NY Recap (day 3)

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

I've been lazy so haven't been writing much. Yesterday was guitar so I was learning how to play songs with only 3 notes.

So where were we?

On the third day Geneman and I met Stef and Lucy at Ground Zero. We walked all over the place (where we could). A lot of the areas on the walkways were screened off, but we were able to clearly see the construction going on through gaps in between the screens. We also went into the American Express building (If I rememer correctly) nearby to check out some of the displays.

The glassed in atrium where we were hanging out was kind of odd. There were these huge, evenly spaced palm trees that looked a little out of place. but it was neat to see, nonetheless.

Afterwards we went to a park that ran alongside the Hudson River.

And we waved at New Jersey.

There were some huge boats in the marina. It reminded me of the humongous boats we saw in Florida.

We walked beside the river for a while. But by this time, we were pretty starved so we headed off to Tribeca to eat at Bubby's Pie Company. I'd never heard of it before, but it was a recommendation in the little trusty travel book.

Not only was the food really good, but there was also a bonus. We saw James Gandolfini at the restaurant! And, Stef thinks we were a few tables away from Julia Stiles too.

Stef (the observant one) spotted Mr. Soprano first. He and his party were sitting at the top of the stairway leading down to the sketchy basemental area (where the bathroom was). I had already gone down to use the restroom and come back up.

And no, I totally didn't notice anything or anyone cause I was on a mission - to pee and find my way back to the table.

Anyway, I wanted to see the glory that was James G as well so I faked another trip to the restroom. On my way up, I made eye contact with him (hopefully he didn't think I was checking out his woman), and we exchanged nods.

Gangster style

Just kidding (aout the gangster style). We did nod. He was probably acknowledging that I shouldn't be embarrassed about my bladder problem.

Lucy and Stef took it one step further - They talked with and Lucy got a picture with him.

A brunch to remember.

So let's see, what else. After we ate, we followed the smell of money and ended up in the financial district.

Wall Street.

Of course we were greeted by the big Stock Market Bull. Just in case you were wondering, yes, it is male, and it is anatomically correct (as far as I know). So of course we did stuff to it.

And that's all I'll say about that.

You can definitely tell where people rub the bull for luck.

We actually spent quite a bit of time in the financial district. We went to the New York Stock Exchange, bought souvenirs, some people climbed fences for pictures, etc.

Oh yeah, I found a guy that would sell me a "Rolex" for 100 bucks.

When we were all financialed out, we headed to the Empire State Building. The timing was perfect. After we got through the ticket sales and waited through the lines, the sun was beginning to set. The sunset had some great color to it. And we were able to see all of the lights turn on in the cicy.

For dinner we had pizza at Pie by the Pound. Kind of a neat concept - They have these pizzas made and displayed. You tell the servers how much you want, they cut it off, and heat it up. It was quite good. We were careful to save room for dessert...

At Veniero's - Even though the name sounds like it's something evil (or bad), this place had these crazy kickass desserts. You pretty much checked your diet and/or lactose intolerance at the door. Everything was super rich and creamy.

Unfortunately, Monday morning was going to be an early one so we tried not to stay out too late. (Gene had to work, and I had to catch my plane). Which was a good idea in theory, but not in practice.

It wasn't as late of a night as the 2 before, but it was still late.

The next morning, Geneman gave me door to door service from the apartment to the airport. And then I was off...

(the end - Commentary to follow later. I'm falling asleep again)

-Kirk

Ny Recap (day 2)

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this weekend.

So where did I leave you last? The end of the first day (Friday).

Friday night ended well into early Saturday morning, so we started out around noon-ish. Poor Gene got very little sleep the entire time I was out there.

Before lunch, we poked around the city. I can't really tell you where we went - we were all over the place.

For lunch we headed out to the very famous (and quite popular) Katz's Delicatessen. I didn't realize that I'd seen the inside of it before until Gene pointed out the sign that made reference to the When Harry Met Sally fake orgasm scene.

I guess I never realized how many movies take place in New York.

Gene knew all about the ticket system (for the bill) and schooled me about how it worked. Despite the education, I was still a Katz's newbie, so after I ordered my Corned Beef sandwich, I didn't get what the deli dude was doing when he cut a few pieces of corned beef, put it on a plate, and pushed it towards me.

