Cracked Up

Aghh, so much to tell you and I've made a horrible waste of blog time today (considering my boss was out, I have no excuse).

Today is Tuesday, January 26, 2010 and day 28 in New York. First off, I have a couple of strange sightings to report. I'm going to try to remember to report a few of these every time that I post, considering this city seems to be full of them! I was feeling really burnt-out exhausted last Wednesday as I left the office after work. With my head down and my scarf wrapped tight, I approached the intersection of 57th Street and 9th Avenue, as usual, and filed neatly in the back of the two-by-two line. ...WHAT?!! Two-by-two line? I snapped to my senses, looking around. As it would seem, a group of 30 Asian women were on an evening tour, lined up neatly at the corner of the intersection, stretching down the sidewalk. How polite.

The second strange thing that I saw happened on Sunday morning as I was in a cab on my way from my friend Oren's in Chelsea to SoHo, driving down Broadway. A woman, who appeared to be holding a child, was trying to hail a cab (not strange). As we drove closer, it looked as though she was holding him by the neck, with one arm scooped under his armpit effortlessly and her other hand waving wildly at the passing cabs while he hung limp over the front of her body. The kid had to have been at least 10-years old which makes her the strongest woman alive. Or it was a fake kid. I'm going to go with strongest woman alive, but that kid might need an ambulance.

That's all of the strange sightings for now. Undoubtedly, more to come. I am slowly beginning to feel less pressure on myself here as the days go by, and I can't believe I have almost been living here for a month! I got an email from my friend Lorraine yesterday about getting together while she's visiting family here in early February, which is right around the corner! Lorraine is a friend of mine from Boulder who is basically having the same moving experience as me, only 180-degrees opposite. She grew up in New York and had only recently moved to Colorado when we met. About a month ago, as we sat at the base of the mountain enjoying the first apres-ski beers of the season, we discussed plans to meet in the city while she's here. It seems like a lifetime has passed since then, and will be incredible to see the city through her eyes next week.

Last weekend I spent time with my roommate, Danee (da-nay. If anyone knows the keyboard shortcut for an accent, let me know), and her two friends who are visiting from California. Danee grew up in a small farm town in the central valley, called Visalia, and her friends are a charming blend of homegrown hilarious. Kevin and Scott are obsessed with rap/hip-hop music, and have been all their lives, from what I can tell. Growing up, they've always dreamt of visiting New York together and taking the train up to Harlem ("the birthplace of Jay-Z," they'll tell you in unison). They walk around the city with backpacks on, listening to whatever rap music corresponds to the neighborhood where they are headed. Jay-Z for Harlem, Wu-Tang for Brooklyn, A Tribe Called Quest for Queens, and so on. Apart from being hilarious, their well-researched enthusiasm reignites the excitement of living here.

Saturday night I went to dinner at Toloache Mexican Bistro with a few of my girlfriends and to a comedy show at Caroline's starring Jeffrey Ross, the Roastmaster General, from Comedy Central. It was a great night that ended on the Lower East Side making up cheesy dance moves with my friend, Oren and burning the roof of my mouth on the BEST PIZZA I'VE EVER HAD. (It was only a matter of time, right?) Everyone knows the place, it's called Artichoke, on 14th Street, I think. The only way I can think to tell you about how good it was is to say that I felt like I had never eaten pizza before in my life. I've also never burnt my mouth so badly. Eeeeeeeouch! ...Still suffering.

Aghh, I forgot to tell you about the Bumble&Bumble model project and Art Night at Courtney's in Brooklyn. Don't let me forget... and on that note, I'm off to YogaWorks to wrap up my new-student trial!