the rix mix

"All I'm saying is that there are some things beyond the ken of mortal man that shouldn't be tampered with. We don't know everything, Andy. There's plenty going on right now in the Twilight Zone that we don't know anything about and I think we ought to stay clear." Barney Fife

"Son, I've seen more dead bodies than you've had TV dinners." Carl Kolchak

On the PATH train to Exchange Place Thursday evening, a middle-aged woman sitting across from me had a paperback with a familiar cover, pages yellowed with age but otherwise good condition. It was a late-50s Mentor edition of The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton. I was surprised the binding didn't snap when she opened it. I was about to comment on how unusual it was to see that book, but after the train left Grove Street a deaf guy who had been trying to hand out those annoying "I Am Deaf Give Me Money" cards started banging on the sliding doors & howling, a fitting end to a journey that began with a drunk man violently puking on the Elizabeth station platform.

I probably didn't have to attend the "mandatory" pre-marathon WFMU staff meeting, I didn't sign up for co-hosting this year, & only about 5% of the information one receives is actually new. But it's an opportunity to be dutiful & also say hi to a lot of people. & I know from the previous 30 or so marathon fund-raisers I've experienced that sometimes there are glitches, like flu epidemics or snowstorms. A good utility player, which I am now, is prepared to get off the bench on short notice & play.