Gee, Think.

Today the New Jersey police were getting really serious. They had both
entrances to the PATH platform gaurded by squads of 6-8 officers with
several canines as well. They had large sandwich boards that said by
entering the PATH train you must submit your bag for search upon request
of an officer.
DANG!!
Now I’m not smuggling anything illegal, but if I was I would not have
taken the PATH today. No way was anyone going to get through there
looking suspicious.
This was a little scary. I’m not in emotional distress now, but it gave
me a little jump. I would have taken a picture, but I didn’t want to be
searched or detained.
I think when it comes down to it I’m okay with this police state scare
tactic because I believe that there is a real threat out there. Have I
been fooled by 5 years of government propganda? Has the state created
an environment of fear in order to control the poeple? Maybe. But
really I’m glad that squads of police with dogs are going to scare the
**** out of “the bad guys.”
If the boogeyman IS out there, do I want him riding my train? HECK
NO!!
Thank you officers.

What is up with this dude? He’s got some sort of antennae that attaches
to the window, presumably to get a better signal. It looks like a modem
for his laptop, but wow, why the stern military demeanor? I would be
psyched if I had a sweet piece of technology like that. I’m pretty sure
that he was a marine, or some sort of military personel. He was dressed
in plain clothes but he didn’t act civilian.

Today the part of the whining commuter will be played by yours truly.
The train that I was planning to take home has been cancelled. This
puts me home a full 30 minutes later. I was already a half hour late,
and now that’s a whole 60 mins out of a short night at home. On top of
that I can’t get in touch with family. Who knows if the next train will
even be running. And the freaking loud speaker woman is really getting
into her job. I wish she’d pipe down. It’s hard to relax with that
thing blaring constantly. The train is finally here. Now its time to
be packed like sardines on a long local train. Sometimes, it all seems
bad. Ugh! I guess I just gotta complain every once in a while.
Everyone has bad days, right?

This is a scene from the raritan line near newark NJ. I think this area
is in the midst of a long term reversal. What must have been a center
of smokestack industry is now turning into tightly packed apartment
hosuing row. It’s turning thickly residential. There are a lot of cool
pictures to be taken around here as the old smokestacks decay and the
newly constructed houses gleam.
This is a theme that has been stewing in my mind over the last few
months, change. It’s impossible to forecast the changes that will take
place after something has been built. For example, take a look at some
of the centuries old churches in NYC. When they were laying the
cornerstone could they ever have imagined that they would one day bew
surrounded by shining glass towers? Imagine the potential future change
in your area. What do you see?

Do you ever feel boxed in, or like you don’t have enough space? Maybe
you’d like personal space of a foot or two. If that’s you, you better
think twice about the commuter trains. In rush hour these things are
packed above capacity. There’s probably no such thing as a maximum
legal capacity for a train car. Even so, there’s just slightly more
room than an airplane.
Now that’s a thought, commuting 90 minutes door to door via airline. I
wonder where that might get me. I can’t imagine it taking less than 120
mins door to door to get to an office in boston, or D.C.
Today, I’m thinking inside the box, because that’s where I’m sitting.

A man of wordly dress. This man has thirty bracelets on each arm. Each
bracelet had several dozen beads of mixed colors. He was looking
colorful. I love seeing people like him. Maybe it shows that I’m new
to the area, but I can’t help it. People looking like that are
intriguing. There’s something about a person that chooses to dress
dramatically different than the crowd.
Is it a conscious choice to stand out? Is it a reaction to the pressure
to conform? Ot is it just an outward expression of an individual mind?
I used to think that I couldn’t be original without defying conventional
style, but I was even more a slave to “judging a book by it’s cover.”
There was a time in my adolescence wheni wanted to dress differently
just to see what people would think. I even went so far as to dye my
hair a range of colors. It was deep blue for a while, which I rwally
liked. It attracted a lot of attention when it was blue, but the extra
attention grew old. There were times when I didn’t want to hear what
other people thought about my hair color. Of course I was looking for a
reaction when I first did it, but it got old.
I’ve now swung to the opposite extreme of embracing the “uniform” of the
financial district. I like the ability to slip into the crowd as just
another face. It’s not so bad to have a camoflage. It provides a
certain anonymity that allows for some precious “alone in the crowd”
time. Of course, the blue shirt is getting a bit old. I see at least
five other people wearing blue shirts when I do. It’s some kind of
unspoken dress code.
Independence, anonymity and self knowledge. It’s all on the inside.

Rusted warehouse, where have your people gone?
Who has spray painted you? Will there be ever be more deliveries to
your door? Did you close for crime? Did you lose in a time of
hardship?
What is your story Rusted Warehouse?

It’s another crowded day on the train. I’m starting my week on Tuesday
after having a relaxing Monday off. I really got to chill out. It was
so nice. The sun was warm as I stood on the front lawn playing my
guitar. I worked through a chord progression that I used to know very
well. When I started trying to remember it I only knew three of the
five chords. I kept at it and eventually they all came back to me. I
can’t quite remeber their names. I think it went E, G, A, C, A and
repeat. That could be part of “Wading In The Velvet Sea” by Phish.
Today it’s back to the city, which is not so relaxing as playing the
guitar in the sun. It is exciting though. I’m interested to see what
happened with the projects I left last week. This should be a hectic
morning. Or should I say interesting? I think I would like it to be
more interesting than hectic, but I haven’t gotten my head to that place
yet.

That’s when the supwrnova exploded, bringing choas and joy to the
world. It was thoroughly unanticipated. An unexpected tide of light
swept through newark. The sun looked like it had been switched to the
third click. Plants began to grow at astonsihing rates. Weather
patterns shifted and the peoples of the world migrated to suitable
climates en masse.
The people of earth were liberated from the 40 hour work week.
Supermarkets were replaced with groves of fruit bearing trees as the
forests surged in what had become a predominately tropical world
climate.
To be continued…