amtrak
wednesday 26 october 2005
11.34am
this is poprocks cool. before me lies a nine-hour amtrak train ride from washington, d.c. to charlotte, north carolina. yesterday i decided that air travel feels outdated in a world where digitized communcation provides instantaneous connections between remote locations; the transportation of our bodies is a comparatively slower process. i guess there are slower means of travel than airtravel, including car, bus, lightrail and train (all of which I've experienced already today).
it gets better. there's a little boy who just sat down at my table with me. he's very social, which i suppose could be concluded due to the fact that he's now made his move from across the table to approximately in my lap. he's doing this thing, asking everyone who walks past "what is your name?!?" and when they don't answer he shouts after them, "my name is nikos!!" and he's biting his pretzels into numbers and letters and quizzing me to make sure i possess alphabet recitation abilities and basic math skills. i love his spirit. in fact, i respect him, though he's only "four and a half years old, but my birthday's on april 9!" unashamed. unapologetic. endearing.
there's even a train whistle blowing now as we approach the first virginia stop. Pop.ROCKS!
12:00PM
"Soul Meets Body"
Deathcab for Cutie
I want to live where woul meets body
And let the sun wrap its arms aroundme
And bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing
And feel what it's like to be new
'Casue in my head there's a Greyhound station
Where I send my thoughts to far-off destinations
So they may have a chance of finding a place where they're far more suited than here
And I cannot guess what we'll discover
When we turn the dirt with our palms cupped like shovels
But I know our filthy hands can wash one another's
And not one speck wilol remain
And i do believe it's true that there are roads left in both of our shoes
But if the silence takes you then I hope it takes me too
So Brown Eyes I'll hold you near 'cause you're the only song I want to hear
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere
Where soul meets body
3.38pm
i see my first cotton field out the west window of the train! it's so short!! i pictured cotton plants being the same height as stalks of corn, but i guess that's a pretty pretentious assumption to make. ...nikos and his older brother are sleeping. their grandfather vito is flirting with two women, 60-ish in age, both with hair dyed blonde and speaking in southern accents. he speaks fluent spanish but has a strong new york italian accent when he speaks english. i'm not sure what to make of him, but that i like him. "how far am i going? FAR! anywhere off the island is far. anytime you cross the River, it's Far," he's saying. and he's offering advice on balance: "you've heard the phrase 'you don't use it you lose it?' well, let me tell you. if you can do that, learn how to balance yourself, and start doing it on one foot...close your eyes and learn to balance. i'll tell ya, i had a problem with my hip. i went to a guy and he used all his fancy technology and this guy, he has this rubber ball and it's only half-filled. it's very unstable. and he makes me sit on another ball. and he stands there to make sure i don't break my neck. but he makes me do exercises on these very unstable balls. and these exercises work the ity-bity muscles and i learned to maintain my balance. i learn with my eyes closed. you can do it, you can do it. even if you only do a couple of seconds. a lot of people get dizzy because they haven't learned to balance; their muscles and their inner ear aren't exercised. it's a shame that someone as vibrant as you (he's pointing at one of the blondes) might start to lose it. listen to the grey hair (now he's pointing at his own salt-and-pepper hair). i know what i'm saying." ...does this make any sense?? is he flirting? if you were an old woman with hair dyed blonde, would you fall for this new yorker with oddball philosophies?
Quote of the day: "Like travel, transformation is a kind of journey" (50).ˇ
11.34am
this is poprocks cool. before me lies a nine-hour amtrak train ride from washington, d.c. to charlotte, north carolina. yesterday i decided that air travel feels outdated in a world where digitized communcation provides instantaneous connections between remote locations; the transportation of our bodies is a comparatively slower process. i guess there are slower means of travel than airtravel, including car, bus, lightrail and train (all of which I've experienced already today).
it gets better. there's a little boy who just sat down at my table with me. he's very social, which i suppose could be concluded due to the fact that he's now made his move from across the table to approximately in my lap. he's doing this thing, asking everyone who walks past "what is your name?!?" and when they don't answer he shouts after them, "my name is nikos!!" and he's biting his pretzels into numbers and letters and quizzing me to make sure i possess alphabet recitation abilities and basic math skills. i love his spirit. in fact, i respect him, though he's only "four and a half years old, but my birthday's on april 9!" unashamed. unapologetic. endearing.
there's even a train whistle blowing now as we approach the first virginia stop. Pop.ROCKS!
12:00PM
"Soul Meets Body"
Deathcab for Cutie
I want to live where woul meets body
And let the sun wrap its arms aroundme
And bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing
And feel what it's like to be new
'Casue in my head there's a Greyhound station
Where I send my thoughts to far-off destinations
So they may have a chance of finding a place where they're far more suited than here
And I cannot guess what we'll discover
When we turn the dirt with our palms cupped like shovels
But I know our filthy hands can wash one another's
And not one speck wilol remain
And i do believe it's true that there are roads left in both of our shoes
But if the silence takes you then I hope it takes me too
So Brown Eyes I'll hold you near 'cause you're the only song I want to hear
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere
Where soul meets body
3.38pm
i see my first cotton field out the west window of the train! it's so short!! i pictured cotton plants being the same height as stalks of corn, but i guess that's a pretty pretentious assumption to make. ...nikos and his older brother are sleeping. their grandfather vito is flirting with two women, 60-ish in age, both with hair dyed blonde and speaking in southern accents. he speaks fluent spanish but has a strong new york italian accent when he speaks english. i'm not sure what to make of him, but that i like him. "how far am i going? FAR! anywhere off the island is far. anytime you cross the River, it's Far," he's saying. and he's offering advice on balance: "you've heard the phrase 'you don't use it you lose it?' well, let me tell you. if you can do that, learn how to balance yourself, and start doing it on one foot...close your eyes and learn to balance. i'll tell ya, i had a problem with my hip. i went to a guy and he used all his fancy technology and this guy, he has this rubber ball and it's only half-filled. it's very unstable. and he makes me sit on another ball. and he stands there to make sure i don't break my neck. but he makes me do exercises on these very unstable balls. and these exercises work the ity-bity muscles and i learned to maintain my balance. i learn with my eyes closed. you can do it, you can do it. even if you only do a couple of seconds. a lot of people get dizzy because they haven't learned to balance; their muscles and their inner ear aren't exercised. it's a shame that someone as vibrant as you (he's pointing at one of the blondes) might start to lose it. listen to the grey hair (now he's pointing at his own salt-and-pepper hair). i know what i'm saying." ...does this make any sense?? is he flirting? if you were an old woman with hair dyed blonde, would you fall for this new yorker with oddball philosophies?
Quote of the day: "Like travel, transformation is a kind of journey" (50).ˇ
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home