Don't Walk in Flip Flops in NYC. You'd think I would learn this lesson.

Today was the perfect summer day. 80s, blue sky with those tiny perfect cloud wisps, a slight breeze when it was needed. I even tanned! Me! Fishbelly white chick!

Senor Pod stayed charged all day (i turn off the backlight and put on the dial lock for about 4.5 hours of pod action). I only got lost once (Amsterdam confuses me). My feet- well, the feet did turn black again, but I filled my water bottle at a fountain and then went to a grassy area in the park to wipe the dirt off, then a couple hours later I went to my parent's timeshare building and nonchalantly visited the fancy lobby bathroom (i find that confidence is the key ingredient when masquerading as a guest/club member/podiatrist at the Hilton for a convention (I've said too much)) to degunk my feet. How do the people of New York keep their feet clean??? I know that if you spray hair spray on fake flowers it keeps the dust off. Would this work for feet?


Because days like this should be spent entirely outside, that's what I did. Six hours of walking, enjoying the pretty buildings, thinking little random thoughts. Thus the events of my day are quite mundane, but guess what! I will insert in the facts one thing that I did not do and I defy you to guess which one it is. The game is afoot!

I had planned to go to Lincoln Center (see earlier post that I don't feel like linking to), but when I got to Lincoln Center it was awash with old ppl all fancied up. The Jean Nate "perfume" kept me at bay, so I just wandered around LC enjoying the little fancy shops all around. I visited the American Folk Art Museum Shop and toyed with the idea of culturing up with a quick museum tour, but did I mention the lovely day? You only get 3 days like that in a year- it is not the time for looking at old crap inside. (I really do like museums. Just not on days like Saturday). I also visited Fishs Eddy, for the elusive soup bowl of my dreams. Didn't find it, but it was worth the look. Man, sometimes I wish I were Jewish, but not enough to convert without additional weighty reasons. I doubt they would appreciate it if I went in and said "Yo, I'm down with your faith because the mennorah is really neat as an accessory and I can get these cool juice glasses with the Heroes of the Torah on them. And Yiddish is a kick-ass language. w00t!" Though if I were looking to go back into the loving arms of a God-construct, I'd consider Judaism and Unitarianism, for very divergent reasons that require a completely different post to hash out. A post that will probably never be written. And now I will move on.

If I had gone to Fordham Law, I would have been right in that neighborhood. And prolly about $40k more in debt than I am, so all in all not worth it. (suckers) Though I do prefer the Fordham mascot to the Richmond one. Though both are better than my middle school, which didn't seem to have a mascot unless you count the head of Ben Franklin that adorned our day planners. So unofficially, we were the Dancing Ben Franklin Heads. Though now that I think about that, that's a better mascot than both the ram and the spider. Kinda Futurama-esque.

Really, I can't say enough how lovely the day was. You know that feeling you get the day after you overcome the flu, like your body has just become twice as alive as it was and you want to skip but you're too drained of energy (and old- unless you can find somewhere to skip alone) so you just smile weakly? Take away the weak bit, and that's what the day was like. It's days like this that tell you how damned oppressive the humidity really is. Humidity is evil, folks! Satan's weather!


I ate lunch at Gray's Papaya, which is a New York institution, if only because of the odd name. The eponymous Papaya is a papaya drink that they have, but as I have never been able to tongue-member which fruit in the exotic fruit cup is the papaya, I bypassed the drink. Also, I don't drink juice- the one exception being Jamba Juice and then only when I have skipped carbs for a meal and I get the lowest carb drink they offer. And I say to myself "Vitamins! So many vitamins! And I'm thirsty! Thirsty for vitamins!" It's my Jamba Mantra. You gotta know that Jamba Juice is good if it gets me to temporarily lift my no-juice-and-that-means-you-too-mr.-smoothie ban (and to boldly go and split my infinitives).

Then I just wandered and looked at the pretty buildings and came to the decision that I would totally buy a virtual reality program entitled "a walk in NYC." And I dont' think I'm alone. I could do without a olifactory component however- while the play "Urinetown" is not about NYC, it so could be. On the bright side, this restaurant smelled delicious and was so inviting-looking that I felt hard-pressed to keep moving.

All the while I listened to Podcasts on Senor Pod, and I really enjoy Cinecast and the Slate articles, but then there are a ton of "throw it at the wall and see what sticks" podcasts out there. Y'know how there are people who just talk to revel in their own ability to make sound? Unfortunately, the podcast was a siren's call to all of them.


A few of my random musings, some of which are questions that I invite you to respond to (yes! you! Dearest reader o' mine)

• I'm very ready to be done with school. Though it would mean putting off the job search a little while longer, if you told me there was an additional year of schooling after my 3rd, I would quit now.
  
• I want to keep a running tab of something with my blog, which is really the first journal i've been able to stick to for more than a week. Y'know, like Bridget Jones and her weight? Only not something so ... lame? Maybe the price of gas, or what I ate for lunch, or something else. Please suggest things. I think it might be fun.
  
