bird by bird

My first discovery of Dave Matthews started on my first visit to New York City in 2005 when EH, JK, and I took cat naps listening to "Satellite" between city exploring adventures. My love for the band grew with my proximity to a certain DMB enthusiast and the frequent burned CD's that he sent me one summer. Last month when I saw that their Caravan tour was coming to New York, it was decided and EH and I scooped up tickets (and one more for EH's DMB lovin' mama) for day 2 of the tour. I. was. pumped. And then there was news of a stupid little tropical storm called Irene that messed everything up! Saturday and Sunday shows were cancelled (even Bloomberg broke the news), and EH, TH, and I were heartbroken. But then we re-read our bad news bearing emails and realized that we could still attend Friday's show. Though we would be late, we could still go. So we went. We took the A, then the R, then a mile walk, then a ferry, then another mile walk. We zig-zagged

Friday I took my students on a field trip to the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked across it, got ice cream in Brooklyn, and took the train home. Not the best field trip I've ever organized, but walking the bridge has been on my NYC to do list for months so I killed both those birds with one stone. (I've always hated that expression...) Pictures!

I knew that when I moved to New York City I would have to deal with annoying crowds, high prices, high crime rates but what I didn't expect was awful weather . Since January, I have survived a blizzard, heat wave, earthquake, and now a hurricane. I'm beginning to think that NYC wants me gone. But too bad; I'm staying put and sticking it out, and so are the rest of the 8 million NY residents. Bring it on Mama Nature; we're not going anywhere. (But we are still going to complain about it.. and make ridiculous youtube videos) And now sit back, relax, and enjoy a video montage of the weather in NYC since I moved here. I moved to NYC the night of January 26, 2011 during the worst snow storm of the winter. WHAT THE F! Then in July, I survived the heat wave that broke records along the East coast. And it was hot, but it wasn't that hot, you morons. Last week, I felt the rumble of the earthquake as I was teaching adjective clauses. My neighbor felt it too. And

Everyone is FREAKING OUT about Irene. I have a book to finish this weekend, so I'm not too worried about it. Still, I hope THIS doesn't happen. Except the part about Jake Gyllenhaal. That could happen. That would be nice.

"They say the grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it. So, water it."

Thanks to JG for the birthday gift of cheesecake!! I enjoyed it with new NYC friend KS at Cafe Lalo, the cafe from You've Got Mail . I didn't bring a rose, but maybe I should have...

When people who have never been to NYC think of NYC, they naturally look to the entertainment industry to most realistically capture the true essence of the city. They think FRIENDS . They think  Sex and the City . They think Law and Order . Most of the time these depictions are wrong, waaay wrong. But sometimes they are right. Here's how my life in NYC is like.... ... FRIENDS : Ross, Rachel, and the gang had Central Perk and Gunther. EH and I have Crocodile Lounge and our favorite bearded bartender Fred. The friends have "Naked Guy" in the building across the street. We have hock-a-loogie guy who is in the building over and whose bathroom window is within arm's reach of ours.  In FRIENDS, Joey is a struggling actor.  In my life, I am just struggling. ... Sex and the City : Samantha, Miranda, Charlotte, and Carrie get together to talk about men and sex. I get together with my girlfriends to talk about pretty much everything else.  They drink twenty dolla

a la vi.sualize.us

SS introduced me to these videos a couple weeks ago, and I am addicted!! So hilarious!!! I feel a special connection with the brunch episode because (1) I've recently discovered the joy of NYC brunch and (2) I have a similar experience making pancakes (sober). This girl rocks and oddly, she makes me extremely thirsty.

"I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not fuck, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together, in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane." John Green, Looking for Alaska

The Harlem Post Office may HATE me but my friends LOVE me!! Thanks for all the birthday love!

EH and I have lived in our apartment for 194 days without cable, and it's been fine (sarcastic, alert) just fine . We have a TV, and we connect it to our computers to watch Netflix and Hulu which allows us to watch some shows, but it is a definite hassle. We live in New York City, so it's not like we spend a ton of time wanting to sit and watch mindless television. But we have our moments. And then there are those TV occasions like, for example, the Superbowl, when we had to go to a Manhattan bar and drink $8 beers (I sipped mine all night long). There were more people in our group than we had chairs, and EH and I had to share one. It was fine , but we wished we had cable. Also, it would have been nice to have cable for the Oscars. At the time, I was sick with the flu (having just returned from the Poconos babysitting adventure) and wanted desperately to snuggle in with some soup watching red carpet grandeur all night. I tried to find it online but was unsuccessful. Inste

Happy Anniversary to my mama who DOES dance and my daddy who DID rock and roll!

