Life in Moo Town
Roomie's B-day
I got called on in class this morning and hadn't adequately prepared but I BSed it just fine. So tired right now. I went to an Impact mixer at 6 to volunteer to help with poll monitoring during the presidential election. I went to a dessert event with the Journal of Gener and Law at 8 and somewhere in the middle grabbed some dinner. The cakes at the dessert event weren't bad and I signed up to work on the journal 'cause it's not like I'm busy or anything (smell the sarcasm). After that I went to a bar on the upper east side for one of my roommates' birthday. It was a pain to get there; took about an hour each way. Had to take the 1/9 down to times square, transfer to the 7 to grand central station, then take the 4/5/6 up again on the other side of central park. Everyone was playing beer pong. I just ordered a vodka tonic. Didn't really know anyone. They were all 3Ls. Went home early, around 12:30. Course it took me until 1:30 to get back. It's really lonely to be surrounded by people having a good time when you don't have friends of your own. Almost worse than just being alone. I miss Davis.
Studying Law
The thing that really shocks me about the study of law is how straight forward and simple it is. Admittedly we get a large reading load and the material is dense. But the legal reasoning and the decisions of judges are prety much in plain English. This is nowhere near as challenging as science where the actual concepts are difficult to grasp. In legal reading you can get most of the message just skimming. Try skimming a chemistry book...not useful.
Fresh Direct
Got woken up at 5AM by Danny coming in to move out more of his stuff. What the hell was he smoking? 5AM?!? Why would you break into someone's house to move things at 5AM? So anyway, I got no sleep. Legal methods was therefore a drag. Did my laundry. Got Kaplan to agree to pay me tomorrow. We'll see if they actually do. Ordered my groceries online from fresh direct. Slacked. Didn't do my reading. Hopefully won't get called on tomorrow. Made some pasta for dinner. Oh, I had pizza for lunch with the young democrats. Had some people over to watch the daily show. Another day.
My New Role as Tour Guide
Busy Day. Friends came to visit from Davis. Showed one of them around the city. The law school. The University. Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty. Battery Park. Downtown. Times Square. So tired. By the way, Ellis Island wasn't that cool. Coulda basically read a textbook instead. Oh well. Good view of lady liberty. Ate at a kosher Indian place downtown. Pretty good. We were really hungry by then though so I don't know if I was objective. Gonna try to do laundry, get a shower and start my memo before bed. Then it's early class tomorrow. MY poor friend has to sleep on the couch and my roommates are having a party in there. Dunno how this is gonna work.
Picnic in Central Park
Today was pretty laid bak. Couldn't really have been otherwise due to the weather. Hot and humid. Not conducive to anything other than a very slow-paced day. I went to the Youth Justice/Environmental picnic at 1. Out of the 50 people who signed up to go, only 10 actually showed up. Needless to say, there was a lotta food to go around. The girls running the event were all really nice and we talked about their experiences doing public interest work. We gave some leftovers to protesters in the park making anti-bush signs and some to a few homeless people in the park. The rest we took back to munch on tomorrow (there were LOTS of leftovers). It was too hot to study in my apartment so I went to the Drapkin Lounge in the law school and did my reading for Monday. With the Ellis Island trip tomorrow and guests coming I figure I won't have another chance before class. I also finished off the IRAC I was working on for a dog bite case due Tuesday. Now I just need to write a memo for Friday I think and I'm pretty much set. I did a significant amount of procrastinating and lazing around on the couch watching crappy TV too. All in a day's work.
Shabbat With Classmates
This morning we had a mock trial in class so I pretty much tuned out. My mind just hasn't been on school these last couple days. I got some pizza for lunch but I wasn't really hungry. I still felt sick from yesterday's phone call. My second class was pretty boring and I decided to walk around afterwards to try to clear my head. I went all the way around campus and even trough Barnard but it didn't help. So I went to the gym. If I can't solve my mental hangup I can at least get some physical release of emotional tension. Made things a bit better but still felt ill. I was going to IRAC a case afterwards but I ended up just moping. I did get a call from some distant relative but it wasn't overly helpful. I got an invitation from the guy who sits behind me to shabbat and I was glad to accept. I went to Ramath Orah at 7 for services and the melodies were so beautiful I was almost moved to tears. It felt really good to be there. Maybe I'm getting mushy in my old age. Afterwards a bunch of us 1Ls went to my friends house for dinner which was great. Lotsa food, good company. Cheered me up some. I'm still gonna die alone though. W/e. Got home around 2AM. Have to wake up for a pro bono picnic tomorrow. We'll see if that happens. THe Republicans are coming to town now so I'm going to stock up on rotten tomatoes.
