Isn't it amazing what you can see in NYC

Well this is my last post for my class writing for convergent media. It has been a tough semester in some ways and not so bad in others. I am near the end of my journey at school, I will graduate in the fall and then on to newer things and brighter days I hope.
I find it amazing what you can see in New York City. Today for example, a woman had fallen out of her wheelchair in front of the school, no one seemed to want to help her, she seemed hurt and no one seemed to know what to do about it.
I don't know why but certain things disturb you more in the city than others. I won't go into the grim details of all the things i've seen. Be that as it may, the city is always bombarding us with sites, sounds, images, noise, etc. imagine walking down a country road and then being thrust onto broadway and 42nd street at rush hour. It would probably be shocking at the least. It just seems like things come at you hard and fast here, if you walk through crowded areas, you have to be adept at dodging people and making your way through obstacles. Everyone is on the move, trying to get somewhere. Every event sets off a chain reaction of other events. You just hope that at the end of the day, this reaction ends with you getting home alive. I mean lets face it, the city is safer but its by no means safe. While crime is down, if you watch the local news every night, it usually opens with a murder, it's usually somewhere far from you or maybe not, in an outer borough or sometimes Manhattan too. The point is, it happens and this place isn't safe. But where is safe? Columbine seemed safe until one day two kids came into school with guns and started shooting people. I think it's all relative. Stuff like that doesn't happen in big cities. I wonder why that is. I don't think it's possible to really fully see New York City in a life time even. I just think it's too vast with too many areas for it to ever be truly known. Maybe that's the magic of it, wherever you live in the city, you're in your own little melting pot somewhere in the big one. Your bombarded by cultures, languages, scents, sounds, sites and so much more and in a sense you become a part of the place you are in. The city becomes a part of you and the energy of it gets into your soul. I think the real mystery of New York City is the vastness of possibility, the sheer size of the city and all it offers. People enjoy getting lost here. I hope I will continue this blog with new stories, it has been fun writing it so far, the city has come alive again, spring has finally shown up a bit. I hope to write more about the city and what it has to offer and some of its stories that include me in them. Thanks for reading.

The Problem with drinking is (A New York Tale)

Ok in this post, I want to briefly talk about a weird night I had and maybe the problem with drinking is, etc. etc. I recently went out and hung out with a friend. This friend is a legendary drinker, he can drink huge amounts of alcohol and not appear drunk in the slightest. The problem with hanging out with this friend is that he likes to view drinking as a contest. Not something enjoyable you do at your own pace. Instead, every time your beer consumption gets low he's on you in your ear saying things like, "Cmon stop nursing it." After a while these taunts begin to work and you increase your consumption accordingly. I don't know where the night really started to go wrong. I know we were on Bleecker Street, when it all started to come crashing down on me. The bitter and actually horrific knowledge that you shouldn't have had that second shot of Grey Goose vodka and yes you will pay for that at some later time. I don't know what happened, except that I tipped the bartender quite well and the second shot was bigger. I had an issue with the juke box which was too soft, I asked for it to be turned up since I had put 15 tracks in. Anyway, don't consume a lot of shots close together, bad idea. The night degenerated from there into a stumbling, struggle through the streets, trying to get my blood alcohol level to drop uncuccesfully I might add. Now I know this may sound strange, but it is possible for a bar to be posessed, or have some sort of demonic undertones to it. The next bar we ended up in was called Mars. It has been there a while but I have never been in there. As we entered, the first thing you notice is how slim and long the bar is. There's hardly any room to walk or move around. If you don't have a bar seat your screwed. As we entered a creepy Lou Reed song was playing, which made one feel as if they had just done Heroin or something. I don't and never have but I can only imagine that this would be somewhat of the feeling if I had ever tried it. The bartender was a long lanky sort of punk rock mod guy gone wrong. He was skeletal and creepy. I immediately started to have an overwhelming feeling of dread and horror at this bar. I had to get out, the people and everything about this place screamed to me to run, run and don't look back. After moving some people out of my way I exited the bar and tried to keep walking down the block. My friend caught up with me and wondered why I had left an almost full beer at the bar (this of course is a sin). I am not preaching here, not telling anyone what to do, just everything in moderation as the old cliche goes. Well I will spare you the details of the rest of my night. Le'ts just say it wasn't my finest hour, but as we all know, everything has its downside. Was it the alcohol or was the mars bar posessed of some evil spirit, I guess it's one of those mysterious tales of NYC that you never quite figure out. More to come, the semester is almost over now, and this has been a fun process, I hope that these blogs, mostly about New York City and life here have been fun to read if anyone is in fact reading this. More to come.

