The end.

Okay, I have a really bad memory, and I've been home for more than 2 weeks, but I am now going to try my best to remember what exactly we did the last three days in New York.

Wednesday:

The day after we got home from Boston, we got up kind of early to try for Shakespeare in the Park. Unfortunately, we got there later than the rest of NYC's population, and missed the ticket cut-off by about 1000 people. Ay me. On the way out of Central Park (or what I thought was the way out), Patricia caught a glimpse of the lake and rowboats... well, naturally, she insisted we rent a boat and we ended up walking halfway around the lake trying to find the boathouse. Then it cost like $12 or something.

Anyway, it turned out to be fun. Perhaps a little too romantic for the two of us, but we made do with Titanic reenactments and tunnel explorations. Of course, Patricia was happy to do all the actual rowing while I sat back and got a tan. Thanks, mac.

Um, I think this was the day we also hit up Chinatown for some shopping? Yeah...and SoHo, where we met some hippies selling their artwork. They were so funny and strange. We both ended up buying something from them, and Patricia even got a free poem out of it. 

Oh, we also bought more books, but don't tell my mother.

Thursday:

We finally saw the Statue of Liberty, wooo. We opted for the free Staten Island ferry view and skipped actually going to the island, especially since no one's allowed up past the pedestal anyhow.

Then--Coney Island. First things first, we grabbed delicious food from Nathan's. Patricia got one of their famous hot dogs but I was craving a cheeseburger and so got that. We also shared some chili fries. I think 2 weeks later I am still full.

Then we went on the INSANE Coney Island rides. I almost lost my purse and everything in it on the first ride. Then we went on the famous Cyclone roller coaster. TERRIFYING. Also, when we got off and sat down to breathe, I realized my water bottle popped open in my purse and drenched everything! That sucked. A wet purse is no fun. Then we went on this upside-down ride that's like the Hammerhead at Knotts Berry Farm, except way more intense and scary.

I think all these rides are illegal in most states.

It was a fun time, though, and I think it was worth the hour-long subway ride each way.

Friday:

Friday we went to Chinatown again because Patricia needed a necklace. Then we wandered through SoHo, ending up at the Cupping Room, a cute little restaurant/bar/bakery. It was expensive, but delicious. We even got dessert. Yum.

Then we went home and packed. Yuck.

Saturday:

On Saturday we FINALLY went to see Patricia's prospective culinary school. It was SO HOT on this last day that we wanted to die. Oh, we also got lost for an hour or so and had to call and reschedule the appointment. They were cool about it though. We took the tour and got the whole spiel. Then we wandered about looking for some food and also Pashminas that Patricia desperately needed to buy. We ended up being in the wrong neighborhood for tourist shopping, so hopped the subway to Rockefeller center. 

It started raining on us in Times Square, but we were fine with that because it was at least a little cooler.

Unfortunately, though, by the time we headed back to the apartment, it was just as hot and humid again, to the point where we were sweating so much that we each took a second shower before we left for the airport.

Did I mention our plane was delayed an hour? It was.

Then our taxi was 20 minutes late and we had to haul our stuff out in POURING rain.

Then at the airport we had to repack some things to be under the 50 lb weight limit.

Then in security my NBC carry-on pack split in half!

Then we had to walk a mile to find our gate.

Then they didn't let anyone board for a while.

When we finally boarded, we couldn't take off for TWO hours. I would have slit my wrists, but razor blades aren't allowed on planes.

So we ended up spending a restless flight, cramped in our seats with all our stuff, and landed in LA 3 hours later than planned. 3 AM-ish for CA, 6 AM for us.

In any case, I am home. I now sleep nonstop. I had fun. I am happy.

I fail.

Okay, okay. Eventually I will tell you how I finished up the trip, but for now, there are pictures!

Boston pictures are up, and pictures from our last few days (in Central Park, Coney Island, etc.)

Enjoy.

Boston Tea Party: Amy and Patricia-Style

^^That was lame.

So we just got back from Boston. We stayed there three nights, in Michael M.’s brother’s apartment. He is 29 and rich.

After a 4 and ½ hour bus ride on Saturday, the M picked us up and we hopped on the subway, dropped off our stuff at the apartment, saw the view of the city from the roof, and then walked over to a pizza place, Santarpio’s, for dinner. Michael M. claimed it is the best pizza in Boston, and it truly was very delicious.

Then we headed to Back Bay (home of Berklee School of Music and Boston Conservatory) to meet up with other people at his friend Phoebe’s apartment. We basically had a mini-party with these strangers, which turned out to be fun. We didn’t get back to Michael M.’s place until 7 AM, after waiting for the subway for an HOUR because it didn’t start running until 6:30. The station was cold, we were exhausted, and each of us kept thinking we heard the subway when we didn’t. It was a sad and delirious hour.

So we slept from 7 to 1, showered, and then headed off to eat lunch at this big hall with a bunch of food places. Kind of like a food court, except none of the food places were chains, and it was all really good. Better food than a typical food court. Me and Patricia had clam chowder in bread bowls from “Boston Chowda.” REAL New England clam chowder! It was so good.

Oh, also, a statue of crazy Samuel Adams was outside, which I thought was cool.

Then Michael M. took us on the Boston Freedom Trail, which takes you to all the historical/colonial/revolutionary war sites in the city. Now, when he said we were going on the Boston Freedom Trail, I thought it would be like you get a map with the historical sites marked and you just go to each one, but it is actually a physical red brick trail on the sidewalks leading around the city. This blew my mind. Apparently the whole trail is more than 2 miles long. I think we probably walked a little more than half of it.

We saw Paul Revere’s House, The Old North Church (where he lit the lanterns to warn that the British were coming), some old graveyard with a gate that was unfortunately locked, and Bunker Hill Monument. The Old North Church has cubicles (see pictures), which I found strange, but also one of them had a plaque claiming Teddy Roosevelt sat in it, which I thought was way awesome. Of course, I sat in it for a moment and tried in vain to contact his spirit. Didn’t work.

We ended up convincing Michael M. to take us to Cheers for dinner. The original Cheers! Good cheeseburgers.
Then we met up with Phoebe again, but only stayed in Back Bay for a little while before heading home.