Rollercoaster
Today started out like usual. I've given up on briefing my cases and I just skim them now so I was only semi prepared for class if I should happen to be called on. As usual I wasn't picked so it didn't matter. I'm confident I'll be able to bs when the time comes. I actually spent most of the class shopping for groceries online. Then there was an up. I went to legal writing right after legal methods and I had way over prepped the material. Turned out not to be a waste though because the work I did was assigned for next week essentially. Guess I can be a bit more laid back in that class. We were arguing the merits of some Dog Bite statute from the plaintiff's perspective in small groups and because I had the material down cold my group nominated me to be the speaker. Turned out the class ran out of time so I got to be the only one to formally present. Unfortunately I hadn't quite organized my argument in my head when I got to speak so things didn't come out very clearly. I still made my points though. Grr. Hopefully I'll do better next time. The major up though was over something small and dumb. One of my group mates referred to me as "councelor." I know it's stupid but it felt really good. Like in the movies. Anyway, I left the class with an adrenaline rush but my high quickly dropped into a low. I was really hungry to the point of light headedness leaving class, having not eaten and gone through 3 straight hours of class so I grabbed some yogurt and granola for lunch. I had some missed calls so I walked over to the stairs on the quad to return them. And then my day was ruined by the phone call. And it's stupid, because it shouldn't have been, but it was. I still went to the pro bono margarita event at 4 o'clock but I wasn't feeling like partying and the margarita just made me feel sicker. I went home to try to shake it off but to no avail. I went to a dinner with the Latin American Law Students Association and had some chicken mole 'cause depressed or not, a guy's gotta eat. I didn't go to the first bar review of the year though. I felt really sick and drinking wasn't going to make that better. I went to the gym instead to try to work myself out of the funk and running a couple miles helped a little. Still hurts though. I'm going to bed.
Karaoke Flop
Did the usual class thing, went to lunch with some classmates at a chinese restaraunt, but then had trouble focusing enough after class to do my reading. I tried reading on the steps of the quad, I tried studying on a bench by the campus church, I tried studying in the law school lounge. It just wasn't happening. So I went home to study in bed and surprise, surprise, the reading didn't happen. I managed to bust out my legal writing work eventually but it made me an hour late to the Karaoke Night. It turned out not to be all that exciting anyway, so I made the rounds, said hi to everyone and went home to do more reading. Didn't get very far. Went to sleep. Not the most exciting day.
Beer and Pizza
Yesterday was more of the usual. A bunch of reading cases and sitting in class and then an evening of social events and shunning work. I spent the afternoon studying in a lounge then went to a JLSA kosher chinese dinner at the Kraft Center. It was good to meet some more Jews but it was a pretty small crowd, maybe 20. From there I went to a senate informational meeting. Boring, just what I expected. Then it was time for pizza, beer, and a movie with the society For Enacting a Humane Drug Policy. The movie was about asserting your rights during a police encounter and it was mildly amusing. Then it was more studying for the rest of the evening.
Today wasn't very different. Class, then more class, then a break for lunch and a quick glimpse of the olympics, some studing and more class. Then studying. Then pizza, and a movie with the entertainment law people and the student aliance for gender equality. We watched Chasing Amy. It was ok. Then I went home for more studying and finally a brief trip to the gym. In other news my senate campaign is coming along nicely. Also I'm walking a tightrope of class participation. If you raise your hand in class you are labeled a gunner and hated by your fellow students. If you say something dumb you are not only hated but mocked. I like to participate in class but I have to be careful to hold back most of the time so as not to bring the wrath of my peers down on me. It's a tough line to walk.