(It was to taste while he was making my sandwich, I think)

(shrug) I thought it was for someone else :)

So yes, I strongly recommend the corned beef sandwich. It was crazy good. Not real or fake orgasm good, but pretty good. Unfortunately, Gene wasn't too excited about his hot dog, so no orgasms for him either.

In my quest to find places to eat that aren't chains (when I'm travelling), Katz's was perfect.

After lunch, we poked around the surrounding areas and I finally met up with Stef (my penpal of 6 years) and Lucy (her homey) in Little Italy. They were on holiday as well from the northern West Coast (although they were in NY for a week and a half to my 3 days).

We all went to this little Italian restaurant (I forget the name now) for lunch (part 2 for Gene and me). I was so stuffed from my industrial sized sandwich that I coudln't even consider eating anything else. I ddin't even want to try anyone else's food.

I really can't say much about the food, but the restaurant was completely open up front. We sat at a table within in the restaurant, but we had a clear view of the outdoors. The Feast of San Gennaro street festival was going on at the time, so we to caught the parade as well.

After our second lunch, we cruised the street fair. And I got hustled.

Like a complete chump.

I was just standing there looking at the warez of some vendor, and I got suckered into throwing darts at balloons in the next booth.

So a bunch of darts and 10 dollars later, I finally got a clue and got away. So now I have this cheesy stuffed animal bear to remind me not to be stupid.

Next time.

I guess I didn't learn many street smarts while growing up in the rough streets of suburbia.

So what else...

The young ladies were shopping for stuff, so I made Gene do touristy stuff wtih me - We tried to catch a Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise, but alas, we weren't able to make any of the boat times (there was only one left). We were supposed to meet S and L for dinner so we woudln't have been able to make it in time.

Maybe next time.

Even though we didn't get to go out on the water, it was still nice to see and be by it.

On the way back, we hit up Times Square and took in all the sights to see there. It's crazy how many neon and LED lights are all concentrated in one place.

Of course, I had to stop by and take a few pictures of the MTV TRL studios :)

And finally, we went through China Town for some bubble tea and souvenir purchasing. I tasted watermelon bubble tea for the first time - Quite an interesting drink, that's for sure. It was like drinking liquefied watermelon flavored Bubblicious gum.

With bubbles of course.

Afterwards we met up with Stef and Lucy for our dinnertime adventure. They had consulted their trusty (advance copy) travel guidebook and wanted to eat at Serendipity (again, another movie connection). I didn't know that the restaurant was a real one (shrug).

Unfortunately, the wait was kind of long (and obviously we didn't tip the host enough) so we put our names in and thought we'd poke around. By this time we were pretty hungry so we ended up going to the Starlight Diner instead for a Bison burger.

Bison kind of tastes like beef to me. I don't have the tasting skillz to tell you what's different.

So what else? We tried to be crafty and go back to Serendipity for dessert, but again, our tip to the host wasn't enough so we got the shaftily shaft.

Mark it down for next time.

After dinner we dropped Stef and Lucy off at their hotel and Geneman and I went people watching at Union Square for a bit. It reminded me of a busier version of the diag at Michigan - People walking around / hanging out, skateboarders and bikers practicing their skillz, etc.

And that was pretty much the end of day 2.

-Kirk

7 gerbil pileup.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

A handful of gerbils always makes me feel better (I have a cold).

-Kirk

NY recap (part one until I fall asleep)

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

As usual, my four day work week has felt like a five. Not really sure why that happens. Hopefully I can still remember what we did...

My post vacation glow lasted a little longer this time, but I'll get into why a little later.

So where do I start?

Ahh, New York City in the fall...

I arrived around 2ish on Friday afternoon. Nothing major to report, but I was glad to be off the plane because the dude next to me was hogging the arm rest the entire time. I was reduced to waiting for him to shift and then I'd put my arm below his.

Childish I know, but I had to do what I had to do. Luckily I have a big brother so I had prior practice :)

So Geneman was there to pick me up at the airport in his dapper Wall Street work clothes. I, on the other hand, was in scrubby weekend wear so I'm sure we looked like an odd pair walking around.

He's usually better dressed than I am when he visits so I'm used to it by now.