• I really have no problem with other people screening their calls. It does not bother me at all if you choose not to answer my phone call. In fact, I never think that someone is screening my calls. That's something I'm not paranoid about, and I applaud myself for my mental health in that aspect of my life. Hurray!
• If you know someone who you think is neat, but then all his/her friends are complete douchebags, what does that say? Anything? I find it hard to believe that a genuinely awesome sort would choose to associate exclusively with asshats. Especially asshats who like to talk about the relative fatness of Britney Spears in her pregnant state. Hello! She's pregnant! And judging by your extreme skinniness probably have problems keeping weight on, so really who's the freak in this situation??? The insecurities of boys are sometimes so apparent that it is ludicrous that they aren't more aware of what they're putting out there.
  
• The Housing Market is ludicrously out of proportion as compared to what it was in the beginning of the century. (I have nothing to back this up, it is just a general feeling I get after reading 30 bzillion articles about 36 ppl living in a 2 bedroom house in Queens, all of whom have full-time jobs and yet can't afford to live in, say, a 2 bedroom house with only 14 people in it. Living Wage, dammit!)
• Would you move to an area to pursue a relationship? Is that romantic or foolhardy? I don't think I would without the promise of marriage and a job to support myself in case that fell through, as well as an appreciation of the area I was moving to... And reading over that sentence I realize that I would move based on the last two factors, so really the relationship would not prompt an otherwise unjustifiable move. This is not me growing cynical in Divorce Court, because I discussed it with my mum and she was also very much opposed to such situations. I think I've just known too many people who have done so and been totally screwed over.
  
• It's pretty well-proven that genuinely funny people have to be pretty smart. So why are the comedic arts always second to the dramatic when it comes to doling out praise and awards? I'm sure smarter, more articulate people than I have written on this fact.
• Senor Pod really likes the Steve Miller Band, considering that I have one cd (greatest hits) of theirs and everytime I put him on shuffle, he breaks out some "Jungle Love" or "Jet Liner" or "Abracadabra" within the first 50 songs. It makes me think I should rename the band to screw him up a bit. He also really likes Tenacious D's "Kielbasa" but nothing else from the cd. It's quite odd. Wing's written something far more scientific on the vagueries of the ipod.
  
• Here's the situation: I get in an elevator to go to the bottom floor. A woman with like 5 kids gets out. One of the little darlings has pressed floors 5-8 (I'm on the 3rd), so I have to go up to 5-8, then back down (there is only one elevator and the stairs are super creepy). When I get back to the 3rd floor, the woman + her gaggle of miscreants are waiting to get on. They then ask me where the Target is. I say I don't know, but I think it's in the subasement. She does not thank me. Should I have said to this woman, "And I'd like to thank you for allowing your children to press every button so I had to visit all of them instead of going directly down. Obviously, your children are learning valuable courtesy lessons." The reason I didn't was a) because I couldn't prove that the children were the ones to push all the buttons, and not some children who had been in the elevator previous to my boarding and b) it's an elevator, and it's best not to piss off someone who might have the children trained as an attack squad. But really, it was a terrible Terrible example for the young children, who will grow up to be the next generation of surly New Yorkers. New York is a great place, folks, why are you all so pissed off?
• NY has some really impressive court houses. Geez Louise. If you brought the misbehaving youths to just look at the size of these buildings, I bet they'd get a little fear of God in 'em. I have the fear of God looking at these buildings- makes me want to confess that I have lusted in my heart or some other such misdeed.
  
• I've lost touch with a lot of people. Should I remedy this by trying to find the more interesting ones or should I just focus on not losing touch in the future?
• I always thought that I had an average amount of wander-lust, but I think that's just in relation to my family. I travel a hell of a lot more than the average person. Hopefully I'll keep this up. Also, I need to go to Switzerland before I'm 30. And now I'm thinking about Children of the Corn. Don't ask why.
  
• It always surprises me when I find out that people have tattoos. I recently found out that one of my coworkers has a huge back tattoo and a couple on his arms, as well as both ears pierced (earrings taken out for work). I can't help but to see him a little differently now- not bad different, but just like if you found out that someone you knew had a Harley or over 2000 cds. Acquisitions such as those add another layer to your persona- how you present yourself. At least to me. If I got a tattoo, I'd want to get Xavier Roberts scrawled on my butt. I'm obviously not mature enough.

That's about it. I did an incredibly boring walking tour on Sunday, which I left early to walk around on my own, and that was about it. One last observation: I far more frequently get hit on when I dine alone. Maybe it's New York and the men aren't at all particular, but I totally got some tofu cheesecake courtesy of the host, provided that I let him join me. I despair for myself sometimes, though, as my first thought was a whiney "I really just wanted to finish this chapter in my book and go." It is a brave and fearless man who attempts to hit on me when I'm reading.