Cloisters Tour
Waking up at 10AM after going to bed at 5AM was rough. What was worse was that once again my roommate beat me to the bathroom by 2 minutes. Since he takes about half an hour in there I have no hope of being in time after receiving sloppy seconds. Something must be done. Anyway, I made it to the Cloister tour meeting spot just before they left. We went way up to Washington Heights and walked around in the park for a bit. It was a nice day and very pretty out. Then we went through the monastery/cloisters or whatever it's called. It's a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. I was struck by how barbaric and idolatrous most of the art was. Definitely ot my style. To each their own. The St. Thomas Moore Society people who were running the event were very nice but I'm definitely not too comfortable in the observant catholic community. Too much stuff about the passion and too much praying to statues and intermediaries. Easy to see how the catholic church is the reincarnation of the roman empire in a lot of ways. Anyway, the herb garden at the monastery was nice (I found some wormwood), and while I didn't like the imagery, the tapestries were still amazing works of art if only for their complex intricacies and their size. After spending the afternoon there we went to lunch/dinner at a southern restaurant. I wasn't too excited about it but I was over ruled and we went anyway. It was pricey, not too tasty, and not very filling, though admittedly I was starved, having missed breakfast in my haste. I had BBQ chicken just for the record. Then it was back to my apartment to do my reading for tomorrow and finally tackle the laundry. If I can I'll turn in early tonight. I'm truly exhausted.
Cruise
I bummed around most of today and read one of our supplemental books which was as boring as it was useless. I was going to do my laundry but that didn't happen. Anyway, the highlight of today was a cruise around the island which I boarded at 11:30. We sailed at 12:30 and got a really nice up close view of the statue of liberty. It's pretty huge. I hadn't really had that sink in before. I'm really tired right now. It's almost 5AM. Also after a scotch on the rocks and long island ice tea the evening is starting to wear on me. I need to get up early to make it to the Cloisters tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art by 11. More on that tomorrow.
Misery for Want of a Shower
I tried to get up at 8 but failed miserably. At 8:30 I dragged myself towards the bathroom, but one of my roommates beat me to it. It was then that I knew I was screwed. I waited around not wanting to rush him but by the time he got out there was definitely no time for me to take a shower. I ran a comb through my hair and out the door I went, almost late for class even without the shower. I'm really not awake until I get a shower in the morning so class was pretty painful for the first two hours. I don't think I understood half of what was said. When we finally finished I went home to eat some breakfast and get my shower. When this was cmpleted I felt much better. Then I tried to get my computer configured again at the lab, but I was told it is unconfigurable. Bummer. Guess I don't care. Next I crammed the case I was supposed to read and brief before 2, and suffered numerous interuptions because I decided to study right outside the cafeteria. On the one hand it's motivating to study in front of a full scale painting of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (a columbia grad), but on the other hand the spot is just too darn busy in the afternoon. Class was more enjoyable with my shower behind me and afterwards I went home to snack on peanut butter with carrot sticks and to catch a bit of the olympics on tv. I did some reading for Monday's class and got stamps at the post office too. I'm going to mail my loan check back West to try and get the money that way. Stupid banking situation. By the time I got done with that it was 5PM and I had to go back to the law school for a diversity reception. More free booze and veggie/cheese plates. I stuck around until 7 then went to dinner with the Asian laws students association and the Indian law students association. The Jewish representative told me there was no event going on tonight (even though it's shabbat) and she didn't stick around long enough to tell me where I could go. Just like the admitted students days. I'm not impressed with the Jewish campus scene. I came home again after dinner, did some reading and then went to Evelyn's Lounge at 10 for more diversity celebrating or something. It's getting to the point that I don't even know what flimsy reason we have for being at the bars. A bunch of 2Ls were drinking irish car bombs and they had an extra one so I drank it. It's a glass of Guiness and a shot of Jameson and Baileys. You drop the shot in the beer and chug the whole thing as fast as possible. It was actually not bad. I socialized for some time but it got pretty loud so I took off. Getting back on the subway was a little dicey too. Some shabbat. Oh well, maybe I'll find the Jews next time.
