Midway checkpoint - November

Well, somehow October is over, and we are already knee deep in November. Lately more than ever, time is flying by so fast that I don't even have the time to decide how I feel about it.

Despite the time warp, I have yet to let a drop slip through my fingers. My perspectives are again expanding and the vibrance and intensity again turned up a notch. For the things within my control, everything I want to do, I am striving for and achieving. I am really breaking down all of those barriers in the mind that come between mediocre and the moon.

& check out my new roommate, we are getting along great.

Right where it starts it ends.

While Providence is more than familiar at this point, it is a slightly different city than I left it. The air is brisk with the scent of September and the people that walk the streets seem to actually be enjoying themselves. A new kind of Providence...I like it.

I love new. Transitions keep me going. These transitions; New York to Providence, August to September, Summer to Fall, are all welcome. Different keeps things interesting, as long as it's still happy to happy.

There has always been something about a train ride that gets me thinking. Transition via public transportation forces you to sit still, in real time experience movement from one time and place to the next. I have always wondered if there is any deeper reason behind the direction passengers choose to sit while riding a train.

As much as new excites me, I can sometimes have a hard time moving on from a good thing. When this happens to be the case, I find myself sitting facing backwards.

My last train ride in particular had me basking in an entire summer's worth of memories. June through August of 2009 made for the best summer of my life. I already miss New York like crazy.

This post goes to the incredible people who each introduced me to their own version of New York City. For years, I have been bombarded with other people's negative opinions before I had the chance to form my own. I now can say that New York is a city full of so many beautiful, creative, open minds, if you so choose to keep your own mind open long enough to meet them.

I will see you all again soon.

(music credit: Phoenix )

A Long Beach Day

I've been falling for New York since day 1.

However, there was this little potential deal breaker nagging me...What is the surf like and exactly how hard is it going to be to get off of this concrete island, to feel the sand between my toes and subject myself to getting thrown around by some legitimate waves.     

? ? ?

I set off on a Saturday journey to find out just how 

long my relationship with New York could last.

my conclusion: a very very long time. 

Long beach impressed me to say the least. Its a thick and crowded wave but pretty fun and the crowd is good company, which can really make or break a session in my opinion, especially when your as hazzard prone as I am. A simple  "my bad" did just fine. 

Incase you are new to Manhattan: take the Long Island Railroad from Penn Station to Long Beach - its less than $20 round trip and under an hour, plus it comes with a beach pass.  

Just watch out while traveling through Penn Station with your board, on Saturdays its: Bring-your-litter-of-slow-children-to-the-city-and-make-sure-to-hold-hands-at-all-times-Day injuries are likely to occur, make sure to protect your fiberglass pride and joy. 

Also, get ready to become more of a tourist attraction than the bright lights of times square. You will kind of stand out, just don't make the mistake of wandering too close to the Quicksilver store in times square (like I did) , you may as well be dressed up like a Disney character in the presence of midwestern children who have never seen the beach never mind a surfboard. 

 

Speaking of Disney characters - I ran into an old friend, Mickey Mouse, its been years! He seemed a little more dodgy than I remembered though. I don't recall him ever holding out his white gloves for a five dollar bill back at the Magic Kingdom...and worse, he's got his women working the streets... this damn economy, sucking the innocence out of every last creature...what a shame.

Good place to eat while you are waiting for the train back into the city:

Cha-Ba Thai: right across the street from the Long Island train station

( relatively affordable despite the look of things )

Hitting Home

I made a very last minute trip to my hometown for the weekend because there were a few things that had to be decided for the family business (easiest explanation of family business: products of my dad's crazy inventions) On the train there, all I could think about was everything I was going to miss by leaving the city. Now, on the train back all I can think about is how much I would have missed if I hadn't left. I enjoyed my family's company in a way that reminded me of a time in my childhood when I couldn't possibly fathom a life a stale as mine is threatening to become. For the first time in years, days seemed endless, like weeks almost. Even though New York is full of so many possibilities and inspirations, I was astounded at the creative charge I got from tapping into the people and places that make up who I am today.








I visited the lake house I grew up in, and I actually even hung out with my dad. I still can't figure out how 18 years of being raised by one of the best banjo players the world has seen, and never once did I ask him to teach me. Maybe I was too cool for bluegrass back then.