Then we were supposed to leave Monday afternoon, but Michael M. said we could stay one more night, so we did. On Monday we slept in (me and Patricia, anyway), then ate huge burritos at this Mexican place. Me and Patricia could only eat half of them, but took the leftovers with us. They came in handy when we were sitting in UMASS waiting for Michael M. to get out of his Spanish class. We sat in the student center and went on Facebook and ate our burritos for like 3 and ½ hours. We had nothing better to do.

Then we went home and hung out all night.

And today we hopped the 4:30 bus home, drove through a thunderstorm that then produced a beautiful rainbow, and pulled in to Penn Station around 9. Me and Patricia both admitted to be relieved to be back in the city. We kind of feel at home here, I guess. Just kind of. Boston was strange. Cool, but strange. The NY subways are easier, and we don’t have to deal with Michael M.’s “travel anxiety,” which is when he power-walks everywhere and yells at us for not keeping up. He forgets that we have little legs and heavy backpacks. In any case, we very much enjoyed Boston, especially the colonial stuff, but in comparison, we are much more comfortable here in Manhattan and Queens (never thought I’d say I was comfortable in Queens).

But I will miss the wireless internet of Michael M.’s apartment. Back to writing blogs on Word…meh.

Oh, so on the way to the E in Penn Station, we saw the first Taco Bell since California! We were so excited that we stopped and ate there. Now I have a headache and don’t think I’ll stop being full for at least 10 hours. It was only one burrito too…so I think the problem was really all the Pringles I ate on the bus. Woops.

Also: I got my favorite cat-call ever today! These dudes we passed on the way to the house from the subway said I looked like Alicia Silverstone. Ha! Thanks, nice creepers! Usually we get hisses and kissing noises and “sexy sexy” etc. I prefer compliments like that.

Anyway.

We have only 3 full days left in NYC, then we fly out on Saturday, landing us in LAX at midnight. We still need to see Shakespeare in the Park, Patricia’s prospective culinary schools (kind of the reason we came here in the first place), the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center, Coney Island, Greenwich Village, and the Meatpacking District. We also need to buy another suitcase and souvenirs for people. And we want to go back to Chinatown and Soho.

I think tomorrow we’ll do Shakespeare and shopping. No more sleeping in!

Speaking of which, I am now exhausted. I'll do pictures tomorrow instead.

Goodnight, moon.

BUGS.

An exposé on the insect problem of Jamaica, Queens.

Boston post to come either tonight or tomorrow. 

Later.

The Quest for Conan

I need to catch you all up on the past 3 days. Ahem.

TUESDAY:
Oh, my friends, let me tell you my tale of woe that is Tuesday. Thank God I didn’t actually write this Tuesday when I was beyond exhausted/bitchy/pissed off, because that would have been a depressing blog. Now I am in much better spirits and am actually now very capable of laughing at myself. Finally.

Why was I so exhausted and pissy? Because me and Patricia skipped sleep Monday night, started getting ready at 5 AM, and got to Rockefeller at 7 AM to get in line for standby tickets for CONAN, only to be informed nine excruciatingly long hours later that they would only be taking 15 people. We were numbers 19 and 20. Ouch.

Needless to say, I was crushed. CRUSHED. Wahh..

The only good thing about Tuesday was that we met Billy Ray Cyrus! He happened to be walking down the street where we were in line at about 8 AM, just leaving the Today Show (which is literally just down the street half a block). He is so handsome…sigh… (of course we got pictures)

Also we met this really REALLY awkward Canadian guy named Craig who was visiting NYC by himself. He was in line right behind us. He was nice enough to save our spots and not steal our money as we ran down the street to see Billy Ray, so we invited him to wander around with us after we got our numbers. He suggested Harlem, so we agreed to go with him.

An hour bus ride later (should have taken the A Train, we realized a day latee), we arrived in Harlem, wandered a bit, and then happened upon the APOLLO. We talked to the chick at the merch desk for a few minutes, found out amateur night was the next night for only $15, so we both got tickets.

After Harlem we split from the awkwardness that was Craig and hung out in Central Park for a couple hours. Then we forced down some really really bad coffee (thinking we were about to see Conan), made ourselves nauseous, and THEN found out we didn’t make the cut. Shit.

We went home, depressed and sick and tired, and passed out. I’m not sure how long I slept Tuesday night, but it had to have been more than 15 hours. Bliss.

WEDNESDAY:
So yesterday we slept in till 3:30 or so, then got ready for Amateur Night at the Apollo, which turned out to be AWESOME. We got to boo people! On guy got booed off the stage halfway through his rap. A lot of the others got boo’s, but not enough to get yanked. It was a very fun night.

I also discussed Boston with Michael M., and it has been decided that we will stay with him Saturday-Monday instead of Thursday-Saturday. Yes, this offered us a new opportunity to try for Conan!

THURSDAY (TODAY):
We were going to try to sleep at least a couple hours last night, but what with phone calls to people and eating dinner and stuff, I only slept for half an hour and Patricia didn’t sleep for any. We started getting ready at 2:30 and got to Rockefeller at 5 AM, BITCHES.

Yeah, we were shamelessly the first ones in line. The barricades weren’t even up yet. Neither was the sun. It was FREEZING. A cool moment occurred when they filmed something for the show right near where we were sitting in front of NBC. A giant inflatable Conan! And I mean giant. (see picture above) If you watch the show tonight, you’ll see it and find out why it’s there.

Well, long story short:

WE GOT INTO LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O’BRIEN!!!!!!!!

I’m still recovering from the shock and joy and love and happiness ahhhhhh…..

His studio is soo small and his legs are soo long. Dude.

Max Weinberg is touring with Bruce Springsteen, but the band was still awesome and La Bamba was way cool and Pender is a badass.

I was so overwhelmed with love and delight when Conan came out for the first time before the show to talk to us that I may have looked like a giddy schoolgirl to everyone else. Maybe I am. We may have made eye contact once, me and him. Oh, love love love.

I also screamed really obnoxiously after everyone else had stopped clapping when he first came out for the monologue and he HEARD ME and he made fun of me! It was ammmazing! I nearly died. I’m still dying.

