Those pants on your head
Tell us something about you
But I'm not sure what
Showing posts with label mysteries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mysteries. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Day 351: Sugar rush
A tall twitchy man
Paces, holding a large cake
Grumbling to himself
Periodically he would get very angry and pantomime throwing the cake onto the tracks. For reasons I can't quite explain this made me incredibly nervous.
Paces, holding a large cake
Grumbling to himself
Periodically he would get very angry and pantomime throwing the cake onto the tracks. For reasons I can't quite explain this made me incredibly nervous.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Day 321: Meshuggeneh
An old nut job rants
Blaming a hot, crowded train
On "the lesbians"
I didn't see the connection, but in his mind it was clearly irrefutable.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Day 297: As seen on 42nd Street
A Ghandi-esque man
Pedals a girl's bicycle
Pink streamers flying
That's a new one for me. The man was tall, frail, and clad in a long white tunic and trousers. He rode his pink and white child-sized bike down the crowded sidewalk next to Bryant Park, smiling and waving his best Queen Elizabeth wave. There's a story there.
Pedals a girl's bicycle
Pink streamers flying
That's a new one for me. The man was tall, frail, and clad in a long white tunic and trousers. He rode his pink and white child-sized bike down the crowded sidewalk next to Bryant Park, smiling and waving his best Queen Elizabeth wave. There's a story there.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Day 282: Subtle Signals
Far underwater
You can hear the difference
Between the boroughs
Riding the F train through the underwater stretch between East Broadway (Manhattan) and York Street (Brooklyn) always makes my ears pop a few times. Whenever I am coming home I feel an immense and inexplicable relief when the train leaves Manhattan (although I get antsy if I think too much about being in a tunnel underwater). I pretty sure the pop is the sound that the invisible underwater line separating the two boroughs makes when you cross it.
You can hear the difference
Between the boroughs
Riding the F train through the underwater stretch between East Broadway (Manhattan) and York Street (Brooklyn) always makes my ears pop a few times. Whenever I am coming home I feel an immense and inexplicable relief when the train leaves Manhattan (although I get antsy if I think too much about being in a tunnel underwater). I pretty sure the pop is the sound that the invisible underwater line separating the two boroughs makes when you cross it.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Day 276: Good fortune?
Gray hairs dangle from
The mole on her aged jaw
And brush her shoulder
Living in close quarters with 8 million people, you see a lot of interesting faces. I could not take my eyes off the large mole on this woman's face. It wasn't so much the mole itself as the prodigious amount of hair growing out of it, lazily twisting all the way to her collarbone. Part of me sees something like this and thinks "you are awesomely unique and I'm glad you celebrate that." The other part wants to offer her tweezers.
I had seen a man with a similarly epic mole years ago, also on the subway. Both the man and the woman were older Asian people. So I did a little research. Did you know that in traditional Chinese culture, facial moles are used in a form of divination? Depending on its placement a mole can be a source of great luck.
I hope that this woman's mole renders her uncommonly lucky.
The mole on her aged jaw
And brush her shoulder
Living in close quarters with 8 million people, you see a lot of interesting faces. I could not take my eyes off the large mole on this woman's face. It wasn't so much the mole itself as the prodigious amount of hair growing out of it, lazily twisting all the way to her collarbone. Part of me sees something like this and thinks "you are awesomely unique and I'm glad you celebrate that." The other part wants to offer her tweezers.
I had seen a man with a similarly epic mole years ago, also on the subway. Both the man and the woman were older Asian people. So I did a little research. Did you know that in traditional Chinese culture, facial moles are used in a form of divination? Depending on its placement a mole can be a source of great luck.
I hope that this woman's mole renders her uncommonly lucky.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Day 254: Angry Commuters in 5...4...3...
A glass of green goo?
What a great idea for
Your morning commute!
Yesterday morning I watched a skinny, irate woman elbow her way onto an extraordinarily crowded 2 train. This is not an uncommon site, but this woman was brandishing a tall glass of green goop. Not a lidded plastic take-out cup, mind you. A big, open, breakable kitchen glass filled to the brim with what I think was frog spawn. It even had a spoon in it -- you know, if by chance her fellow commuters weren't wearing enough goo within the first few stops, and she decided to engage the catapult.
