NYC temp

Man! I have so much to write about! I just never seem to get to it =( It was much easier to write posts on my Palm Treo than my iphone.

Anyhoo, until I get to writing (if ever) about all the movies we've seen & such, and because we're having a fun long weekend in NYC, I thought I'd post a link to the photo album I've got going on Facebook. I think the link will expire (in 2 weeks?) but keep looking for the next few days as I add stuff throughout our trip to New York. The FB app on the phone is easier than emailing them to the blog but I might do some of both. So... join us won't you on our fun little jaunt:

Facebook NYC photos

big game

We're at the airport & it's the potential final game in the world
series. we checked in early & had some dinner and everyone was
watching the game. then we went to the gate and there were tons of
people watching.

Now on board. Yankees just won so we can push away from the gate :)

times are a changing

Why was this not around when we lived there?

"New York State's official traffic and travel info source" now has twitter feeds for NY area regions and for specific subway lines! Wow, this soooooo would have come in handy in the "good ole days. I love it!!

new advinture

Alex was off agin to New York on tuesday. Thinking for 2.5-3 weeks. we'll see. Have a ton o'fun sweets! miss you already. :)

nyc photos

I've posted some photos from my trip on facebook but haven't put them anywhere else yet. These links should let you see them without a facebook account. I've had a ton of fun taking them =)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=82612&id=720890145&l=c777e

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=82617&id=720890145&l=23251

my people!

I knew there was a reason I loves the Upper West Side in NYC. One of the best places I've lived & I would move back in a heartbeat!! An article on HuffingtonPost was about a tv reporter w/a McCain shirt on in the neighbourhood.

"Morning Joe" co-host Willie Geist set out to find McCain supporters on New York's famously liberal Upper West Side, putting on a McCain-Palin t-shirt and parking himself in front of the legendary Jewish deli Zabar's. He ended up finding one Republican couple, but not before being greeted with scorn and bewilderment by passersby, many of whom said that they didn't know a single person in the neighborhood who is planning to vote for John McCain.

But then back in the studio the anchors were just idiots (I thought this was MSNBC-the left's Fox news). They said "There's some really, really hostile people on the left who just think that they are intellectually superior." But the people in the video weren't hostile they just thought he was crazy. And, uh, yeah of course they're "intellectually superior", they're liberal and live on the UWS. Smartest people I know =)

already?

People are already lining up to buy an iPhone that goes on sale Friday night!!! That's 4.5 days away! Wow. People are crazy. I wouldn't want to line up anywhere for it but I'm sure New York is an exceptionally crappy place for it. It's soooooo hot & muggy there it's almost unbearable. And then... you get huge downpurs at random times. So uncomfortable. But you do have the hot dog guy there all the time. And the ice cream guy. ANd the bathroom in the Apple store. And theire free wi-fi. Well, to each their own. I'm sure there's something I'd wait in line for 4 days for. I just have no idea what it'd be.

You can read about it HERE.

in line

There's a lot of traffic here at JFK. We're on the runway waiting. There are 25 planes in front of us!!! The captain thinks 45 min more till we take off.
I don't know if it has anything to do with the storms that were coming as we headed to the airport. Of course the day we leave there are storms. That's the best part of NYC summers. It's raining out our window now.
(my TV at my seat just went out. They use Directv on JetBlue. Is this just getting me ready for being home with my DTivo)

we're off

Well, we're at the airport awaiting takeoff. Two of our three suitcases are overweight. Seeing as we came with two underweight bags, with the third in one of them, you might get some idea of how much stuff we've acquired on our trip :) But we figure the $40 we paid for the extra weight is about the same we would have paid for a fourth bag. And the last thing we need is MORE suitcases in our life.

I'm so conflicted about so missing NYC and wanting to stay and being so ready to be home. But since I don't have a choice I'll be happy to be home and lounge in the air-conditioning on my birthday.

leaving

On our way out from the city. Bye bye...

