The Many Adventures of a Thede

After about 4 months of biking around Manhattan, I can say that my bike is probably one of the best purchases I've ever made. I can't believe the years I lived here and DIDN'T have a bike. I had thought about getting one a few times over the years, but never had that push to make it happen until the MTA threatened fare hikes, potentially raising the price of a monthly Metro Card from $81 to $103! That was just too much for me to handle. The online petitions began and the politicians began negotiating in Albany, but I decided to be proactive and not let politicians decide things for me for once. If the MTA was going to raise fares and cut service, I wasn't going to be needing their services anymore.

Riding my bike has changed several things about my existence here in New York. First of all, the every day rite of passage of the New York resident, taking the subway, is no longer part of my life. This is both good and bad (but mostly good). I miss the (good) subway performers, the time to read or listen to my iPod, the people watching, stopping at the subterrainian news stands to grab a soda or snack. I do NOT miss the bad smells, the late trains, the construction, the over-crowded cars, the people not respecting my personal space, or the rats running down the tracks. I especially do not miss having to wait a half hour or more to get a train if I'm travelling in the wee hours of the morning.

When I started riding my bike, I thought maybe I would be reluctant to do it at times and make excuses to not do it ("It looks like it's going to rain" or "I'm tired"). This is SO not the case. I have been known to ride when it is sprinkling and then been caught in a downpour. One day I arrived at work literally wringing out my pants, looking like I'd been thrown in the river. But it was a small price to pay for me. I take my chances with the weather gladly. The other potential problem of being tired hasn't really been an issue either. I remember saying that I thought maybe I wouldn't want to ride my bike to work on Saturdays because I work such a long day, I might dread having to ride my bike home. On the contrary, I get new energy when I ride. Where as I used to drag myself to the train station and sit like a zombie on the ride home, now when I hop on my bike to leave, the exercise wakes me up again, and I feel refreshed.

The other night, I ventured out of Manhattan on my bike for the first time, and rode to Queens to spend a long night hanging out with Eduardo and some other friends. When I was finally ready to leave, it was after 5am. Eduardo told me I could leave my bike and take the train, but I wanted to ride home. When I started out, it was still dark, but the sun slowly began to rise as I rode towards Manhattan, following the people going to start the early shift at work and the trucks hauling the breakfast carts to set up on the busy corners of the city. Instead of feeling tired and miserable, just longing for my bed (as I know I would have been if I'd been on the train), I enjoyed seeing the city wake up, the lack of cars on the road, and when I got home around 6:30am, I didn't even fall immediately into bed. Once again, the exercise gave me a second wind, and I stayed up a while eating breakfast and watching the morning news.

So, I can't really see a downside to bike riding around the city. It saves time, money, and it's great exercise! I've lost a few pounds and my pants fit a little looser since I started riding. And now when I hear friends complaining about the MTA, I just think to myself, "I beat the system!"

Isn't it weird when you find out about your old friends having babies? It's just crazy. I can't imagine having a baby right now. I can barely take care of myself. I'm not even a good mom to my cat. Maybe if I was married, I'd feel differently, but I don't know. I'm enjoying being a little carefree in my 20s. I don't really want a kid and a mortgage. Not yet.

The other day I was standing on the subway platform waiting for the 1 train to take me downtown. I was leaning against a support beam, looking down the dark tunnel waiting to see that headlight that tells me the train is on it's way. And I noticed some of the other people standing on the platform had a very strange little dance going on. There were three people staggered down the platform, who would lean to look down the tunnel, and then pace back to the wall, and then immediately turn around and walk back to the edge of the platform again, looking down the tunnel. I don't know that any of them realized how silly it looked that all three of them were doing this in unison. And I was thinking to myself, "Do they think this pacing will make the train come any quicker?" It's like those people who push the elevator button over and over again. Can't we all just learn to be patient? I try to be. But I have to admit, I get a little annoyed if there's even one person in front of me at the grocery store check-out. Why are we always in such a hurry?

