week #39

I feel like I've sort of been copping out of the new thing of late. I come up with my new thing of the week after something new happens. Like this week. It was my first real weekend in the city, and my friend from Boston was in town, so went out Friday night for real. Did it up New York style. We spent too much money for drinks, and ended the night with a slice of pizza. It was great. Then today we went to the Brooklyn Flea, and on the subway ride back, I had my very first celebrity sighting -- Mo Rocca! He was right there next to me on the train. Well, sort of ahead and a little to the right, but we were mere feet apart.

So those are all my new things for this week. I'm sorry about my lame new things of late. I'll think long and hard and come up with something really swell for next week. Promise.

dear people of new york

One of my favorite things to do since I've moved to New York is people watch. I've always enjoyed this pastime and nowhere is there better sport than in NYC. On my first weekend in the city, I took a book (just as a pretense) to Central Park and got some solid gawking in. The most entertaining thing was a girl about 50 feet away from me. She was sitting in the grass, screaming into her cell phone. Evidently, she had a particularly bad day that past week and called her boyfriend, who didn't pick up. He did not call her back in an acceptable amount of time and so received one of the worst verbal assaults I've ever heard. She was screaming expletives into the phone. And saying that it was excessive, coming from me, a person who has a mouth like a sailor, means she had to be saying a LOT. The whole thing made me giggle.

It also made me think about New Yorkers. Here's what I like about the people of this city right off. People act however they want, say whatever and wear whatever they want, and they do it with confidence. I love looking at what people are wearing when person staring. I'm no Carrie Bradshaw, but I like fashion. However, there are things I just wouldn't wear. While walking to the subway this past week, I saw a 20-something woman in high-waisted, pleated, acid-wash jeans. The kind of things I -- though I hate to admit it -- probably owned in the 3rd grade. She paired these with a cropped tank, and high heels. It was very Saved by the Bell with a modern twist. I don't know. Even though it's something I wouldn't wear, she owned it, and made it look fashionable. And I see people like her every day. So you go woman in the canary yellow cat suit, and man with the suit jacket and shorts. You go New York. Rock on with your bad self.

-- but wait ---

Lest you think this post is just a big love fest, I do have one serious pet peeve already. What's with the people jockeying for position at a cross walk? Here's an example. I'm walking to work. I'm on the sidewalk. The traffic signal says "no, not a good time to walk" and cars are buzzing past. So I, rule follower that I am, stop on the sidewalk and wait patiently for the light to change. As I'm standing there waiting, Mr. I'm-in-a-super-hurry walks up and also sees the "crossing now would be a really stupid idea" sign. Instead of standing next to me on the sidewalk, Mr. IIASH, steps out into the street as far as he can possibly go without getting hit by a passing vehicle to wait for the light to change. No, he can't wait on the sidewalk like a normal person, he needs to be mere inches from the cabs whizzing by. That way, he can get a whole 3 feet head start on me when the light actually does change. What's up with that? It happens to me all the time, and while I understand it on side streets and less busy thoroughfares, I don't get why people need to get as far into the street as possible on a street that clearly has 4 lanes of traffic all moving at a steady clip. WTF.

week #38

Finally! I finally found, viewed, applied for, got, and paid for an apartment in New York City. Wow. Done. Finally. I'll be living a bit north of the Columbia University area, so while maybe not the sexiest address in NYC, it's a place. Of my own. Yep, that's right. It's my own little over-priced studio. Take that all you roommate-seeking jerks who didn't think I was hipster cool enough to share your flat. I can have all the weird sleepovers I want now. Booyah.

So now that the apartment is taken care of, I can finally start doing fun new New York things. I still need to actually move all my junk in, but a weight has been lifted, and it's amazing all the free time I feel like I have now. Instead of seeing 3 places every night after work, and then surfing craigslist during any down time, my time is all mine. What to do... what to do...

I wanted to learn how to curl, but I couldn't find any New York City curling leagues. Perhaps I'm not searching hard enough for that. But man, there are so many things I could do. So many different ways to use my spare time. Volunteering at an animal shelter? Homeless shelter? Join a soccer league? Softball league? Running group? Participate in a language exchange? Take night classes? Knitting lessons? Any suggestions?

random thoughts during this week #37

Happy first official weekend of football season. Did your team win? Mine did. So, this morning, I had to be over in Brooklyn to look at an apartment, but afterwards, I headed over to a bar called the Public House. It was billed online as THE OFFICIAL Steelers bar in New York. I think the internet was telling the truth. I walked in right at one, and there was one seat left at the bar, and I was probably the only one there not in some sort of Steelers' gear. To my credit though, I'm living out of a suitcase, and when I was packing, I thought I might need more business clothes instead of my Polamalu jersey. (Just kidding. It's a Hines Ward jersey.) So that was a nice way to spend the afternoon. Plus I made friends with my displaced Pittsburgh brethren. It was really a nice afternoon.

Now, I just have a random musing that I want to put out there in the world. So, my current subway stop is Columbus Circle. It's right on the edge of Central Park, and when I'm walking there in the morning, I often look up at the buildings along the edge of the park. (I know, this is blasphemous to true New Yorkers. I was told to never look up, or I'd give myself away as a tourist. Whatever. I don't care.) The reason for my looking up, aside from admiring the architecture, is that I always wonder, "which of these buildings was used as Dana's apartment building in the movie Ghost Busters?" I swear, when I'm looking up at them, with the trees of Central Park in the view, it looks exactly like a scene from the movie. I've been trying to look it up online, but haven't found the right search string yet.

All right kids, I'm out.

week #37

I just posted this morning, and here I am again. My new week starts tonight at midnight, and I haven't thought of anything yet, except for maybe this: No more bitching about my move.

I was talking to one of my old coworkers in Cleveland today, and I think she put it best when she said, "Well, a bad day in New York is still better than any day in Cleveland." That really got me thinking. Yah, my apartment search is totally sucking, but so what, I'm in New York. No sense putting off the fun until I find a place. Carpe Diem as they say.

Don't get me wrong, I probably will still bemoan some things (my feet HURT), but I'm going to try not to. I don't want your pity.* I'm in New York. I am having fun. Seeing new things. Meeting new people. Eating tons of delicious food. Exploring - OH! the exploring.

So fret not dear followers (Hi Kate and Rems), negative Nancy is gone. And, so, I leave you with these words of wisdom...

* except you mom. I want your pity. And your financial donation to help cheer me up.

week #36

Well, this past Tuesday was my first day of my new job in NYC. Everyone asks, "how's it going?" "are you excited?" "are you nervous?" "are you living it up in the city?" The answer to all of these questions is, I AM STRESSED. I still don't have a place to live. I have a temporary situation worked out, which is fantastic, but isn't permanent. What happens if I don't find a place in a week or two?

So really, work has been fine. New York has been fine -- although I did get verbally accosted on the subway my first day here, but I didn't take it personally. I think the guy was just nuts. If I could just find an apartment I would start regaling you with stories of my big apple adventures, but alas, I am stressed.