First Day of Legal Methods
I was a little late getting out the door this morning and I went to the wrong building. Not a good start. I looked all over the place and found where every section was meeting except mine. Turned out my section was the only one meeting in another building. I finally found it and walked in late, fairly embarrassed to be the last one. Didn't end up mattering. We just met the professors, sat there for about 5 minutes and left. There were donuts and fruit outside too. I went home for a bit then went to the international relations building or a speech from the new Dean. It wasn't terribly exciting but I didn't expect much either. Then it was time for class, which I fortunately prepared for. I volunteered to speak a few times and hopefully didn't make an ass of myself. I found the topic fairly interesting, whether or not it should be illegal to fraudulently vote under the name of a dead man. I spent my 2 hour break after class frantically reading for my legal writing class at 4 and treking all the way up into Harlem to find a Fleet bank. When I finally got there they said they couldn't take my check until late September so I had to walk back empty handed and the whole trip was a waste. It sucks not having a bank out here. I tried to get my computer configured for the Columbia system in the afternoon but the tech dude wasn't much help. I'll try again tomorrow, time permitting. The evening was spent eating a crappy dinner of peanut butter on tortillas and canned soup. After eating I went to the library and spent an hour and a half briefing my cases for tomorrow. Then I went out to pizza with a friend to try to drown out the memory of my earlier dinner. It's been a long day and I need to get up early to be at class by 9 tomorrow so I'm off to shower and crash. I guess I'll redecorate the bathroom over the weekend, there just wasn't time today.
Orientation Day 2
I was late getting up this morning so I missed professor Greenberg's speech (he's the dude who argued Brown v Board of Education before the Supreme Court and helped end school segregation). Too bad I missed it. He teaches here though so I can always shake his hand later. There was a pro bono breakfast that I caught the end of and it was fairly interesting. Maybe I'll work for the battered women's shelter for my first semester. I could be in a court room in a month, which would be awesome. I had trouble buying my books because I had no money so I had to go running all over to get my financial aid check, then to try and convert it to usable currency without losing half of it. I failed miserably and I still have this stupid piece of paper worth $18,000 that I can't buy anything with. I ended up having to pull another $500 out of my savings to get the books and it's starting to get worrisome. Most of the rest of the lectures today were boring...some study abroad stuff, some campus security stuff...at least there was a BBQ. The food was only ok but they did have gelatto and free booze so it was pretty cool. I socialized for a while and met the new dean who will be giving an address to our class tomorrow. On my way out I caught some crazy 1Ls running to the library to do HW all night before school starts in the morning. They must be nuts. I did all my homework in about 2 hours and found it relatively enjoyable and engaging. The first case we have to read is pretty tough and boring but I'll tackle it over the weekend, it isn't due until Tuesday. My evening was also brightened by a package a friend sent me in the mail. It was full of lovely goodies like a duck themed bath set and towels. I'm very excited now, between new sheets and a pink carebear elephant and my first day of classes tomorrow it will be tought to sleep. That's fine with me though.
1st Day of Orientation
Not too exciting today. Brunch at 11 after dragging my sorry carcass out of bed. Then a tour of the university. Then four hours of sitting through speakers...the dean, a faculty panel, the financial aid people, a student panel...maybe it was 5 or 6 hours. Somewhere in there I got a free pizza dinner, but the pizza was nasty. Also I highly doubt that my new diet of pizza and beer will be good for my girlish figure. I came home and sorted through the junk I picked up throughout the day rather than go to the games night. After that it was off to the bar for a guy's birthday. We went to Jake's Dilemma. Not very happening on a Tuesday night. One of the girls got her purse stolen in the bar. Oh, and another guy got robbed at gunpoint last night. Safe neighborhood. Riiiiiiiiiiight....