I'm returning to the craziness with a calm head, yet not calm in a complacent sense. I feel refreshed by a quick sip of my past with a new thirst for creating something, anything until the specifics find me.








-- Post From iPhone

Goddamn Right, its a Beautiful Day

The perfect summer days are piling up. Ever since the rain stopped I've been on a constant adventure non-stop with great people by my side. I've tried to capture a few moments that lack the "you had to be there" factor. So here is a mash-up of random moments from one perfect Saturday in New York. The main event was a party at P.S.1. MoMA in Queens. I picked the song before I downloaded my camera and realized that I actually had footage of things like "a clown with a frown" as mentioned in Mr. E's Beautiful Blues a song by Eels which fit the day with disturbing perfection. Listen to the song closely while you watch and you will see what I'm talking about.

A few things I've noticed this week: girls around here wear boots year-round. This is very new to me... must be hot and sweaty in those boots in the summertime. I refuse to take part, no matter how cute those boots look with a sundress. (Maire-Louise, your thoughts? By the way my friend Marie-Louise has a great fashion blog that gets pretty addicting if you follow it: Marie-Louisespulse.blogspot.com ) Another thing I've noticed; just because New York is a big city, doesn't mean you won't be running into the same people again and again, or even random people from your past on the streets. This happens to me almost every day and it freaks me out every time.

Last week I went to see MGMT in Prospect Park. The giant dance-party aspect of the evening was great but I wasn't that impressed with their stage presence, seriously lacking on the energy up there. But overall not bad. I didn't really have a chance to judge their new stuff which they played because I was too busy dancing with a bunch of friendly New York girls. (New York girls are SO much nicer than any other girl breed I've met anywhere else, besides Australian girls, they are the best.)

Thanks for reading :o)

A New City

People often criticize me of telling a lot of stories in conversation. I promise these stories will be the least bit rambling but hopefully this blog can curb my urge for story telling, and spare the attention spans of my friends. 

I have been meaning to start this blog for over a month but I haven't had internet since I (temporarily) moved to New York for the summer 3 weeks ago.  Okay, enough with the excuses... thats what I realized today, which is why I dragged my ass to the coziest coffee shop I could find that reminded me of Tazza, in Providence, Rhode Island. Right now, I am at The Cake Shop on Ludlow st, its an alright place but it's uniqueness is almost contrived. I have a feeling that whoever is in charge of decorating this place put hours of thought into picking out the mismatched barstools, making sure that each one added to the nonchalant, thrown together, "whatever vibe" to go along with the vegan cupcakes. I'll stop ragging on this place now, I think there is still a part of me that is searching for what is familiar and safe, a place where where my friends automatically know to put in an order of coconut shrimp, capresse salad and a large cup of magical ice coffee soon as I walk in. This shit cupcake and watered down coffee will have to do... okay, actually in all honesty this coffee is delicious and the cupcake is alright. I'll do a quick run through of all the things I've been taking note of since I arrived of which I intended to write about as they happened. 

On June 7th I packed my stuff into a few bags and got on a train...I cheated a little though, I threw my board in a penskee that a friend was driving to Chicago and conveniently making a pit stop in NY.  

I've always thought that in general people put too much trust in cab drivers. In the short time I have been here I have already seen a guy get hit by a cab while he was in a crosswalk rightfully so when there was a walk sign. I have been in 2 taxi's that got lost, and not lost so that they could scam more money for me, lost to the point of them getting embarrassed and not charging me for the ride at all. Yet the best cab incident was this one. My first night in New York I grabbed a cab to get my board from my friends penskee. Let me tell you the guy was driving like a mad man. I made a comment to my friend about how strange it is that they can get away with driving like this without being pulled over just before everything went blue around us.  Busted. We left without paying and flagged down another one. 

These past few weeks without internet, I've been taking notes on things I'd like to write about. I'm looking at my notes now and the majority of them are about food. So, here are just a few of those food thoughts:

Something I learned after the first few days, is to stay away from the buffets. Sure they are "all organic" cheap and extremely convenient but they make you feel disgusting afterwards and they never seem to fill you up, no matter how much bigger your eyes are than your stomach. I think it might have something to do with the fact that the same food is sitting under heat lamps for 6+ hours and maybe even for multiple days.