What else? He is just as amazing as I thought he was. Thank God.

I bought too much stuff in the NBC store, but people do crazy things in the name of love.

I think the shot glass was a necessity.

Don’t you?

p.s. all pictures in picasa to your right!

Psychics and Stars

Happy Father’s Day!

If you’re wondering what I did yesterday, don’t. I don’t think I need to tell you about sleeping in till 5, only to fall back asleep (after eating breakfast/dinner) until 9:30, and finally waking up again, watching the end of the Notebook, and crying.

Because we slept so much yesterday, me and Patricia found ourselves wide awake at 4:30 AM with the uncomfortable prospect of getting up early for church on the horizon. So we decided to just not go to sleep. Instead we read books, ate cocoa pebbles, and…well, actually… that’s it, now that I think about it. Hm.

At 6:30 we started getting ready and were on the train by 8:30. We caught the 10:15 mass at St. Patrick’s. My first Catholic Mass, and it was in a huge and BEAUTIFUL cathedral in New York City on 5th Avenue! Strange how things work out. For my first mass, I enjoyed it and thought the more traditional aspects that don’t exist in my church were interesting and cool. Although I did feel like a child at times, glancing at people (mostly Patricia) out of the corner of my eye to know what to do, when to kneel, when to make the sign of the cross, etc. The only thing I didn’t like was that tourists were using camcorders during the service, and during communion! Communion, people? Seriously? Have SOME respect…

For lunch we went to Friday’s, BADLY in need of some good ol’ fried appetizer goodness. We ate way too much, and ended up hobbling over to Bryant Park to read and digest and write postcards and soak up some sun and NYC-on-a-Sunday-afternoon atmosphere. We happened to sit next to this guy who we accidentally made friends with when we first asked him where to get stamps and then proceeded to carry on one of our normal conversations with each other, which he apparently thoroughly enjoyed and was entertained by. We discovered he was studying for an exam at work (some stock/Wall Street/money job) and was 31, though he didn’t look any older than 24 or so. I’m not sure how long the three of us sat there, him studying and occasionally cutting in, and us talking to each other and occasionally feeding white pigeons a stale bagel. Maybe 3 hours? Finally he left and a little later me and Patricia, now much less full, wandered away trying to find a place to buy postcard stamps.

Well, we didn’t find any FedEx or anything, but in our search did accidentally find a street fair on 6th avenue! Lots of jewelry, handbags, food, crafts, etc. Me and Patricia did both buy really beautiful glass necklaces, though.

Then—okay, you’re not going to believe this—we got our fortunes told by a psychic! It was only $5 once we made ourselves seem so poor that she lowered the price, and it was fun, if nothing else. Apparently I’m going to be successful at a young age, be married once, have 3 children, 2 of which will be twins… among other things. Jeez. Twins? No thanks.

Then we were about to take the subway to Greenwich Village and the Meatpacking District, when we look across the street to Radio City and see the RED CARPET for the Tony’s, complete with photographers, news crews, bodyguards, screaming fans, and barriers.

Of COURSE we got in on that.

We squeezed in at a part of the sidewalk where the cars and limos stop to let their people out, so it was really a pretty good spot. It was made better when, due to the hysterical squealing at the tiny glimpse of Daniel Radcliffe I got between someone’s arms and neck, the two ladies in front of us let us move up to their spots and have a better view! I guess Patricia claiming that he’s her “future husband” and me exclaiming proudly that I saw Laura Linney’s hair made them take pity on us or something. Works for me!

Here are some of the people we saw tonight:

1. Dan Radcliffe
2. David Hyde Pierce
3. Laura Linney
4. Bradley Whitford
5. Cheryl Hines
6. Julie Chen
7. The lead singer for some band everyone else seemed to have heard of but not us?
8. Lily Tomlin
9. Glenn Close was there but I couldn’t see her
10. THE BROADWAY LION KING CAST! (!!!!!)

It was so way cool to even be in that crowd though! It was sweaty and exhausting, but a good tale to tell. And we found it by accident, too!

When we got home I promptly passed out at about 9 (would have watched the actual Tony’s but the roommate was ASLEEP when we got home at 8:30 and we couldn’t turn on the TV GAH). For some reason I woke up at the split second that the roommate switched off the lights, and then could not go back to sleep, once I realized I was still in my dress and makeup and wearing my contacts and also was kind of hungry.

So now I am up and Patricia is asleep.

Whoa as I typed that she woke up. Freaky.

Stuffed Beasts and Sugary Sweets

Happy Friday the 13th!

Today we went to the American Museum of Natural History. It was way cool. I felt like I was on a field trip, except without the chaperones.

I took SO many pictures, which are up on picasa in the link to your right. We saw so many stuffed beasts, skeletons, replicas, miniatures, etc. The best parts were the dinosaurs and the stuffed animal dioramas. We spent so much time looking at and taking pictures of dead animals it was ridiculous. Much fun though, as I’m sure you’ll be able to see from the pictures.

Unfortunately, it closed at 5:45, so we wandered the Upper West Side. What do you know, right down the street from AMNH is The New York Historical Society! They have this kind of museum thing, which offered free admission on Friday from 6-8. Well, lucky us, it was 6:30! We popped in, took pictures of ourselves as colonials and of a guillotine and then popped out, but not before I bought a super cool hat that will undoubtedly make an appearance at the soonest suitable theater party USC has to offer in the fall. I’ll make it work, trust me. (Pictures of me and Patty wearing said hat on picasa)

Then we wandered through some rich residential streets and found ourselves by accident at Verdi Square, which happens to be in You’ve Got Mail! And then we found Grey’s Papaya, yet ANOTHER [delicious] You’ve Got Mail location! I can’t believe my luck… and H&H Bagels and Zabar’s just the day before! If you were wondering, Grey’s Papaya’s hot dogs are truly as good as everyone says. And so so cheap. 2 franks and a drink for $3.50! Of course, that’s what we got. A frank apiece and we shared the drink. It was orange juice.

