______________________________________________________________________________________________

PROGRAMMING NOTE from the Author and Archivist


So obviously I just stopped blogging on this platform. I'll get back to it eventually. Or not. I'm taking a break from all social media. It seemed necessary for my mental health.

The last few years have been busy and … challenging:

- 2015 Happened.
- 2016 Let's call it The Lost Year. (Obviously words failed me.)
- 2017 about broke me. Literally. Mentally.
- 2018 was ridiculous, proving 2017 was just a warm up. (Good thing I was already broken so it couldn't hurt as much.#2018TrashCanFire I thought things were going okay, but maybe not?)

- 2019 was such a blur. I know there were highlights, but then stuff happened and carried into the next year...

- And then in March#2020 really took a turn. Who can even categorize 2020? Do we dare?


I kinda want a do-over of some of the last few years. But life doesn’t work that way.


So for now, I'm hunkering down. Regrouping. Trying to stay safe and sort some stuff out.


Stay safe everyone. Stay well.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Bridge over Troubled Waters

AKA Views from the Metro North Commuter Train

When you're travelling on the train, and you cross the big blue bridge, you've officially made it on and off the isle of Manhattan.


Out the other side:
Crossing the bridge, looking east toward Queens/Long Island


I know that none of these will win awards of excellence for their composition, etc., so keep your editorial comments to a dull roar. It's hard to compose and shoot on a rapidly moving train. I'm doing this for documentation sake. For out of town folks who think commuting is glamorous, let me assure you, it's NOT. I've seen ALL kinds of things, like raucous St. Patrick's Day celebrators, lots of sluttily dressed Halloween revelers, testosterone-filled high school punks chasing each other up and down the train, and one memorable event when an undercover cop pulled a gun on a traveller to escort him off the train (and this was pre-9/11, so it really got my attention). However, I was never so as uncomfortable as I was Monday night on the way home.

Most commuters know the unspoken etiquette. Although the seats are tight, you try to maintain as little body contact as possible, especially if it is a "mixed" seating arrangement. You try and be aware of the jostling and accommodate the other person. You deal -- you have to. To be fair, there are instances where people move their seats, but it's usually due to people needing to move cars to exit onto various platforms. I've never had to move my seat because I was uncomfortable, but I came very close on Monday. Just as we pulled out of the second train stop, my lovely solo ride was interrupted when a guy flopped down next to me. I thought little of it until suddenly I was "seat-squeezed." I tried to ignore it and to give the guy the cold shoulder, but it got worse and worse. Turns out the guy had passed out, as in, Gone. Out of it. No one home. Dead to the world. Snookered. Smashed. Blitzed. I'm pretty sure it was "drunk" and not "stoned," though I can usually smell the booze. He was so out of it that he was sliding out of the seat into the aisle, and really what's worse here, flopping onto me. One of his buddies from back down the car finally figured out something was wrong and had to come up and try to revive him. Let me tell you, the term "dead-drunk" takes on a whole new meaning when repeated slapping of the face, calling of a name, and hard poking and punching doesn't elicit a response. The buddy finally had to heave the dude out of the seat and cart him elsewhere. I say cart, but there was some limb dragging involved. I'm pretty sure the guy wasn't dead, as they would have stopped the train later for a "medical emergency."

I'm glad the buddy came up when he did because I had NO idea how I was going to get out of there, but I was already plotting which stop it was were I was going to bolt. There's not a heck of a lot of room to maneuver to begin with, and frankly, moving cars+swaying cars+ungraceful people (aka me)+no-room-due-to-drunk-dude would have equalled some very uncomfortable moments for everyone within eyesight.

See, doesn't that just sound fabulous? And my friends from a former job thought I would meet men on the train ... Ah, just another commuting story for the blog.