I'm considering learning how to play golf. Bo has recently picked it up as a hobby. He had played in years past, but he just started playing fairly regularly again. He and his friend usually go up to Van Cortland Park in The Bronx to play. So, I thought it might be fun to learn so I could go along sometime. I think we'll go to Chelsea Piers driving range sometime soon so I can learn. But, I do already know all the lingo and theory from years of playing Mario Golf.

I've been having a lot of fun with the cast of A Good Farmer. It's a really fun group of people, and they like to go out and be social. Comradery is one of my favorite parts of theatre, so it's always disappointing when casts aren't very fun or social. This is not one of those casts. And it's also been really fun to go to some new places and explore unfamiliar neighborhoods. Most shows rehearse in midtown Manhattan, which is where I spend about 75 percent of my life, so I get a little tired of the area and going to the same places all the time. But this show rehearsed in Chelsea, and we ended up trying out a great little wine bar in the area called Metro Cafe. They have these things called "Flights" of four little glasses of wine, so you can try different kinds. And it's a less expensive way to try some pretty expensive wines. So, I chose the "Down Under" flight which consisted of four white wines from New Zealand. Very tasty. Now we are in tech, so we've moved into the theatre, which is in the Meat Packing District. It's the cutest neighborhood ever, and there are so many crazy places to hang out. Last night we went to this really kitschy place called Tortilla Flats that's decorated with a light-up Santa Claus and an excess of mylar streamers, and has regular bingo night and hula hoop competitions. I think we're going to become regulars.

And I just have quick piece of advice this week. If you ever come to New York for a visit, I'm just letting you know now, it is not cool to not hold onto something in the subway. It seems like tourists think that all cool New Yorkers must have cat-like balance, and so the tourists think they'll try to be cool too by free standing on a train moving 55 mph. Friends, this is not only very un-cool, it is very stupid. Basically, you'll end up taking a spectacular fall, probably onto a fellow passenger. And it's not cool to spend your New York vacation with a concussion.

It's really just the first part of this clip that's relevant:



I really like the subway. Yes, sometimes you have to wait for a long time for a train to come. Yes, in the summer it's hotter than hell on the platform. Yes, sometimes you switch from a local to an express train, but the express train runs so slow that the local beats you anyway. But the benefits far outweigh these minor inconveniences. I love being able to do something else on my commute...read a book...play my gameboy...stare into nothingness. I love that I don't really have to go figure out how to get someplace. I just have to know which train will take me there. I love that I'm being nice to the environment without really trying. I REALLY love that I don't have to worry about the price of gas. But, really, the reason I love the subway is because of the direct contact with my fellow New Yorkers. People from all areas of the city, and from all walks of life ride the subway. Businessmen on their way to work, teenagers going to a movie, mothers with babies, young couples back from a day of Ikea shopping. The other day I was sitting across from an elderly Chinese man who must have had about 100 rubber bands around is wrist, a few laced around his fingers. He wore a bright, multi-colored polo shirt and socks emblazoned with "USA" in patriotic colors. And I was totally entertained on my way to work, just by looking at this man, and wondering what he was going to do with all those rubber bands.

My apartment building seems to be emptying. I guess summer is usually the time of change for people who are moving. A woman who lived on the third floor moved out recently, although I never really saw her much. A girl from Germany who lived on the 4th floor returned to her home country. And just yesterday, my neighbor, Marylin moved out, and she's headed to Spain to live with her fiance there. She met him on a bus when he was here visiting New York. At the end of his week-long stay, they were engaged. He's been back to visit her once since then, but they have basically only spent about 2 weeks total in the same country. I've already told her all the practical things...he might just want a green card...he might want her money...he might be...anything! She barely knows him! But she's promised she's not going there to marry him right away. Oh, well. It's her life. Anyway, now there are three empty apartments in my building not counting the one that has been empty since I moved in almost a year and a half ago. So, if anyone needs a place in New York, let me know! I'm pretty sure I live in the cheapest building in Manhattan.