Going out in NYC

As most of you know, going out in the city for a night of drinking or to a club is a hefty burden on your wallet. I have recently hooked back up with some old friends and started going out again. I hadn't for some time and I am pretty shocked at the cost of things. New York imposes some of the heftiest taxes on alcohol and cigarettes in the country, making it expensive to smoke and drink. Two of my favorite pasttimes. I had quit smoking but took it back up again. I stupidly thought I could be a "weekend smoker" umm no, I was wrong and now i'm an addict again. With cigarettes now costing over 10 dollars a pack, (the most expensive in the nation) it is quite an expensive habit. Many things under Bloombergs administration have gone up, the price of a parking ticket is now 110 dollars which to me is a sin. I can't stand Mayor Bloomberg and think that his running again for a third term, which by the way was voted down by voters is close to a criminal bid for power. Anyway, moving on, if you're going to go out you have to either have some rich friends, buy a bottle of something and pound down a few shots before hand or hit the happy hours hard and then pace yourself until later. Of course your tolerance can dictate how much you will spend. I can drink a bit so it's not uncommon for me to have four or five beers and three to five shots in a night although that is a lot for me. I recently was in a bar and ordered a shot of grey goose vodka which is my favorite. It is considered a top shelf drink meaning they gouge you for more money. When the bartender gave me my shot, which wasn't even three fingers, I was pissed to find out she charged me 9 dollars! Do you expect a tip for that too? I drank through the night and never even got a free round, which is what most bartenders would do if your dropping some money in the place. Maybe it's due to the recession but no one wants to give anything away anymore. When I asked the bartender in my drunken slurring voice what was up with a free round, she said they aren't allowed to give out free rounds. I asked to speak with the owner who wasn't there of course so I just took my medicine with a grain of salt. Back in the day when I was more flush with cash I would always tip the bartender well, sometimes overtipping with the knowledge that later I would get a free round or two. Not anymore, apparently. It is easy to drop 100 dollars in an evening in New York going out, I have realized I can't go out as often as I usually do. If your going to a club, bank on paying 20 dollars just to walk in and paying close to ten dollars or more for a mixed drink that is probably watered down. There are some cheaper alternatives. If you hit the happy hours hard, go to local bars that usually have cheaper prices or buy yourself a bottle of something and pound down a few shooters before meeting your friends. You can always drink on an empty stomach to get drunker faster but then you run the risk of puking on your shoes or in the street later which is never fun. I could tell you many drunk stories of almost not getting home or throwing up but what fun would that be? Everything in moderation that's what they say and pacing while drinking is obviously smart. Water is the key, a glass or two in between shots is smart, but who is thinking clearly after a few shots and a few beers? Not many people. New York is expensive, plain and simple, but there are some places where you can actually drink for not as much money, they might be a bit seedy, or not your cup of tea but hey we have to do what we have to do in these tough times to get wasted right? I am not telling anyone to drink, you can do what you want of course and it is a drug like anything, but it is America's favorite past time no? Maybe the country would be better off having all drugs legal, the government could tax them and make a profit, people are going to do what they are going to do regardless. I enjoy going out downtown, it's my area and I don't like to stray above 42nd street too often if I can help it. Last night I stuipdly decided to try to ride my friend home on the subway, he lives in Inwood way the heck uptown on the A train line, the last stop in fact. He tried to talk me out of it of course but I was drunk and hey I like an adventure and had never really been up to Inwood area. We slogged along the C train line going local which took forever. By the time we got to 125th street I felt like I had been on the train for an hour. All of a sudden the idea didn't seem so great and the people on the train had grown tired of us clowning around and making some noise. So I got off at 125th street and tried to make my way home. A D train came and I just jumped on it even though I needed the A or C, it went express and in between bouts of sleep I somehow got off at West Fourth street and got an E train home. Note to self, if riding the train drunk, try not to fall asleep, this is how you get "rolled" or mugged which of course is never fun. I am lucky in that I am told I look like a cop and the police do have a program where they have pretend drunks that ride the trains and fall asleep to catch people who prey on these unfortunate souls. It wasn't too late and I made it home safely, had a slice of pizza from the fridge, took the two aspirin before bed, which is key to surviving a night of drinkin and woke up feeling ok.
Going out in New York can be really fun if not expensive, you just have to pace yourself and find creative ways to save money, maybe the flask will become popular again, I think it would be cool to have a flask but most clubs frisk you now before entering, I wonder if they would take a flask from you if you had one so you have to drink in the club. I guess so but it's worth a try. I guess living in New York City is a privelege, one you have to pay for but I think everything here is way overpriced or at least some things are. It is always good to go out with a few friends, don't let them cheap out on buying a round, at least that way you can share the burden of paying for things, a drinking tip from a friend of mine, drink some milk before going out, it coats your stomach a bit and you won't get drunk as fast. I don't get the idea of this, why else would you drink? I want to get drunk and faster is better, but know your limits and of course don't drive drunk. New York is great for drinking, you don't need to drive, take a cab or the train or walk a bit to clear your mind. Most of all, know your limits and be responsible. More to come soon.

