houston, we have a...

...blessing.  houston drives the m66 crosstown bus.  crosstown busses are key for any uptown folks since there are no subways going under central park.  so for a guy like me at 94th on the upper west side to get to a meeting at 91st on the upper east side, it would be crazy to take the trains around the park.  in fact, to do that, i would have to take at the least three trains, and possibly four, to make that trip.  for example, the three train route would be to take the "b" train from 96th down to 7th ave.  there i would switch to the "e" train to lexington where i would jump on the "4", "5", or "6" to 86th street and walk up to 91st.  the four train option is to start off on the "c" train and make a transfer at columbus circle to a "b" or "d" train around the bend to 7th ave.  you may not believe me when i say this, but i just did all that from memory.  

anyway, houston was looking at a cd cover when i got on the bus to cross town at 66th.  i asked him about it and he said it was karaoke preparation for after work on friday afternoon.  apparently he gives some cheer to the bus drivers on friday afternoon to help them start their weekend with some fun thoughts and smiles.  i'd love to start my weekend that way since it was kind of a rough day on the audition circuit.  

houston and i struck up a conversation about music, singing, life, his marriage, etc.  basically life boils down to two things for him, doing right by himself and god.  after that, everything should be fine.  i was amazed at how generous he was with himself, sharing some of his failures with me.  but the icing was him offering me a gift.  he pulled his bag out and pulled a bus map out and gave it to me saying that now i could get anywhere in town.  i suppose since i've got the subways mastered it's time to do the graduate course in the new york city bus transit system.  the map was more than just directions since it came as a gift.  brother houston blessed me.