graffiti art

it has been so long since i've seen graffiti. when i lived in LA, it was everywhere. i didn't know there was anywhere not written on. sometimes the characters are fascinating and i try to read the script. sometimes it is understandable, says something to be read, many times it is symbolic. and i'm grateful i don't possess the knowledge to know what the heck i'm reading.

but i've noticed on the train to and from nyc, there are places with graffiti.

underpasses seem to be popular for the street gang set.

so i'm on my way to a poetry reading yesterday and i am driving through some strikingly beautiful areas. just gorgeous. i'm enjoying it (and i did get lost a couple times, but when it is so gorgeous, it's hard to care).

so i turn and follow the scribbled notes i have on how to get there (note: if i haven't said it before, the signage out here sucks. big time. if you're not coming from the right direction at the right juncture of the road, you won't see the sign. it's that simple. so i never know if i'm actually going to get to where i'm going. many times, most times, the areas are so nice, it isn't a problem, but yesterday...)

the houses start coming packed together. the graffiti. the people everywhere. not the friendliest looking folk either, but not scary. just not my people. and this is the paterson of william carlos williams. i keep wondering where he lived, but sure it wasn't where i was at that moment. the traffic is horrible and that isn't comforting either. being so tightly packed with strangers in a bad part of town is not the kind of thing that gives one the warm fuzzies. i got the willies and missed my turn.

so i'm thinking, who can i ask without putting myself in too much jeopardy. and turn down a road to see a garage with a mechanic in it.

he has a very thick accent and i think he asked if i speak italian, which i don't. so he tells me in english where to go. and i am hoping i am getting the directions right. sure enough, the old guy sent me exactly where i needed to go. and i'm winding my way through the worst parts of paterson new jersey.

i finally find the place i'm looking for, passaic community college and a parking garage (did i ever mention i despise paying for parking), but thought i'd rather find my car than not pay for parking. so i parked and wandered through four college buildings.

it was an urban campus. the kind that has buidings on city blocks here and there.

since i was going to show my face around poets i may not have ever met before, i wore my cool shoes. hoofing it up and down four city blocks, and stairs, i am totally late when i arrive and have blisters on my feet (discalced is my preference, shoeless joe).

so wearing any shoes now that it has gotten cold is a bit of a stretch for me (i've gone out so many times in flipflops and said, this is the last time i can go out in flipflops. but i still try. old habits, you know).

so i hear the poets read and just want to get out of there because i've been sick since denver and i'm tired. i want to get home incase i get lost again. i wanted out of paterson while the sun was still up.

so i make it home, and i'm grateful the graffiti leaves off as i get closer to home. because i can live without that urban art and associated artisans.

it made me appreciate the trains a bit too, they carry you through all the areas of lesser, um, interest to nyc. which has it's own issues. but then you move on. i like not driving. and i like not getting lost.

pretty tired, gotta go rest a bit. but thought i'd tell you of my latest jaunt out to a new part of town. peace.