was at the back of the train.  I didn't think about it but this meant that I was getting out at Grand Central at the place where I normally get on the uptown train. 

It was like bizarro world!  It was like when you're playing Mario Kart and you don't realize that your're doing mirror and it's an ice world so everything kind of looks the same anyways so you blast off the line thinking that you're going to be hotsy totsy and before you know it you slam a penguin and go careening off the edge where your fate is then sealed inside an icy block. 

Anyways, I was fascinated when I saw this graffiti on the stairs.  I don't know what Godbuns are but I know I want them.  I will do however many squats I need to until I have Godbuns.  But besides that I was just struck by how I walked down these very stairs almost every day and never knew that there was graffiti on them.  Now I'm obsessed with it. 

It's taken about three specific morning trips for me to get this photo.  Usually I'm swept up in the Lion King-esque stampede of people but for some reason this morning I found myself with a cushion of space behind me so I quickly snapped my prized photo.

Now I can ponder Godbuns at my leisure.