Leaving New York (Never Easy)

Sometimes a city becomes so enjoyable you have to stay up all night the day before you leave in order to soak in every ounce of goodness it has to offer. To me and my dear friends that meant a final night discovering what could easily be my favorite New York restaurant; a place I would frequent often if I were to stay. Great food. Great fun. Karaoke. Need I say more?

It's quiet now
And what it brings
Is everything

Comes calling back
A brilliant night
I'm still awake

I looked ahead
I'm sure I saw you there

You don't need me to tell you now
That nothing can compare

You might have laughed if I told you
You might have hidden the frown
You might have succeeded in changing me
I might have been turned around
It's easier to leave than to be left behind
Leaving was never my proud
Leaving New York, never easy
I saw the light fading out

-R.E.M.

Left Behind

I realize that I have not been my blogging self lately. Maybe I'm in denial about leaving New York. Maybe I've been really busy. Maybe I've been sleeping more at night instead of staying up late to update. Maybe the heat is getting to me. Whatever it is, I fully intend to catch up. But not right now. Right now the only thing that sounds really good is sleeping diagonally in my queen-size bed with no covers in my air-conditioned room that can never get cool enough. Goodnight.

-Aqualung-

Short Skirt/Long Jacket

OK, so I'll do without the short skirt mentioned in Cake's song, but what do you think of the long jacket? I found this adorable wool winter coat at Paul Frank today and I think it was made just for me. Um, it's $149. It's on hold for me until close tomorrow. Please let me know what you think!

P.S. I know I look kind of pregnant in this photo -- it's only because I'm really not very photogenic. It's not the coat. Or me. -Cake-

Walk Away

It may be too early to be getting nostalgic about this whole experiences, since I still have eight days to enjoy the New York goodness of life. But maybe more than just the New York experience, I am feeling nostalgic about this position I have such a habit of getting into. The one where you come to love a place full circle: for what makes it fascinating to everyone else and for all of it's hidden charms that might mean something only to you. Where you have friends so close you swear you've known them forever, but so new that you constantly have to remind yourself that you don't know most of each others stories.

So many people to love in my life
Why do I worry about one?
But you put the happy in my ness
You put the good times into my fun
-Ben Harper-

Do You Brush Your Teeth Before You Kiss?

On Saturday I came extremely close to having a devastating night without Damien Rice. I was lucky enough to have Kellen to go with at the last minute and we had a fabulous time. We took the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) out to Jones Beach Theatre and watched two of the most passionate performers I've ever seen. The only disappointment was that Damien didn't sing Cannonball or Blower's Daughter or Lonelily... but he did sing quite a few songs that I was unfamiliar with and fell in love with at first listen. His lyrics are so passionately heartbreaking. I think there's a little part of each of us that can relate completely. The venue was amazing. The water surrounds the entire stage and then the stadium comes out onto the land. It's a pretty sweet setup.

Fiona was a nut. She flailed her arms and legs like Elaine from Seinfeld and sat/laid on the stage during different parts of the performance filled with emotion. After the concert we went to Tom's Restaurant - of Seinfeld - and got some grub. I got home around 3:30. I'm still a little tired.


-Damien Rice-

Smells Like Teen Spirit

I'm not going to lie. I love the recent progress that deoderant ads have made. In New York City subways, tunnels are lined with secrets from shareyoursecret.com. I can't get enough and every time I see that baby blue color, I get excited to see if it is a new secret that I haven't read. I'm pretty sure I've got the ones along the 59th Street-Colombus Circle station memorized: I've been married before and my kids don't know; I regift; I'm a CEO and I hate my job; I have a crush on your father. I actually visited the site and posted a secret myself. I went back a few days later and saw that it had been viewed over 120 times. I guess it's not much of a secret anymore...

The other ads that have won me over are the Mitchum ads. They are copy-driven ads and these are my favorites:

If you give your seat up for a pregnant woman, you're a Mitchum man.
If you're careful about who you assume is pregnant, you're a sensitive Mitchum man.

If you tell your kids, "because I said so," you're a Mitchum man.
If you let them stay up an hour later anyway, you're a sensitive Mitchum man.

The ads are great, the copy is clever, they are creatively a success. But only today, as I stood in extremely close quarters on a downtown 1 train did I realize that their placement in the subway was not coincidental.

