The wife and I went to Pittsburgh last weekend. Went to PNC, gained 46 lbs each and had a great time. The wife said, “It’s a nice little city,” which is what a New Yorker says whenever they visit a town that is not Mexico City or London or Rome.
Then to come back and see something like this?
Well, it’s good to be home.
[Photo Credi: Ribonyc]
Peace to all of the Banter readers out there. To you and your families.
Walk Tall.
[Photo Credit: Joel Zimmer]
Seen. Older brother reading to his younger brother on the train.
Life is good.
You know if Dude really wanted to be bold he’d just walk around with his schmeckel hanging out.
The train was packed this morning. The space is filled, summer is over. Folks have returned from vacation, kids going back to school. It is gray and raining but the faces I saw are still tanned. There are new clothes, bright and crisp. My only complaint is that some of the perfume and hair product that came in my vicinity was enough to knock a buzzard off a shitwagon.
Otherwise, welcome back, World.
Walking down the street today I saw a big woman having an intense conversation. She didn’t look pleased. But we made eye contact as I passed by and without thinking, I smiled. I was by her when she cut off what she was saying.
“Hi, Love,” she said to me.
“Morning,” I said.
Who says New Yorkers aren’t friendly?
[Photo Credit: Joel Zimmer]
I’ll meet you at the Bat.
…under the Big Board.
…next to Alice.
…under the Button and Needle.
…sitting near the Fountain.
…at Love.
“At the Bat” and “Under the Big Board” (at Penn Station) have backfired repeatedly, yet I still use them all the time.
Where do people meet you?
This is the first thing I saw when I walked out of the subway onto the street today.
Goooooood mornin’. Toon Town, NYC Style.
The subway trains ran this morning, but for whatever reason, there weren’t too many people underground. Originally the Mayor said we shouldn’t expect public transportation to be operational today. Maybe some people just left it at that. Maybe they had aftermath to quell.
There are days like this, usually around the holidays, when the crowd on the train shrinks past the usual density into something comfortable and quiet. It sets up a gentler day, and that’s certainly welcome after the big storm.
Photo by Kitty
In light of the news that Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly have split up, please see Jon’s New York Minute post from yesterday. Leave a comment while you are there if you are so inclined.
I saw the King this morning. He was slinking after a squirrel. Then he saw me, came over, meowed, and let me pet him. Then he walked off and took a bath.
It’s good to be the King.
Just felt a minor tremor here in midtown. Everyone on the floor is buzzing about it.
[Photo Credit: Set Babies on Fire]
Every now and then I have to be at work very, very early. Walking to the subway as dawn creeps up from below the elevated IRT lines. Sharing the subway with a sparse collection of early risers. Arriving at the office and flipping the lights on before anyone else has even turned on the shower.
I’m exhausted at the start. Can barely keep my eyes open. But damn, if those aren’t the most beautiful commutes.
The farmer’s market wins again. Really, it makes life in the city even better than it already is.
I returned to the city yesterday after five days in Vermont. Took a cab home from the airport and had an engaging conversation with the cabbie who is from the Ivory Coast. He has been in the States for fifteen years, lives in Harlem, and is married to an American. He told me that some of his wife’s family looks down on him. One cousin called him “a stupid African.”
“This is someone who lives on public assistance,” the cabbie told me. “If you come from a poor country you never think to take the government’s money because it doesn’t exist for you. I have lived on three continents, I speak three languages, but I am a stupid African?”
I asked him how he dealt with the cousin.
“My father used to tell a story. If you are a taking a shower and a man steals your clothes, you do not chase that man because then you will look even more foolish than him.”
Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Yeah.
[Photo Credit: Brian Hillegas]
I saw a girl on the subway this morning looking at her IPAD. She looked so content. The light from the screen reflected on her face. It reminded me of an illustration of a kid looking at a secret treasure that glowed. I wondered what she was reading and almost envied her happiness but all I could think about what that she was a perfect mark to get robbed.
I was at Citifield last night. The place was quiet as the top of ninth began, the Mets leading by a run. I was with a friend who was at Opening Day of Shea Stadium in 1964. “It’s quiet because everyone is waiting for something bad to happen,” he said.
Expecting something bad to happen. Which is exactly what happened. An error with the bases loaded turned a 3-2 lead into a 4-3 deficit.
I thought about Mariano Rivera as my friend and I walked through the parking lot after the game. We won’t have him much longer. Maybe another season or two. But the peaceful, easy feeling he gives us is temporary. It might dry up before retires. If only there was a way to bottle it.