Oh, before that, while searching for a restroom, we also stumbled upon this darling [yet expensive] bakery called Buttercup Bake Shop and I just couldn’t resist, so I bought a brownie and a peanut butter cookie. I already ate the cookie, but may have to hold off on the brownie until my stomach can handle it…aka, tomorrow. Patricia got a piece of carrot cake that turned out to be ginormous. I know she’ll have fun eating that over the next 5 days.

In other news, a few minutes ago I finished reading a book that almost drove me to tears! I am so distraught by the unfairness of this ending. I will no doubt be in recovery from heartbreak for the next 72 hours (at least). So sad. So, so, so sad.

No plans as of yet for tomorrow. Goodnight, lovelies.

Pictures from the Bronx Zoo and of the Basement where Patricia and I have been living for the past 2 weeks are up in the link to your right. Not left.

Two weeks and two days to go! I know you all miss me terribly, and I hope you’ll be able to make it 2 more weeks without seeing my bright shining face or hearing my sweet-sounding voice [in person].

I think if I were you I would miss me too.

In other news, my face is seemingly free of spider eggs, but I did indeed wake up with four (FOUR!) bug and/or spider bites on my right shin. Only my right, and only the shin. For this reason I believe the spider was sleeping with me, curled up between bites, dreaming, in the warmth of the MER sweatpants I borrowed from Patricia because I was cold. That bastard.

Today we slept till 4, then paid an evening visit to the Upper West Side, home of You’ve Got Mail and rich people with dogs. First thing we did was get bagels from H&H Bagels, who ship out to all of NYC and also across the country. They are so good! I suggested we go there only because of the scene in You’ve Got Mail when Tom Hanks walks through the cloud of flour from the flour truck, but it turned out to be a delicious decision. We have 3 more to eat tomorrow and the next day. Oh, also, Zabar’s, which also appears in You’ve Got Mail (the grocery store sequence where they keep trying to avoid each other and then don’t), was directly across the street from H&H. We didn’t get to go in and buy cheese, though, because it was closed by the time we thought of it. Oh well, I have pictures of both!

Now, I wasn’t going to mention this, because, well, I know how you all (especially you, mother) feel about my book-buying “addiction,” but I just have to tell you about this bookstore! It was only about 10 feet wide, but very very tall, with an upstairs section and everything. When you walk in you can go up the stairway in the middle (books piled on the edges of the stairs), or go to the right of the stairs or to the left. The bookshelves go up to the ceiling, which, especially in the entryway between the stairs and the front door, is SO HIGH. They had a ladder, but I didn’t even use it because I was so afraid of dying.

Then, to make things even more intimidating, books were piled in stacks on the floor, and the shelves had two layers! A whole other row of books lay behind the visible row. Also, while the books were indeed arranged by the first letter of the author’s last name, that’s about as far as organization went. Salinger sat with Swift, who sat with Singer, and Gardening hung out with Erotica, who was chilling next to French. I don’t know.

I mention the S authors above because that is where I spent all my time. I just sat down on the floor (mainly out of tiredness and because it was hot in there), and looked through the 3 shelves of S authors, which is more like 6 shelves, considering the hidden rows behind the first. Subsequently, all the books I bought have authors with last names starting with S. Strange? Maybe.

I really need to stop buying books. But this place was so cool! I think it may actually belong in Diagon Alley, that’s how cool it was. Oh, if you were wondering, it was called Westsider Rare and Used Books, on Broadway, between 80th and 81st streets.

I didn’t even make it upstairs, or to any other section than the S authors in Fiction, but it was still an enjoyable experience. I forgot to take pictures, but if we go back again, I shall. A few minutes ago Patricia futilely asked me why we seem to be on the Bookstore Tour of New York City.

Don’t ask me, it just happened.

The Bronx and its Creatures

So after 3 days of doing virtually nothing but sleeping, eating, and watching You’ve Got Mail and Kung Fu Panda (which was really really good, by the way), me and Patricia finally got off our asses, woke up at 10:15 (me) / 11 (Patricia), and went to the BRONX ZOO. Yeah, bitches. The Bronx.

Unfortunately, we took a while to get ready (I also woke up an hour later than I intended, which then put Patricia behind ‘cause I always wake her up after my shower), and we also had to get coffee at Dunkin Donuts, then had to catch 5 different trains to get to the Bronx. The F to the E to the 6 to the 5 to the 2. Goodness, gracious. It ended up taking 2 hours to get to our last stop. Then, to make matters worse, we had no idea in which direction to walk in order to find the actual zoo. Bronx hides it very well.

We asked these 2 teenage guys and one of them was really nice and gave us directions and even walked with us halfway there since he was going that way anyhow. When he ran into a friend on the street we discovered by eavesdropping that his name was Felix. Thanks, Felix. You’re wonderful.

Well, needless to say, I was crushed when we finally got to the zoo at 3 and only had 2 hours to see everything! Only I didn’t stay crushed for long, once I fully realized how much walking was involved and how bloody hot it was! I don’t think we would have lasted longer than the two hours we were allotted, to be perfectly honest. Patricia was going on only 4 hours of sleep, to top things off.

We got to see most of the cool things. Giraffes, lions, zebras, wild dogs, baboons (although those creep me out like whoa), bats and other nocturnal creatures, reptiles in the Reptile House, the random peacock wandering here and there, and um, some striped African deer things that have a name obviously not worth remembering or noting in the first place. Oh well, they got their pictures taken.

Woe: The tigers on Tiger Mountain were nowhere to be seen and neither were the Snow Leopards and Red Pandas. Boo.

We wandered, sore and sweaty, out to the subway station around 5:30 and then set off for Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers... I know, guys, I know, NO MORE BOOKS. Don’t worry, I only got 2, and one only cost $4. I’m done, though, I swear! I acknowledge my addiction, which we all know is the so-called first step of an impossible road to “recovery.” Whatevs.

We got home around 8 and have been laying around exhausted ever since. As I type this on Word it is about midnight. I could so easily pass out right now.

But before I go, I need to complain:

1. There is a huge raccoon mother and her 2 creepy raccoon babies living in the “backyard.” Last night they knocked over the trashcan. Yeah.

