![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
New York, man. Just, yeah.
Didn't get out of Gainesville until 5, which is a bit baffling considering I was out of bed by 2:40. $45 had fixed the ticket snafu and thanks to the quickest check-in process ever (thank you, curbside guy!) I was on the plane with time to spare.
The gentleman in my row was simply lovely, and we had lively chats before takeoff and during landing. The fact that I slept the entire trip was good not just because I hadn't slept last night, but also due to our plane being a very light aircraft, it pitched more than enough to make anyone motion sick, much less someone already encumbered with a head cold.
Can I just say how cool it is that one can get on a plane and be in such a completely different world two hours later? The novelty has not yet worn off.
Speaking of novelty not wearing off, though this is my third time in New York, it hasn't yet become anything resembling mundane. The buildings are always taller and prettier than I remember, the lights are more myriad and bright, the cabbies crazier, and it's all one big contrary to the whole 'nothing can live up to your idealized first experience' phenomenon. My love for this city knows no bounds at all, and I've said this before but I'd do just about any kind of job even if it only barely paid the rent to live here.
I've said this before too, but you could pretty much leave me in Times Square to make my own fun and I'd be fine all day long. Which, essentially, is a lot of what I did this afternoon. To be fair, the seven square blocks around it got a pretty thorough exploration, too, but I was drawn back again and again. I loitered more than my fair share on the median just watching traffic flow by.
Also, this notorious non-friendliness of New Yorkers? Myth so far as I can tell. They're not terribly considerate (or sane, for that matter) drivers, but not even counting the six times I was hit on over the course of the afternoon (a surprising amount of it very tastefully), I was chatted up by four people, offered help in various ways by three others, and didn't meet anyone I'd wish badness of any sort on.
I was also asked directions twice (apparently even the natives still admire the skyline), which had it been for streets I would've spouted my wealth of knowledge about avenues running north and south, with numbers decreasing toward the west while streets ran east and west with numbers decreasing toward the south. My love for the Manhattan grid, Broadway notwithstanding, is pretty substantial, too.
Rockefeller Center was a treat. The ice skaters were out in full force, and I caught a man dressed as Spock being filmed running down the street, no doubt for Conan O'Brien. I asked five different people and got five different answers as to whether the Statue was open to visitors, so I decided I'd make that trip some other time, and just walked around taking in the Christmas decor and browsing clothing stores. Gave some truly fantastic fashion advice to a woman at H&M who solicited my opinion on which top she should buy for an existant skirt, which was interesting as I live in a pretty backwater area of the fashion world.
On that note, it seems New York's entire supply of Burberry scarves (though there's a table set up at least every other streetcorner, if not more frequently) has been tragically depleted. Everyone's wearing them and no one's selling them! It's madness! I gave serious thought to offering to buy them off various people. Waaant. It's okay though, there's still tomorrow.
It's nice to see current issues of magazines on newsstands. The news in Gainesville is at least half a week to a month old by the time we get it. *rolls eyes*
I finally had a hot dog from a street vendor's cart. On the one hand, it was one of the less memorable hot dogs I've ever had. On the other, I'm still here to tell the story. So I guess it all evened out in the end.
Snow flurries! We had snow flurries in the early afternoon, just a flake here or there that had us looking at each other asking, "Is that snow?" but eee! They really were nothing at all but that diminished my enjoyment not in the least. I was dressed perfectly for the weather in three layers and a coat, so good to know I didn't need to worry as much as I did.
Today's TRL guest was 50 Cent. Needless to say, I skipped out on the experience.
I crashed for a three-hourish nap around 8:30 then walked down to the Roxy deli for dinner with Schiz when she finally arrived at 11:30. Stupid flight delays. Excellent omelette and company though, and can I just also say how happy all the traffic at one in the morning in Times Square made me?
Sickness remains mercifully at bay, and for that I am grateful. Tomorrow is Matt Lauer if I can drag myself out of bed early enough and then Jayceee! You know, I really think we made a good call by coming out for these dates - don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my Spreckles experience, but his show is not meant for a small theater setting. It's raunchy and fun in that screaming, squished general admission kind of way, which I'm assured we'll get more than plenty of at Irving. Yay!
