there are some things that just become part of a place. records and band of horses are owned by nashville. laura marling and fried dumplings are all san francisco. and from now on, udon noodle soup will be new york. and probably the smell of cedar oil. but that's another story.
other non-dietary lifestyle changes have occurred in the past few weeks as well. change one: no more subway. transport. not long sandwiches. those haven't been a part of my life since their weekly appearance during my 8 year old ballet days. and on the occasional roadtrip when my mother is there and her vote counts as two.
i've stopped taking the subway and started taking the bus. or walking. it's almost weird what a difference it's made. i've always hated subways for their cramped darkness anyway. you exchange that for an above ground experience, seeing faces, feeling sunshine, being able to escape if calamity strikes... yes, that's an important factor for me. one's sense of participation with the world is magnified ten fold when you're on a bus. and you don't have to smell as many armpits.
on to lifestyle change number 2. no headphones. that's right. no headphones. to know me well is to know me saying, "WHAT? I DIDN'T HEAR YOU, I HAVE HEADPHONES ON." i treasure my aircraft qualified sound-minimizing headphones like any well trained pilot. kings of leon from 22nd to 59th. van morrison crosstown on the M72. paul simon while perusing anthroplogie. ah, to live life with a soundtrack. and a complete unawareness of the goings on around you...
embarrassingly, this has been an epic sacrifice. miraculously, it has yielded epic return. in 3 weeks i have had more conversations and learned more names than in the combined 3 months preceding them. it's as if i'm being introduced to the city for the first time. and what a lovely city she is! and getting warmer by the day. in fact, i almost bought an ice cream cone the other day! but as my hands were full with take-out bags of udon noodle soup, i had to pass. a girl's gotta know her priorities...
a wednesday farewell quote:
"What's the point of being a writer or an artist anyway? Herman Melville wrote f*****g Moby Dick, and he was so poor and forgotten by the time he died that in his obituary, they called him Henry Melville. You know? I mean, why bother? They're just gonna forget our f*****g names anyway."
"Your Herman Melville story, that's bull****."
"It's true! They called him Henry."
"No, I mean he wrote a 700-page allegorical novel about the whaling industry. I think he was a pretty passionate guy, Joel. I hope they call me Henry when I die, too."
"Yeah, one can only hope."
-Adventureland
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