[louder than sirens, louder than bells]

I said yesterday that I have lost my interest in the subway. I realized today that I misspoke. I may not notice the act of riding the subway anymore, but the observations one can make while riding the underground tunnels of this city are endless and never cease to fascinate me. This can carry over into any part of city life as well - coffee shops, book stores, parks, streets...but for now let's just focus on the train. When you're on the subway, that's it. You're there until the next stop, at least. You're underground with a group of people you do not know and did not choose to be with, but here you all are, occupying the same space, breathing the same controlled air, trusting in the system and assuming things will go as planned. Whether you see any of these people again or not, you are currently a part of one another's lives, and anything is possible. I do not mean to romanticize the idea - in all likelihood most people don't give a shit about anyone else and just want to get to their damn stop in time to do whatever they need to do. New Yorkers tend to be a bit of the rushing type. We have places to go and we need to get there quickly because this city moves at a brisk pace and if you can't keep up then you should probably move out of the way. But if you pause to study all of the personalities and activities of the people on the train, you can fill your time observing some flavorful characters.

One thing I find quite interesting is the books people are reading. Have I read it before? Is it a favorite? Have I been wanting to read it? Does it seem lame? Does it seem too difficult or boring? Is it unfamiliar, should I look it up when I go home? Is the person reading it an attractive male? Does he have good taste in books? I'm not going to pretend I don't think about the attractive males reading books on the train more often than the other people reading books. That's just a quality I accept in myself, and I don't think I am alone. I wish that I could plop myself down next to anyone who fits the "cute guy reading a good book" mold and talk to him, but I've not reached that point yet. Yet. I'd like to think I can say "yet" to this possibility. I should tell the tall handsome fellow reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen that I am 359 out of 533 on the wait list at my library to read that book, as I can't afford the hardcover for $23.00 at Strand, and ask him what he thinks about it. Maybe if he likes it, I'll think about adding it to my Christmas list, as I'm sure it will take longer than twelve days to be number one on the wait list. Maybe if we talk about the book, it will lead to other topics, and I will secure myself a little date for the weekend. But most likely I will write about these possibilities in my blog later and that young gentleman will be off living his life and we will never see each other again. I will be no worse for wear, as this is a common occurrence. I do not wish to sound like a lovesick child, but maybe I am, fine. I'm in my mid-twenties. Give me a break.

I started writing a song about this subway-lust-phenomenon. I usually write the chords, the melody, and then the lyrics, and I've run into trouble with this song because I have done the opposite, and while I have some lyrics and the melody, finding the chords with my limited guitar knowledge to fit my slightly higher level of singing knowledge has proven to be difficult. I'll continue to work on it. Hopefully it will be one of my most relatable songs, haha.

I just watched the episode of Felicity: Sophomore Year when Julie and Felicity are fighting and end up being stuck on a train for 80 hours (okay, like 4 hours) and everyone on the train helps them with their little argument over Ben...at the end people are friends and feel a bit more ready to take on life's challenges. It made me wonder what would really happen if a train stopped for a few hours (I'm sure it has happened). Would people talk? Would I be afraid? Would it change my life in some drastic way? Would I make a friend? Would I even care? Or would I just continue to listen to my iPod and read my book and ignore everyone while they all did the same? Part of me would be interested to see...I'm sure a number of people would slit my throat for practically wishing for this to happen, simply so I can analyze the human spirit or whatever. I hope it wouldn't be a dangerous situation, although I don't really have control over any of that. What do you think? Would you enjoy it? Or would you want to bash through the windows and follow the rats to the nearest man-hole exit? I hope you would choose the first option. Because those rats are kind of nasty.

My roommate is annoyed that I'm doing this whilst we are trying to watch The Office, so I think for now I'll stop. I won't bore whomever reads this with constant subway stories, but I'm sure there will be more. Apparently it is quite an interesting topic to me, haha.

And Jim and Pam just had the BEST moment on this past Christmas episode :o) Maybe I can meet someone like Jim Halpert/John Krasinski on the train next. That would be lovely.

[amanda]