I Like NY!

Just came back from a NYC-Boston trip. Visited New York City for only the second time. Previously I'd visited in the 2-3 week window after the WTC attacks when everything (I'm told) had a very eerie unnatural vibe--with incredibly good reason. So I anticipate that this trip revealed very different city.

That first trip, led me to believe that NYC as a city operates on the principle that it would like to get rid of you. Not you as a specific individual, but "you--symptom of overcrowding." It wasn't angry at me, just frustrated that yet another person "discovered" a cheap bus ticket and was trying to "learn" and "acclimate" himself to THE BIG CITY. I found that people looked through me as I walked down the street. That it wasn't even that they didn't like me...that I didn't rise to the level where they would entertain the notion of thinking about me long enough to form any preliminary opinions. Caveat (though if you read this...you probably don't need any caveats) I'm not a city person by nature. I adore Minneapolis and have long feared NYC. I'm this quasi-midwesterny-guy. So this behavior was at least odd, if not off putting.

This visit was better. First off--I harbor no delusion that the city cares about me. it's a fucking 8 million person entity, it doesn't give a good goddamn about me. So that was healthy to realize. Nothing is personal. At all. Everything is acted out in a reduced fashion from some larger seething organism. it's like my leg-hair-cells feeling that I have any personal concern for their existence. Nope. no time.

Other thoughts from my time in NYC
1. The subway sucks. I know that everyone thinks it's great and that by lashing out at the subway I'm letting the terrorists win. But what I craved was the easy to use Boston or DC maps. In NYC you can supposedly catch a train anywhere. Bullshit. You can look at a map with the pictorial representation of a train which if it existed or ever ran (ever) might, in theory carry you near the station in question. I like the idiot proof Metro or the T. Get on train. Wait till your train intersects a station that intersects trains of another color. get off your train. find walls painted the color of the train you want. step onto train. go to location. In NYC the whole process seems to be run by the cab companies...who know that there is only so long you can wait in filth for a train that may or may not exist.

2. Sushi. I struggle to imagine how it's possible that there are enough people in NY state to justify the number of Sushi restaurants in NYC. It's unreal. Nothing terribly insightful or funny about that...just something I cannot comprehend. And yet...no sushi while in NYC for Aaron.

3. 3-hour dinners are rare and great. I had dinner with a friend of a friend in NYC. We sat (despite the hovering wait staff) for 3 hours and had fairly good food and great conversation. It's hard to beat a pleasant wide-ranging conversation--rarely am I happier than during those moments. It was however a strange moment, feeling relaxed and largely unhurried in New York. Plus it ended up being very cost effective entertainment. The restaurant was well and tastefully lit. Good temperature. Not too loud. Reasonably priced food and solid service. The Farmer's Friend (near Union Square).

4. Joel's Dad is crazy. I met a friend of a friend (Joel) and his father. We (Matt, Matt, Ben and I) went to help these guys from Hoeboken move a pool table they'd bought from Joel's Dad. So we went and did this. It was easy (all things considered). But Joel's Dad began hawking garage sale refuse like an auctioneer. Talking of the virtue of stained throw pillows, and scratched and faded Crouch and Fitzgerald briefcases. He's crazy. Just saying, is all.

5. Times Square is a terrifying experience. I went to Times Square and I felt swallowed. Not in the sense of being enveloped. or consumed. I felt as though I was moved down some giant gullet by peristaltic forces beyond my control and certainly beyond my comprehension. I moved because those around me did so. I absorbed and reflected consumerism. If consumption were the Sun Times Square would be those places on the Earth without ozone layer. The rays of crass, consumptive excess beat down on you and exhaust you. I was assaulted by signs commanding me to question my choice of film, underwear, what movies I watch. Finally I saw a sign with a woman sitting languidly on a verdant rock-jungle scape. She's wearing a green dress. and to her right are the words "are you comfortable". Unpunctuated. it's a pseudo question. They're not asking if you're comfortable. it's much more a phrase, a declaration...essentially saying--you're not comfortable. People have so much natural neurosis...I don't need some fucking billboard reminding me that my pants are too tight, and the tag on my shirt itches and I'm not dating anyone....it's my discomfort, and I'll thank you to leave it the hell alone. (so now, rereading that last sentence...I sound like a raving lunatic--so that's something) The final annoyance (and this is silly) was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant. It's a restaurant that's based on a movie, based on a book based. yep. oh and they sell T-shirts.

6. Stand up comedy is hard. A friend of mine, Steve Boyer was slated to perform at a comedy revue-thingy on Friday. We were going to go and see him, and support him as he gives this a go. Very funny. remarkably talented. should be good. Except the only people in the audience were comedians...who left by the time Steve was on. Steve performed for 3 of us. Steve is very funny. What's funnier is the location. We were upstairs in the converted (please god, tell me it's no longer in use) champagne room of the strip club where the comedy revue was held. that's right, very comfortable couches, very pricey alcohol and the lingering realization that in the room below you, greasy men with crumpled dollars were leering at women. We thought it was a strange thing, maybe the comedians would be forced to strip as part of the entrance fee---thankfully the two worlds remained isolated. Oh and my part of the couch folded out. So that was a bit strange. No stains though...I checked.

Lots of complaining. But on the whole it was good fun. I had fine meals, good conversation, saw GHD, saw many friends, a nice thing. I cannot say that I love NY. But I Like NY!