The gentleman in my row was simply lovely, and we had lively chats before takeoff and during landing. The fact that I slept the entire trip was good not just because I hadn't slept last night, but also due to our plane being a very light aircraft, it pitched more than enough to make anyone motion sick, much less someone already encumbered with a head cold.
Can I just say how cool it is that one can get on a plane and be in such a completely different world two hours later? The novelty has not yet worn off.
Speaking of novelty not wearing off, though this is my third time in New York, it hasn't yet become anything resembling mundane. The buildings are always taller and prettier than I remember, the lights are more myriad and bright, the cabbies crazier, and it's all one big contrary to the whole 'nothing can live up to your idealized first experience' phenomenon. My love for this city knows no bounds at all, and I've said this before but I'd do just about any kind of job even if it only barely paid the rent to live here.
I've said this before too, but you could pretty much leave me in Times Square to make my own fun and I'd be fine all day long. Which, essentially, is a lot of what I did this afternoon. To be fair, the seven square blocks around it got a pretty thorough exploration, too, but I was drawn back again and again. I loitered more than my fair share on the median just watching traffic flow by.
Also, this notorious non-friendliness of New Yorkers? Myth so far as I can tell. They're not terribly considerate (or sane, for that matter) drivers, but not even counting the six times I was hit on over the course of the afternoon (a surprising amount of it very tastefully), I was chatted up by four people, offered help in various ways by three others, and didn't meet anyone I'd wish badness of any sort on.
I was also asked directions twice (apparently even the natives still admire the skyline), which had it been for streets I would've spouted my wealth of knowledge about avenues running north and south, with numbers decreasing toward the west while streets ran east and west with numbers decreasing toward the south. My love for the Manhattan grid, Broadway notwithstanding, is pretty substantial, too.
Rockefeller Center was a treat. The ice skaters were out in full force, and I caught a man dressed as Spock being filmed running down the street, no doubt for Conan O'Brien. I asked five different people and got five different answers as to whether the Statue was open to visitors, so I decided I'd make that trip some other time, and just walked around taking in the Christmas decor and browsing clothing stores. Gave some truly fantastic fashion advice to a woman at H&M who solicited my opinion on which top she should buy for an existant skirt, which was interesting as I live in a pretty backwater area of the fashion world.
On that note, it seems New York's entire supply of Burberry scarves (though there's a table set up at least every other streetcorner, if not more frequently) has been tragically depleted. Everyone's wearing them and no one's selling them! It's madness! I gave serious thought to offering to buy them off various people. Waaant. It's okay though, there's still tomorrow.
It's nice to see current issues of magazines on newsstands. The news in Gainesville is at least half a week to a month old by the time we get it. *rolls eyes*
I finally had a hot dog from a street vendor's cart. On the one hand, it was one of the less memorable hot dogs I've ever had. On the other, I'm still here to tell the story. So I guess it all evened out in the end.
Snow flurries! We had snow flurries in the early afternoon, just a flake here or there that had us looking at each other asking, "Is that snow?" but eee! They really were nothing at all but that diminished my enjoyment not in the least. I was dressed perfectly for the weather in three layers and a coat, so good to know I didn't need to worry as much as I did.
Today's TRL guest was 50 Cent. Needless to say, I skipped out on the experience.
I crashed for a three-hourish nap around 8:30 then walked down to the Roxy deli for dinner with Schiz when she finally arrived at 11:30. Stupid flight delays. Excellent omelette and company though, and can I just also say how happy all the traffic at one in the morning in Times Square made me?
Sickness remains mercifully at bay, and for that I am grateful. Tomorrow is Matt Lauer if I can drag myself out of bed early enough and then Jayceee! You know, I really think we made a good call by coming out for these dates - don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my Spreckles experience, but his show is not meant for a small theater setting. It's raunchy and fun in that screaming, squished general admission kind of way, which I'm assured we'll get more than plenty of at Irving. Yay!