Visit to the United Nations
As the title of this entry indicates I went on a tour of the UN this afternoon. Seeing the real life security council meeting room was cool. It was quite worth while and briefly refreshing to listen to the idealism that makes up the UN charter. Of course this was quickly soured by the realization that however noble the UN's goals may be, the organization is marred by inefficiency, corruption, and all the other evils associated with any government. I did get a nice silk tie for a good price in the gift shop at least. As usual, everyone headed to a bar after the event. This time the Gin Mill for happy hour on the upper west side. I went along but decided that having not eaten anything all day, drinking would not be wise. I discretely made my exit and took the subway home to eat left over spaghetti that I made last night. Saving money as well as my liver. Good times. I sat around watching law and order for the rest of the day in something of a funk. I even turned down an offer from a roommate to go play beer pong. I probably should have gone. I start the real orientation tomorrow morning. Oh, I also got my class schedule and section list. For some reason I just don't care right now though. I wonder what my problem is. I'll try to snap out of it tomorrow so I can be nice and smiley for all my new classmates. No use looking like a sour grape if I plan on running for senate.
Avoiding Booze and Poker
I'm a little melancoly today for no apparent reason. Maybe it's the weather. It's pretty gloomy and overcast. We're getting the end of some hurricane from Florida. I got up early (10:45) this morning after being out partying until 4:30AM. I got up thinking there was a brunch happening. I was wrong. I walked over to the law school to find a huge group leaving for the Mets game. No brunch. Sadness. I then decided I wanted to watch Kill Bill 1 and 2 but I didn't have the girl's number who owned the DVDs. I spent a couple hours trying to get it and finally went to brunch at a diner called "the kitchenette" in Harlem. The prices were only ok, but the food was filling. After brunch I went to watch the Kill Bills (I love the music in the first one) and by the time it was all over it was 7:30 and I was late to eat pizza, drink beer, and play poker, none of which I particularly felt like doing. I went over to the basement of Lenfest anyway and watched a foozball game while like 25 people played Texas hold 'em. I tried shooting some pool but all the cues were busted. Before long the few of us that weren't playing poker got tired of being there and the concensus was to head to a bar. The only thing I felt less like doing than playing poker was going to drink so I stopped at a store on the way to the bar and went grocery shopping, everyone else continued on to get smashed. The prices at the market were terrible but I got what I needed and went home to cook some pasta and watch "The Rainmaker". It struck a little too close to home. I think I'll turn in soon and make it an early night even though it's not quite 1 yet.
Shabbat on the Upper West Side
I actually managed to wake up this morning and got to services at Ramath Orah by 10:15 so I caught the second half of the torah reading. The melodies are more similar to my conservative synagogue in Saratoga than they are to the orthodox shuls I've been to in Davis and Sacramento. After a quick kiddush and some brief meet and greet I hustled down to O-Z, another synagogue that supposedly catered to the young singles crowd. Unfortunately, by the time I got there everyone had left. I continued on to Key West where I met up with the girls from Friday night dinner. I helped them set up and before long about 20 people from Aish poured in for lunch. More meet and greet. They were almost all older than me and out of school. It wasn't really my crowd. The rabbi and rebetzin were both very nice though and the food was very good. I left fairly early since the people weren't terribly interesting and most were headed towards the frumier territory (I haven't really found any Conservative Jews yet). I walked home and passed many Jews on the way and although they were total strangers we exchanged greetings as we walked. It's like when I put on my Kipah I become a member of a secret society or something. I got home just in time to turn right around and head out for a law school scavenger hunt. I was pretty gung ho about winning but the rest of my group was apathetic. After two hours of pushing and prodding I could no longer prevent them from imbibing at the nearest bar (which at least served a mean philly cheesesteak) and we were out of the running. I gave up on my dreams of glory and we went back to someone's apartment to...you guessed it, drink even more! We played some drinking games, went through a whole bottle of Seagram 7 whiskey and about 3 cases of beer, and once we were all quite tipsy we headed off to the West End (a bar) for our orientation kick off party. I swear all these 1Ls like to do is drink. Anyways, I shook hands and introduced myself to a sizable portion of the class and excused myself at midnight for some fresh air. I figure I need a rest before the house parties begin around 2AM. There's no saying no. I'm severely limiting my own drinking but it's kind of tough in this environment. We'll see how the parties go later, I'm gonna go grab some food now while I have some spare time.
