'I'VE been to a day-school, too,' said Alice; `you needn't be so proud as all that.'
`With extras?' asked the Mock Turtle a little anxiously.
`Yes,' said Alice, `we learned French and music.'
`And washing?' said the Mock Turtle.
`Certainly not!' said Alice indignantly.
`Ah! then yours wasn't a really good school,' said the Mock Turtle in a tone of great relief. `Now at OURS they had at the end of the bill, "French, music, AND WASHING--extra."'
- Alice in Wonderland
So, I’m back from NYC. Whatever you think of New York, it’s always interesting. I find myself both enthralled and appalled by the city. The sheer diversity and massive scale of the city is so unlike anything else we have in this country.
I don’t know if I’ve changed or the city has but it seemed friendlier than past visits. When you travel for the government you often get residual anger for other agencies and this trip was no exception. The crazy, angry dude just left me feeling pity. I think the whole rude perception probably germinates from the fact that NYers simply have a lot of ground to cover and have to maneuver around lots of people to get where they need to go (Similarly related to this is the whole DC is unfriendly misnomer. Invariably when gay people reference rudeness here they talk about something that happened in a gay bar. I think most gay bars tend to be a bit stand-offish as people engage their protective shields. But I digress).
I’ll post pictures later. My work has suddenly decided to block my photo site so I can’t access it now. So later you’ll see exciting things like the view from my hotel window, the bustling Union Square with one of my favorite restaurants Zen Palate, a tv show being filmed at Washington Square. To me the quintessential cityscape was the older Asian women serenely performing tai chi while behind them a soccer game full of Latinos noisily runs about.
Also noted, New York gay men are big into the tattoos. There must be some fabulous ink one arm get the second one free deal somewhere.
It doesn’t matter what you do in New York, the city is a stage, the performances are free and you always leave with extras.
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7 comments:
Ooooo... well described!
From the general tone I presume you did enjoy your staying in the Big Apple, Brian! Good for you! I did enjoy mine as well, though only a couple of months earlier I didn't even admit the most remote possibility of going there. An older cousin of mine managed to convince me, and I'll always be grateful to her for that!
Nice to have you back! Is E okay? :-)
zen palate! i couldn't for the life of me remember it earlier. that's such an amazing restaurant, i'm so glad i found someone else who enjoys it, as well.
i, too, agree w/ your reasoning behind the rudeness. i've actually found that, generally, if you throw in a nice remark or compliment here and there, most change the demeanor entirely. at least in my experiences.
Ric, E is great. He's getting bigger all the time. I'll post an update on him soon.
I ended up not getting anything for E though I was tempted by a cookie monster doll. He's really all about Elmo these days anyway.
I haven't had time to do any meaningful job research. I'm hoping tomorrow I can squeeze in a bit.
shhh don't tell anyone.
GG, I thin Zen Palate will be my NYC tradition. I love that place. We have something similar in my 'hood called Mark's Kitchen. If you ever come to DC we have a dinner date. ;)
I love NYC and haven't ever come across anyone I would call out and out "rude" during my visits there. Although we have plenty of those kinds of people in this area. Maybe they all moved here?
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