2. So I keep having these phantom tickling sensations on my limbs, like a bug or spider is crawling over my skin, ready to bite me with huge fangs AGH. My recent paranoia may stem from the fact that at least once a day (but usually twice) we need to rescue ourselves or one another from a bug/spider that is almost or already on our beds/clothing/skin/hair. It is horrible! Just 10 minutes ago I happened to glance down as I was reading to see a gross little evil demon of a spider crawling up my blanket, making straight for my face to lay eggs under my skin! (Scary Stories 3, anyone?) I tried to flick it to the floor with my shoe so I could kill it, but I guess in my fear I flicked too soft, because it has VANISHED! Under my blanket? Under the bed? Into my pillow? Into thin air? God knows! When you next hear from me, spider eggs will have been laid under the skin on my face.

Will you still love me?

There's a storm coming! (really, though)

So I got up at 9:30 today, whoa. Couldn’t get Patricia up until 11, and we got to the Book Fair around 1. It was SO HOT today and very miserable. We looked through the stuff outside, then went inside to get some coffee and relax in the air conditioning. I LOVE this place. Remember, this is the store we spent 4 hours in two days ago. Today I got 7 books for like $6.50. I love the “book high” I always have after book shopping… It always lasts for the whole night. Lovely.

Unfortunately this brings up the number of books I’ve bought in the past 3 days to 15, a lot of them big and hardcover. Um. Yeah, no idea how to get all this stuff home in 3 weeks. May have to buy another suitcase for the trip. Woops.

Used Bookstores may be the bane of my existence.

So yeah by about 3 we were done book shopping, but it was so damn hot that we sat outside on some steps and watched people go by for like…2 hours. The whole time we wondered what we were going to do, came up with nothing, and eventually wandered into a weird expensive ritzy health club/gym/spa thing. They had this café on the ground floor (the gym and spa were up a couple flights of stairs) where I got toast (the cheapest thing on the menu) and a banana for lunch. Then, still not knowing what to with all our time (why did we get up so early on such a hot day?!) we went up one more floor and sat and read for another hour. Of course, from the moment we walked in the doors to the moment we left, we felt tremendously awkward, what with rich people in fancy workout clothes running up and down the stairs and glaring at us in our jeans and tank tops. Oh well, the air conditioning and nice reading area was worth it.

Then we walked up and down a block of Broadway before giving up and catching the subway home. We got here around 7, which is way way early for us. We ended up watching Resident Evil and eating turkey sandwiches. Now we shall blog and probably go to bed early, since we plan on going to church tomorrow at St. Patrick’s on 5th avenue. My first Catholic Mass.

Goodnight, mes amies. I now return to my books and my blanket.

(No pictures today, but MoMA pictures are up on picasa—link to your right.)

MoMA!

Ladies and Gentlemen, hold on to your hats… today we woke up before noon! At 10:30 in fact. It is really remarkable, I know. Please, don’t expect this to be a recurring thing here on this vacation.

So we were going to ride the free Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but it was kind of breezy and overcast and we decided that it would be way too freezing on a boat for the outfits we had chosen. Yes, we changed our plans based on our clothing. So sue me!

We ended up looking up a Mexican Restaurant on the Upper East Side called Zócalo. Unfortunately, I planned out the subway route while half-asleep (we did get up at 10:30 after all), so we got a bunch of our stops all muddled today. Let’s just say we got a LOT of exercise and sightseeing in while walking the streets of Uptown.

Zócalo was pretty good. Unfortunately we got there at 4:15 and were told they don’t open until 4:30. So we waited outside, then came in again, only to be told, to our dismay, that they don’t open for dinner until 5:30! What? What is this “restaurant-that-aren’t-open-all-day-like-in-California” thing?! Well, once they saw how sad we were (we had just needlessly walked 14 blocks to get there after all and had been craving Mexican like mad for the past week), we were informed that we could “have some drinks and guacamole and quesadillas.” We agreed and sat down, the only customers. Luckily the guac and quesadillas were absolutely delicious and we were stuffed for $10 each when we left.

And off to The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)! On Fridays it’s free from 4-8 so we totally hit that up. Unfortunately we didn’t even get there until 6:30 so we kind of swept through photography and these weird light exhibit things that made no sense and confused all visitors, then spent the most time in the paintings. There were some gems, but also way too many “wtf” works of “art.” Meh. At least we got to see Van Gogh, Picasso, and Monet. But I guess I’d rather see Renaissance style paintings and Roman sculptures. Or something.

After we had our fill of modern art we hit up the MOMA store, where they had lots of weird and expensive modern kitchen appliances, strange toys you might find in a Science Museum, and way-too-expensive postcards and recycled notebooks. They were cute, but not that cute. Needless to say, we left empty handed.

Caught the train home, laid around (I accidentally fell asleep for at least 15 minutes), watched the end of Cast Away, and are now exhausted and planning to be asleep by 12:30 (a record).

Tomorrow is another early day. We plan to be up by 9 (that’s 6 AM for you, kiddos.) and off to the Housing Works Used Book Café. Yes, this is the same place we were at yesterday. But they are having a book fair! Books, movies, and music for $1 a piece! We could NOT pass that up.

But we may need to buy an extra suitcase to take all these books and souvenirs and crap home. Oh la la.

Dunno what we’re gonna do after the Book Fair. Ferry? Central Park? SoHo?

Only time will tell, my friends. Only time will tell.

Pictures, books, and wireless internet

All of both mine and Patricia's pictures are in a link to the right. Enjoy!

Right now we are in Housing Works Used Book Café in NoLita. I randomly found it in my NY Travel Book as we were looking for places with free wireless internet (so we could sit in peace and upload pictures instead of standing outside the basement in the rain like the past 2 nights). After calling Barnes and Noble to hear that they make you pay for their internet (what!), I turned to the Used Books page and called this place, and voila! Free!

Little did we know that we were venturing into Heaven. Really. It is not that big, but has tons of books, all used, all cheap. And cute tables and comfy chairs. And a little coffee and pastry area in the back. The coffee is good and so was the cookie I got. Mmm...

The music they play in here is also awesome.

Both me and Patricia have both been mistaken for employees. I have no idea why. Maybe we look really serious about our book buying. Maybe we are.