After dropping my stuff off at the apartmtent we headed to get some food at Burger Joint, which is this little hideaway restaruant in the Le Parker Meridien hotel - Geneman, the native New Yorker, knew about this place (and where exactly to find it).

It was really interesting to see the contrast of this greasy little burger place nestled within a posh hotel.

At least now I can say I've dined at Le Parker Meridien.

We poked around downtown on our way to the MoMA. Of course, we had to stop by Trump Tower so I could walk out of the door like the fired Apprentices do.

Except we didn't get into a cab and zoom off (and almost hit someone while pulling out into traffic).

The MoMA was pretty amazing. Plus, Gene knew about the Target hookup so we were able to get in for free (cause it was Target Free Friday Night). We definitely got our money's worth cause we were there for quite a few hours.

The best exhibit for me was the audio exhibit featuring 40 discrete channel surround sound. Unfortunately i was lame and didn't make note of who the artist was...

After that I was pretty much museumed out.

For the evening's entertainment, I got a glimpse into Gene's after work world at the Gotham Girls Roller Derby.

If it weren't for Gene, I would have never gone to see an event like this - It was pretty entertaining. By the end of the night, I was finally getting the gist of how everything worked.

The whole sports thing still baffles me.

After the event (around midnight or so) Gene and I went to Korea Town to get some late night Be Bim Bop. So tasty. Over dinner we caught up on what was (or wasn't) going on with our lives.

Just like old times.

(to be continued)

-Kirk

I <3 NY

Hi all,

Hope you're all doing well ths evening.

It's been quite the few days. I got back from NY Monday morning and still haven't switched back to the normal working people time zone. Once I do, I'll do a trip recap :)

On a quicker note, I had my first guitar lesson today. Pretty basic stuff so far, but I am looking forward to the remaining 7 weeks. Having B as a classmate is pretty funny.

I was talking to a dude that was in my class (while we were waiting for the classroom to open) - He was playing all of these electric guitar riffs and I was asking him how long he'd been playing. We get into the classroom, he asks how old I am.

I told him I was 29 he says, "I knew you were old."

I just started laughing - He immediately realized what he'd said and was trying to take back his words.

He's half my age.

Honestly, at 15 I'd think 29 was pretty damn old too. And then I'd ask if they'd buy me beer.

Just kidding.

I think I thought it was so entertaining because I've never been called "old" - I usually just get the comments of how I look young for my age.

You can't fool kids nowadays.

-Kirk

Nano nano.

Even if you're not in the market for an MP3 player, you must locate your nearest Apple Store (or friend that's a baller) and check out the new iPod Nano.

This thing is dope.

If I used my mp3 player more, I would definitely upgrade to this one. The tv commercial and the regular ads don't do it justice. It was much smaller than I expected, and the screen on it was super nice.

The Nano makes the other iPods look huge.

-Kirk

Oh no they din't!

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

Well, first off, the sex of my gerbils is no longer a mystery. And we know that they're not gay as we originally suspected (not that there's anything wrong with that)...

The brown one is male, the white one is female.

First there were two, now there are 9.

Anyone want a gerbil?

-Kirk

Mysteries of sunblock revealed!

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

I was outside for like 5 hours yesterday - Learning from my previous experience, I actually used sunblock this time. And you know what? It worked.

Imagine that.

No peely nose or ears this time.

So, of course I had to look up how sunblock works :)

Gotta love the internet.

-Kirk

Down on fake bait.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

It's been quite the weekend.

On Saturday I bought my very own fishing rod. I was looking for one of those "afraid of committment" starter packs - Where everything I needed was included in one package. Rod, reel, tackle, etc. Just so I didn't have to buy anything extra to get started.

Oh yeah, it had to be cheap too :) That's really the "afraid of committment" part.

Seriously, I didn't want to get to the pier and figure out I'm missing something. Like hooks.

The store I went to had (seriously) like 10 or 12 different kits you could buy. Thinking that there would only be a few, I didn't do my research beforehand so I spent a little while trying to figure out what was going to suit me best. I finally ended up with the Zebco Ready Tackle. It's a spincast reel and it came with with extra fishing line. Best of all, it's labeled "multi purpose."

Cause I'm a multi-purpose type of guy.

I figured I coudln't go wrong, right? With my multi-purpose fishing kit I was expecting to catch anything from a minnow to a whale - whichever came first. I wasn't going to be picky.

