happy halloween week #44

Last night... hmmm... was, I hate to say it, sort of lame. I hesitate to say that only because a group of people put a lot of time and effort into the Halloween at Woodlawn Cemetery tour, and it's not like it was terrible, I just think it was mis-advertised and a bit poorly executed. First, it wasn't scary at all. Not even spooky. Not creepy. Not even a little bit. You'd think, "Hey, I'm going to a cemetery at night, this is going to be freaky." But alas, that was not the case. The stories that were told at some of the grave sites were more along the lines of, "Here lies Bailey, of Barnum and Bailey. He died of a heart attack. He had $6 million dollars. Moving on." None of the stories were really that scary. Don't get me wrong. The cemetery is still really beautiful and interesting, but I feel like it might have been better held during the afternoon on any given day, than billed as a Halloween Cemetery tour led by flashlights.

Which brings me to my second point -- poor execution. I didn't have to sign a waiver or anything, so I guess that meant if I were to trip and fall over a headstone and hurt myself, they'd be liable. If that's not the case, I don't know why I was told every two minutes to "be careful" and "walk slowly." I am not exaggerating. Every. Two. Minutes. Maybe more often. I get it buddy, I get it. We were also a group of probably 100 or so people of all ages, so maybe that's why he kept repeating himself. I'm not sure, but it got annoying fast. Also, the size of the group was ridiculous. I had to reserve a spot for this, so I'm not sure why they didn't try to keep the numbers down, or send us out in two groups. Half of the time you couldn't hear the story that was being told, or see the grave that was being pointed out, because there was a herd of humans all trying to gather around. There were stragglers at every turn making the tour last longer than anticipated and made for a lot of waiting around.

All in all, I'd say it was a waste of my night. Again, I have to say, Woodlawn Cemetery is a beautiful place. It would be great to go during the daytime with just a small group and look at all of the extraordinary grave markers and learn a little history about past titans of New York. Just don't do the Halloween tour.

However, if you are looking for something fun to do in New York on Halloween, may I suggest riding the subway. People were hysterical. Costumes and debauchery galore. So happy Halloween everyone! I leave you with this.

week #44

I keep forgetting what I've written about and what I've been doing. I don't think I told you that last week (currently this week, I mean, next week doesn't start until Friday) I joined a book club I found on craigslist. Craigslist can be totally sketch, so I was slightly nervous about this. But, I was pretty sure that a book club posting is not the best way for a murderer to find potential victims. Come on, that's what the sex ads are for. Anyway, I joined a book club. All of the gals I met were super nice and welcoming, and I'm going back next month. Yay for reading. (Well, in all honesty, yay for drinking wine and eating cheese too. Both of which were things that were equally, if not more, important than book discussion.)

I just made my reservation for next week's new thing, so I'll tell you about it now. I didn't really have any Halloween plans, and I'm honestly not huge on dressing up, so I was planning on just staying in and watching a movie. But, plans change. I'm going on a creepy tour of Woodlawn Cemetery. OOooooOOOooo. I have to bring a flashlight because it's a spooky moonlit guided tour with tales of the horrors of the graves! (Insert evil Vincent Price laugh here.) I'm scared already. If I don't post next week, just assume I've been dragged to hell by the Bronx undead.

Well, that's that. Wanna hear a story?

As I was walking to my apartment tonight after work, I passed a probably 50ish-year-old man. He was lugging a suitcase behind him. He was entirely unremarkable, so I can't really describe him now except to say his approximate age and that he was wearing a light denim jacket. When we passed each on the sidewalk, he got in my face and said to me in a southern drawl, "I'm leaving New York."

And I leave you with that. Good night!

week #43

Tomorrow I am going to play Frisbee with a friend from work and her friends. So hopefully I will make friends and influence people. Odds are though, anyone who knows my Frisbility is concerned at this prospect. Yes, I can stand on the beach and toss a Frisbee back and forth in a person's general direction, but under pressure, my throws become chaotic and... let's say unpredictable. I am slightly worried that my capabilities, or lack thereof, at Frisbee might hinder any friend-making, but I'm going to give it a go anyway. Wish me luck.

Completely random, I know, but I went to the chiropractor today. My spine is all twisted up like a Cedar Point roller coaster, so I'm a regular at this type of doctor. But it was my first trip to the NYC chiro though, so I was pleasantly surprised with this doctor. I really liked him. He does a bunch of work with Broadway stars and dancers -- he's got signed posters all over the office. Obviously, he knows his stuff if the entire cast of Mamma Mia can vouch for him. Dr. Klein has a great bedside manner and is very personable, and I approve of his back fixing methods, but he did just about send me to the therapist when he had me stand with my back to him so he could check out my spine. As he inspected my back, he kept mumbling things like, "oh no, I don't like that at all," or "no, this doesn't make me happy." Basically, I'm a freak show. Somebody get me a bell tower, Quasimodo here needs to go into hiding.

I've got a couple more appointments with him next week so he can straighten me out. He also informed me that this lifestyle jolt of moving from Cleveland (where I didn't walk much of anywhere) to New York (where I walk pretty much everywhere) probably isn't helping any. He then proceeded to perform a party trick by telling me which arm I carry my bag on (my left, his right, correct!) This guy's a real character. Then I left, the whole way back alternating arms to carry my purse in an effort to even my self out.

midweek blah blah blah

Well, the original intent of this blog is degenerating. A weekly update of new things is turning into... gulp... an actual blooooooooooooooog. Thoughts. Feelings. Midweek unnecessary postings that have little to do with reporting on the actual newness of a thing. EGADS MAN! (Eek. Using exclamation points.)