Good thing this was all we had planned for today because we've been holed up in here for the past 4 hours. Oh my god.

So tomorrow we don't really have plans. We were gonna go to the Bronx Zoo cause we heard it was free, but I just checked the website and it's actually Wednesday's that are "pay what you wish." Meh.

A Really Good Blog I Just Read:

Experience is An Overrated Virtue
by Brad Listi

Experience is wasted on the old.

I believe this.

One of my greatest aspirations in life is not to get old in the conventional way. I don't want to become one of those people who thinks all new music sucks, all new art sucks, everything new isn't as good as the old stuff, et cetera. People who are trapped in the past depress me.

Think of artists who remain relevant and interesting---and inspired---well into middle age and beyond. Think of musicians like David Bowie. The guy continues to listen and unleash. He doesn't thumb his nose at the kids. He embraces them. He likes new stuff. He keeps himself vital by understanding that youth has much to contribute. Not only that, he seems to understand that youth can be learned from.

Too many older people get scared and hide behind the notion that they "know better." This is boring. And lame.

I sense a big generational resistance among many baby boomers to cede power to the younger generation, which I suppose is both predictable and sad. People have a hard time letting go. Most people. It's a human thing, I think.

There's something to be said for letting go gracefully. Aging gracefully. Accepting the passage of time. Accepting impermanence. Moving forward fearlessly. Staying young at heart. Staying vital.

The founders of Myspace are what? Forty? Forty-five?

Facebook? Um...twenty-two?

The founders of Google are what? Thirty-something?

Then, counterpoint: Millard Kaufman, author of the acclaimed new novel Bowl of Cherries? He's 90 years old. And this is his debut.

My point, really, is that experience as a virtue is way overrated. What matters is that a person has a vision, a dream, energy, the ability to articulate and inspire, the ability to get shit done. Maybe the person in question is twenty-two. Maybe the person in question is seventy-two. Either way, fine by me.

The point isn't how old someone is, or how long they've been doing something. That whole line of thinking is flawed and would appear to be undermined in so many ways and in so many significant instances in the modern world.


Anyway, we're right in the middle of a generational shift. Old boomers ceding to...young boomers, I suppose. (I can never keep track of which generations fall between which years.)

(And what generation am I in again?)

Anyway.

There you have it.

Dream big. And don't let anyone tell you you're too young.

Or too old.


-BL

+++++++++++

Obvious maybe. But I still like it. I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R Us Kid....la la la

Various NY Things

The Central Park Carousel!!!

Chinatown, SoHo, NoHo

Today was one of the best days so far. We first went to Chinatown, which is just as you would expect. Tiny shops everywhere selling jewelry, watches, hats, handbags, pashmina’s, T-shirts, et cetera, for pretty good prices. I got some earrings and Patricia got some jewelry and a watch. We didn’t know where we were going (do we ever?), and accidentally wandered right into SoHo. We found the COOLEST little coffee shop called Café Café, with an upstairs loft area and really good coffee. I also got the most delicious brownie (above) I have ever tasted in my entire --albeit short-- life. I was in heaven… Until I stood up and realized that I was so full I could have burst. It was a big brownie. Worth it? Oh, yes.

We wandered some more and decided SoHo is AMAZING. Most of the stores were designer and/or very expensive, but there were also many small independent shops, not to mention the buildings are tall and old and cute and reminded me a lot of Paris. I got more earrings and a belt at this funky store called “Girl Props.” The outside was painted in zebra stripes and the owner/cashier had blue hair.

Then we wandered north into NoHo.

[Side note: For those of you who don’t know –and I only found this out today— “SoHo” stands for “South of Houston St.” and NoHo stands for “North of Houston St.”]

NoHo was also pretty cool and was similar to SoHo. We bought really cute dresses for about $30 each. Similar dresses I’m sure would be $60-$100 at home. Then we discovered that NYU was across the street so we took pictures under the pennant. USC’s rival film school! We are so much better though, right TW?

Finally, we stumbled upon the coolest record store in the world. I got some $1 Mozart vinyl’s (Patricia says I can have her old record player, yay!). Yes, I am a nerd, but eventually I will build up my collection. Mozart isn’t a bad start, right? Led Zeppelin and the Stones can wait.

I also got a way fabulous Johnny Cash poster that is going up in our apartment this next year. Be excited, Taylor, Jenny, and Tiffany. Be very excited. Maybe it will offset the Swan Princess 3 poster and balance out the atmosphere?

Anyway. At this point it started to rain so we hopped on the subway and came home.

In other news, my new camera came in the mail today along with Patricia’s camera cord, so now we can put pictures up! And they are amazing. No, really though. We take damn good pictures.

To sum up: new camera + shopping + meatloaf = neat.

Oh, I didn’t mention that we had meatloaf for dinner? Yeah. We did. It was good.

Okay, yeah. Overslept again. I think the cousin expected us to be ready at least by noon, but we didn’t even wake up until 2:30. Patricia’s mom even called me to try to wake us up but I had silenced my phone an hour earlier, annoyed by my alarm. (I don’t know why I didn’t just turn off the alarm) She left a voicemail that amused me.

So we got to this department store at 5, and turns out the cousin had to leave for a show or something at 6, so there goes “roaming” us around the city. We ended up only shopping for discount lingerie after finding the clothes a bit lack-luster. Michael M. called at one point and we decided Patricia and I shall stay with him in Boston at some point this month for a couple days. Awesome.

After our lingerie binge, we wandered around. This store happened to be smack dab, right cross the street from the WTC Site. Thus, we realized we were left alone in the financial district of Manhattan, of all places. A little um…boring… and swarmed with businessmen. Once I figured out on the map where we were exactly we decided there was absolutely nothing to do so we wandered a little more, saw City Hall Park and its lovely fountain, took pictures, ate pizza, drank a small carton of orange juice through a straw, and hopped on 3 different subways to get home (our first time transferring trains and we didn’t get lost!). We got home by 9, and then the cousin bombarded us with clothes to try on (she recently closed her clothing store so she has racks of clothes in the basement here and boxes in the garage.) Some clothes were cute, some not so much. All free, of course.

Videos tomorrow.

