Second Thoughts

I woke up this morning rather groggy, threw off the comforter to wake myself up, then promptly scrambled to re-cover myself as I remembered that our landlord has yet to turn on the heat. "It's okay," I thought to my half-awake self. "I'll scramble out of bed, grab my towel, and hop into the hot shower." So I ran into the bathroom, threw on the water, and shivered for awhile. I noticed that the bathroom window was open, so I kicked it closed. I felt the water. "Max, did you already take a shower?"
"Have a look at my face. Does it look like I've showered recently?"
"Why isn't the hot water working?"
"I don't know."
"I'll make coffee." I did, then I laid out my clothes, packed my lunch, did everything possible to expedite the post-shower routine. Ten minutes later, I dunked my head under the sink, shaved with cold water, and cursed the fact that our realty company is "devoted to providing low-cost housing to prevent homelessness." Oh, and it's raining, and I had to watch my bus pull away while I was trapped on the other side of the street with a no-walk signal.

The thing is, I'm actually in a good mood. We saw Wolf Parade last night, and somehow ended up in the second row. It was ecstatic and very affecting, and I found out they have two lead singers.

The weekend was fast, interesting: we saw Lou Reed play to a tiny crowd for the opening of Canal Park in Tribeca (thanks to a message from a visiting friend--that's happened more than once, when a friend who comes is the one that tells us about where we are supposed to be--see free Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show), I got a cheap, mod-looking haircut at a salon school, went to Brooklyn and bought a winter coat at Beacon's Closet, saw Godard's Band of Outsiders, which has the finest and cleverest ending that I've seen in a long time, went to an office party at a bar and had free drinking, where I met somebody who grew up three blocks away from my house.

I feel like we never had an autumn: where were the nice trees? It's gone from hot to cold, and humid all the way through: 94% humidity today, 53 degrees. And it never stops raining. I press on, use my free umbrella, and remind myself that it's really fantastic to be alive.