The Dissappearance of the New York Egg Cream

For those of you who have never had one, an egg cream is a delcious drink. It consists of milk, seltzer and some vanilla syrup if your having a vanilla egg cream, if your having a chocolate egg cream, it's seltzer, milk and chocolate syrup. This drink is not to be confused with a malted. A malted is with grated ice, mixed in a blender and then adding chocolate syrup, milk and blending. There used to be many places in New York to get egg creams. There still are a few but it seems to be a vanishing beverage much to my consternation. There used to be many soda fountain type places in the city that served this beverage. Some diners still do but less and less so. According to some historians, the egg cream was a New York product, first sold mainly in Brooklyn and then spreading outwards. You can go to many places outside New York City and ask for one and the people will have no idea what it is. I recently was down south and asked for a bagel at a diner and got a look of consternation from the waitress, truly disturbing. The egg cream is a vanishing item and it is sad to see. It is one of those drinks that reminds me of my youth. Many people when talking about egg creams, especially chocolate ones, say that it has to be made with U-bet syrup. I think this is the best way. If you can believe it, an egg cream has neither eggs in it nor cream. This recipe has several legends as to how it was created, one legend is that it was created by a Jewish candy store owner in the early 1900's named Louis Auster who came to America and opened a candy store on the lower East Side. I am not sure who created the egg cream, but it is a miraculous drink. It was never able to be bottled because the ingredients tend to seperate after a while and the drink is best drank freshly made. There is an old type soda fountain store on Chambers Street between West Broadway and Church Street where they sell them. However they put vanilla ice cream in them which is not the way to make them. When I recently got one and saw the guy putting in vanilla ice cream I asked "what are you doing? That's not how you make an egg cream man!" to which the guy smirked at me and told me that's how they made it there. It sucked! When I was younger I worked in an ice cream store and I made very good egg creams. In fact there is a method to the madness, you have to make it sweet and add three pumps of vanilla syrup and just the right amount of seltzer, the old seltzer bottles that are pressurized work best for this type of drink, they are rare and hard to find but still sold by a few companies. It is depressing to see this great beverage which is so much a part of the New York landscape and history vanishing. Unfortunately so much of the old New York I love seems to be vanishing. The city is changing so drastically and the small things which gave it it's identity and local flavor are slowly passing by the wayside. This is depressing to me, someone who grew up here all my life and I hope the trend reverses itself. If you are ever in a diner ask if they make egg creams, maybe they will and you can taste this great drink before it vanishes off the face of the earth forever. It is one of those special New York only drinks that is wholly a part of the New York City landscape, that's how it should be. For more information on the history of the New York egg cream you can go to. More to come soon.

