Yesterday was quite amazing. I took the B train to the D train and after about an hour and a half on the subway I got off at the last stop, Coney Island, to meet Tim and Stephanie. It is funny how foreign and intimidating riding the subway felt after driving my car everywhere in California, Phoenix, and Atlanta for the past decade and a half. I used to ride the subway so often, but after so many years away from it, the old stereo-types of some crazy person with guns, and crack pipes, and nothin' to lose came back to my mind...there was a day when the subway was scary, but that day has long past. Now I would guess the median income for a subway commuter would be about $55,000 or more. It is like being on the monorail at Disneyland these days. Yesterday, for me, it was the monorail to Coney Island.
Tim and Stephanie were incredibly in the know about Coney Island subculture. I had no idea that there was an amusement park that embraced freak culture so openly in this country. It was beautifully ironic and ugly, and bizarre, and brilliant. “Shoot the Freak” was fun to watch. They dressed a guy up like a space mutant and he ran around a vacant lot moaning while paying customers got to shoot paint balls at him. Fun as that was, the highlight for me was the actual Freak Show, or Sideshow. I not only got to view glamorous cabaret girls swallowing 14 inch swords with minimal spittle falling on the stage, but I saw a man with Lobster Claw Syndrome jump up and down on shattered glass. His trick was pretty cool, but I just couldn't get past the congenitally clawed hands and feet. He was from Texas...he didn't talk much, except to say that. I liked the MC who drilled a nail into his own nose and juggled machetes (that is way more than I ever would expect from an MC), and the contortionist/fire-breathing beauty queen was quite impressive too. Still, amidst all of this raw talent, I was most impressed with the people who had actual disabilities. They could have let their disabilities ruin their lives, but instead, they joined the Freak Show and embraced their uniqueness. God love this country! By the way, if anyone wants to learn any of the above-mentioned tricks they have a freak school above the theater... Follow your dream!
It was so cool to see Tim again after 20 years. I am so happy to see that he married an amazing woman, Stephanie, that I instantly liked. They have been together for 17 years. It is strangely reassuring to know that someone that was important to you a long time ago settled down with someone that was good for them. Stephanie has a lot of qualities that I would like to see more of in people..she is genuine, down to earth, caring, and smart as a whip. I don't think she can swallow swords, but it wouldn't surprise me if she was too modest to bring it up...she's like that.
Tim was the first “boyfriend” that I had, and the only person I officially dated before I met my ex-husband, Kevin. When I was a senior in High School, I snuck into a club “Malibu” on Long Island when I was 17, and Tim's vampire/goth thing won me over instantly. Tim didn't have cash for a tuxedo when I invited him to my prom, so he improvised and took me to my prom in a Count Dracula costume, and I went a little heavier on the vampire make-up that night. Good times! I moved to San Diego shortly after, but that was a great memory take with me as I left New York.
This is so strange to consider, but I met Tim, dated Tim, and lost touch with Tim all in the span of a year and a half. I thought I would never be in touch with him again, and after about 20 years pass, I am able to pick up almost seamlessly, and go to a freak show with him and his cool wife of 17 years. You never know what lies ahead. I never would have predicted yesterday, but I like it... a lot.
