I'm pretty fortunate to have the little bike, else I'd have spent money on the subway which I like to avoid.
Friday was pretty uneventful, save for the additional tourists and blocked-off streets due to the (then-looming) 9/11 anniversary. It's a madhouse down here on that date so I am glad it fell on a Saturday this year. As it turns out, I cried while watching the first half of the ceremony. I haven't ever cried over it but this year there was something very profound about it -- the time lapse and that I can never know what those people's grief is like overcame me and I lost it a couple of times in the privacy of my apartment Sat morning. I wonder if people are "holding out" for next year, on the tenth anniversary, which is just a weird thing to do. Doesn't matter how many years, it's that it's another year. If a 12-year-old kid lost a parent on that day, he/she is now 21. I don't know how that thought really occurred to me, but it was an original thought and I think that's what did me in.
This morning, I had some fresh music to ride to and though the morning started in a dull gray it was nice and sunny by the time I platformed. ("1970" - Monster Magnet)
I am pretty well-rested as I haven't exercised at all since Saturday at noon. This is a rarity and I am not Henry Rollins. Once or twice a month is an acceptable length to not exercise. I ate a lot last week and it was delicious of course but this week is going to be tough as I attempt to ween myself off coffee and ultimately, caffeine, by Friday. I'm doing all this so that Saturday's fast won't be so tough. Last year was rough toward the end because there'd been a dramatic weight loss between Sept 08 & 09 but this year I'm the similar weight.
"Where You Come From" by Pantera is a song I specifically chose for this ride as it's a new one for me. I am a fan but mostly of Vulgar Display and Reinventing the Steel -- I like the other ones, esp the first 4 tracks off Far Beyond Driven but have never given Cowboys a full listen and I don't particularly care for TGSTK, though a couple of tracks are badass. This particular song, though, sounds like it didn't make the cut from the TGSTK though I think it's better than 90% of what made it on there. I love the riff but the lyrics are so-so. When Pantera's all about power, inner strength and longevity, I'm with them completely, sometimes even moreso than Rollins. But when they're all about drugs and booze and seem to lose their focus, I'm not with them at all. That's why Rollins prevails.
"Live For The Moment" by Monster Magnet comes on about halfway down the highway. I'm moving faster than most people on full-size bikes. I don't know if it's because I'm in better shape than they are, because I'm accustomed to the ride, or to the inverse of those ideas for them. Either way I did hit a couple of the very few lights where there are inlets for the Sanitation Dept., which makes everything tougher with the stop-and-go nonsense. I love this song, I know I had heard it once or twice before but I was able to download it free off MM's updated web site. Last week I was able to download (legally, and for free) more than an album's worth of B-Sides, remixes and covers. This song is every bit as good as "Space Lord" and possibly better.
"Funeral Bell" by Black Label Society is next as I'm pushing past Chambers Street and creeping in to the WFCs. I like Zakk Wylde as much as the next guy but he likes his wammy bar more than the next guy and after a while it's distracting. He's not a great singer, either, which is probably why I didn't love Pride & Glory, though I regret selling it years ago. This is good for a rock workout though, where I'm energetic but not in a Biohazard-feening craze.
"Who Made Who" (live) by AC / DC is just too good. By the final verse you are just there with them on the journey and it's a good morning. Their live album is one of the first CDs I ever bought (through a mail-order club) so I've had it 16 years. It's wrong to dislike AC / DC.
I'll try to make today a better day than most of the past few weeks. I left my lunch home so I'll agonize over what to do.
Thank you for reading.
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