Thursday, January 10, 2008

The Little Things


I had a really stressful work day yesterday. Lots to do, and technology wasn’t cooperating. I got pretty wound up trying to get everything done, and finally left the office at 6:30 p.m. I raced to the subway, off to meet a friend for dinner at 7. I felt tight as a knot.

Then, as I stood on the subway platform, I heard music nearby. A man’s voice, singing upstairs in the station. He was busking for change. And what was he singing? Could it really have been “The Woman in the Moon,” a Barbra Streisand song from the 1976 version of “A Star is Born”? Why yes, that’s what it was. Accompanied by a karaoke machine, no less.

While this improbable performance was going on, and just before he launched into “Evergreen,” I noticed several large rats weaving back and forth between the rails of the subway tracks.

And I just laughed. All the tension left my body almost immediately. I mean, life is so absurd, isn’t it?

(Photo: In the East Village, Elvis has not left the building -- Dec. 2007)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Life? Absurd? Yes. Stressful? Oh my YES.

How great that you found yourself in a scene from an art film. Bravo!!

Anonymous said...

I love NYC so much.

Anonymous said...

oh... what does that graffiti say? I like all the junk in the foreground, and what is the green thing on left? whatever it is is goes well with the wall and debris.

Anonymous said...

Ched: The graffiti says "elvis." I don't know what that green thing is -- but you're right, it DOES match!

Anonymous said...

Dennis likes Elvis