The Best and Worst Thing About NYC

The subway. Can't live with it, can't live without it. The worst moods I've ever gotten in while living here are due to the MTA. And yet I ride the MTA everyday because, well, I don't have a choice. I'm not sure how I tolerate it, really. The other day I had to wait 45 minutes on a platform packed with pissed off passengers while waiting for a train to arrive that wouldn't go out of service right after it pulled into the station. And let's not forget the stifling un-airconditioned car during the summer that crops up when you're sweating the most. And that one mysteriously empty car with many empty seats you enter...and then...BAM. The utter intense BO of someone sleeping on a far bench hits you in the face and makes you gag. Or the subway gropers, pissers, loud talkers, and beggers. A few weeks ago a group of men decided that it would be especially impressive and a great moneymaker if they blasted their boombox and did breakdancing moves...yes, head spins and flips and all...on the moving and packed train. Needless to say, my foot got stomped on more than once.

And then you have to deal with signs like this. And you're lucky to even get a sign like this--usually you just find out once you get to the next stop (oh, I guess this train is going local...I'm annoyed, but what can I do? I guess I'll just take it out on the next person who annoys me). I'd say the worst part about the subway is the overall feeling of helplessness. I bet half of the stress New Yorkers experience comes from repressed subway frustration. Let's say your train stalls between stations and comes to a halt for 15 minutes. What can you do? You sigh, look at your watch, shuffle your feet, try to take calm deep breaths, once in awhile let out a low grumble, or, if you're some people, loudly complain to anyone who's willing to listen in the same car as you. Then the train starts moving again and you try to forget that that ever happened, but it festers in the back of your brain as you get off at your stop. Then someone's backpack hits your shoulder and suddenly you find yourself yelling WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING SH*THEAD! Yeah, I haven't really yelled at someone on the subway yet, but I've been yelled AT plenty of times. But one day...one seemingly peaceful, beautiful day...I won't be able to take it anymore and all hell will break loose. I hope I'm in LA by the time that happens.

Soderbergh @IFC Film Center

I'm gonna miss having the IFC Film Center around. It's so conveniently located and surrounded by lots of interesting/small places to hop into and eat at (by the way--Famous Joe's Pizza? Disgusting. Okay, maybe it's not disgusting, but the tomato sauce is bland, the cheese managed to taste old and stale even though I got slices off of a pie just pulled out of the oven...I can think of 3 pizza places on the spot in Brooklyn that are a zillion times better). N has brought me to lots of the smaller film spots around NYC, and they all have their own charm to them. There's something about the snooty nerdy film crowd that I enjoy. We watched a screening of Schizopolis there which was followed by a Q&A with Steven Soderbergh himself. I thought N might pass out from being overwhelmed by his presence, even though he didn't show it.

I think most of these director Q&As tend to be the same thing over and over again...most of the questions being something like "How did you become a genius, and can I become one too?" or "I know more than these other idiots who are asking questions, let me rub my film knowledge in your face before I ask my question" or "Was that bird flying in the background in the second scene supposed to symbolize the character's spiritual journey through rehab?" I feel bad for the directors sometimes.

I know LA is the film mecca, but I'm sure the crowd and culture there are different than New York's. I think I'll miss it.

scaffolding, scaffolding everywhere

yet another reason why i dislike nyc:

scaffolding. all of this scaffolding went up around my office in the past week or so. now everyone in midtown (including a lot of lost-looking tourists) are corralled and herded through narrow spaces like cattle, as if it weren't crowded enough already. and the blocks and blocks of skyscrapers already blocked out 90% of any natural light, and now the scaffolding takes care of the rest. oh, and don't forget about the rash of construction accidents during the past year (concrete falling from above, cranes collapsing, and, of course, scaffolding falling). yay.