#3 on a roll

One of my favorite lunches in NY. We got some to take to the airport with us.

hunan park

AJH used to get food from this place all the time. He really wanted to go here last night but they were already closed & we were too tired anyway. So, we went for lunch today. The lemon chicken tasted just like it used to. The waiters are so fun here.

slam

Something A has wanted to do since before we lived here was go to a place in the East Villiage called the Newyorkian. On wednesday nights they have slam poetry competitions. Since this is our last night here we went. It was great! Some really great poets here. We came so close to not going as we were both wiped after yesterday, but we did & once we were there knew it was absolutely the right decision. I hope A writes a blog about it cause he can put things like that into such great words.

It went on a long time but most of the poets were worth it. The two that we were sharing a tiny table with were the best. Deffinately something to come back to in the future.

well...

I say I'm ready to leave and then we head into Central Park and my heart sins. I could stay forever and now I don't want to leave at all. It's a wonderful 76° and the park is full of people heading to their softball games (we saw the Comedy Central team), people with strollers, joggers, bicyclists, frizzbe playing, strolling, musicians playing, birds chirping. Yep. This is the place I feel best on earth.

homeward

After over an hour, we are finally headed home. We are so tired & have heavy bags from Kate's & Strand. I don't know how we'll get everything home to LA. The rain seems to have stopped for the most part but it is still very warm. A taxi might be in order tonight.

internet access

T in her natural habitat. :)

apple

We've finally made it to the Apple store. Where else would yoy go at midnight on a tuesday night? There are really quite a few people here and the rain looks amazing on the glass entry box.

caught

Just as we were getting ready to leave the restaurant we heard loud rumblings. Then, sure enough, it started pouring down with rain! It let up some so we headed back into the world but, as it was so dang hot this morning, we didn't bring umbrellas, again. how quickly we forget the fickleness of NYC weather.

only in NYC

with the "go-card" display by the bathrooms (you know, where they have post cards of advertisements) they had a section for NYC Condoms. Free condoms. They come in a two pack. You can't really see them in this phone camera shot, but I didn't bring my real camera with me to the bathroom.

eats

We found a fun place to eat called Piola. With yummy pizzas & profita rolls. Funky sinage & bathrooms. It's so good to just sit down & drink some water!

food!

we're FINALLY out of the Strand, tired & starving. Off to find some sustenance.

strand

We finally made it to Strand bookstore: 18 miles of books. It's the largest used bookstore in the US. When we lived here it was 8 miles of books, so they've expanded over the years (I think there was more then, but that was the line forever).

It used to be great but tiring to come here. They have everything but the cement floors, lack of air conditioning & mustiness just got to you. Well... They've spruced up the joint. They have AC and higher ceilings and an elevator and a wholy redone 2nd floor for art & children's books. So great!!! I think we're in for the long haul. It's a good thing they close. :)

kate's

we're at Kate's Paperie on 57th & 7th. It is the most amazing paper store ever. We love coming here! We're looking for a scrapbook for the mementos & photos from this trip, and of course there are many choices. A has found some pretty fun fountain pens to draw with & I want one (at least) of every piece of their wrapping paper.

abt

We've seen Romeo & Juliet again, but this time at the American Ballet Theatre at the Met Opera House. Uh... WOW! This was sooooo much better than last week's ballet. These people are good. Really good. I do wish that sometimes they looked a little more "ballerina-ish" though. The costumes were very theatrical, and lavish, and beautiful, but they seem like they're from a play, not a ballet (except the men). This whole production seemed a bit like a play where people didn't talk & occasionally would dance. I think I wanted more dancing. Don't get me wrong, I really loved it and it was so good. I wish we could go see it again.

moma

A trip to the museum of modern art is always interesting. They have art by people like Van Gogh, Monet, Rodin, etc, who I don't really think of as "modern" artists. And there's the kind of odd but interesting artists like Kandinsky. But then, and here's where I get mad, there are the "artists" who paint a canvas all blue & it's supposed to mean something. Or all red with one black dot. Or a piece of pink wood leaning against the wall. A rope hanging from the ceiling... I could go on. But seriously people. Who calls this stuff art? Whatever.

