So much city, yada yada

Finally got to go back to New York after a long hiatus in travel, partly imposed by work requirements and partly impose by my wife’s broken arm, which rendered her somewhat useless in the “Responding to Childhood Emergencies with a Motor Vehicle” department. Rained like crazy, though. Wet feet throughout the day, combined with a lined raincoat that was just way too warm. Typical fall visit to the City, in other words. Took a later train down, and got to see our sparkling new train station for the first time. I must say, it’s beautiful, inviting, a delightful place to be. The cafe was busy, the newsstand was doing a business, and it was all just delightful. I’m not saying it’s worth $65 million or so, but hell, the money’s spent, let’s enjoy it. The bridge over the tracks is particularly pleasant, as it has seating area from which one can simply sit and watch the trains. A nice addition to the area and the system. Now if only Amtrak stays solvent for another few months. (I’m actually torn on that one, because I think we’d end up with Metro North service that would be, most likely, vastly cheaper. But would we still have the train option to DC — that’s the question.)
Despite the rain, got up to Kate’s Paperie (listen, I have got to start using the N/R when appropriate — I won’t even say how I got there), found a little anniversary present for Lee and a bunch of little Christmas presents for the girls and others. Best of all, Kate’s had umbrella bags so you didn’t have to slosh a wet brollie all over the store. Should have taken a bunch of spares. One of my favorite stores in the city, and I hardly ever get to go there because it’s not quite downtown , and it’s not midtown. Going there is always a side trip. But I was glad I went. I even got back up to Penn in time for the 2:45, despite somehow getting turned around at the 6th Ave. N/R station. Well, it was a pleasure just to be out of Albany. But then again, it usually is.
I was reading Douglas Coupland’s “Polaroids from the Dead” on the train. He had a nice piece about how certain architecture of your hometown can become the architecture of your mind, which I’d like to riff on later. Very much set me to thinking. The beginning of the book is a series of depictions of Grateful Dead culture, which wasn’t quite what I expected it to be. I’ve never had even the slightest affinity for the Dead. In college, I was often told by Deadhead friends (this was before the pivotal MTV video that apparently sent the band over the edge) that I just hadn’t given the music enough of a chance. Well, over those years I heard many hundreds of hours of their music, and it never grew on me even slightly. I got it, I understood why people were attracted to it and that whole dumb stare-at-your-fingernails post-hippie culture. I understood it, but I didn’t like it at all. Something about the Dead and their followers fundamentally grates on me. But the writing is clear, as always with Coupland, and the rest of the book is quite interesting.
More anon.