I'm on an R train to work.
This is what's going on.
One of the free a.m. papers, Metro, boasts the headline "Yes They Did".
The BilliPod is playing "Subterraneans," live Nine Inch Nails, with David Bowie, from a gig in St. Louis on October 11, 1995.
I am in Bloglimbo, with tattoos vanishing from the landscape. Next in my ear buds is "Kiss" by Prince, from the album Parade.
A woman standing near me is reading a hardcover by Alice Sebold (can't make out the title).
At 59th Street, there's no N train, so I remain seated on the R. The N pulls in, the guy next to me jumps up, and the Sebold reader sits, revealing she is reading The Lovely Bones.
Prince gives way to "Tell Him" by The Exciters, from the soundtrack of The Big Chill.
Another headline: "A Tough Time to be a Young Republican". I think, "or an old one, too."
Another woman sitting next to me is reading a book by Gwyn Hyman Rubio ("Yes ma'am," he said, rubbing his square chest...). The title is Icy Sparks.
Don Henley is singing "The Boys of Summer" from Building the Perfect Beast.
The train is packed and I know Melanie had problems commuting in this morning, with someone pulling the emergency brake on the train ahead of her in the tunnel. I wonder if I am experiencing the effects of that an hour or two later. Thursdays I go in late as I walk Shayna to school.
Interesting "It Beats 4 U" by the wonderful My Morning Jacket. I switch at 36th Street and get on a D train. I'm standing but I was astute enough to get in at the last car where I am not crushed.
A woman here is reading a small green bible (Hebrews 3:4).
The BilliPod is playing "Bad Night" by Public Image Ltd.
A guy has a baseball cap that says "Rushin' River Outfitters Wilderness Wear".
A blind man drinks coffee that smells good. It smells like Denny's.
I don't do this often, but I entertain myself (and hopefully my readers) when I do.
Interesting. Rare that the earbuds spew country music, but here's Garth Brooks singing "Friends in Low Places".
At Pacific Street, we fill up a little more. I am now standing near someone reading a foreign language paper. I am trying to decide if it's Russian, Greek, or Polish, and I am leaning toward Polish. Strike that, Russian. The fine print that said "Russian Daily" tipped me off.
Ah, now a flashback to Ozzfest 2007: "S.O.M" by a killer band called Static-X.
The guy behind me is reading The New Yorker. I miss that magazine, which I read religiously for a dozen years or so. I just ran out of time to read it.
The BilliPod is making up for the Garth Brooks by cleansing itself with metal, another Static X song called "Pieces". Rare to get back-to-back songs from the same artist on a 12,000+ track shuffle.
I'm on the Manhattan Bridge now.
Metallica covering The Ramones' "53rd and 3rd" from the We're a Happy Family tribute album.
Getting on the D means I will be doing a little banking this morning before reporting to work.
Leaving Grand Street, Mark Mothersbaugh's "Hardest Geometry Problem in the World" from the Rushmore soundtrack.
Straight into "Good Day Sunshine" by The Beatles. Perfect song for a misty, overcast, autumn day.
Leaving Broadway-Lafayette. Will be getting off next at West 4th Street and switching for an 8th Ave train.
Now, "Let it Bleed" by The Rolling Stones.
At West 4th I wait less than a minute for an A train. I actually snag a seat next to a young woman wearing an Obama "Hope" pin. People elsewhere in the country would not believe how many Obama pins we see here on a daily basis.
And she's reading his book "Dreams from My Father".
"Love Me Two Times" by The Doors.
Getting off next stop at 34th Street. "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" by Dr. Dre carries me out of the subway.
Standing in line at HSBC, we go from Dre to Twin Peaks - Angelo Badalamenti's "Dance of the Dream Man (Instrumental)".
It's 8:58 (I started at 8:04) and since it is not raining, I won't cut through Penn Station, but walk around it, up 33rd Street to 7th Ave. The top of the Empire State Building is shrouded in clouds.
"In Trance" is playing. Very early Scorpions. Klaus Meine sounds like a woman.
The New York Post's headline is "BAMELOT".
I am in the building, just a few minutes late, but hitting the bank shaved 15 minutes off of my lunch break.
Soundtrack for entering the office: Lucinda Williams' cover of the blues staple "Disgusted". The perfect song for starting work.
Thanks for accompanying me on my commute.