I waited for the next train.
What a great idea for
Your morning commute!
Yesterday morning I watched a skinny, irate woman elbow her way onto an extraordinarily crowded 2 train. This is not an uncommon site, but this woman was brandishing a tall glass of green goop. Not a lidded plastic take-out cup, mind you. A big, open, breakable kitchen glass filled to the brim with what I think was frog spawn. It even had a spoon in it -- you know, if by chance her fellow commuters weren't wearing enough goo within the first few stops, and she decided to engage the catapult.
I waited for the next train.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Day 214: What a charmer
A man with a snake
Draped across his broad shoulders
Cycles through the park
I really wish I were quicker with my camera phone.
Draped across his broad shoulders
Cycles through the park
I really wish I were quicker with my camera phone.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Day 182: Lost and Found
Lacy pink panties
Perched atop an iron fence
Waiting to be claimed
They were gone by the next morning.
Perched atop an iron fence
Waiting to be claimed
They were gone by the next morning.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Day 180: Thoughts on the proposed MTA fare hike
One-thirty a month?
Maybe if you guarantee
A urine-free trip
No one live here because it's cheap, but this subway fare hike game is getting ridiculous. Now that they've threatened a $41 increase to monthly metrocards, we're supposed to be relieved when they only raise the price by $25, or $28, or $30, or whatever arbitrary number they decide on. The best part is that a mere 3 years ago, the MTA had a $1 billion budget surplus. The MTA's budget deficit is now $800,000,000. Now it's eliminating entire train lines, cutting bus service (especially in poorer neighborhoods), firing station agents, and devising new ways to bleed people dry. Meanwhile, the trains are overcrowded piss-drenched eyesores; the stations are filthy, stench-ridden, and devoid of station agents or police officers; and the riders get angrier every day.
Maybe if you guarantee
A urine-free trip
No one live here because it's cheap, but this subway fare hike game is getting ridiculous. Now that they've threatened a $41 increase to monthly metrocards, we're supposed to be relieved when they only raise the price by $25, or $28, or $30, or whatever arbitrary number they decide on. The best part is that a mere 3 years ago, the MTA had a $1 billion budget surplus. The MTA's budget deficit is now $800,000,000. Now it's eliminating entire train lines, cutting bus service (especially in poorer neighborhoods), firing station agents, and devising new ways to bleed people dry. Meanwhile, the trains are overcrowded piss-drenched eyesores; the stations are filthy, stench-ridden, and devoid of station agents or police officers; and the riders get angrier every day.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Day 172: the search continues
Oh so many ways
To give away one's work, but
What about a job?
I am consistently amazed at the many opportunities to work for free in this city. Having just graduated from law school, I'm particularly impressed by job postings for unpaid temporary internships at law firms and government agencies (because it's not like any of us have crippling student loan payments or rent or anything). These "job" postings remind me of the nonsense I've encountered while searching for apartments: "bedroom available, no windows but plenty of privacy," or "I'm renting out my futon for $300/month, no kitchen access, hot female preferred" (these were both real ads).
So, my search for a job that actually pays continues...In the meantime, anyone want to give me a book deal?
To give away one's work, but
What about a job?
I am consistently amazed at the many opportunities to work for free in this city. Having just graduated from law school, I'm particularly impressed by job postings for unpaid temporary internships at law firms and government agencies (because it's not like any of us have crippling student loan payments or rent or anything). These "job" postings remind me of the nonsense I've encountered while searching for apartments: "bedroom available, no windows but plenty of privacy," or "I'm renting out my futon for $300/month, no kitchen access, hot female preferred" (these were both real ads).
So, my search for a job that actually pays continues...In the meantime, anyone want to give me a book deal?
Friday, July 30, 2010
Day 162: Again? Really?