Fear and Sickness at 37000 feet the spring break tale

Ok so I just went down to Florida on a sort of spring break trip, although it was more to visit my Grandmother for her 90th birthday. The trip down was your normal trip, I hate to fly so I am always a bit nervous, I didn't have anything to take like a valium, horse tranquilizer or some such thing. I didn't even take a shot of vocka because it was an early flight and I don't drink in the daytime.So, I went down stone cold sober. The flight wasn't bad, I even had the seat next to me free on a full flight, I paid 50 bucks for a car service to take me to the airport, I had to have some luxury. As we got airborne, I tried to read the lips of the people on the T.V. being I had no headphones and didn't want to purchase any, even though they were a buck. The last hour of the trip was highlighted by the screaming baby two rows behind me and the little babies older sister who derived great joy from kicking my seat. I sat in stoic silence because that is my way. I wanted to turn around and yell at the small kid and berate the mother for raising this monster but of course I didn't. The kid wasn't that bad. The babies screams just cemented the notion in my mind that I don't want to ever have a kid of my own. The crying noise was going into my cerebellum and clawing it's way up into my central nervous system. By the time we landed I was fried and thank god we got to exit out of the back of the plane, which I did post haste.
I was meeting up with my father who I haven't had much contact with for many years. We just recently began to talk again but we were sharing a hotel room during our stay which I was a bit nervous about because I know he's an insomniac and doesn't sleep well. After getting raked over the coals for 80 bucks for a cab to my hotel, I it started to rain of course. It hadn't rained in Florida for a month and waited until just when I got there to open the flood gates. I hung out a while with pops. Had lunch in the restaurant where I immediately fell in love with the hostess, a gorgeous asian woman with olive skin and long black hair. The waitress read my mind when I needed my soda refilled and I then fell in love with her because there's nothing like a woman that can read a guys mind and know his soda needs and fulfill them right away. That's a keeper in my book.
Ok fast forward past the awkward moments with dad, having the father son talk many years too late, slightly bonding in a strange way. I hooked up with an old friend I haven't seen in about 13 years and I went out to party with him and his wife. I had a blast, we went to a club in Delray beach or was it Boca, I can't remember, Florida looks all the same to me, long flat rows of mini malls and developments with ritzy names like the polo club etc. etc. I had a blast and drank about four shots of grey goose and four or five coronas. I bonded with my friend and his wife who is one of the most fun, outgoing people I have encountered in some time. I had no game though and didn't meet anyone that night although I could have. I got mistaken by some guy for his softball friend, he turned out to be from Staten Island so that was funny. I watched the gorgeous girls salsa dance and move their hips, cleaned the drool from off my face and got home around 4 am. The next day after getting a little sun in between rain showers we went out again. Same people, different venue. This time we were in Lauderdale, in a place called America's Back Yard. A strange club scene inside where a Kurt Cobain lookalike wearing a strange sheet ensemble was belting out Nirvana like tunes to almost no one. Out back was where the party was. A big outdoor space with a huge circular bar. On top of the bar were gorgeous women wearing booty shorts and twirling hula hoops around, this was nirvana! I had attained a higher level of spiritual being, or was it the fourth shot of grey goose I ordered. When I then looked up after taking my shot I was looking up the miniskirt of a long legged brunette goddess who was bumping and grinding to a beastie boys jam. The guy next to me with his girlfriend was taking pictures up the girls skirt, I assume with his girlfriends approval, so I leaned over and gave him some shit and we laughed. I then talked to two blondes from Georgia, who were telling the black guy trying to dance with them that they were from St. Louis, they bummed cigs from me and dissappeared before I could talk to them more which was fine because they seemed to be kind of skanky, not that its a bad thing. We continued to jam out, with my friend wanting to go home but me and his wife had our own agenda and we kept the