For some reason, Susan's recent entry reminded me of this:

The other night, I'm on BART (aka, the subway). A young woman gets on wearing a tan trenchcoat and too much eyeliner. She sits beside me.

I'm reading, as usual. Suddenly, I hear a very loud recording say, "THERE ARE THINGS I WISH I'D DONE!" It's a female voice, and it sounds wistful. The volume of the recording is obviously many times what the speaker had normally sounded like. The sound is coming from her coat. It is so loud I cannot read.

I look at her sideways, then look around. Ah, there, another young woman, sans eyeliner, is obviously taking a digital recording of the woman sitting next to me and, probably, me.

I briefly consider waving at the camera. The recording sounds again. It sounds like performance art poetry alright. I look at the woman next to me pointedly, but she does not meet my eyes. I sigh and look at my book as wistfully as the voice sounds.

Then an elderly couple gets on the train. It's rush hour, so I give up my seat. The trenchcoat/ eyeliner chick follows suit, so the couple can sit together.

I try to move away from her, mainly because I'm not feeling pretty that day, I'm in an ungood mood and I don't feel like being taped. And I'd like to read, even if it's standing up. She follows. The recordings continue.

I consider asking her "So, is this part of a performance art piece? Where will you be showing it?" I check out the camera -- still pointed at us. I finally get eyeliner's attention and we exchange smiles.

I'm just about to ask when someone from further down the train aisle shouts, "HEY, WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, THANKS!" It is so loud they can hear it at the other end of the car. The women take the hint and dart off the train like theives.

I check my bookbag but nothing is missing.

If any of you run across a movie of this in your indie art travels, do drop me a line and let me know. I'm sure I'll hate the way I look/ react, but I'd like to see it.