-Nirvana-

I'm Ready, I Am

I have been in the strangest mood this week. I don't know exactly what brought it on, and I'm not sure of what will usher it out, but it has been strange none the less. I think my lack of sleep is finally catching up with me. So far this week I:

• Spent two evenings with friends from high school
  
• Went to the most decorated Indian restaurant in town
• Attempted to go to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolate
  
• Walked through a thunderstorm
• Took two cabs
• Dumped another half-gallon of sour milk down the drain
• Got mad at the refrigerator for not working
  
• Went to sleep at 2 in the morning
• Got free ice cream from the ice cream man
• Saw Josh Rouse in concert
• Saw a man urinate on the tracks from the subway platform
• Took a train into East Harlem
• Discovered a band called Field Music
• Saw my friend Brent
• Decided to go to the Damien Rice + Fiona Apple concert on Saturday
• Fell asleep on the subway twice
• Had Carolyn and Karyn stay at my apartment
• Won a 4-DVD set of collector car movies
• Lost 2 eBay bids for a webcam
  
• Went to Williamsburg (Brooklyn)
• Played the guitar and serenaded my roommate for hours seeking advice on four songs I'm in the middle of writing
• Determined that I don't want to do media planning. Ever.
• Listened to Still Fighting It by Ben Folds at least once a day
  
• Got my tickets to Belgium!
• Bought some Belgian chocolate to celebrate the arrival of said tickets
• Formed a theory about licorice (ask me if you're curious)
• Decided that I need to go camping while I'm in Utah
  
• Figured out what "my deal" is (for now)
• Proof-read a 111 page phone directory at work
• Almost died of heat exhaustion
• Tried to get lottery tickets to Wicked
  
• Decided that at 12:52 a.m. sleeping is smarter than blogging.

Goodnight.

-The Format-

Portrait

It just so happens that I have some very attrative and extremely photogenic friends. So I enjoy taking pictures of them. Here are a few from the beach today.

Seth:Adrienne:Megan:Chateau:Here's one Adrienne took of me:
-The Appleseed Cast-

Coney Island

I know it's been forever since I've posted. I've just been too busy taking the city in, and I haven't made time to write about it. But I'll do my best to go back and cover the happenings from the last two weeks -- obviously a lot has been going on. Today Megan and I took the D train all the way through Brooklyn, out to Coney Island for the Siren Music Fest. While I'm not sure we took full advantage of the free concert, we did soak in the of sights, sounds, smells and screams of Coney Island. I think we hit all of the highlights except for maybe a ride on the Cyclone or Wonder Wheel. We did, however, eat Nathan's World Famous hot dogs - home of the official hot dog eating competition in which contestants have 12 minutes to devour as many hot dogs as possible. In case you're curious, it's broadcast live on ESPN every Fourth of July. This year's record: 53.75. One was enough for me. A salsa cheese dog, to be exact. And some creamy garlic fries. And old-fashioned lemonade. You can be jealous. It was really good.

It started out as a rainy afternoon, but it didn't take long for some sunshine to break through and give us a beautiful day. Coney Island is a pretty incredible place. It's a swirl of colors and lights and laughter and fun.

My old roommate and wonderful friend Adrienne was up for a weekend visit from Miami where she's a slave to the creative gods of Crispin Porter + Bogusky. It was really good to see her and catch up a little bit.

We got about a dozen free CD's and got to hear music from Man Man, The Stills, and Dirty on Purpose. We enjoyed a walk on the boardwalk and some time at the beach. Although Coney Island was delightful, I'm not sure what I think of it as a concert venue. With all that was happening, the thousands of hipsters swarming around, and the sub par sound quality, I found it hard to concentrate on the music.

Overall: decent concert, tons of free stuff, friends, beach, sun. I'd call it a good day. Even though I came for Siren, in the end I was thankful for the distractions.

-Death Cab for Cutie-

Carnival Town

What a perfect description of Coney Island: Carnival Town. I couldn't get my vertical shots to work on my previous post. Here they are:



-Norah Jones-

This Modern Love

One question: Why did it take me until Friday to discover that I work a block and a half from the MoMA? On Fridays the MoMA is free in the evening, so I spent the evening wandering through. Having studied art history with an emphasis in contemporary and modern art, it was pretty incredible to see a lot of the work up close -- some for the first time.