Pigeon pugilist
Smacks me five times in the face
Birds one, girl zero
(I was walking under some scaffolding in downtown Brooklyn when a pigeon flew directly at my face, hit me repeatedly with his wings, and flew away. There were numerous witnesses. It was clearly premeditated. Oh, and for those of you keeping track at home, this is actually the second time in my life I've been hit in the head by a pigeon. I feel like a modern-day Tippi Hedren.)
Smacks me five times in the face
Birds one, girl zero
(I was walking under some scaffolding in downtown Brooklyn when a pigeon flew directly at my face, hit me repeatedly with his wings, and flew away. There were numerous witnesses. It was clearly premeditated. Oh, and for those of you keeping track at home, this is actually the second time in my life I've been hit in the head by a pigeon. I feel like a modern-day Tippi Hedren.)
Day 161: Creepy.
A large dead pigeon
Nestled in a cardboard box
Like a dreadful gift
(Did he die in mid-air and happen to fall into the box? Did someone carefully place him there, and then leave the box on the street? If so, why?)
Nestled in a cardboard box
Like a dreadful gift
(Did he die in mid-air and happen to fall into the box? Did someone carefully place him there, and then leave the box on the street? If so, why?)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Day 148: Chuckie sighting in Carroll Gardens
A red-haired doll head
Languishes on Henry Street
Vaguely menacing
(Remember Chuckie? If you grew up in the 1980s, between the Child's Play movies and My Buddy, you were likely put off dolls for life [and don't even get me started on the horror that was Teddy Ruxpin]. From the looks of the carnage on the Henry Street sidewalk, a local tot has finally bested the red-headed demon.)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Day 142: A summertime conundrum
Empty subway car?
Either there is no A/C
Or a dead body
(There are days when I would consider taking the latter.)
Either there is no A/C
Or a dead body
(There are days when I would consider taking the latter.)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Day 139
Why am I behind
Three guys pushing hot dog carts
Here in the bike lane?
(They don't magically appear on street corners, you know.)
Three guys pushing hot dog carts
Here in the bike lane?
(They don't magically appear on street corners, you know.)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Day 131: Bracing myself for lots of "dislikes"
Explain to me how
You live in the projects and
Drive a Range Rover
(I spent a long time walking around Red Hook in the rain yesterday. Red Hook is a fascinating area. It is home to Brooklyn's largest housing project, as well as many shops, restaurants, and a very cool community farm. It's amazing how many luxury SUVs are parked throughout the Red Hook Houses. I'm not just playing to offensive stereotypes; I did some research on public housing fraud at a former job. New York City has a real problem with people lying about their income in order to take advantage of public housing options. In some extreme examples, people actually owned multi-family houses in other neighborhoods, which they were renting out for substantial profit while living in subsidized housing.)
You live in the projects and
Drive a Range Rover
(I spent a long time walking around Red Hook in the rain yesterday. Red Hook is a fascinating area. It is home to Brooklyn's largest housing project, as well as many shops, restaurants, and a very cool community farm. It's amazing how many luxury SUVs are parked throughout the Red Hook Houses. I'm not just playing to offensive stereotypes; I did some research on public housing fraud at a former job. New York City has a real problem with people lying about their income in order to take advantage of public housing options. In some extreme examples, people actually owned multi-family houses in other neighborhoods, which they were renting out for substantial profit while living in subsidized housing.)
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Day 122: shouts and murmurs
An oddly young man
Shouting bible verses to
The apathetic
(We were able to here him on the sixth floor of the building where I work. When I left at the end of the day, I was expecting the usual type: an elderly, bearded zealot with a bible and a bag of cans. I was surprised to see a very young man -- probably no more than seventeen -- anxiously shouting about god to everyone within earshot. Needless to say, we avoided him. It's just what you do.)
Shouting bible verses to
The apathetic
(We were able to here him on the sixth floor of the building where I work. When I left at the end of the day, I was expecting the usual type: an elderly, bearded zealot with a bible and a bag of cans. I was surprised to see a very young man -- probably no more than seventeen -- anxiously shouting about god to everyone within earshot. Needless to say, we avoided him. It's just what you do.)
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