Rambow's and Brits.

Overslept again. Luckily we didn’t have any plans. Got up at 3, took showers, ate leftover cheeseburgers and fries (yum!) then headed off to Broadway because we noticed there was an AMC there on 42nd. Patricia wisely got some movie passes from her work before we left CA, so we saw “Son of Rambow” for free! We didn’t know what it was about until Patricia called a friend at work and asked. It turned out to be very good and so cute and original. It’s about two very different young (aged 10 or so) British boys, one, Will Proudfoot, an artistic and imaginative kid in a family belonging to a VERY conservative Christian church (which disapproves of his “rebellious” ways) and the other, Lee Carter, a troublemaker who lives in a nice house with his older brother because his mom is always away with her Spanish boyfriend or something. They end up making a movie with Will starring as the son of Rambo, fighting an evil Scarecrow to rescue his father. When the other kids at school, including an older and popular French kid, find out about it, they then become popular, or at least Will does, which then causes conflict and jealousy and chaos. We were surprised at how wonderful it was. Patricia cried a few times, so that’s a good sign. Two thumbs up! (That was lame, I know.)

Oh, funniest part of the movie:

Lee Carter making breakfast for his brother. Doorbell. He opens the door to see: Will fully decked out in savage Rambo-esque attire, including a strip of cloth tied around his forehead. He lifts his arms excitedly and proclaims: “I’m here to help you, Lee Carter!”
Lee: “Jesus Christ.”
He goes back inside.

Oh, also, this AMC was huge. 25 theaters, and ours was 21. We had to go up to the TENTH FLOOR on escalators to find it. 10 floors! Intense, right? Yeah.

After the movie we got hot dogs and roamed around Times Square before catching the subway at Rockefeller back to Queens. We pretended to be lesbians at one point when the train car seemed to be overflowing with creeps, but most of the way we enjoyed ourselves listening to iPods and writing in our notebooks. C’est la vie!

Tomorrow we are prisoners to Patricia’s cousin. During lunch earlier today she texted Patricia with “Don’t make plans for tomorrow. I am going to roam you around the city.” Besides being troubled by the wording (roam you around the city?), I am also troubled that we have to hang out with her all day. Don’t get me wrong, she is nice to us and gracious for letting us stay here and everything, but we’d really just rather be on our own. Oh well. It’s only one day out of the month.

Sometime this week we hope to make it to Coney Island with my friend from school, Ian. Other than that, we’re winging it.

My legs are no longer getting sore from all the exercise, and the blister on the bottom of my foot from the first day walking 50 blocks in the wrong direction (yes, 50 blocks. I counted on a map) is now fully healed. Everyone in Manhattan is so skinny. Hopefully by the end of the trip I will be in fabulous shape! California, prepare yourself.

In other news, today a bird crapped on Patricia’s leg while we were sitting in the backyard. Hilarious.

Central Park

So we’ve now resorted to writing our blogs inside on Word, then going outside just to quickly copy and paste. Why? Because this morning we went out there to sit and to check Facebook, etc. and realized in the daylight that the bench we had been sitting on for the past 4 nights is actually crawling with tiny tiny tiny red bugs, almost invisible, but they’re there. Yeah, gross. No more of that.

In other news, today we explored some of Central Park. Dude, that place is BEAUTIFUL. More beautiful than I had anticipated, even after seeing it in movies and on TV and all. Green grass everywhere, huge, tall trees, squirrels, and people lying around reading, having picnics, taking naps, etc. We even rode the Central Park Carousel, which was quite entertaining, to say the least. Way worth the $2. 19 is young enough to ride a carousel, right?

The walk to Central Park, on the other hand, wasn’t so fun. We decided to enter from the East side on 5th Ave. Little did we know there was a United For Israel parade on 5th starting right when we got off the subway. Nooo… Besides having to push through large crowds of people in blue shirts, we were also on the wrong side of the street and found it impossible to cross over to the park for several blocks. Crowds + Humidity + Long Walks = No fun. Luckily Central Park offered endless fields of grass to sit on and eat hot dogs and relax.

We left the park around 6:30 but weren’t suppose to meet Patricia’s cousin until 8 :15, so we spent all that time bumming around and looking shady in the Upper East Side. We sat on a stranger’s stoop for about an hour, making ridiculous videos and praying each rich person who walked by wasn’t the owner of the apartment we were parked in front of. ‘Cause that would be awkward.

Dinner was delicious, btw. Cheeseburger and fries, and leftovers for tomorrow!

Speaking of tomorrow, no plans as of yet. Me and Patricia shall look through my NY Tour Book and find something.

Oh, I’ve already started on souvenirs, people. Be excited. (TW, you especially should be excited for what I got you today. Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it friggin’ fabulous? Hell yes.)

Thoughts on LA vs. NYC

Typical.

Okay, so me and Patricia both set our alarms for 11:30. We planned to go to the Met for the afternoon, come back relatively early, eat dinner here, then go to the grocery store.

We overslept. Until 4 PM. Woops.

So we spent the day/evening lying in bed making faces and noises at each other and laughing and being bored. We finally made it to the grocery store, heated up leftover Chinese, then watched a marathon of Futurama. I fell asleep at 9 (don't ask me why) and Patricia woke me up at 10 and now we are outside at 10:40.

Yeah. No adventures today, but tomorrow is CENTRAL PARK, and we are stoked. Waking up at 7 AM! Yes, be amazed if we actually accomplish this.

At least we ate some Dunkin' Donuts. That's cool.

Manhattan One Street at a Time... First up: BROADWAY

Last night I passed out reading at 1 AM (only 10 in CA). This is amazingly early for me in the summer, but makes sense considering the only sleep we had gotten was 4 hours or less on the airplane. This morning we got up at 10, took showers, and headed off to the metro stop, which is conveniently located just around the corner. 

We got off at Bryant Park without knowing, so that was a pleasant surprise. It was lunchtime, so it was very crowded and took us a while to find a table to sit at and drink our coffee while I examined a map and tried to figure out how to get to Broadway. Well, I did figure it out, and we set off, only to realize a couple hours later (walking all the way, I might add) that the Theater District is actually north of where we were and not south.

