(Not Quite Nuclear) Winter in NYC

Last night I had a brief conversation with a friend of mine who lives with his wife in DC; he called me from a supermarket checkout line, describing the nervous anxiety pervading the DC area's consumers, who, as my friend described, seemed to be stocking up for a month or more in some bomb shelter and not just in anticipation of a foot or two of snow. I laughed because I know DC is a city whose residents can't handle snow -- it paralyzes them with fear even if they aren't driving in it (it's a southern city, after all). With my NYC-centric bravado, I'm used to snow and similarly repulsive weather, I've lived through 9/11 and its aftermath, the blackout a summer ago, and I've seen "street" people crapping on sidewalks. 'Nother words, I've pretty much seen it all and wasn't too worried about the impending snow affecting New Yorkers that way.

So as he described the scene: people scouting and fighting over not only parking spots but shopping carts, which apparently were in short supply, and I smugly advised him that I wasn't too worried, because, short of nuclear holocaust, the Korean deli up the block would remain open. Open mouth, insert foot.

This morning I was working through my files and opted to take a break. I got a call from a friend who had wisely gone marketing yesterday, so I split around 11ish and as the snow started, I met my sister her building (she lives less than ten blocks away) and we headed over to the market: the scene was irascible, irrational chaos (the market, not my sister).

There were five checkout lanes and about seventy-five people on a line that wrapped around the length of the far aisle and halfway back. Meaning that the perimeter of the entire shopping area was covered. Old ladies with shmatas covering their blue hair, their rollie-cart-things filled with mothballs, orange juice, toilet paper and Hungry Man dinners piled thrice high, arguing over who's sicker, Sadie in Fort Lauderdale or Esther in Boca.

As we're attempting to absorb this, there were people pushing and shoving around or through us, toting adult diapers, boxes of pancake mix, hair care products and all other types of weird supermarket paraphernalia. The order of the lines became more and more chaotic with people cutting, crossing over, switching, piling on and switching. I had a bag full of stuff -- some turkey, a pre-roasted chicken, a Portuguese bread, a few bagels, some strawberry jam and Diet Coke -- NYC staples. As I moved my bag o' things along the line, I just watched and took it all in and laughed. A semi-blizzard in New York...what a trip.

After we made it through checkout hell, I got back in, unpacked and talked to mah other half to see how she'd made out at the casinos in Tahoe last night. The good news is she won $40 or so; the bad news I wasn't with her. Next time we hit a casino together I'll make sure she rubs me for good luck -- though it occurs to me as I write this that waiting to employ that strategy until our next casino jaunt might be a mistake. :-)

So I'm aboot to dive back into my temporary world of files and paperwork, with the Foo Fighters album "One By One" pounding through my PC's speakers and shaking the floor. The album starts out with the adrenaline-pulse of "All My Life" (the bridge rides a power D chord that is pure nuclear head-banging outro material) and gets louder and louder. I never was much of a Nirvana fan due to the complete desolation and depression their stuff imparted, but I must say the Foo Fighters (led by Dave Grohl, former Nirvana drummer and the Foo Fighter's chief songwriter and lead singer/guitarist) is a good mix of loud and optimism. Sort of like a more happy-feeling Soundgarden. More and more I'm digging this album, especially because everything seems to have a point other than the grunge-futility of Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and the aforementioned Soundgarden and Nirvana. Another tune herein, "Times Like These," is especially optimistic. I think it had something to do with Grohl's impending divorce, but either way, I got the lyrics and post them below for your perusal...the music is worthwhile on its own but the lyrics definitely found a place in me, given my recent past. Definitely worth a download or trip to the store, whether click-and-order or brick-and-mortar.

I am a one way motorway
I’m the one that drives away
Then follows you back home
I am a street light shining
I’m a wild light blinding bright
Burning off alone

It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again

I am a new day rising
I’m a brand new sky
To hang the stars upon tonight
I am a little divided
Do I stay or run away
And leave it all behind?

It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again

Enough procrastination. I've got chicken, chicken soup, Diet Coke, my tunes and my files under which I'll be buried for awhile. If you need me later, I'll be cooking: follow the scent of basil and garlic pasta and, mebbe later, microwave popcorn.

Aloha for now.