However, looking back (i.e., checking on the internet when I got home) I probably should have gone with the 202, which is supposedly "the world's most popular spincast reel."

On a more geeky note, I could definitely tell a difference in mechanicals from B's "more premium" fishing gear to my own.

Oh well, next time. It's hard to get a good idea of how something works when everything's hermetically sealed in plastic.

So anyway, fast forward to today...

My mom had this fundraiser to attend at Stony Creek today. It had been a while since I'd been there, so I agreed to be her chauffeur and go. As an added bonus, they have a fishing pier...

We spent a while at the park, from mid morning to about mid-afternoon. Got some good eats and relaxation time.

I even dusted off the old kite and tried to fly it. No such luck - the breeze didn't stay strong enough to keep the kite in flight for more than a few minutes..

The wind blows.

But it's ok, at least I know it still works. I haven't flown that kite in at least 5 years or so.

It's like riding a bicycle...

There was a dude trying to fly a kite as well. He was running his ass off to keep his kite up in the air.

Overall, the weather was nice. Cool and breezy in the shade, hot and sunny otherwise.

At the end of the day, we drove out to the pier and I tried my luck at fishing for about 30 minutes.

Nothin.

There were quite a few factors that contribubted. I had over 10 types of "multi-purpose" lures and not a clue when to use where. So I went random.

But man, there was this older dude on the pier that was using live bait.

That's the good hook.

(no pun intended). It seemed like about very other time he cast, he'd catch something. Nothing worth keeping, but it looked like he was just pulling them out of the lake.

I was just there with my rubbery gummy bait that smelled funny.

For real - it reeks of like industrial solvents.

So needless to say, I kind of lost interest. I'm going to have to ask B about what to use and how to set up my gear properly for the lake.

-Kirk

Ghetto guitar.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

I've finally taken one of the first steps and am signed up to start guitar lessons in 2 weeks. For 8 weeks I will be honing my musical skillz and trying to play acoustic guitar like John Mayer or Dave Matthews.

Well, at least aspiring to play like them.

What's up with the DMB video for Dreamgirl? Is it a little creepy / mildly disturbing for you too?

Anyway...

On the dream front, I've been having these weird random flashbacks this past week or so.

Of women in my past.

Usually this has meant that it was of the X. But this time it's totally not. It's really quite weird. I just wake up knowing that I've seen them.

There's been two:

• One was a lady from grad school-ish time - Didn't really date per se. But I dreamt that I was somewhere (like the movies or the mall or something) and she saw me. I could hear her talking to whoever she was with (I think it was a dude), saying that she knew me but didn't want to say hi.
• The other one was a girl that I knew at caomp - (this is going waaaay waaaay back). A very rated G summer camp "girlfriend" if you will. The funny thing was that I met her at umich however many years later. Unfortunately there was no real context of dream setting, just woke up that morning thinking that I had seen her.

Random.

-Kirk

Fish stories.

Hi all,

Hope you're having a nice holiday weekend.

The fishing trip was a success and tons of fun! We couldn't have asked for a nicer day weatherwise. At times, a tad windy making the waters a tad choppy, but I really can't complain.

Nobody got sick and we did catch stuff. Just nothing large enough worth keeping.

I had the first catch of the day - A very small perch.

I caught many small perch - Just like six inches long or so. And that was probably one of the bigger ones :)

It's all for the experience, right?

I think the adult fish weren't going to fall for that minnow on a hook trick. They've been there, done that.

I took pictures of each fish I caught, and after a while, they started looking all the same...

(little did I know, I just kept hookin the same one) Just kidding.

And, I got some nice photos of the scenery as well. We had cloudless skies, lots of sun, and we saw plenty of boats.

I know, I know, I need to post some pics so I'll do it sometime...

I got a little sunburned - My face, neck, and ears felt hot last night. And once in a while (when I Was getting tired), I would still feel like I was on the water with the waves.

A souvenir, perhaps?

So do I see any fishing trips in the future? Maybe. We'll have to see if the situation comes up again. And I'm legal until March cause my fishing license says so...

I definitely enjoy being on the water, that's for sure. There's something about just cruising, the wind, and the smell of the nice clean air. It's like the convertible lifestyle that I covet so much.

