Sheep's Meadow

I went to Central Park today with Ali. We sat on Sheep's Meadow and read for an hour. There were so many people playing frisbee and picnicing. It was really relaxing. I could have stayed there for hours. Unfortunately, it got very windy and cloudy, so we went to Starbucks for a hot white chocolate.

On the subway ride home, there was a man asking for someone to give up there seat for another guy that was holding a baby. He was being pretty confrontational about it, but the guy with the baby didn't even want to sit down. Then, the man starting talking about the differences between black people and white people in society. Really, he was just talking to himself...just very loud.

The Poisonwood Bible

Every day I travel to Africa for a few minutes when I read my new book, The Poisonwood Bible. The story is of a Christian family that goes on a mission to Africa. I haven't read too much of the book yet, but I think I'm really going to like it. The story is told by the three daughters in the family. Each of them have their own perceptions of the people and culture of Africa. I am starting to learn the girl's personailities already as well.

The character I like best so far is Adah. She is a twin, but unfortunately her brain didn't develop properly so she doesn't function 100% normally. My favorite quote of hers...

pg. 34 "It is true I do not speak as well as I can think. But that is true of most people, as nearly as I can tell."

The Poisonwood Bible
Author: Barbara Kingsolver

My portrait

On the subway after work, a homeless person sketched my portrait. The gentleman sitting next to me gave the homeless man some money, so I could take it home. There are so many interesting people in New York....

Some New Yorker's I've met....

I have been really lucky to work with such great people. I also got really luck with my roommates because they are so chill.

There are a few other New Yorkers that I interact with on a daily basis as well that probably don't know my name, but nonetheless they've made an impression on me since I've been here.

First, there's Delasia. She's the bank teller that I go to see almost everyday for work. She' a large black woman that is quite tempermental. I know she's a nice person because she laughs with her co-workers and makes jokes with them. She also has a gentleman that visits her pretty often. She tries to pretend she's not happy when he visits, but everyone knows she likes him. However, with me she always so tough. I seriously feel like I'm in line waiting for the soup nazi every time I go to the bank. You see, she picks on every little mistake on my banking deposit slips or funds transfer forms or whatever I have to do at the bank. I give her my deposit slip and I just wait to see if I pass her scrunity that day. She's extremely brief and short with me. However, she does say "Have a nice day" when I'm leaving, but I don't think she really means it.

Next, there's the dude selling magazines at the 103rd street station. I don't know what his name is, but he's very nice. I was going to buy a magazine one day, but then when I was checking out I realized I had no cash. I was just going to forget the magazine and move on, but he insisted I take the magazine and pay him tomorrow. I felt weird about taking the magazine without paying, but I promised I would be back tomorrow with the three bucks. He was a little surprised the next day to see me. I think he forgot about it! Anyway, I never thought someone would do that in New York.

I'll tell you about more interesting characters later!

Friday Night!

I went to a Brazilian restaurant called Boca Chica in the Lower East Side on Friday night with Jill and a few other friends. The food was really good and the drinks were even better! We cruised to a bar called Pianos after dinner. Jill and I danced for a while. There was a small dance floor upstairs in the lounge area. It was really chill. I might go there again. You could pay $20.00 to see a live band and a comedian which was in another part of the bar, but we weren't up for it.

Crash

After sleeping in and doing laundry, I met up with Ali near Riverside Park. We walked about 30 blocks down the river. It was a cool park. However, there were sections that the freeway was way too close and it made it very noisy. It was cool to see little kids playing baseball and other people having a picnic. There were tons of dogs..which made Ali very unhappy as usual.

AFter that, we went to see the movie Crash. I wasn't exactly sure what the movie was going to be about, but I ended up really liking it. I think most of the stereotypes presented were very real, especially in a city like Los Angeles, where the story is set. The director did a good job at showing us how stupid our stereotypes really are and how incorrect they can be if you really knew the person. Each character was developed pretty well, some more than others...very often the characters had different aspects to them that made them complicated and interesting. I like that. I would definitely recommend it!

We tried to get some dinner at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station after the movie, but they stop seating people at 9:30pm and it was 10pm by the time we got there. We ended up grabbing italian food in Time Square! It was another great day in NYC!

Nat. History Museum, Marble Cemetery, Wash. Park

I was supposed to go to a Yankees game today, but the weather wasn't that great, so the group decided to go another day. I went to the Museum of Natural History instead. It was a very cool place. Lots of cool exhibits, educational videos, and stuffed animals!! There were lots of families with kids, especially in the dinosaur exhibit section. What's with kids and dinosaurs?

After having an expensive bite to eat at the museum, I met Simonetta and Jan and the NYC Marble Cemetaries down in the Lower East Side. It sounds a bit morbid to visit a cemetery, but these cemeteries are the oldest public non-sectarian (that means not of one particular religion) cemetaries in New York City. You can visit the webiste for more info. (www.nycmc.org) They are normally not open to the public. They were well kept up and peaceful. Some former mayors of New York are buried there as well as other famous New Yorkers.

Then, we went for a coffee and a stroll in the Village. I stopped for a while in Washington Park and watched some street performers. It was nice weather, so I read my book for a while.

Now, I'm beat and thinking about dinner.

Another fine day

Today, was a fine day in New York. I woke up around 11am and went for a jog in Central Park. I live only a few blocks away, so it's quite close. The park was full of other joggers, bikers, and little leaguers. It was pretty cloudy and windy, so I didn't stay too long.

I did my laundry at the place around the corner from my apartment. It was busy in there. Lots of people do laundry on Saturday afternoon. It sucks because while I was out the FedEx truck came by with the bookcase I bought. Hopefully, they'll catch me tomorrow.

I got my nails done at the local place. It was less expensive than in California and they did a very good job. I'll definitely go back. It was great because all the girls that work there only spoke spanish, so we were all chatting about random stuff. They make a lot of money on tips...I wonder if that's all they get paid or if they get an hourly wage too. It's got to suck to scrap old ladies feet all day for only a $2.00 to $5.00 tip.

I bought a coffee at the Silver Moon Cafe and it was pretty bad. I'm not an expert on coffee or anything, but I do drink it often and I know when I get a bad coffee. I'll probably give them another chance because it could have just been the person making it for me or a bad batch or something. We'll see....

Went to dinner with Ali and Alice in Time Square. It's getting busier down there as the summer gets closer and closer. It sure is a great place to buy NYC souvenirs though. I'll have to hit it up before I go back to California this month.

Well....till tomorrow.....

New York Runners

Lately, I've been noticing a lot of people running on the street. It doesn't matter if the woman is in heels or if the guy is in a suit....they just charge down the pavement. I wonder where they're going that they need to run. Running can't really help get you there that was faster, but who knows...? If you are one of those NYC runners..let me know where you're going....

Hung out with my roommates tonight. We had some good Chinese food and did the girl talk thing. I feel really blessed to have found such normal and nice people to live with. I'm down for the next roomie night!

Can't wait for the weekend!! Tomorrow is Friday! (my day)

I hate putting together furniture

I bought a desk from Staples to start filling my empty room. It arrived today in 20 pieces. It took me about two and a half hours to put it together. I can totally see why people spend a lot of money on furniture that is already put together. It looks pretty good now, so it was worth the time and effort.