Jew in the City
So I decided to play the good little Jewish boy routine today since it's shabbat and I haven't been to synagogue in forever. I got all decked out and went to the closest synagogue because it was raining and I didn't feel like hiking forever while getting soaked. I knew it was an orthodox synagogue but I carried an umbrella anyway, gambling that the upper west side probably has an eruv. Turns out I was right. I got there a little early and it took a while for things to get started but I did ok following along in the art scroll. Thank goodness for all the practice I got at chabad in Davis and Sacramento. I felt pretty good about being at the service since I was really starting to miss some semblance of Judaism in my life lately. It was good to get connected again. Being observant in the city makes a lot of sense now, since life is so crazy during the week that it feels right to take a day of rest. It isn't like California where nothing is happening except on weekends. Anyway, I went to one of the service leaders after davening and asked if anyone might be able to take me in for shabbat dinner. I was surprised when he asked half a dozen people and they all said no. Finally an elderly Russian woman named Nina agreed to take me in. She lived very nearby and we walked to her apartment with a younger friend of hers who was in the process of converting. Dinner was nothing extravagant but it was homey and we kept up a good conversation. I was the only male so I was asked to lead kiddush and again thanks to my Hillel days, I pulled it off without embarrassing myself. I was doing a great job of passing myself off as orthodox until two girls from Seattle arrived who were staying with Nina and had been further downtown for services. I think they figured out I'm conservative somehow, but they were very nice and invited me to lunch at some Rabbi's house tomorrow. The girls were pretty frum and had New York accents in spite of being from the west coast. Maybe I'll keep this up, moonlighting as an observant Jew. It's sort of fun. Oh, I totally forgot to mention the rest of my day. I had the maid come and it took her 4.5 hours to clean up this sty. It also set me back $81 but my roommates are supposed to be reimbursing me. While she cleaned I did my laundry and tidied my room. I tried to go to the gym where I ot a free subscription, but it turned out to be all the way on the other side of town and I wasn't willing to try to get to the East side and back before shabbat. I managed to break a cuff link while putting on a new shirt with french sleeves which was sad, because not only do I have to get the cuff link fixed, I also couldn't wear the shirt. I guess that's about it for today, I'd better get some sleep so I'm up in time for services, or at least for that luncheon!
Another Early Night
So after having a dry day yesterday guess where I ended up? I'll start from the beginning though. I was woken up at 9 by one of my roommates who gave me the number of his usual maid and told me I should have her clean the apartment on his tab. This was very very cool. Except that I'd gone to bed around 4:30 and it was 9AM. That part was very uncool. But I was willing to deal at that point. The bathroom was dirty before; the tub and shower curtain are covered in brown crud. But the other night the toilet overflowed and the smell now is borderline unbearable. So a maid coming tomorrow will be a good thing. I went back to sleep after the good news but was woken up again soon by some new 1Ls who wanted to do lunch. I obliged them of course in spite of my grogginess and we went to an Italian place down the street called Cafe Pertucci. I'd been meaning to go there for a while. The food was good, though not exceptional, and the price wasn't terribly exorbitant. Anyway, from there we went to the computer lab and took our computer proficiency exams which were a joke as expected. We also got free 2 week trial memberships at a gym to use until the Columbia fitness center is available. I went home for a while and then picked up a free chair in Harlem which was a pain to drag back to my place, though I triumphed in the end. I had granola for dinner and then it was...you guessed it...off to the bars again! We went to a place in midtown two blocks from times square called Rudy's Bar and Grill. Apparently there's an event there every Thursday night called "drink liberally" where all the pinkos gather for cheap pitchers and free hotdogs. The hot dogs were marginal, as was the beer, so I only stayed for about 3 hours in spite of the other law students trying to prevent my escape. I finally snuck out under the pretense of going to The Heights (another bar) and when we got back to Columbia station on 116th St I high tailed it home instead. I'm going to go scrouge up something in the kitchen and investigate my laundry prospects now.
