Sheppard Line Out of Service – Tuesday September 28, 2010
The only day I brought my camera with me to document my typical commute, the Sheppard line goes out of service.
I decided to film the havoc.
I never felt so trapped. It was rush hour, my house was an hour away, the streets are too clogged to hail a cab, and the shuttle bus wouldn’t come. I waited for 45 minutes before I decided to walk.
Here is just a glimpse of how commuting is like in the inner burbs of Toronto during September 2010. I made this video so I can remember how it was like and why I moved.
So here it is:
On my 23rd bday, a peculiar man scribbled my portrait into his notebook. He promised he would mail it to me, and never did. I e-mailed him, and he promised he would have it, then he said he lost it.
I saw him two days ago and he quickly scribbled this and gave it to me.
Check it out!
It’s not everyday you get to see the bus juxtaposed by the subway. It is however, everyday I sit in these two distinctly different modes of public transit. It occured to me that I never saw them together which is why I found this sight to be so interesting.
The bus meets the subway
To make a banal commute interesting, I sing to myself. The unwritten rules of public etiquette preaches this to be unacceptable, but after giving this much thought I decided to go with my instinct. My mp3 player turns on and I can’t resist the urge to chirp away, and why can’t I?
If I enjoy singing I should be able to sing, its not a privilege exclusively for loonie people. If the only consequence is a crowd of strangers ignoring and judging me like they would anyway, so be it. I live for me, not for people I will never see again.
People bring many disturbances to the public realm as it already is, including pesky sales pitches, obnoxiously loud cellphone chatting, cellphone rings, smells, and so on. To put up with all that and remain quiet is a TALL order, I need to go into my zone and do what I got to do, or else I’ll really go crazy. Besides, no one has complained about the singing so far.
And I also meet interesting people along the way. A few weeks ago I met a guy who wanted to know what song I was singing while I was waiting 10 minutes at the subway platform… (and I must say by the way the acoustics at the subway are amazing, I just love the echo). The song was “Sweet Surrender” by Sarah McLachlan (don’t laugh). So the guy then tells me, “Oh man, I had the most WEIRDEST weekend of MY LIFE!”. Indeed it was a very strange story he needed to get off his chest involving an after hours club, the mafia, an invitation to a super luxurious condo, and a thick envolope full of Euros, Pounds, and American and Canadian dollar bills. I can only imagine why he decided to open up his life to me. Perhaps maybe my singing was an icebreaker, adding personality from a public crowd that often feels anonymous and apathetic.
Today another guy at the subway comes up to me and asks me what song I’m singing. (I must confess, it was “Sweet Surrender” again). This guy politely introduces himself to me… and get this… he is blond and PERSIAN! I never met a blond Persian person, I heard of them, but never seen them! Very interesting. I told him about my show at the Bread and Circus next week and he said he would come. What an interesting way to promote music!
Even the subway conductor digs my style! The dude asked me to come sit at the seat beside his operational booth and begged me to just sit through an entire subway lap when I got to my stop. I couldn’t unfortunately! I was in such a hurry I forgot to tell him about my show and website. Oh well.
So you see folks, the world of music brings colour to our bland existence, and nothing leads me to believe otherwise!