Stranger's Anonymous

 It's a weekend in northern Brooklyn. And you know what that means....

Yes. It means that the L train isn't running. Again. And you know what happens when the L train isn't running?

Correct! IT ALSO MEANS THAT THE M TRAIN ONLY TAKES YOU TO DELANCEY. 

It's almost as if the city's infrastructure for transportation is crumbling or something like that. I don't know. Maybe I'll ask Pete Buttigieg (is that how you even spell his last name?)

But this time, it wasn't as unbearable. A few skate friends just so happened to be in town, and we planned to meet at Tompkins. Tompkins sucks. But I was in good company. As I was on the way there from 6th Ave, an older lady, probably in her 60's, decided to sit next to me on the wooden benches that probably haven't been cleaned in at least 20 years. I was listening to the 1999 self titled album when she began venting to me about how the supposed reconstruction of the train didn't help it a single bit. At first I thought she was just gonna stop after that one liner, but she ebbed into a more interesting convo about how cheap her apartment in the Upper West Side was and how she told her landlord that he is going to "bury" her there. I was....enthused. Wait, wrong word. This phrase is better: the convo peaked my interest.

She kept dropping bombs on me. "I used to be a legal secretary", "I was a flamenco dancer", "I'm meeting my friend at the flea market. I don't have her number, and she doesn't have mine". Interesting, no?

I think the most interesting part of the conversation was when she told me about her time abroad in Spain. She complained about how they still have the conquistador attitude and how some dude she met there said that their ancestors came over when the Spanish first came to America. "You know what I told him? I told him that they took random people out of jail to come to the New World because nobody wanted to go. That's right. Your ancestors are a piece of shit!"

She got off at the same stop in the East Village as me. The flea market she was going to just so happened to be the same way that Tompkins was. We chatted for a few more minutes, and said goodbye. She left me with a beaming smile, like, the one that grandparents give their grandkids when the graduate high school or something. A lady of many lives.

king of queens

 It is so easy to say that where you live sucks. It’s even harder admitting that it’s not all that bad.

But recently, Brooklyn has been feeling, how you say, washed? 

We’re all part of the problem, including me. We all love hear big eyed thinking “is this what living is?” until we realize that this isn’t really living at all. I mean, going to the bar and not leaving until 3:30 AM is super sick, and I may or may not have done that in the last 24 to 48 hours, but, sustainability wise? That’s a whole different conversation. But I digress.

I took it upon myself to enjoy the beautiful weather from today and venture into NoMansLand, THE COUNTY OF QUEENS. 

It’s chic. It’s clean. There were, like, no rats. The security guard at the beer garden was nice to me? (!!!) This was an unprecedented event. 

Bushwick is loud, always on the go, and full of filth. And that’s part of the reason I love it there. It’s a very “coming of age” kind of neighborhood, until you realize that everyone that’s being priced out of Williamsburg (which is honestly Manhattan at this point) is seeping into Maria Hernandez, Irving Square, and Carmelos. 

Astoria is the lowly man’s dream. (More) Affordable housing, more space, quick access to Manhattan. You name it. I mean, let’s be real here. Astoria Park > McCarren. 

Alas, it was a great acid trip while it lasted. It slowly faded as I perused through my music catalog while driving on Grand Central, hoping that the stop and go traffic wouldn’t get in the way of putting in my password correctly to play La Medicina by Los Tetas. And while I can daydream about the day I become a Queens man, I must live in reality. My paisanos are playing their favorite tunes, and I may or may not have helped a street vendor move her cooler down the double set of stairs at the subway. A beer at the corner bodega still costs $2.50, and the cashier clerk will still wave to me from time to time. 

It’s ok to bitch every now and again. 

The Digital Surveillance State that We Already Knew About

 It's Sunday.

Right off the bat, I have to mention this whole Haskins event. It's a tragedy. Half of my friends, if not all of them, were younger than this guy. And boom. Just gone like that. I've brought this up before, but the passing of high profile folks (athletes, celebs, etc.) sometimes feels larger than life. Perfect example is when Kobe passed. Life didn't seem real for a few months, and it still doesn't even seem like he's...gone? This is somewhat similar, in a way. Just a guy going to practice, doing his job, and then this happens. The fragility of life is such a precious and damned thing. Because once it's gone, that shit doesn't come back. That's my take. 

Also, Adam Schefter, if I ever see you, it's on sight. 

There's this sake bar in the East Village/NoHo, right, and I'm waiting to get in to link up w/the goon squad. The guy that works there is like "sorry, there's no room for one person in there" and immediately goes to the group of like 5 people behind me and is like "give me a second, we have a table for y'all". I'm standing there in awe, disgust, confusion, angst, anger, despair, blah blah blah. Then I tell him I'm meeting some folks there, and he goes "Oh! Well that changes things." Yeah, it better, pal. 

I've been cat sitting for the last week it seems. All they do is scratch at you and eat all of the food that you set out for them. I'm coming to terms that I am just not cut out for this. However I will never let them know that. They need to know that I am the boss. I am the alpha, and the omega. I'm really him. 

Streetsblog just put out that they're going to be installing new security cameras in most, if not all, of the subways within the next two years (around the end of 2024 is when it should be done). Reason being? They want to "stop fare evasions and cut down on crime". As if. Wanna know what happens in cities with marginalized populations that raise train fare? Get a load of this: schools being looted, city fires, militarized police attacking civilians, protesters losing an eye after being shot with a rubber bullet, etc. IMO? NYPD and Mr. Adams are lucky none of that has happened at this point. I mean come on man, you're really THAT mad about some kid or some person that's late to work that doesn't want to pay $2.75? Cry me a river, the River Nile actually, Mr. Adams. E andate a la chucha. 