I was so anti blogging (check out post numero uno), but now I'm doing it all willy nilly. Although, I haven't tagged any of my posts, so it's not really searchable, and it's still pretty secret, but I'm writing more than I thought I would, and about more stuff than originally intended. Not that that's a terrible thing. I'm just freaking out.

So, I went to the 10th Annual International Pickle Day this afternoon. Pretty stellar day. I didn't realize that there were so many places in NYC to get hand made pickles, or pickled products. I had been to one place, but this event had at least 20 pickled product vendors. I ate 6 whole pickles, plus a number of other pickled items like beets, turnips, green beans, and more. I even had some kimchi, which I didn't think I would like, but put that spicy junk on a hot dog or taco, and it's quite tasty. I had a whiskey brined pickle that was probably my favorite. I also had a bloody mary with pickling juice in it that was delicious. OH, and I had a PB&P finger sandwich. What's that you ask? Oh, just peanut butter and pickles, as normal as ever. Not gonna lie though, my stomach was a little bit pickled itself by the time I was done. So I called it a day and came home for a nap.

Tomorrow after work I am supposed to meet up with a group of fellow displaced Pittsburghers to watch the Penguins game at a bar. It'll be my first time meeting up with this group. Hopefully they'll like me and we'll all be best friends by the end of the game. I feel like it's the first day of school all over again. What to wear... what to wear?

week #42

New things galore.

Want a wrap up of Open House New York? I went to the Grand Lodge of Masons. It was interesting. They have 12 different lodge rooms and they all have different themes - like Egyptian, Colonial, Corinthian, etc. They're actually pretty gaudy some of them. The Egyptian room reminded me of the Cheesecake Factory. Either way, the architecture was pretty cool, but they did not give away any mason secrets, so that was sort of a bummer. I wanted secret ritual details, and Jack the Ripper stories, not stories of Shriners helping children. Barf. I also went to the Ukrainian American Center, which was really just an old building on Central Park West. 1920s swanky.

Also this week, just as an added bonus, a friend of mine happened to have an extra ticket to a taping of the Slate Political Gabfest podcast. Slate is one of the best web sites, and this live taping was fun and thought-provoking. If you listen to the podcast, you'll be able to hear me clapping in the crowd. Booyah. I'm going to be famous.

For next week, I'm going to the International Pickle Day on Sunday. Evidently there is a history of shops that pickle their own cucumbers and other veggies in New York. I've been to the Pickle Guys before, and their pickles were fantastic, so I'm excited to, as the brochure says, see pickle demonstrations and educational displays, as well as, let's face it, eat pickles. That should be fun and delicious. Plus, I always heard pickles were a great cure for a hangover.

I'm distracted with this post. Sorry, I'm catching up on the last however-many seasons of 30 Rock. Streaming Netflix. I wanted to save money and screw over Time Warner a little, so I don't have cable. Besides, I used to work in the evenings, so I never had a chance to enjoy this show when it originally aired. I'm on a 30 Rock bender right now. My mind grapes are turning to mush.

week #41

Boom. Back on track. With a REAL thing too. I know, I've been totally lame since half way through July. (Go ahead, make the obvious joke. I softballed it up there for you...)

Anyway, this week's thing is OHNY. Open House New York -- touring old buildings, and secret caverns, and hidden gems, and places cordoned off to the public. I'm super excited about it. Stop number 1: Grand Lodge of Masons. I find secret societies soooooooo intriguing. I've seen the movie National Treasure, and heard all that Jack the Ripper stuff. Their web site is so innocuous, but I know better. So mysterious those Masons.

There are tons of other places to check out around the city too. Not sure what all I'll make it to depending on lines and such, but the MTA substations, the old churches, abandoned subway tunnels (although I can't go to that one because I don't own a flashlight), they all are so different and interesting. So I'll be spending the weekend exploring. What fun.

week #40

Are my weeks off? I know this is sort of for last week, and I'll have a post for next week probably tomorrow. So I think I'm still on track, but correct me if I'm wrong.

So I did something this past week, but I forgot what it was. It obviously wasn't too spectacular, but I have a fun one for next week. I was all screwed up and behind because I didn't have internet at home for the past month. Ever since I've been in New York, I've been stealing internet, which didn't work out so hotly when I moved into my own place a few weeks ago. Everyone around here kept their internet under lock and key. No worries though, I'm all hooked up to my very own password protected wireless service, so I'm set for the foreseeable future.

Instead of trying to remember what lame thing I did this week, I'm going to bitch for a minute. New York made me super angry last night and this morning. "How?" you ask? Well, seems that the NY State DOT decided that my quiet, little, residential street needed to be resurfaced or something, so last night, starting at 10 p.m. sharp, jackhammering, bulldozing, shoveling, etc. commenced outside my window. This lovely symphony continued on through the night until 4 a.m. It was a regular effing construction site and I was pissed. At one point, I threw a 3-year-old temper tantrum, kicking and flailing and yelling to no one that I JUST WANNA SLEEP!

What is with the total lack of regard for the people living on my street? I get it. There's a ton of traffic during the day, and it disrupts the flow of cars less if they do roadwork in the dead of night. But come on, it's not like I live on a bustling thoroughfare -- divert the damn traffic to any one of the streets one block over! It doesn't look like the construction is complete either, so I am dreading tonight, or any night in the near future. I bought ear plugs today at the drug store (NYDOT you owe me $3.99) but I'm not sure anything could muffle the sound of a backhoe 30 feet away from my sleeping head.

So that's my complaint this week. Other than that, things have been just peachy. My apartment is coming together nicely. I've got some good, fun outings coming up that I'll tell you about. But for tonight, I'm trying to get to bed early, just in case those jackholes come back with their heavy equipment again tonight.