party going, we got some lemon drop shots, a watered down shot of grey goose in a plastic cup, (how lame is that) and we partied on. I was mesmerized by the music and the hula hoop girls and more and more girls dancing on the bar and booty shaking, the guy next to me kept spanking this girls butt and I had to lean over and say"man i'm jealous of you. Your my hero". To which he knowingly nodded the nod of someone that knows they are going to get laid later. Oh well. On and on the night went, a dazzling blur of corona bottles, booty shorts, dancing with my friends wife and hoping he didn't want to beat me up and scanning the crowd for interesting faces. My friend wanted to leave but we took a detour to the upstairs bar, ditching him in the process, not on purpose or was it? We ingested some more shots and did some hanging. I had to force my friends wife to leave when she started flirting with a group of middle eastern guys and started shouting, where's the weed at?!? Finally we got out of there and then off to home. My friends wife at this point was wasted, she weighs maybe 105 soaking wet and the last lemon drop shot put her out a bit. She began to cry in the car that she missed her grandmother who had died, I comforted her as best I could and she kissed me on the lips which I was a bit shocked by, but it was a gentle kiss and nothing more, I don't know if my friend saw, he seems to know her habits by now and there was no drama. When we got home he crashed out and me and his wife drank a bit more or at least I did, we you tubed songs from the past and songs we had heard that night and danced by their pool. I wanted to watch the sunrise but didn't quite make it. I collapsed at 5:30 exhausted and happy onto his couch. I was rudely awakened by something licking my ears and face, too bad it wasn't a girl, it was his doggy who I fell in love with also. The next day however was a nightmare as I got little sleep and then had to go meet my grandmother for her special dinner. I got into character in time however and was ok by dinner time, grabbing some sleep before. I then fell in love with our waitress, Jessica. A gorgeous olive skinned goddess who smiled and broke my heart. After a rousing meal and some shots to my fragile ego from family members, my uncle adjusted my wrists back at home and gave me a mini massage, he is a masseuse not some freaky old uncle type. Then off to the hotel to get ready to go home the next day. I had a beer with my father which was something i'd never done before, I guess it's never too late to do this shit right? On The flight home I was seated next to a neurotic woman who coughed the whole way home and was scared half to death of flying it seemed. Her husband was six foot four and couldn't get comfortable. At this point I had a horrible cold which I still have now, I could barely swallow. I was sunburned and on so much cough medicine and nose spray I thought my head was going to explode. Plus I had the hangover of all hangovers. I spent the first hour of the flight yawning to try to clear my ears and then passed out trying to lip read the T.V. screen which I didn't realize you had to turn on and which I thought was broken for the first hour of the flight. No hot stewardesses on this flight, it was an all steward flight and I think one of them liked me, which was fine but I didn't get an extra soda out of it or more blue chips which I am now hooked on. I fell asleep in my first row seat and woke up to see the two stewards staring at me. I must have been snoring or drooling or both because they were amused. By the time we landed I was a drooling, sunburned, under rested, mess of a human being who didn't have cab fare home. So it was on to the special train that takes you to the A train which then takes you home. The problem with this is you have to hike half way across the airport to get to it. At least they had moving sidewalks that got you there a bit faster. Then of course when I got there, I had no metrocard, so I got one, waited on the platform with no jacket because I didn't bring one and froze my ass off. I was just about to smoke a cig on the platform when the train came which I gladly got on and rode my sorry ass home. Ahh home, my cats looked at me as if to say, so your here big deal feed my ass and fuck off, great, thanks cats, I collapsed into my apartment and felt happy to be back in the city, but at the same time, missing those florida breezes, the clean smell of the flowers and yeah booty shorts and hula girls. Ahh the memories. I will be back again soon I hope, I didn't get to go to the keys which I have wanted to visit for many years. Maybe next trip.

