All About Commuter Tales

background
I live in New Jersey.
My office is in midtown Manhattan, New York City.
Every day I ride a New Jersey Transit bus (either the 191 or 192). Once I reach Port Authority Bus Terminal on the corner of 8th Avenue and 42nd Street, I take the M42 bus crosstown to 3rd Avenue and 42nd Street. I take the reverse route home. Sometimes I see the same people every day (like the young long-haired gum-chewing woman who always wears high heels and never fails to take out her compact atleast once on the trip to the city or the husky MTA bus coordinator that waves buses to their proper positions for passengers to load). Most of the time, the faces are unknown to me. These are the people that I will probably never see again.

These are my thoughts on those people.

the photos
I own a digital camera that takes photographs silently. I learned to take photographs of the people on the bus without detection. I take the photographs without looking through the viewfinder, then look at the pictures through the LCD screen. If they are good photographs, they are keepers. If I miss the subject, I try to take their photograph again with a slightly different angle.

I stop if they seem to get curious about what I'm doing.

the story
I write them on the bus. I whip out my pilot and type out my feelings on the subject(s). Sometimes, I only have enough time to jot down generalities. Other times, the bus hits traffic and I write until my fingers hurt. I try to capture my thoughts on the subject(s). Where are they going? What do they do for a living? What are they thinking as they gaze out the window? I typically reveal my prejudices, my preconceived notions. I am judging the book by its cover. I might offend you in the process. Forgive me, I am human.

My name is Eileene Coscolluela, but you can call me Iko or Ai.
I'm 23 years old.
I am a botanist by education (BS in Plant Biology).
I am a web programmer/developer/designer.
Feel free to contact me.

	I live in New Jersey. My office is in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Every day I ride a New Jersey Transit bus (either the 191 or 192). Once I reach Port Authority Bus Terminal on the corner of 8th Avenue and 42nd Street, I take the M42 bus crosstown to 3rd Avenue and 42nd Street. I take the reverse route home. Sometimes I see the same people every day (like the young long-haired gum-chewing woman who always wears high heels and never fails to take out her compact atleast once on the trip to the city or the husky MTA bus coordinator that waves buses to their proper positions for passengers to load). Most of the time, the faces are unknown to me. These are the people that I will probably never see again. These are my thoughts on those people.

	I own a digital camera that takes photographs silently. I learned to take photographs of the people on the bus without detection. I take the photographs without looking through the viewfinder, then look at the pictures through the LCD screen. If they are good photographs, they are keepers. If I miss the subject, I try to take their photograph again with a slightly different angle. I stop if they seem to get curious about what I'm doing.

	I write them on the bus. I whip out my pilot and type out my feelings on the subject(s). Sometimes, I only have enough time to jot down generalities. Other times, the bus hits traffic and I write until my fingers hurt. I try to capture my thoughts on the subject(s). Where are they going? What do they do for a living? What are they thinking as they gaze out the window? I typically reveal my prejudices, my preconceived notions. I am judging the book by its cover. I might offend you in the process. Forgive me, I am human.

	My name is Eileene Coscolluela, but you can call me Iko or Ai. I'm 23 years old. I am a botanist by education (BS in Plant Biology). I am a web programmer/developer/designer. Feel free to contact me.