Shit.

We found a metro stop and took it to Rockefeller, which is really close to Broadway. Then we bought tickets to Rent, ate a hot dog (OH MY GOD THEY ARE AS GOOD AS EVERYONE CLAIMS), took a cab from 43rd street to 41st for $3 (don't question us), walked around aimlessly, ate pizza (ALSO JUST AS GOOD AS EVERYONE CLAIMS), and then sat on the steps in front of the Nederlander Theater on 41st for about an hour waiting to be seated for Rent.

We could have done more in the 3 hours between buying the tickets and seeing the show, but after our several mile walk down Broadway earlier in the day, our feet couldn't take it. Let's just say I wore the wrong shoes. Meh. But hey! You know you're in a magical place when burning feet can't ruin anything about the day.

New York City is everything I thought it would be. The buildings are all made of brick or stone. They have amazing windows and even fire escapes (we thought this beautiful building with revolving doors and huge windows was a 5 star hotel, only to discover it was a Macy's. whoa.). Everyone honks, ambulances get stuck in rush hour, street vendors yell, and everyone walks very fast (except tourists) and sometimes people cross the street when they shouldn't.-- Pretty much, even if the red hand is up, if one person steps off the curb, the crowd automatically follows. A car will hit one person, but probably not 15.

A special moment occurred when a foreign woman thought we were locals and asked Patricia where 6th was. (We were already on it). We felt proud.

Creepsters abound, of course. Among the sleazy comments we got were: "I like your legs. They're sexy." "*inhale* ahh....sexy sexy....." et-cetera.

Then on the metro ride back to Queens a Creepo McCreepster started hitting on me. The conversation went something like this:

"Hi, how are you doing?"

"Fine."

"Just get off work?"

"No, just spent the day in the city."

Please, Patricia get me out of this...

"Manhattan?"

"Yep."

Ew ew ew ew ew.

"What's your name?"

"Amy."

We still have 5 more stops till we get off!

"Where do you live? You live here?"

"Yeah. Queens."

"Oh, I live by Queens."

"Mhm."

"Are you going to the Terminal?"

What's the Terminal?

"No."

"Where do you get off?"

No answer.

"I get off at 71st, then I take the R."

"Oh."

Here Patricia chimed in when I looked at her desperately with "Je ne comprend pas." YES. A way out.

"Where are you from? Italy?"

"No."

"Spain?"

"No."

Patricia-"Je ne comprends pas."

"Oui. Je sais."

I then focused all my attention on Patricia as she, looking lost and confused, asked me numerous questions in French and I pretended to explain things to her in French. Of course, we were just using simple phrases over and over, but it worked. Sort of.

Then, "Do you have Myspace?"

"No."

"Facebook?"

"No."

"Email?"

"No. I have a boyfriend, sorry."

"Oh, ok."

Me and Patricia continued our fake French conversation and I thought it was over,

Then, "Just as a friend, can I email you?"

"No."

Finally, our stop! We booked it out of there.

My god.

Other than that, the day was great! Central Park tomorrow, and when my camera and Patricia's camera cord arrive in the mail, pictures will be up. And hopefully videos when I have the energy to upload. There are some really good ones, so get ready. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

Goodnight, lovelies.

P.S. We are no longer sharing a twin bed. Now you don't have to feel sorry for us.

Stealing Internet and Sharing Beds

We made it, kids. Me and Patricia are currently sitting behind the house on a bench in order to use the internet. Yay for thievery! And Patricia's stubbornness when she heard there was no internet. After roaming around for a few minutes we found salvation.

So here's the lowdown: We live in a basement with 2 women, one of which is Patricia's distant cousin. We will be sharing a twin-size bed for the next month (!) and taking the subway into downtown every day. It's a 30 minute ride, but we got month long metro passes so we can get lost as much as we want and won't have to pay extra as we ride buses and trains aimlessly around town trying to find things to do.

Tonight we saw the Rockefeller Center and strolled down Broadway. It is kind of crazy, what with street vendors and cabs honking and everyone trying to pass each other and tourists taking pictures left and right.

I think eventually we'll feel at home.

Tomorrow me and Patricia plan to see a matinee of RENT (hot dogs for lunch before hand) and then pizza for dinner! Other than that, no clue. We have plenty of time to figure things out, luckily.

The adventure has begun. Pictures will come soon, with any luck.

Love to all!

Happy Birthday to me!

Pack Mules

I've never packed for a month-long trip before and I don't want to forget anything I may want at some point during the 4 weeks. I feel like I need not only the basics (jeans, shirts, socks, underwear), but also this jacket and that purse, and such-and-such jewelry, and will I need a nice dress and shoes, and what if we go clubbing? How much room should I leave for shopping? Do I even have enough money for shopping? What if it gets really cold? How hot will it be on an average day? Swimsuit? Sunscreen? Scarves? Gloves? Candy Cane costume?

If anyone has a gun, now is the time to send the bullet my way.

(I was kidding about questioning the candy cane costume... I am certain that this is going in the suitcase.)

4 Days and counting.

Pride

So me and Patricia are off to New York in exactly a week(!). We haven't planned, haven't packed, and have no idea how we're going to avoid getting lost, but hey. Summer is the time for spontaneity.

We'll be staying in Queens with her cousin, in a basement apartment. I've been told there will be internet, so I am bringing Alfred (my macbook), and will hopefully not have to drag him off to Starbucks whenever I need some free wireless internet. Because I know you all will be dying to hear about all my adventures, and well, let's be honest, I will be dying to type on and on about myself every day. Win-win situation.

I guess the long hours standing at the circulation desk in Leavey Library at USC pretending to work but not really working have finally paid off! I have about $900 saved. Let's just hope that's enough for the whole trip.

(Did I mention we are living there for a month? We are.)

I can't wait to see Central Park, Times Square, Broadway, the museums (Museum of Sex, anyone?), and hopefully Conan and a show or two on Broadway! According to Regis and Kelly, at a special spot in Manhattan, students with valid ID's can get broadway tickets for $25. I am so there. Lion King, here I come!

In other news, today I slept in till 3 and have since done... nothing. Absolutely nothing. C'est la vie!