Bus Boredom

I spent last Monday afternoon on a bus coming back to the city. I sat in the second seat back from the front. I tried to sit in the very front seat (to the right of the driver) but the ceiling was leaking and there was a constant annoying drip coming down. If the seat next to you is empty it can be a pleasant though boring traveling experience. If you're on a crowded bus sitting next to a 19-year-old jabbering on the phone it can be as horrific as any Chinese torture ever concocted. Luckily leaving on a Monday afternoon makes for a fairly sparse crowd. I've taken the bus a hundred times (you're welcome, Vamoose) and each time I've taken a pad of paper and a pen expecting to copy all of the 600 Post-Its I've accumulated. But, as always, once the bus pulls away I realize that actually writing on a bus is almost impossible. Your handwriting looks like you've suffered a massive stroke. A total waste of time. Same with an airplane. You can't write on a plane. I've tried a hundred times. So, after I've read The New Yorker cover to cover and consumed a pound of nut mix, I pull out the trusty Fuji camera and start aiming at things. I set the ASA (ISO) very high and turn the shutter "click" sound off so no one around me will know if I'm actually taking pictures. Looking around, I liked the trees and the overcast skies out my window along the New Jersey Turnpike and, pressing the lens against the glass, I took some snaps as we went by at 60 mph (otherwise you'd see the reflection of the lens in the photo). They remind me of Todd Hido's blurry images of trees. Well, except mine are shot on a little 6 meg camera and don't cost $9K. Anyway, these are the window snaps. The last photo is the stoplight on 35th and 9th shot through the windshield as we pulled into the city.