Another thing that is annoying about them is that, unlike the Met & the MNH which are "suggested donation entry's", the moma charges $20! Yikes! And you can't bring in your own food so you have to eat there. But the cafeteria isn't hot dogs & chips, it's very snooty & pasta & paninis so lunch ends up costing $50. They do something great though... The museum store stays open an hour after the museum closes. I love that.
We went to the museum in the first place to see a special exhibit of Richard Serra who make huge steel sculptures you walk around & through. It's pretty indescribable so I'll have to post pictures. His stuff was really fun.

We figure, we didn't pay to see the tremendous play at the delacourt, which was worth a bunch, so it all works out really.

buskers

One thing I miss about NYC is the music in the subways. There were some great ones in London too but you just don't get this in LA. This guy was on the platform as we waited for our late night 2 train uptown. He had the coolest guitar thing. The tuners were at the bottom and it just had a detachable frame for a body. Very neat. He played a great tune too. I hope he does well with his music.

day watch

I just wanted to enter a post here to remind myself that we saw Day Watch tonight. I need to write some comments & post a picture, but suffice it to say it was great! Not quite as good at the first one (Night Watch) but so cool to watch! Go see it!

virgin records

A in his natural habitat. :)

grey dog part deux

We're back again at our fave coffee shop, Grey Dog's Coffee. It's much calmer this time and it's a great place to relax. A is sketching in his new book. I'm having a grand hot chocolate (even though it's roasting outside, even at 9:30pm). I just spilled some water so that's a bummer but not that bad.

What I want to know is, where are the places like this in LA?

They're playing Nat King Cole christmas songs now!? Weird.

baluchi's

We had dinner in Soho tonight at an Indian place called Baluchi's. it was really good. Very authentic. I absolutely loved the water goblet things and we even asked if they sold them. They used to but don't any more. Boo. Now, there's another reason to go to India. I know that if I ever go I will be in trouble. I am so drawn to Indian culture. The furniture, the everyday items, the fabrics (I love saris as you can see in our home), the Hindu gods, the art... I can see just wanting to bring home so much that sings to my soul. For now I'll have to stick to places like this, and the one we love in Pasadena.

a chorus line

To add to our huge roster of entertainment on this trip we saw A Chorus Line today. This is a revival of a musical from the 70s/80s that I saw countless times when I was growing up. This version is directed by the assistant choreographer from then so it's pretty much exactly the same. Same costumes design & everything. I remember it all so well. Every word, every song. I cried in it, Just subtle tear down the cheek, I think because of the childhood memories.

This theatre is much smaller so they felt a bit cramped and the "cut dancers" in the beginning wasn't quite as impressive but it was a really well done show. I loved it (and bought a t-shirt of course) and Alex even liked it. It's not a typical "Broadway Musical" as there's no bit scenery, costumes etc. It's a bunch of people talking (& singing) about themselves. Yea!

novecento 900

Food!

(trying this out through flicker)

brushes galore

We're at an art supply place because A didn't bring any of his sketching stuff. NYC is a place that inspires art so... Here we are. This plave is VAST! The amount of brushes is overwhelming, let alone the pencils, paints, paper...

roses

The whole park is so pretty! So much green!

better than HD

As much as we love our HD TV there is nothing like the beauty of Central Park, in any season, in person. It's a place to make the soul smile.

(if the photo doesn't show up, click the small square below the title)

kosher asian

After the play tonight we went in search of some chinese food. There were tons of japanese but not chinese or thai. We knew of one near our old neighbourhood but we didn't want to go that far south. Finally we found a place! It looked like they had a bit of everything asian. Well, turns out it was a kosher asian place for the large jewish comunity in our current neighbourhood. We were the only ones there who weren't jewish, and Alex the only one without a yarmulke (except the two shushi chefs). It was a really great dinner and I'm glad we didn't go to the one we knew of.

love's labour's lost

Following the actors around the park as the sky grows dim & the flashlights come out. A firefly or three and the stream in the distance.

shakespeare in the park

Tonight we are at a Shakespeare play in Central Park. It's one where you follow the actors around the park & they use the nature as their stage. So awesome! And it's free! Can't beat that :)

WIPE*

Today was mostly a WIPE for us. We spent most of the day piddling about, being sleepy & waiting to hear about a place to stay. We finally have a "home" for the rest of the time here but it's nothing like what we wanted. We wanted to stay in the Village as we've never done that before. Or, on the upper east side, like Alex did when he was working on Vanilla Sky. But we ended up on the upper west side. But not even the area that we know & love so well from living there. In New York (as in most cities) a matter of blocks can make a huge difference so the 10 blocks north & 4 (long) blocks west of where we're used to being is nothing like "home". It feels so far away from everything. Like it's the suburbs. Luckily it is right near a subway stop so it shouldn't be too hard to get out, but there's not much for us to walk to around here. It's all residential.

