When I have the time during lunch at work, I try to go to the gym, where I typically spend anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes (including changing, showering, and eavesdropping on ridiculous locker-room conversations about anything from ___ to ____) on a personal-fitness regime that includes running on the treadmill (mostly) and some combination of weight-training and pushups. As with any routine, there is a thoughtlessly repetitive quality that generally inhibits me from observing anything with too much detail; it's easy to forget that I'm working in the middle of what is arguably the richest, most powerful city in the history of the planet, at least until I catch a glimpse of a double-decker tourist bus trolling down Madison Avenue and see the people gawking at me, presumably wondering what it's like to exist in such an awe-inspiring metropolis. (I don't mind tourists, however, because I know I would do the same in their towns and cities, and probably long to change places with them, not having any intimate understanding of the problems with which they, like most of us, are undoubtedly plagued.)
Today, however, I didn't have the time during lunch to go to the gym; so instead, around three o'clock, when my meetings had finished and I was solidly in the middle of the afternoon lull (but wanting to avoid remedies such as candy and caffeine), I decided to go for a fifteen-minute walk around the neighborhood. What's nice about this kind of plan -- or more to the point, this complete lack of a plan, given that I had no route -- is that it forced me to open my eyes and become more aware than I usually am. Walking over to Park Avenue, for example, I was immediately taken in by a lovely old building with thin mocha-colored bricks (my favorite!) and the kind of ornate detailing in the window frames and wrought-iron balconies that never fails to set my heart aflutter, knowing that such work is really relegated to the past, i.e., the very era in which I always dream of living. The building, a plaque informed me, was designed by McKim, Mead & White, the famous 19th-century architectural firm responsible for Pennsylvania Station (R.I.P) and many of the city's other Beaux-Arts masterpieces.
I walked around the building (which somewhat predictably is now a co-op) and returned to my office both energized by what I had seen and perhaps a little wistful at the near certainty that my relationship to this grand palais would always be similar to that of a tourist, wondering what life must be like for those who are better situated than I am to understand the true nature of what must unfold within these lovely walls.
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09/22/2010
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A RADICAL NEW MYTH ABOUT SEX, FAITH, AND THOSE OF US WHO WILL NEVER DIE
A young boy wanders into the woods of Harlem and witnesses the abduction of his sister by a glowing creature. Forty years later, now working as a New York City homicide detective, Gus is assigned to a case in which he unexpectedly succumbs to a vision that Helen is still alive. To find her, he embarks on an uorthodox investigation that leads to an ancient civilization of gods and the people determined to bring them back.
In this colossal new novel from the author of The Metropolis Case, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice collides with a new religion founded by three corporate office workers, creating something beautiful, illogical, and overwhelming. Part sex manifesto, part religious text, part Manhattan noir—with a dose of deadly serious, internet inspired satire—#gods is a sprawling inquest into the nature of faith and resistance in the modern world. With each turn of the page, #gods will leave you increasingly reborn.
Praise for #gods
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-- The New York Times
Music: Death Culture at Sea and Saturnine
Listen or download songs and records from my indie-rock past with Saturnine here and Death Culture at Sea here.
Music Video: Remembrance of Things Past
Watch the rock opera Remembrance of Things Past written and performed by Saturnine and Frances Gibson, starring Bennett Madison and Sheila McClear.
Video: The Chaos Detective
The Chaos Detective is a series about a man searching for 'identity' as he completes assignments from a mysterious organization. Watch the first episode (five parts) on YouTube.
This:
"...what life must be like for those who are better situated than I am to understand the true nature of what must unfold within these lovely walls..."
Could be answered by this:
"...the problems with which they, like most of us, are undoubtedly plagued..."
Posted by: Robert le Diable | 09/23/2010 at 09:13 AM