While EH and I are both decidedly NOT real Yankees fans,  we couldn't help but get a little giddy as we suited up in our blue t-shirts and headed to Yankees Stadium in the Bronx. There was blue everywhere,  Yankees everywhere, and I was immediately caught up in yankee-fever. Within the first 2 minutes of arrival to the stadium, I had already come dangerously close to paying $10 for a foam finger. EH said to the vendor, "$10?? For foam??" She was right. So I didn't buy it. That $10 went to a beer instead. Inside the stadium, we found our seats and were pleasantly surprised that our noses, in fact, were not bleeding. We could see everything: the players, the field, the sky. It was good enough for us. We sat for a minute taking in the scene, the experience of it all. Something was missing, so we went to get beer and fried food. Ah, much better. As we were waiting in line, deep in contemplation about what vendor had the best looking french fries, we realized that we wer

I took this picture a few weeks ago at Central Park when I was on a field trip with my students. I swear to God that I just walked past and was like, "Huh. That would make a cool picture." This is why I love this city. 

Today is my last day as a 24 year old, and for a brief moment this morning, I thought it was going to be my last day alive. This morning I fainted on the train. (ok ok that was a little melodramatic. But I did get sick, and it was really scary. And now I'm going to tell you the whole, long story) I wake up at 5:45 having just had a nightmare about an angry Sudanese soldier wanting to be my new roommate. I have an awful migraine so I pop in a migraine pill, roll over, and go back to sleep for two more hours. I wake up involuntarily and eat "Gorilla Munch" (Whole Foods version of "Kix") while reading last weekends "Modern Love." I get dressed, throw on some mascara, and head out the door to the subway. I'm tired but not any more so than I usually am at the beginning of the week. I see the A train arriving just as I get to the platform and hop on, even though it's crowded and I'll have to transfer at Columbus Circle. I'm jamming to t

At noon I heard in the break room that Aretha Franklin was performing a free show at Coney Island that night. At 2:00 I snuck out of class and texted my new friend KS to see if she wanted to go. At 4:00 she said YES, and we planned to met there; I'd bring a blanket. At 6:00 I left my apartment for an hour and a half subway journey to Coney Island. At 8:00 KS met me on the boardwalk since the line was too long, but we could still see and hear Aretha from outside the stadium. She still feels like a Natural Woman and it still sounded great. Then we walked down the boardwalk ice cream cones in hand, ocean to our right, Aretha to our left. We found a spot on a bench and watched the carnival rides, I with horror, KS with excitement. We agreed that the night would have been a perfect date night, but since KS's boyfriend is still in NE and mine.. well.. doesn't exist, we agreed that it was still fun being with each other anyway. The conversation almost drove me to the deep

EH is the best (except for the whole moving out thing... I kid)! She bought us tickets to the Yankees/Angels game for my birthday! I decided that it's best to be a Yankees fan on my birthday because it's the only way I'll be safe from the scorn of my friends and family. You can't disown me on my birthday ! Plus, I'm really just in it for the beer and the cheering. I love beer and cheering. We will be sure to take pictures (and drink beer and cheer) and report back. Take us out to the ball game!

Last Saturday, I met some friends at the Met to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit, "Savage Beauty."The exhibit closed to the public the next day, and I should have known that there would be a line.. but I underestimated the popularity of the obscure and grotesque designer, and we remained in that line for over two and a half hours. But when we were finally let in and as we walked past garments (because I know no other word to describe them), I was awestruck and to be quite honest, a little terrified. It was.. unbelievable. Obviously photographs weren't allowed, and even if they had been, they wouldn't have captured all that I saw. But never fear! I found a link! Check it out! Alexander McQueen art, exhibit, and video

Let me lay on the couch and tell you about my dream. Analysis shouldn't be difficult. Last night I had a dream that I was at some sort of wedding convention center/town/complex thing that was the setting for hundreds of weddings that were all going on.. at the same time. There were brides everywhere. Big brides. Small brides. Beautiful brides. Not so beautiful brides. And following every bride was a trail of women in identical bridesmaid dresses following her. Everyone was in a hurry. There were photos being taken left and right, and the scene resembled a Santa taking pictures with kids at the mall around Christmas except there was no line, no organization. Just brides and their maids running around and photographers yelling directions. Line up! Faces inward! Flowers up! We had to move locations rapidly but luckily there was a train system throughout the complex to get the wedding women from one photo location to the next. Yes, the subway was in my dreams. I was wearing yellow.