Smells like nail polish remover here on the 766. There's a guy with hot pink hair towards the front.
Now waiting for the 140. This crazy dude is waving his hat around, shouting, "can we get some kind o' connection here!"
On the 140, across from a large man with a hat pulled over his eyes. I'm in between a cross-eyed girl and a hairy man with a lot of earrings.
Why is there freezing cold air blasting up from behind the seats

There are four guys in a row, sleeping. You can just imagine how exciting it is on here. A really stinky guy just sat down next to me and a group of dumb highschool kids got on. They are also stinky. One of the high school students has really short hair except for her bangs, which are long and blue. She's having a really intelligent conversation on her cell phone. "I sent you a text! You phone is on crack and you're phone is wack.....I'm not arguing on the bus about whose phone did or did not send or receive a text message. But it was yours."
Glad to be off the 140.

Waiting for the 140. The girl next to me is smoking something funny out of a glass pipe. I really hope I don't get high off the second hand smoke.

Quite the sales pitch going on today. Kids selling candy. Another gal selling chocolate bars. What is this, New York?
A bald guy with his entire head covered in tattoos just got on. He also has a number of piercings all over his face.
An old guy nicely told someone "watch your back, brother!" The other guy's hands instantly flew to his backside as he shouted "why, is it open?"
More people piling on...
On the 8 now. I just overhead the following conversation from an old man and a young man.
"Never underestimate an old man, cause--"
"Cause you're an old man?"
"No, cause if he's lived that long, he's not stupid!"

Love Bus

On the 140. Someone requested a stop but then shouted "sorry, next one." But the driver stopped anyway and said, "whenever that happens and I don't stop, somebody will always yell at me and say, 'I wanted that stop, driver!'"
This gal is talking to the driver about the possibility of dumping her boyfriend. "Would he get over me quickly? He better not!" The driver's reply was "I been married lots. He wont get over you too fast." Another guy has joined the conversation. "Love is the most beautifulest thing, man."
Topic has changed. He's now saying, "drinking is the worstest thing I ever done."
Okay, back to love. The driver says, "it's like a rose with thorns... I think I'm going to adopt a dog.... and we can go fishing."

Interesting Individual Today...

Today I sat by the nicest chattiest girl. She looked at my glasses, then she looked at the pin on my backpack that says "I only date geeks" and she said to me, "do you watch the Big Bang Theory?" Which, I do, of course.
She then went on to tell me that she's always liked geeks, but has had trouble dating them because she's such a wild child. She asked me if nerds are offended when called "geek" and vis versa.
After that, she told me all about her ice cream truck that she runs every spring and summer, and that she is going to school to be a funeral director.
Some days, I really love riding the bus.

On the 140, across from a girl in blue pants, a blue sweatshirt, and blue eye shadow. The door on the bus is loose and extremely squeaky. Doesn't the bus company have WD-40? How hard can it be to fix it and save everyone a dreadful headache? It's getting pretty crowded in here.
The guy across from me now is on the phone saying, "that guy doesn't have any clue what's in his house, much less behind it."
The gal on my right looks like she spent a good two hours on her hair and makeup today. Her shirt is fancy and she's wearing expensive jeans. Along with all of that, she's wearing an pair of yucky old man slippers. Maybe she was wearing heels earlier and got blisters from them so she had to wear slippers. My head hurts when I try to make sense od these crazy people.

On the 8. Still with Skinny-Smiler and my sister. So Skinny-Smiler is wearing this ridiculous striped woollen poncho sweatshirt thing and we've teased him about it several times today. Then we get on this bus and this gal and her little kid are both wearing them too! Same style, different colors. I guess those things are in. They just informed me that they came all the way from LA to buy them. Wow, I am out of the loop!

Today, I am taking my friend on his very first city bus trip. I am on the 31 on my way to meet him, along with my sister. She is wearing a black hooded jacket and a lot of eye liner to better blend in on the bus.
On the 5 now. It is not very happening today. I hope it gets more exciting before my friend gets on...
I'm now with my friend, who has chosen the web name Skinny-Smiler, is with us and we are going the opposite direction on the 5.
A very large woman in purple just got on. There is also an old lady with her hair dyed bright orange. And here comes a guy who clearly plucks his eyebrows. A lot. There's a guy trying to be a saggy baggy gangsta, but he's not pulling it off very well, because he's wearing corduroy.

Some People Really Don't Know How to Tag Something

I am assuming this person was attempting to write "your mom," but I think the bus came before he could finish.

On the 140. I'm next to two very chatty guys. Sadly, I cannot repeat anything they are saying. If I edited everything bad out, the only word left would be "jail."

Protest!

Joining in on the protest today! No posts, just black!!!

On the 140. Almost empty, but not for long. Filling up-- we've got a nose-blower at the front and the girl across from me has the same coat I have. Glad I'm not wearing it today or I would be forced to blog about myself: one of the accidental twin strangers.
Some old drunk dude keeps shouting "old yeller!" Then he will sing something about tequila between shouts. Another guy offered to get his guitar out. Old Yeller is trying to give a little girl a teddy bear. Creepy. Her father made it very clear that that was NOT going to happen. The little girl is reading one of the kids' books they keep on the bus and she keeps saying, "daddy, the book farted."
Waiting for one of the many Central buses. Next to a guy in a camouflage coat, carrying two huge bags, and wearing.... a gas mask. Just got a whiff of him. Understanding the gas mask.