Living in the City
I don't think I've ever heard so many languages spoken on the street before. I catch some spanish, portuguese, french, chinese, german, everything imaginable. The ethnic diversity is nice. I still haven't really come to terms with where I am yet though. When I walk out of a building and realize I'm surrounded by the red brick and white columns of the ivy league I can't believe I'm a student here. I still feel like a country yokel from little old cow town. It hasn't really sunk in that I belong here. There is a definite difference in some of the people here. The state school people are mostly down to earth, but some of the students from private and ivy league undergrad universities have a certain elitism about them. I hope I don't end up acting that way. Humility hasn't typically been one of my strongsuits but I'll work on it.
Coney Island
A bunch of us went out to Coney Island today, but just as we got there it started raining. The freak show was closed, as were all the rides, so we just waited in an arcade until it was dry enough to make the run back to the subway. On the way back we stopped at target and I picked up some necessities (like a fan) and it was a little tricky dragging everything back through a crowded, rush-hour subway. We made it though. It's been hot and sticky these last couple days. Humidity around 90%. Not pleasant. Makes me miss nice dry California. Oh well. Played and lost at some more poker when we got back, then chilled briefly with the roommates. Cleaning up is still under negotiation. I need to get into school mode again soon. Getting a little nervous about that. Guess I should make the most of the little time I have left though. Maybe I'll be responsible tomorrow....
China Town/Little Italy/Financial District
I tried to hit three in one today and failed pretty miserably. Got some cheap dumplings in China Town but they were pretty bad. Same for the pastries. I wasn't impressed with the gelato in Little Italy either and the restaurants were all pretty pricey. I did get a free canoli though and maybe I'll be on TV (they were filming a comercial of people eating their free canolis and smiling). I was exploring with other 1Ls so I didn't get much time to see stuff outside but we did go to a place called Century 21 (not the theater) which was a really cheap discount store (cheap for NY anyway). I got a nice dress shirt for 12 bucks. Not bad. Then we went to a bar and made use of happy hour while playing darts. Both the bar and the store were in the financial district but I didn't see wall street or the world trade center site so I'll have to go back. We took the subway back to Harlem and played poker at a 1Ls house and though I lost miserably it was still cheaper than hanging out in a bar. And more fun. I'm pretty sure I forgot my backpack at her house when we moved to another guy's house to keep playing but I'll get it tomorrow when we meet up to go to Coni Island. $2 freak show there supposedly. And a beach. I shudder to think what must be in the water. I don't think I'll swim.
Chelsea
Instead of China Town I went to Chelsea today, usual routine, up around 1 and out around 3. I don't have a window shade so I actually was woken up by the sunrise at 5:45 but I got back to sleep eventually. I saw lots of trendy shops and plenty of models in Chelsea. The male one's all seemed to be gay and I actually didn't find the females very attractive. Too skiny. I guess models aren't my type after all. I also went to a bunch of warehouses converted to art galleries and some were vaguely interesting. I went looking for a bakery that purportedly had gigantic brownies for 3 bucks (I'm big on bargain food) but when I got to where it should have been it turned out the place had gone out of business. I guess giant 3 dollar brownies just aren't profitable. There was a nice air conditioned indoor market which provided some relief from the city heat. I made sure to see the flat iron building too, which is one of NY's oldest skyscrapers. I came back to morning side heights around 6 for dinner at Tom's Restaurant (the one from Seinfeld) with a bunch of 1Ls. I got a reuben sandwich with sourkraut, which was something of an adventure, but the place was reasonably priced and the food was ok. We then went to the West End bar and had drinks until it was time to head to the subway for downtown. We went to the "Living Room" on the lower east side where Jesse Harris was doing a concert. Very small, cozy venue, nice music. After that we went looking for a bar in Greenwich Village but got lost and ended up walking forever just to arrive in Gramercy. We gave it up, got pizza, and finally found a subway home. I hope I don't have blisters tomorrow...
Tribeca
I went to Tribeca today and saw some neat architecture. I also stumbled across a movie shoot in progress. Nicolas Cage was there and I took some pictures which I'll post eventually. I went down to the river to eat a packed lunch/dinner and hurried back to morning side heights for a 1L poker tournament. I placed 3rd out of 10 so I broke even. We all took off for a bar after that with a small detour to stop by my new favorite pizza place, Korronets. The have 30 inch pizza's there. No joke. I left the bar kind of early (midnight) to try getting on a normal sleep schedule. I think I'll go to China Town tomorrow and see how cheap the markets are. And maybe finish moving in.
