February 5, 2010

The F Train is Full of Mystery

Last year I decided each month should be marked by a project.
January Project:Shine light on the mysteries of the F train.

January 4: Saw a guy with a pinky ring and remembered a friend of mine who said she had a boyfriend who wore a pinky ring and did "pinky ring kinds of things". I never knew what that meant exactly, but I wondered if this guy would know what she was talking about.

January 5: Do women with with extremely dense, extremely curly hair use their hair as pillow on the road?

January 6: I've seen many of people in this car before. How long does one live in New York before every day is an encounter with the vaguely familiar?

January 7: The subway car is quiet, but the loudness of people's thoughts is deafening. Wonder if any people here saw Wings of Desire and are thinking the same thing?

January 8: Guy in a nice suit. Drunk. 10am.

January 11: Where does one find blue jeans decorated with AK47 silhouettes? And bullet holes! They have manufactured bullet holes.

January 12: Guy with mismatched socks. Actually not much of a mystery because the guy is me. **Bonus mystery: Why is it that one always sees people reading Marquez novels in pairs?

January 13: French people telling knock knock jokes.

January 14: On the ride home in a mostly empty subway car a girl who is about 20 sat down next to a guy who is about 20. They want to talk. Maybe when I exit

January 15: Fellow with a new Zune.

January 18: Saw a guy who reminded me of a kid I knew in kindergarten named Roderick Ross. Wondered if this guy might be Roderick grown up? I didn't ask.

January 19: A girl in a yellow coat is crying quietly.

January 20: How does a person smell like fish and peppermint at the same time?

January 21: Woman with a violin case decorated with stickers for The Cramps.

January 22: Man wearing 2 scarves.

January 25: A lady is eating black licorice on purpose.

January 26: Black coats all around then a woman in a red coat enters. Everyone turns.

January 27: Girl literally whistling Dixie.

January 28.: Fellow with mullet. Of you mulletman I ask: Where does one go to acquire such a stunning mullet cut these days?

January 29: A woman drew X's, O's, and hearts all over her hand and up part of her arm.She looks tired — not the hand drawing type. Maybe she didn't draw them. Maybe it was one of her kids. She looks too young for kids. Looks like she's going to work.

posted at 02:11 AM by raul

Filed under: overheard

Comments:

02/06/10 01:26 PM

I love the image of the girl in yellow raincoat..
but I'm stuck on 'eating liquorice on purpose.'..
a finely tuned observation

02/09/10 04:04 AM

January 5: Yes

02/09/10 10:18 PM

To answer your question about curly hair, yes- but if you don't take care of it it turns to dreadlocks rather quickly

02/10/10 12:37 AM

Are you a photographer? Or a writer? Sometimes I think the latter.

02/12/10 05:00 PM


Love watching people in places like that and reading stories into their lives. Remember Vernon Hardapple from "The Wonder Boys"?

Reminds me of a moment on a bus from way back when:
http://chrisbonney.blogspot.com/2010/01/do-you-mind-if-i-sing.html

03/06/10 05:12 AM

Lovely, could read this on and on forever.
Should be published as a book.

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