B was the man. He manoeuvred that boat trailer with mad skillz. He made backing in the boat and getting it on the trailer look like it was cake. He also hooked me up his gear to catch our fish.

It does give me a different perspective of B though - I will never look at him the same whenever I see him in his office cubicle.

-Kirk

Goin' fishin'

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

Tomorrow B's taking me fishin'. I need to be there by 7:30 a.m.

These early Saturday mornings have got to stop.

Help me by keeping your fingers crossed for calm waters and that I don't yack.

-Kirk

East Coast recap (part 2)

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

So where was I? I don't remember what I was doing last night (why I didn't have a blog entry). Oh yeah, now I remember. I got caught up into watching the Real World.

So where was I? I left off towards the end of the day in D.C., right?

So Saturday evening we left the nation's capital and went back to JDO's house.

By this time, I was starting to feel sleepy.

Very sleepy.

It didn't help that JDO and Lisa Lisa had this cmagic ouch in their house that no matter how you sat in it, you eventually became pretty much horizontal. You just kind of sunk in it after a little while. It also seduced and lured you in to sleepytime.

Where was this couch when I was in college? I can see visits from the opposite sex ending differently...

Anyway, we watched some music videos.

Nodding off once in a while.

So by that time, it was time for dinner. Lisa Lisa cooked this crazy steak and potatoe dinner for us. I hadn't had a good piece o steak in a long long time. Anyway, After my McDonalds earlier on in the day and then the steak dinner, I was guilted into having a few leaves of salad as well.

Just for a symbolic gesture and nutritional balance, of course.

After dinner we watched the original Wallace and Gromit shorts on DVD. I've always liked seeing the characters, but I'd never seen the actual shorts. It's amazing what they do with claymation. I coudln't imagine how much time and patience it takes to do a scene though.

I can't wait for the movie to come out.

One other thing of note - we had homemade Oatmeal and Butterscotch for dessert. and to top it all off, it was served à la mode.

Love it.

So now I know I like butterscotch. Who knew?

So on to the next day...

On Sunday, we saw the 40 Year-Old Virgin. Overall it was a great comedy. We really enjoyed it.

We may have been the only ones in the theater that enjoyed it, we're not sure.

There were times when I felt like we were the only ones laughing in the theater. Seriously. It was pretty quiet And it wasn't just in some parts. It seemed like the entire movie.

(shrug)

I guess the silver lining when nobody else laughs is that we were able to catch all the dialogue throughout the entire movie.

For dinner, we went to thise neat little Italian Restaurant called Olazzo. I strongly recommend the Shrimp Rose dish (penne pasta and sautéed shrimp in a creamy tomato sauce). I'm all about the independent restaurants when I travel. The restaurant had a great ambience and feel to it - Complete with "simulated" fireplace :)

After dinner, we explored JDO and Lisa Lisa's 'hood and took their dog Zoe for a walk in a little roadside park. By this time, the weather had really cooled down so it was actually nice to walk around outside without breaking into a sweat. I got to snap some pictures too, which was nice.

The night was topped off with watching the MTV VMAs. I don't know if it's because I'm not as easily impressed anymore, but to me it wasn't anything majorly exciting or anything of note.

You had to like rap music though :)

Unforutnately we were lame and didn't finish watching the whole thing. I was falling asleep.

Blame it on the couch.

So Monday, JDO took me to the furniture store of the man. Similar to all shopping experiences, I recommend going during the weekday. It wasn't crowded at all. We had our Sweedish meatball lunch and we cruised the store.

Loved the food, but the major bummer was that they didn't have my favorite lingonberry juice. They were actually out of everything except water, Diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew.

Dissed.

Anyway, shopping was rather light for me - I knew whatever I bought, I'd have to carry home on the plane. And I didn't want to check my bag either. So if it didn't fit in my carry on, I wasn't going to get it. It was all good though - there wasn't anything I absolutely had to have.

Once the Ikea experience was over, it was time to return to the airport and get into the big metal tube and fly back home.

Like before, the flight was early so I got home like 20 minutes before I was supposed to. Only one screaming kid this time.

It was great seeing JDO and Lisa Lisa. It had been like 3 years or so since I saw them in Ann Arbor witih my brother.

Special thanks to them for letting me stay at their house. Hopefully they'll come and visit me sometime :)

-Kirk