Day 2
I woke up today at 11:30 feeling totally dehydrated and crappy. Lounging around for 2 hours and drinking lots of orange juice cured that. I spent the afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. On the way over I passed Central Park, which looked pretty nice. Anyway, the art was good and the place was huge. I took some pictures of interesting pieces which I will attempt to post somewhere for my loyal readers. More on that when I figure out how. The night was spent with a bunch of fellow 1Ls at a bar on the upper west side called Jake's Dilemna. It was much better than the place last night in the west village. After a few hours of drinking and shmoozing I took off with a couple new friends and had some home made chinese ate their place (it was quite delicious and they were extremely hospitable, they even tried to make it as kosher as possible). Now I've returned home and it's nearly 4AM. I need to stop making a habit of this. More next time as the adventure continues....
In The City
I'm getting settled in to my new digs somewhat. I got bedding at least. Everything around here is outrageously expensive, but that's life I guess. With the exception of pizza. I found a pizza place that has the largest slices I've ever seen for 2.75, and I mean HUGE! I ate one and I was full. And I've been known to eat a whole extra large pizza by myself if that provides some perspective. I'm really not a fan of the bar scene, so I'm trying to work on a plan B. At 8 bucks a drink I don't think I can afford to become an alcoholic anyway. Maybe I'll start a club or something. I also went for a walk in morning side park yesterday and it was fairly pleasant. There was even a small pond with snapping turtles. Reminded me a bit of Davis. My roommates both have already secured jobs at top 10 law firms so they've kind of checked out from school it seems. Might make it difficult to concentrate but I think I'll be ok. I think I'll go downtown again today and play tourist in the financial disrict or something. Even though it's probably all closed on Saturday. I'll figure something out.
24 Hours to Departure
As I write here in my house in Saratoga, Ca I have less than 24 hours before I get on a plane to New York. I got to visit with many friends but sadly not all, though I look forward to people visiting me in New York and of course my return in winter. As I prepare for departure a memory returns to me from kindergarten. Kind of strange that I'm thinking of my days playing with blocks and trying to earn self control badges as I'm poised on the brink of entering graduate school but minds work in mysterious ways. Anyway, back then my mom was in Green Circle and she used to come to our class and teach little lessons and activities. What comes to mind is a song we used to sing in a round. The lyrics were:
Make new friends but keep the old;
One is silver and the other gold.
I'm sure that I'll make tons of new friends in the coming days but nothing can reduce the value of my old friends, most of whom I hope to cherish for many years to come. For those friends reading this, please keep in touch and I'll try to be back before we have time to miss each other.
Three Crowns
Of the three crowns the sages spoke of I was born with one. Another I intend to work hard to achieve and I believe I will aquire it in due time. The last and most prized may or may not be due to me, only time will tell. I wonder if I will know truly whether I attained it during my lifetime or if it will only become apparent that I succeeded or failed when history makes its judgement.
Ghiradelli's
Went to Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco with some friends today (and also my sister who shall remain nameless but check out her website at
www.calithwain.com). We got dinner at an upscale seafood restaurant at pier 39 with a great view of the sea lions, the golden gate bridge, and alcatraz. The Alaskan Halibut in a garlic butter sauce was quite tasty. We then walked over to Ghiradelli Square, which was our main objective. I've gone there many times but never actually ate at the restaurant. Sadly it was something of a disappointment. I think mostly because I went to Fenton's so recently. There is no comparison. The ice cream was average, as was the whipped cream and cherry. I do have to give some points for the chocolate sauce, which was great, but the experience overall wasn't all I'd hoped for. At least I finally tried it and now I know I wasn't missing much. We went next door and took a brief stroll through the chocolate shop (it was right there so we had to) and then we wandered down to the beach for a bit. A pleasant evening overall. Much better than the last two days of moving stuff from Davis to Saratoga anyway. A brief respite was appreciated.
