So the past few days I've been enjoying my annual pre-Vinitaly bronchitis. I've spent a lot of time on subways and buses, also of course staring at the laptop screen and going, "Huh? What are they talking about?"
The great thing about feeling shitty and swimmy-headed is you got plenty of time. You somehow find yourself fixing your limited conscious ability on profound and usually overlooked matters.
* Like, I wonder about the inner life of some of these Orthodox Jews. Like, the ones listening to iPods. What are they listening to? A) Klezmermania! B) The Talmud C) Alice in Chains D) Talmudic discussions of the righteousness of listening to Alice in Chains on Shabbat
* I'm seeing different people and different behavior on the subway. In addition to the normal throngs of brown and black people in puffy black North Coast jackets there are more skinny, well-dressed UES matrons. No one chats or even eats much any more. Not an access of good manners -- everyone's broke. Depressed.
* Homeless people are re-colonizing areas that had been off limits to them for years. It's like the mid-80's all over again -- they're camped out all over Penn Station and a number of long cleaned-up parks. Unlike the homeless that I'd recently read about in the NYT and so on, these people are still mostly the mentally ill and/or really strung out. I think they're being pushed out of fixed abodes, however humble and rat-infested, by the working poor.
Well, it's almost time for my codeine cough syrup. Which is great, because I'll be nice and constipated for Vinitaly, which in turn will keep me from eating too much. Yep, it's a win-win.
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