This week it's fall

If you don't take a picture of something, did it really happen? Well I've been slacking as usual on photographically documenting my life, so the following written (!!) description will have to suffice.

Tuesday night I hosted a dumpling party for the Mid-Autumn Festival (one night early, I know) and it was a great success! I was a little worried for a bit that there wouldn't be enough dumplings, since instead of subwaying it down to chinatown to buy some bags of frozen dumplings in bulk, I just walked to ktown and bought a couple bags from the grocery store. I thought it would be fine since other people promised to bring food as well... but then lo and behold, most ending up bring alochol instead! Which is cool, I will never turn down wine presents, but it was a DUMPLING party, not a party party. Anyway, like I said, it was fine in the end and everyone got enough to eat and drink and now I have enough leftover mooncake to last me until the next fall equinox.

Wednesday after work I headed down to 14th street with my coworkers for an annual literary agent cocktail party. This year it was held at the Norwood Club, and FOOLISH ME I thought there would be pictures of it online so I didn't take any with my trusty blackberry but of course it is an uber exclusive members only type establishment, so there aren't many photos. You can sort of get an idea from the website (norwoodclub.com) but actually the interior is about 75% cooler than the pictures would suggest. One lady told us that she had lived around the corner for 25 years and never known the place existed until now... yeah, that's how cool of a place it is.

My coworker liked the place so much that she emailed them and is going on a guided tour next week, and found out that fortunately right now they are doing a special discount membership fee for anyone under 30 (which she is). Only 800! And cue "Only in New York" comments from the rest of the world...

Anyway, twas another good week of catching up with old friends and meeting some new people and oh yes, TV is back on again! So far I am caught up with my shows except I still need to watch the premiere of Boardwalk Empire, since I've been hearing good things (and really, it seems hard for HBO to do a bad show). I'm going to keep fighting off this cold thing I've had going on the past couple days and enjoy the last couple days of sunshine and warmth before the real fall weather sets in. Happy Friday --> weekend!

an encounter

THE SCENE: It is raining. I have just crossed the street from the Times Square subway and am heading home. Luckily I have an umbrella.

Lady behind me: Excuse me! Miss! Miss!

(I turn at the corner, thinking I have either a) dropped something or b) she desperately needs directions. Two ladies with umbrellas approach.)

First lady: Hi, we're with the somethingsomething and we'd like to ask you a question.

(I brace myself. Where do I cut my hair?)

First lady: Have you ever seen the face of the Lady God in the Bible?

Me: (Blink. Stare.) No.

First lady: Could we show you?

Second lady: Are you Christian?

Me, cutting her off: I'm actually going to meet someone so I have to go.

Me, hurrying down the sidewalk: What? What???

The end. Definitely stranger than three guys in a cab soliciting with "You wanna go to a club and hang out? You wanna make out?" at 10:30pm, but no less ridiculous.


And on another note--Can a person live on wine and cheese alone? I'd like to think so.

I don't even know

A few weeks ago marked my one year anniversary at my company, and after just now going back through all my blog posts from the last year I am quite confused. Where has the time gone? But it's like... if time is a river, and I'm in a boat on that river, I am just drifting from shore to shore while the tide steadily pushes me forward. I may wish I could debunk on one shore and just stay there for awhile (and sometimes I am lucky to land on the correct shore and vacation there for a bit) but in the end I am back in the boat being ushered along to some unforeseeable destination.

Ok, clearly it is too early on a Monday morning for Homeric-type similes. Let's cover the basics. Work is good; successfully read two manuscripts this weekend and am about to finish a third. Gotta get some basic housecleaning done around the office that I've been putting off for too long. It's really a shame that the Procrastination Demon has clung to me even after school has ended... I think I indulged it too long and now can't seem to throw it off.

Friends and family have come to visit recently and that's always a good time. Excursions included: biking to Brooklyn and up the West Side of Manhattan, eating a looooooot of food in Chinatown, dining on the last vestiges of Restaurant Week (at Butter mmmmm) and visiting the Whitney. More friends are coming to visit this weekend for birthday celebrations (not mine), so that should be crazyfun times as well.

What else. Fall weather means I have finally started cooking for myself again, for realz. Also despite the necessity of (or is it for? Dear God my brain is mush after a year and some months out of school) sweaters, we finally made it to the Astoria beer garden last Saturday and that was quite enjoyable. I also finally made it to McSorley's, where I was pleasantly surprised that we weren't harrassed by the waiters, the beer was quite cheap, and we made friends with our neighbors at the table. (Note: by friends I mean we challenged them to eat 4 Saltines in one minute and it was a HILARIOUS FAILURE).

I will try my darnest not to be so neglectful of this blog but honestly I shouldn't make any promises (blame the Procrastination Demon again). Tally ho!

Things I have seen recently

1. Ethan Hawke at 12th Street Ale House. He was wearing a trucker hat and when he left J sat down in his seat.

2. An Olsen quickly exiting a black SUV on Clinton Street.

3. Inception. My mind was successfully blown.

4. Mad Men premiere. God that show is amazing.

5. The Cash Cab! Right outside C+C's apartment! Unfortunately Ben (the driver) was nowhere in sight, and there were already people in the cab signing waivers for that particular filming... so, no dice. But now we know what it looks like!