-Bloc Party-

Soundtrack for Our Movie

On Thursday I hit Prospect Park once again for Celebrate Brooklyn. This time it was Yo La Tengo, but they didn't give a traditional concert. They did something a lot cooler. They set up a huge movie screen and played 10-20 minute silent documentary films about different sea creatures and Yo La Tengo provided the soundtrack. They did quite a few films with Radiohead Kid-A-esque ambiant noise, while they took some other films as a chance to rock out completely. The films were all by French producers, so several were cleverly risque (scandalous but completely free of scandal) with a focus on the reproduction aspect of the creatures. Did you know that male sea horses carry their young? I am constantly amazed as I learn about the struggles and sacrifies that the male species make for their young in the animal world -- think March of the Penguins. Brent, Seth and I had a great time, but maybe not as good as the people in front of us. They were smoking (not cigarettes) the whole time and finally the one sitting in front of me went into convulsions and then began to vomit. For as much as I was enjoying the music, I couldn't take the smell for too long and I had to leave early.

-Mae-

If You Don't Know Me By Now

My roommate Megan had me take a quiz to see how well I knew her (I got 90%) and I created one to see how well she knew me. She didn't do nearly as well. How well do you know me? Well, I guess there's only one way to find out. Click here to take my quiz. Don't be scared. I promise I won't renounce our friendship if you fail.

-Simply Red-

I Love A Piano

Wednesday's River to River Festival performance at Rockefeller Park was rained out, but not cancelled. Instead of gathering outside for a jazz filled evening, Jared, Christopher and I found ourselves in the Stuyvesant High School auditorium. When I saw that the rain location was Stuyvesant, my interest was peaked because to me, this school is legendary. Mr. O'Rourke, my AP American History teacher in 11th grade spent years teaching at Stuyvesant and couldn't say enough about it when he transferred to Centreville for his first year in Fairfax County. I'll have to admit it was pretty posh. Marble entrance with granite pillars and latin phrases etched in the walls. It didn't really resemble a high school at all.

The auditorium was really nice and a great venue for Tony DeSare. He was incredible. Jared gave a perfect synopsis of the evening: Tony crooned, I swooned. Maude Maggart headlined, but I didn't appreciate her style as much. She's a cabaret singer, so every note is filled with vibrato. Tony's songs could probably be criticized as overly romantic, but I'm sure he could make any girl melt with his mad piano skills, his cool, sensual voice, and lyrics like, "break my heart, I'd still be glad I found you." This was one of those concerts that came as a perfectly impressive surprise. One that changed me, if only slightly.

-Tony Bennett-

Never On Sunday

On Sunday, I got to meet up with my dear mission president and his family! They came to the US for a reunion in Utah and spent 4 days in New York first. On Sunday we went to church together at the stake center in Manhattan. Then we enjoyed lunch together and had some time to catch up. It was so great to see them!

-Pink Martini-

Walk On

There's nothing in the world like a nice garden. Today as I emerged from that strange funk that only unanticipated Sunday afternoon naps can bring, I decided that I needed to get out and get over it. Has anyone else noticed that Sunday naps bring a considerable increase to the number and strength of wrinkles induced on your clothing? Maybe it's just me. Anyway, to pull out of the haze that followed my nap, I decided to go for a walk at Heather Garden in Fort Tryon Park. It was a lovely little sunset stroll - the air was filled with rosemary and lavendar, occasionally kissed by the sweetness of a lily or a rose. Someday when I settle down, I will have a garden of my own. But for now I can appreciate the beauty that has been created by nature cared for by others.

-U2-

Spitting Games

Five floors up. Two trash cans below. Make what you will of it. I only observed.


-Snow Patrol-

Sleeping on the Roof

There's something so magical about being on top of the world. Or at least at a place where you can look down from above. On Friday after we got some grub in the Village, we headed to Collin's house to explore the view from his rooftop. The city lights lit up the horizon and the nightlife buzzed below. Although we didn't sleep on the roof, we were definitely there during the hours that are traditionally used for sleeping... in any city except for New York.

-The Flaming Lips-

Let's Live It Up

-The Brian Setzer Orchestra-

Fast Car

Empty subway cars in Manhattan can either be creepy (when alone)
Or the source of seven minutes of amazing entertainment (when with eight friends)
-Tracy Chapman-