Morning subway rides are usually very zen for me. I listen to music, drink my coffee, and read my book. Now that’s if I get a seat…and luckily I usually do. But on a rare occasion there just may not be enough seats for everyone. So some are stuck standing. It’s truly an amazing phenomenon- watching women on the subway waiting for a seat to open up. And yes, I am one of those women. We step in the car, realize there are no seats, and take a good guess who might be getting up next and hover over them. It’s the predator stalking it’s prey. And of course all of the standing ladies are eyeing each other, the competition, and ready to pounce into the first open seat. And that is exactly what happens. A seat opens and the nearest woman jumps her ass in that open seat. Now many times two women will go for the same seat and someone has to look like the bigger woman and say “oh you can sit here”, obviously pissed off wearing a fake smile. But it truly is amazing- the women standing, the tension building in the car. And forget about men without a seat, they have no chance in hell.

I walked into Victoria’s Secret today looking for a new bra. This 70 year old sales woman asked me if I needed help. She led me over to a table of bras saying “This is the bra that I wear”. And….I bought the bra…hmm.

I love this time of year. The weather gets so invigorating. September-October has always felt more like the “New Year” than December (Yes, I realize it is the Jewish New Year, but this is the first time I am really thinking about it). The fresh, crisp, cool air awakens me. New York is good in the Fall, especially at night. September is the new school year and that will always be ingrained in me. New backpack, new clothing, what’s not to love?! Halloween is basically my “New Years Party”.  I’ve always enjoyed Halloween. I hope when I’m 40 I’ll be married to a hot man and will be living in a big lovely house or fabulous duplex apartment and I will throw a grand Halloween party…every year! Hey…I can dream. I mean, does anyone actually enjoy running around in 20 degree weather in the dead of winter…at midnight!? Not I. There’s nothing new about January 1^st. It’s nice…peaceful, and quiet. Good for snuggling and hot cocoa. But September is new.

I have started reading. Books. This is like the biggest change I have made in my life since I moved out of my fathers house. I was never a big reader. Although, I have many great childhood memories of books that I had read and truly loved. I think it all went downhill when I was in high school. I was forced to read…and then write about what I had read…and read books that I was not too interested in. So I guess that’s when it became a drag. Also, textbooks. Now that is basically torture. From the time school ended till about a month ago, I shunned books. I was in love with my ipod and had a subscription to New York Magazine that I hardly read, except for the Approval Matrix. I went through a three year period of buying DVDs and trying to become a movie connoisseur- which has not turned out that well (but I’m still trying). I now own about 30 DVDs that I will most likely never watch again….oh well. Getting back to the book topic- My father gave me a copy of Marley and Me at a time when life was pretty shitty. He said “you’ll love it! It’s so funny. You’ll laugh…” I started reading the book in December and finally finished it I think in May. It was a cute book, I admit. But it was no page turner. I needed a good page turner to kick start my reading career. So I bought the book Eat Pray Love (I was told young ladies like myself enjoyed it). I loved it. It wasn’t really a page turner, but it was super inspiring. I think it took me about three weeks to finish it. The next book I bought I was actually embarrassed to read in public- The Da Vinci Code. I was embarrassed because everyone on earth has already read this book- except me. But I finished that bad boy in two weeks! I felt so accomplished. I didn’t love the book, but I liked it, and it was definitely a page turner. The next book I read was a book I had started but never finished- The Celestine Prophecy. I wanted to finish reading it, so I could put it behind me. I restarted it. And…ugh..it was bad. And it was a New York Times best seller. It was bad, but I just finished it today. A total of 11 days. I did read it a bit quick…just to get it over with. Did I mention how much I love browsing book stores? I always have loved strolling through the local Barnes and Noble. Even when I didn’t read. I would usually end up buying some sort of self help book, never really fully reading it, just flipping through it, reading the parts that interested me. I bought The Rules too…yeah…that’s an interesting book. I basically have a mini self help library in my apartment. But now, NOW, I will have real books! I’m so excited! I already like looking at my book shelf and seeing all the (well the 4) books I have read. It feels like I am exposed to a new type of food. Like if I had never tried seafood or Indian. So many books! So many I am excited to read. And my shpeal is now done. I’m of to read my new book Netherland ☺