6. This morning as I turned the corner right outside my apartment, they were filming Law and Order SVU in the parking lot I always pass on the way to and from work. I sort of recognized the guy (Stabler) but had to confirm with a security dude that it was indeed L&O.

Also I've been tending to run in to all sorts of random acquaintances in my new neighborhood. That's just how life in the city is, you know? Feel free to place bets on my next awesome sighting. I've got my fingers crossed for Gossip Girl or the movie Friends with Benefits (starring JT hahaha). Oh wait! According to http://www.onlocationvacations.com/2010/07/27/filming-locations-in-nyc-for-wednesday-july-28-2010-including-%E2%80%98gossip-girl%E2%80%99-%E2%80%98blue-bloods%E2%80%99/ Joseph Gordon-Levitt (my new fave person) is filming today in very west Chelsea somewhere. Ahhh, JGL, so close and yet so far!

Melting

So I went from a weekend of the above idyllic landscape back to the disgustingly hot cement jungle yesterday, and it's only gotten worse from there. I think we had a record breaking high of 100 something degrees today.

I finished reading THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE over the weekend holiday and came back to find two awesome things: 1) an article sent by Padre about the upswing in international crime fiction publication (hurray literature in translation!) and 2) more Sookie Stackhouse books for me from my coworker.

I don't really have much else to say except that I already miss all the wonderful food that was always sitting around this weekend. Why oh why didn't I think to smuggle any leftovers back on the plane? Speaking of the plane, I saw some very awesome fireworks as I was landing. And part of the Macy's show as I was taxi-ing over the bridge to Manhattan... gotta make it a priority to see that whole thing next year. Maybe even from my very own rooftop!

Ok well this weather makes me too exhausted to even type more, so that's all for now. Will perhaps have a better and more thorough update once this heat wave is over (and please God make that happen sooner rather than later).

I guess it's been awhile

I had a request for an update so here goes:

--Housewarming party was a success! It was mad hot and we nearly ran out of beer but all in all good times were had.
--Went to a Mets game last week and saw them choke in the 7th inning and therefore lose to the Tigers. But you know what is more exciting than baseball? THE WORLD CUP. And so distracting since all of the games are on during work hours! I'm pretty excited for the Paraguay-Japan game tomorrow, since it'd be cool to see some Asian representation in the 2nd round. And hurray for Germany yesterday. Man I wish I were watching the games in the actual stadium... I bet it's even nice and cool there...
--IT IS HOT HERE. UGH.

What else? Here are some movies I've seen recently:
Avatar: On the HD Blue Ray player on our 46 inch TV. Was inevitably disappointed by the bad writing though.
Goldfinger: In Bryant Park for HBO free movie night. Was sooooo crowded but enjoyable. No mosquito bites!
Back to the Future (1 and 2): We've instigated a weekly movie night at our apt and these have been the last two picks.
Toy Story 3 (in 3D): Used my free movie pass to see this one this weekend! It was pretty good but I think people hyped it up for me. It was no Wall-E or UP but the short feature before the movie was really really good.

And am currently reading THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE although my reading time seems to have disappeared now that I no longer ride the subway to and from work. Which by no means is a complaint. Just stepping foot in the subway now is like stepping in to hell's sauna, and requires immediate showering upon leaving. Gross.

Also we finally have internet at our apt now, so that means I can catch up on True Blood, Top Chef, and SYTYCD. That's what I'll be doing after work this week until it's time to head off to the airport for some fun in the sun this weekend. Looking forward to getting a tan!

People who walk to work

know how to walk. Walking up 6th avenue at 8:45am is much better than trying to navigate it at any other time of the day. People walking to work keep a brisk pace, walk in pairs of two abreast at most, and never stop suddenly to take pictures or consult a map. People who smoke while they walk to work... well they're just gross. But at least they are easily side-stepped.

This weekend was pretty awesomesauce. Friday was the typical after work happy hour drinks and dinner and chilling out. Saturday I had an awesome Vietnamese sandwich for lunch that was made more awesome because I ordered it off the menu. That afternoon despite the somewhat crippling heat we all made an adventurous trip to the ice cream cone-shaped Governor's Island, which, despite it's creepy "government only, unavailable to the public" sections, was quite nice and would be a cool place to bike around one day.

We went there for a concert that was supposed to start at 8, but didn't realize there were going to be two opening bands. The first opening band was a little strange but all right; their music was very chill but unfortunately there was no grassy hill to sit on like in Prospect Park. Since we had things to do that night, we didn't even stick around for the main band (Yeasayer) and apparently they didn't actually come on until 10:30ish. By that time I was making my way down ninth ave to the beergarden at the Standard Hotel. I'm glad I went because it was a really cool space, though given the line and the $8 per beer price tag I doubt I'll go back anytime soon.

Sunday: brunch in Hell's Kitchen that took forever, built my bedframe now my bed it a good foot or so off the ground which means I can finally put away the rest of my clothes, took a nap, subway-ed up to central park west around 101st and had a lazy late afternoon watching ducks and making flower necklaces. Finished off the weekend at pourhouse trying to care about the basketball game and failing, but really not a bad way to end a sweet weekend.

Now back to the grind! Intern interviewing time, woohoo. I wonder who my summer underlings will turn out to be.