The first Friday night came up a lot faster than I expected it too. I had yet to meet anyone seeing that I was too tired to explore during the work week after having to learn the ropes of an industry that was completely new to me. I'll write about that another time. So that Friday night was still my best night here by far. I took the 6 train to Bleeker street and since I had absolutely no sense of where anything was I just started walking. I walked into a few places and left soon there after until I found a great restaurant on 2nd ave: momofuku. It was suprisingly affordable, I ordered the skate with fava bean salad and a thai iced tea parfait. it was just as I dreamed it to be within the short time between ordering and getting my food. (Great service and if you are nice they give you complementary drinks with your meal.) I was eating at the bar and asked the guy next to me where he would recommend to go for a relaxed but fun atmosphere. He definitely pointed me in the right direction. A quick walk brought me to Max Fish, amazing bar, good crowd. I was kind of forced to be a slightly more sociable version of myself seeing that even though I enjoy time wandering around by myself, its not exactly the safest option. I met two very cool girls who had recently moved to NY from Italy: Cloudia and Lara. That night they gave me a mini tour of some great spots. Went to a place on 2nd ave called Lit where I ran into  a strange character who I recognized from Tazza back home. Then we left Lit and went to a random pizza place which I thought meant we were getting pizza! Well, not exactly. Lara went to the back of the pizza place to some lady that was standing by a door. She said something quietly and the woman opened the door for us. A secret bar! I had heard about these places but didn't expect to wind up in one my first night out. It was great and I wish I remembered where it was. The crowd was pretentious but I liked the atmosphere, reminded me of the Danish pubs I went to in Denmark last summer. We didn't stay long because we were sick of the people we met talking about how important their parents were. Back to Lit. I love that last call is 4am everywhere here. I met a bunch of people that night all who I've been hanging out with since. Saturday I went to this birthday party of a guy who apparently is really into opera singing. There was a lot of opera-like entertainment by various guests at the party. I loved it and luckily there were some other clueless people that I could laugh with.

Everyone ended up on a rooftop, it was kind of rainy but still enjoyable. 

The next morning I slept in for the first time in a while. I was awoken by the smell of BBQ. I followed my nose a few blocks down and found myself at the Big Apple BBQ. I waited in 2 lines for at least a half hour each with no luck as the food was running out. Finally the third line I waited in at the Dinosaur BBQ tent was a winner. It took me a good 45 minutes but finally I got my "worlds best pulled pork sandwich" yeah yeah I'm a sucker for hype. But I'll tell you might just be the worlds best. I bought 3, ate one on the spot, saved one for later and then wound up auction the 3rd one off for 50 bucks after the food ran out at all of the tents. Hey, worlds best, I don't feel guilty at all.  

At least I'm not as shame worthy as this guy:

He was charging people a dollar to take a picture of him and his cat hat.

This little guy is up there with the sketchiest creatures I've met in the city so far. I've been warned about central park but didn't expect to run into potentially rabid wildlife.

 Once the sun set however, I think I would have been happy to run into rabid raccoons, the creepy park lurkers made me feel like I was in Hyrule in field at night and I had the survival instinct to reach for a deku stick a few times, ah pepper spray will have to do. Common sense not used, Central Park after dark never again, lesson quickly learned.

(beautiful at sunset though)

It proceeded to rain for the next 2 weeks, with one afternoon to spare. I really regret not 

 an umbrella or rain-boots. 

When the sun finally came out I got to see the city in a different light. Actually, ever since getting the empire state building perspective of New York it is so much easier to get a sense where everything is and how it is all connected. I hate maps.

The famous Shake Shack is 2 blocks from my dorm so I had to check it out and waited in line for over an hour. Good thing I had a new book on hand. I also met some surfers in line who tried explaining the best way to get to some waves. I'm going crazy, its been over a month. 

This weekend was low key with an acceptation of one night when I went to Webster hall to see the Sneaky Sound System. Amazing, I had such a great time and danced a lot until some drunk doofus stepped on my toe, hard.... my big toe toenail is not long for this world. It was good to get a break from 24/7 Michael Jackson (respect) I wouldn't be surprised if I started sleep-moonwalking at this point. 

[And some wall-wisdom in the webster hall ladies room. A little bitter maybe, but wise.]

3 weeks and I am in love with this place. 

Keep checking, I'm going to make this blog thing a habit.