Also they're thinking about making a super prison in Chinatown? It's 2022 and we're still doing this shit? Streets are done. Omega GG to the people. 

April Showers bring Howitzers

 First of all, how in the fuck is already almost April? I mean, come on man...

What's up with this Will Smith guy, eh? Why are people so mad at this? He's a billionaire, probably. Same w/ Mr. Bed-Stuy. "He almost died" my ass. Whoever tweeted that needs therapy stat. What I will say, though, is that watching that moment didn't feel real. I thought it was staged, until I realized that the sound was muted for about 20 something seconds. Queue international Twitter! Japan and Australia were looking out with the down and dirty versions.

This is most definitely bearing a dead horse, but I feel like this has been a good distraction from Bovid-19 or whatever. The masks come off on public transit in Sin City in less than 2 weeks I think. As if people still wore em' on there in the first place. I could care less at this point (at the expense of my health, for others I can understand as to why you need others to have their mask on. I don't even know if that sentence made any sense. I sure as hell hope it does). 

I come back to this poor example of a blog every now and again when I finally get the itch to blurb my semi-finished thoughts onto the internet. It's serving scrambled eggs that are, like, kinda done, but aren't completely, but you're at your friend's grandmother's house and you have no choice whether you eat them or not. 

The weather here, and I'm pretty sure everywhere else across the US, is so upside down at the moment. Tell me why, as human beings, we are experiencing winter all over again? Easy answer. I just refuse to say it right now because I am upset about it being 24 degrees in damn near April. But tell me, am I bugging? Should it be this way? Do you love this shit? Are you drunk right now? Do you ever get nervous? (real ones get this). Spiel over.

I've considered what going back to school would look like in the near future, as well as taking another bite at the Fulbright next year. But in all honesty, I said the same thing about being an FSO and I've delayed that out of my head for sooooooo long at this point. ANYWAY, university in NY is great (at least the prospect) because even if you are not from here, you can get in-state tuition costs after living here for a year. Not going to divulge the amount of time that I may or may not have been here, but I would benefit from that immensely. 

Currently, I am waiting for my Uber Eats to pull up. I am tipping in cash, and I honestly think that's the reason I am not getting it just yet. The spot it less than a quarter mile down the street, and it's almost been an hour. "Why don't you just go and pick it up then?" Aha, I've already found your answer. And it's that Uber gave me a $10 coupon for delivery, you dipshit. 

Lots and lots of crime has been going on in the city in general. Not that I know anything enough about the Bad Old Days, but it's interesting to see the amount of boomers on local news sites that draw that comparison so easily. Granted, some of the shit that's going on is bonkers. People getting tossed onto the train tracks, getting bludgeoned to near death with a hammer, getting beat up so bad that it looks like you just got shot, getting stabbed to death by a homeless man, dying from a stray bullet coming through your window, and that's all the stuff that I from TODAY. That's not to say that all of this happened in a day, week, or even month's time span, but it does show how crazy the city can be. Is it because we're all coming out of Covid? Is it the measly budget decrease from NYPD that is causing this? Do the cops just not care anymore? Where's the avatar when you need him most?

I may or may not have a video part coming soon. Check back early fall. I will also be checking back to see if I capped on this or not.  

Biking into 2022 down Broadway

 The day is New Year´s Eve. You just get off of work from your day job, and are wondering what kind of nonsense you are going to get yourself into as the night approaches. The bodega is filled with people wearing their typical New Year´s Eve garb (fancy clothes for like, no reason), and the beer section is half empty. Obviously your first pick is going to either the Rolling Rock or the PBR. In fact, you buy both just to calm your mental. 

The clock is ticking, ticking, ticking. It´s 10:30, and you have a beer blanket on. You forget that it´s the COVID era for just, like, a few hours. Then you remember IT is still a thing. Your friends are asking you ¨OMG what are we doing tonight bestie?¨, your GF doesn´t know what to wear, and the IPA that you bought a couple minutes ago is starting to make you feel like you´re having an acid trip. What do you do? What is your next move? How do you react? 

I will leave you with this: At approximately 4:30 AM on January 1, 2022, I had just left the bodega on Broadway getting a deli sandwich (with bev), hopped on my bike, and made my way back home. Take from that what you will.

There´s my boring New Years story. It´s 2022 now. Last year was 2021. The pandemic started in late 2019/ early 2020. What. The. Fuck.

New York just had its first snow of the season, while my comrades in VA were probably stuck on I95 somewhere with the snowstorm of theirs that they just had no more than a week ago. The only difference is that we didn´t have Tim Kaine tweet that he was on 95. Instead Eric Adams was talking about how much swagger the city has, and that he is the ¨swagger¨ mayor. Swagger. Are you kidding me?

I´m on my soapbox right now. And by soapbox I mean my couch. It´s not even mine. My GF bought this with her when we moved in together. That´s besides the point.

COVID has had no issue in terrorizing the hospitals once again. But no lorries full to the brim with dead bodies, right? 

In all seriousness, this sucks. 

But what are you gonna do about it? My freezing cold take is that so many people are going to get it, at least in the US, that it´ll soon turn into an endemic thing, ya know?

Hm. What else.

I saw a bird of prey fly away with a pigeon today. I think I will leave it at that.