On the 140. It's pretty quiet today. I'm sitting by a nice girl with tattoos all over her forehead, eyelids, neck and chest. Ouch. It smells like roasted marshmallows in here. That's definitely an improvement from the usual smells of dirty laundry and body odor. Tattoo girl is gone. Now, I am next to a guy that's either really sleepy or really stoned, holding what looks like a skateboard wrapped up and a sweatshirt. He's holding onto it really tight though, so it's probably something else.

Staying Warm

On the 8, heading toward the 140.
It's full of quiet, old and fat people. Not very exciting. And the guy in front of me smells really bad.
Waiting for the 140. It's really cold today. I'm sitting on a text book because the bench is freezing and I have my scarf on, my hood up, and my arms pulled inside my sweatshirt. It is rather difficult to blog like this. Also, I look extremely stupid, blogging inside my sweatshirt.
The 141 just passed, teasing me. Hurry up, 140!

Just a Tangent

All those millionaire music artists sing about how they were on a bus and instantly fell in love with some beautiful person sitting a few seats down. Anyone who has written a song about that has never taken any form of public transportation. You'd have to be nuts to fall in love at first sight with any of those wackos. The bus is just about the least romantic place I can possibly think of. It's stinky and crowded and loud.....
Musicians, STOP SINGING ABOUT THE BUS!!!!

Good Seats, Bad Seats

There were sunflower seed shells in the 766 windowsill and now I'm next to and old yucky open stick of men's deodorant. Buses and their stops are so disgusting.
Getting onto the 140...
I picked a bad spot today. I am not next to the kid with the pierced cheek and gages the size of his face. I am not next to the very chatty pothead. I am not next to the guy dressed in leather from his cap to his boots. No, I am next to the girl with dandruff and the guy quietly reading his textbook. Nice job, Rangergirl, picking the most boring people to sit by.

Officially the earliest bus I've ever taken. The early morning bus bunch is different. Everyone knows each other. I feel like I'm an intruder in some kind of commuting community. And it looks like more people sleep on the bus in the afternoon than in the morning. Guess they're all morning people.
When it's dark out, the side of the bus behind the driver is lit up so the passengers to see, but not the other side. It seems like it is lit this way so the light doesn't distract the drivet. However, the light is reflected in the opposite windows, so it's still bright on the other side. I don't get it.
On the 766.

Phew! That is the fastest I've ever run to catch a bus! But I really did not want to wait 45 minutes for the next one. All the people at the bus stop were watching me race the bus to the stop with a lot of enjoyment and cheering.
The guy in front of me just said, "I got Monday off for the holiday, but the holiday from mi'nigh' to four, tha's when I'll do all my drinkin'."
The driver is honking at the cars in front of the bus, who are trying to get around a car that seems to have run out of gas. "Go go go! Come on, you stupid people!"
Grouchy lady aboard! Saying: "siddown, old man!"
A guy in a wheelchair argued with the driver to let him on although there is absolutely no room. He talked him into it and on his way in, he ran over a lady's broken foot. They are shouting at each other now. I am next to a very cheerful but inexperienced bus rider who is standing in the aisle. He's cracking me up, saying things like, "now that we're all getting to know each other..." every time the bus stops and everyone pushes and shoves to get off.

On the 141. This weird guy in a bright yellow jacket is carrying about five different conversations with other passengers. He sure makes friends easily. He's rambling on about free popcorn. A rather small guy across from me keeps flexing his biceps and feeling his muscles. Creepy.
On the 8. It is extremely packed. And the people just keep coming. Someone's elbow is in my face.
The guy next to me said "do we really have to stop at every busted stop? Mountain bikes are faster! I'd be ridin' my bike if that old lady hadn't cut me off and banged up my knee!" Now he is telling me that it's lucky he is wearing steel toed shoes or his feet would be squished and trampled. I agreed that buses were dangerous that way. He replied, "it's nothing like Detroit. Detroit makes this look like kindergarten, man."

The 140 only comes once every half-hour or so. This tends to upset people waiting at the stops. The sign at my bus stop has a pleasant little note scribbled across it.

(Highly edited)
The 140 sucks
The most useless bus ever
You're better off walking!

Sounds like that guy just missed his bus.

On the 777. It's a bit creepy today. The guy across from me has a bloody bandage on his hand and down aways two guys are exchanging lots of folded papers. Glad to be getting off now.
On the 140 now. And everyone is being all quiet and calm. What's up with that?
Now the two guys across from me are talking about how unfair it is that one of them can't get his job back now that he's finally out of prison.

Smells like.... something strange. Can't tell if it's herbs or drugs. There is a guitar strummer in the back seat. He's sitting next to a girl with a huge amount of blue eye shadow on.
Strum, strum, strum...
The Little Strummer boy says "I have a case, but I never use it, cause then I can't play while I walk!"
I like to sit next to chatty people, so I hear good quotes to post, but the only chatty people on this bus are a boy and girl speaking in Japanese, and my little sister, singing Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I didn't pick a very good spot, I guess.
Waiting for the 8 and of course I'm next to this guy that just keeps sniffling and sniffling.
On the 8. My mom and sister are by far th most entertaining people on here. They're treating the bus like a roller coaster ride complete with raised arms, gasping and screaming. Also, they are making friends and joking around with strangers.
Getting off...

On the 31, with my mother and sister, sitting next to a large blond man. At the bus stop, the men on the bench were polite enough to give up their seats for us. That is always worth noting.
Now waiting for the 777. The 31 was so late, we missed the one I wanted. That is not unusual, though.
And I just helped a perfect stranger set up her voicemail. Fun.
On the 777 now. We're pretty empty which is strange for lunchtime. Whoa! Slam on the breaks! Don't people know not to pull out right in front of a bus? My little sister nearly flipped out of her seat!