It's a place owned by a musician though. An entire wall of books (you know how much we love that) and oh so very New York in that every tiny space is efficiently filled with stuff. After getting our luggage here we promptly fell asleep. Then, just before midnight we woke up hungry. We wondered off into the night to find some food, because restaurants still serve at midnight here. Not the cheap diners but normal restaurants. Before we could get to the restaurant street though we found a grocery shop. Thinking it might close at midnight we went in & got some munchies etc. Turns out they're open 24hours! Yea! And they have a great selection of stuff. Better than the Whole foods near us in LA. What a relief.

So, now off to sleep on one of the hardest beds I've ever felt in my life. As they say in A Chorus line... "it wasn't paradise, but, it, was, home".

*(WIPE =well intentioned. Poorly executed)

celeb sighting

Today, as I was walking from the hotel to the Met, I saw
Cynthia Nixon from "Sex and the City" come out of her(?) apartment. Not done up, no make up & in sweats. A real New Yorker. Fun.

jewels

Tonight we went to the New York City Ballet. What fun. I love the accessibility to culture here. We walked by it last night & wanted to go so we bought tickets. Cool. Anyway, we saw "Jewels", a non plot 3 act ballet choreographed by Balanchine & with music by three different composers (Fauré, Stravinsky & Tschaikovsky). It was a "fine" show. I'm always amazed at what ballet dancers can do. I was a bit underwhelmed though. With the orchestra, the conductor & the dancers. But it was a fun night out. It was nice to get dressed up for a change. But (as in my previous post) the skies literally opened up on us as we were walking there. Really hard. We had forgotten our umbrellas from LA so when we ran past a news agent that had some we bought two (they're tiny). They were $4- so it's nice to know that as the price of EVERYTHING has gone up since we've been here, cheap umbrellas hasn't. Neither has movie prices for that matter. They've gone up $1 in the past 5 years. We were so shocked at how expensive going to the movies was here in 2001/02 but now it's more expensive to go to the crappy Burbank AMC! Weird.

We have tickets to another ballet (Romeo & Juliet) on Monday, with a different company, so we'll see how that goes.

at the ballet

We're at the New York City Ballet seeing a performance called "Jewels". We got caught in a downpour on the way here so my feet are totally sopping. On with the show!

on the roof

The rooftop gallery has some of the most amazing views of the city ever. I could stay up here for a long time (if it wasn't so dang hot!).

patsy's

The best pizza ever!

mooooovies

We are so pooped this evening that we've decided to take it easy & go to the movies, eat dinner & hang at our book store. A pretty perfect evening. It's weird walking around our old neighbourhood. It's changed a lot but it's still so familiar. In the cinema, as we ride the escelator up stairs it's exciting at the same time as it's regular. We've done it so many times. The familiar paintings & gold palm trees. It's like we were here last week. I'm getting whiplash from my emotions. I'm ready to move our whole life back here immediately one minute. Then, It's too crowded, dirty, expensive & humid the next. It's home, but it's somewhat distant.

(edited to add that the movie we saw was "Oceans 13")

testing 123

The last 2 posts didn't work from my usual remote way. Ugh. Does this one work?

(update: I've sorted it out. Apparently our phone service is cingular in LA but att in nyc. So, now blogger knows who I am here. Phew!)

the dead poet

One of our old FAVORITE haunts is still here and Alex's name is still on the wall for drinking 100 Guinnnesses. Ahhhh. We are definately home.

(and, a bonus of no smoke inside! it used to be way thick)

new york city!!

We made it! Now that we've found our room we're off to explore (at 1am) Yea!