.that I live like.

Long Overdue Subway Story #2

This has to be one of my favorite stories of all time. Cross my heart. You'll see why.

Okay, again, I'm on the subway, sitting there reading my book. It's about 7 (I think) and I'm heading to have dinner with someone (I'm totally blanking on whom) but it's definitely not Friday or the weekend because usually the uptown trains at that time are pretty packed with super cool New Yorkers heading out to super cool dinner. Anyways, I'm reading Sarah Thornton's Seven Days in the Art World which I picked up in London this past September. On the UK cover is Maurizio Cattelan's Untitled from 2007 which is essentially a taxidermy horse hanging from the wall (as you can see from the photo on the left - clicking it should get you a larger image). Oh those wacky Italians.

So I'm sitting there reading a book and there's a guy next to me looking at the cover. Now, this has happened before with this book - it's a bit of an odd cover, given - so I think nothing of it. He's a normal guy, maybe 30 or 35. He turns to me and says, "Man, that's a crazy cover." I stop and look at it and politely laugh and say, "Yeah, it's a piece of modern art so yeah, it is pretty crazy." He chuckles and I return to reading and smile to myself.

Maybe a minute later he turns to me again and this time I'm not surprised because I can sense that he has something else to say, he's sort of shifting, you know how you do when you're trying to think of the right thing to say. He turns to me again and says, "Hey, have you seen Avatar?" "Um, no, I haven't", I reply. He gets excited and is pointing to my book, "Man, if you like crazy stuff like that you should see Avatar, it's got tons of crazy stuff like that. Really, you should see Avatar." I smile and says something like, "Yeah, I guess." (But in all honesty, I have no interest in seeing Avatar and know very few people who have seen it and those I know who have thought it was awful and therefor aren't seeing again making its rise to the top of the all-time box office completely complexing to me - seriously, I do not understand it and think something is off. Unless it's just kids dropping acid and seeing it over and over again.....I just answered my question). Then he continues, "Yeah, I mean like, I think it sucks that you have to pay $15 to see it in 3D but it's totally worth it. It's so crazy, crazy like that book cover. I think the movie companies are ripping you off but it's totally worth it." I agree in solidarity that $15 does suck for 3D (but if you saw Coraline in 3D you know it is totally worth it) and stand up to get off the train. No, it's not my stop, but it's Broadway-Lafayette and I needed to transfer to the express anyway. I wish him goodnight and he gives me a cheery way and I leave.

Now, why do I think this story is so great? Hands down, the guy's excitement. I think he must have just seen the movie in theaters and was so fucking blown away that he needed to share it with someone and that someone happened to me. I mean, I didn't want to hear more about it from this complete stranger but I'm sort of glad I was there to be there in his time of amazement about this movie. This guy was so fucking excited I just got excited for him. I don't think I'd have the same reaction but hell, good for him. There is nothing like coming out of the movies feeling totally blown away from what you saw. For me this past year that was A Serious Man, but I think goes to show you the difference between my tastes and those of this guy on the subway (more about that later).

So there you go, long overdue story number two (out of two). Every day is a new.....something.