Daily Blague

Until a few years ago, I never took MTA buses. The only exception was to take the crosstown bus (M86) through the Park to Broadway, where I'd change to the downtown IRT (the 1 train). The crosstown bus crawls through Yorkville; I outwalk it routinely, without even trying. But it does pick up beyond Lexington Avenue, and pretty soon you're crossing Central Park West.

Eventually, I discovered that the buses that run up and down the avenues move a lot more quickly than the crosstown bus, and I started taking the M15 down Second Avenue to 70th Street, which is by curious chance the address of most of my doctors. Coming back, though, is a different story. I'll take the bus sometimes, but I'm just as likely to grab a taxi, and, in fine weather, I'll walk along the river. Today, I actually walked several blocks out of my way, to the 68th Street IRT station (to catch the 6 train). Why? Even though I was a commuter for a brief seven years, a long time ago, I still feel fine waiting on a subway platform, and I still feel faintly ridiculous standing out in the street (even in the shelter) for a bus. There's another thing. The train you want is usually the only thing that's going to pass by; on the avenues, the urge to stare into the oncoming traffic for the sign of a bus is irresistible but also annoying. In the subway, I can read until I hear the approaching roar. In the bus shelter, I can't pay attention to anything but the monotonous and disappointing traffic.

I walked by Shakespeare & Co, which has a branch on Lexington between 68th and 69th. Last week, I stopped in and bought a couple of things, Consider the Lobster (David Foster Wallace) and The Man Who Knew Too Much (David Leavitt, on Alan Turing). I bought my own copy of Tauranac Maps's Manhattan: Block by Block A Street Atlas. This is an indispensable book for all persons who find themselves, for whatever reason and whatever length of time, on Manhattan Island. (It seems to be hard to get at the moment. The latest edition came out in 2004, but someone told Kathleen that a new edition was in the works and would be coming out soon - and that sounds about right.) Today, however, I walked right on by. Consider the Lobster is indeed very funny.