Comeback Story The ballad of Ray Ray McClanahan

>THE BALLAD OF RAY RAY McCLANAHAN

This article is a fictitious and is meant as satire. Any people referred to in the article are imaginary made up characters and nothing about this article is true or factual.

Ray Ray McClanahan, former member of the popular seventies group "Musclehead" is hard at work in the studio on his comeback album. The Album entitled, "Smoke that last roach for me," has been in the works for over seven years, faced with numerous setbacks and problems, The album is set for release in May of this year.

Ray Ray McClnanhan vanished from the music scene for close to 15 years after his bands meteroic rise in the mid seventies. By the early 80's however, amidst sagging album sales and McClanahans 9th stint in rehab, the band broke up in 1983 after there 4th album "Yo Mama can't dance" sold an abysmal 3,000 units.

After serving time in jail for posession of amphetamines and marijuana in 1985, McClanahan was released after serving a 5 year sentence in 1989, he promptly vanished from the public eye, not to be heard of or seen again for over a decade. When asked what he did during this period and where he had gone, McClanhan said, "I was on a journey to find myself and my significance within the cosmic sphere, I didn't know where I was going or where I had been but I knew that I would end up somewhere and I hoped that somewhere was a place where I could find that peace I had always been yearning for." When asked about his new album McClanhan simply stated, "This shit rocks."

McClanhans brother Jimmy Ray Ray, was seen leaving the studio recently where Ray Ray was recording tracks for his new album,he was apparently wheeling a baby carriage with no baby inside. A strange object inside the baby carriage that appeared to be an orange object was seen inside it. When asked for comment Jimmy Ray Ray simply replied,"hey man there's nothing wrong with wheeling a baby carriage around with no baby inside and an orange keg in it, when last I checked this was fucking America man." When asked if Ray Ray was drinking again or using drugs, Jimmy replied, "even if he was man we would never tell you, where did you get your journalism degree from? The back of a matchbook?"

An upcoming tour in support of the album had to be cancelled due to low demand for tickets and fan interest. Ray Ray could not be reached for further comment on this or other issues. It is a shame to see the rock and roll cliche played out over and over again. If anyone epitomizes this the most it is Ray Ray McClanhan, he had it all, the women, the money and the fame only to throw it all down the toilet in a hail of drug induced nights and dark days. Former band member Jimmy "ratso" Foreman said of McClanhan's epic apetite for drugs and alcohol "The guy had no limits, I once saw him take four tabs of acid, snort six lines of blow and he was popping Vicodin like they were candy, at some point your body can't take it anymore. Have you ever seen someone tripping for five days straight? Well I have and let me tell you, it ain't pretty, you try driving to Mcdonalds in a ferrari at 4 in the morning with a raving lunatic on four tabs of acid, I don't think your going to remember if your Big Mac tasted good."

If fan interest continues to wain for Ray Ray McClanahan there is no doubt in this writers mind that his career is over and has been for a long time. But you can never count the underdog out, this country loves an underdog and maybe, just maybe, Ray Ray has one good album left in his deteriorating psyche. We shall see folks. The album drops May 5th.

What I find great and amazing about New York City and some ranting and raving.

I am a native son of New York City, I have tried in the past to live other places but I never can do it. There is someting unique and amazing about the energy of New York that no other place I have ever visited has. If you leave the city for any period of time, especially to a slower more laid back place, you wind down and your pace slows. Once I went to Jamaica and was there for a week, the lifestyle there is very mellow and you naturally slow down. I remember coming back to New York and feeling as if I was moving in slow motion upon getting back, once that energy gets into your soul you crave it, it is so strange.
I enjoy walking all over the city, I used to take a lot of photographs but I don't anymore. I need to get an old 35 mm camera again, I am old school all the way and am not into most new techonoligcal gadgets. Part of the allure of the city is, you never know what's around the next corner, you could see a guy with a huge mohawk and 10 piercings in his face, a movie star or someone you haven't seen in ten years. I went out to the East Village friday night to meet some old high school buddies for drinks, as I walked down St. Marks Place, I missed the old East Village, punk rockers with leather jackets, big boots and spiky mohawks and the punk girls with black eyeliner and piercings all over. I missed the junkies on avenue B and the filth and empty lots. This has all been replaced by young twenty something student types searching around for what used to be there, the vibe is gone. New York has gentrified almost completely now. I found it funny that I saw two girls from my poetry class however on my walk, what are the odds of that happening? And within two blocks of each other on top of it. I had a great time with my old friends, I drank too much though and thank god I cut myself off after my fourth shot of Grey Goose and 4 large Asahi beers and a corona. You have to know your limits or you will be a casualty of war and no one wants that.
Another interesting site on my travels on friday. I was downtown walking towards the R train on Broadway, there is a small hotel on Chambers Street there. I saw a large crowd of people standing on the sidewalk across the street from the hotel. Everyone was looking up at a window so, of course, when you see a large crowd you stop to see what everyone is looking at. I won't go into the grim details but there was a couple going at it in the window, drapes open for all to see, only in New York City or maybe Paris too. Apparently, there skills weren't too impressive, because everyone seemed to be laughing. I guess this isn't too shocking, I have seen so many things and so much growing up here, that nothing shocks me anymore. Maybe that is the problem living here, you see so much and experience so much that life becomes almost routine in some sense. When you walk outside in any neighborhood, your senses are diluged with sites, sounds, smells, experiences, voices cascading all over, traffic noise, airplanes, helicopters and sirens. I have gone to visit relatives in small towns or in the country and I can never sleep, it's almost is as if the silence has a noise all its own and it becomes deafening. I need the hum and noise of the city. The country is nice if you like bugs and the possibility of a serial killer stealing into your house at night and killing you. I can't stand crickets either, they drive me insane and I can't sleep with them around. My aunt leaves her home unlocked in the country, something no New Yorker would ever do. I have no trust, how can you?
New York can be overwhelming to tourists, I have several friends who live other places, that can't come here, they just can't deal with the size and scope of New York, I find that to be a shame. To be honest, I can't deal with the smallness of small towns or the suburbs, I don't think I could live in a suburb or small town, i'd go nuts, there's not enough things to do, I guess you become used to it if that is where you grew up. The same could be said for someone from a small town who couldn't take the size, complexity and sheer volume of New York City.
On another topic sorry for jumping around but i'm going with it here, I have a friend who is single, he has been trying to date after not being on the dating scene for several years. Dating is hard in New York City, due to the sheer number of people and possibilities. It seems as if there is always someone new around the corner, you are never satisfied and always wondering if there's someone better that might come along. Some women only want to date successful, powerful men, they lust after material possessions and that is ok I guess but I find that sad, because all those things are temporary and meaningless, in the end. I guess to each his or her own, there are a lot of cool great women out there so don't get me wrong. I just detest the ones that lust after these type of possessions and relationships. I read an article a while ago that claimed that close to half of the city is single, which would put the number at somewhere in between 3-4 million people. Hard to believe. New York can be a lonely place for a single person. While there are people everywhere, due to the rat race and social issues, we are all closeted in our little worlds. We have our facebook pages and myspace, but how many of those people do we really hang out with or talk to with any frequency. I have about 90 facebook friends on my page. I talk steadily to less than 10 of them and probably have hung out with less than 5 in the past few months. I don't know if this goes for everyone I can be ant-social at times and I am sure the stats are different for some. My point is that all this techonology in my opinion keeps us apart rather than brings us together. Maybe this is the new world we live in, the time of love letters and actual convesation has been replaced with twitter, facebook, friendster and text messaging. No one seems to have the time to actually talk to each other, except on cellphones which I detest. Is it all about instant gratification these days? Who knows, I feel bad for my friend, I am sure he will find someone but I am not sure how he should go about it. Maybe craigslist, match.com or the like, where you are just a face on a page being perused by others and hopefully chosen for your hobbies, sculpted features and abs or bank account size. I know this sounds a bit pessismistic, but I don't like what I am seeing in terms of where technology is leading us. Let's hope I am wrong and things change a bit. I am thinking of getting rid of facebook and all of these types of sites, maybe dropping off the grid for a while, it is appealing.
Can you really drop out like in the sixties anymore? I guess it's possible but it must be a hell of a lot harder, we all have to be consumers in some aspect don't we? Well this post is all over the place and I am sorry about that, sometimes the mind swirls and you have to just go with the flow. More to come soon and so it goes.