nyc and the mighty monkey

so this blog has become a bit of a wasteland... i've been delinquent in visiting it, never mind even thinking of posting on it. for a while there i thought that my desire was derailed by my newly renewed obsession with myspace, but no... that bores me too. i think the real reason is that i wanted my nyc post to be a thing of beauty. i wanted my words to mirror my experiences - but some things just refuse to be recorded. much like the ghost-hunter who tries to accurately capture his latest escapade, but only finds failure in his audio recordings, his photo catures and a blank mind when it comes to eyewitness reports.

so what follows will be a bit of a high-school yearbook entry. random bits that really will only make sense to me and perhaps a few select others. and in a few years time, i won't know what i was blathering about either! seriously, have you ever re-read your highschool yearbook? i don't know what in hades i was on about.

alarm rings at 4:30am. cab arrives at 5:45am. in the plane ready to take off at 7:30am. 8:00am - still sitting on the runway. sometime after 8 we hear this announcement, "this is the pilot speaking. sorry for the delay folks but we're having some engine

grand central terminal is large. traffic is insane. how long are we going to sit here waiting for the shuttle bus... should we just pop into the subway? and then it turns out that we were within walking distance of the hotel. ahh... good times.

lesson to remember - if one is taking the time to go up the empire state building, one should not expect the weather to be as clear and sunny on top as it was when you started waiting in line 30 minutes earlier.

lesson #2 - when one encounters a wholesale store dedicated to semi-precious stones one should remember that one does not hold a craft license in the state of new york and therefore will not be able to buy anything, no matter how pretty or inexpensive it is. no falling in love. no hatching of schemes to get random strangers to purchase items for you. when you leave, resist the urge to run madly through the streets shouting, "i love malachite! and it loves meeeee!!!!!". for the record, i did resist, but just barely.

when in nyc on a friday evening, make sure you hit MoMA between 4 & 8. coz it's free. and you will not believe the unbelievable works of art that you can see for free. amazing. of course, if you are a cultural moron like myself, you will really only want to hit the 2 floors with the paintings. modern sculputure and bizarre architectrural drawings really don't do anything for me. and i don't think they do for most people. so stick to the vincent's (that's van gogh to those who haven't seen his works in person) and the cezanne's and the dali's and the picasso's and the matisse's and the monet's. you get the point. unreal.

when buying these super cool drinking glasses back as a gift for your cat-sitters... don't be too bitter if they don't appear to give a shit over them. just plan ways to sneak into their place and steal them back.

central park is green and gorgeous and not a bit creepy, even in twilight.

the met is BIG. bigger than it seems possible. is that billy zane or just some random guy with a shaved head? why is the special egyptian exhibit closed? suckage. the drawings of vincent van gogh caught a lot of people. not us, we sped through like the hounds of hades were nipping at our heels. i guess after seeing the orgy of vincent the night before, we had one gogh too many. is it just me, or is the ghostly medium exhibit, kind of, well, weird? what's with the fluids portion? really. what was with it?

the candle cafe gave me one of the bestest meals of my life... ever. though my first few bites i was disappointed. it took a few bites for the complexity of it to really take.... amazing, really. they have a cookbook available - i want! the place was recommended as the best veggie restaurant by a native new yorker, she wasn't wrong.

the farmer's market at union square on saturday morning was incredible. if i lived in nyc, i would be there every saturday. all the fresh veggies you could want. and one table had all varieties of fresh hot peppers and chili's. they would become my best friends, yes they would.

abc carpet & home is the optimum place to go to drool. such wonderful little items for the house and home. the flagship store was on broadway near union square and it was absolutely amazing. and we met the nicest person there. she recommended many great places in the city. she also lives in the east village. rock on.

and speaking of the east village - the best smelling store in the world is located there. red flower is divine. i'm actually glad i don't live in the city... i'd be broke buying lotions and creme's and candles. i brought home their african lily body lotion. divine.

moby's tea shop teany really lives up to it's name. and a pot of tea and a scone there will take you a long long way. and the washroom had to be the nicest and best smelling washroom i'd been in.... ever. and the one actual random 'famous person' sighting took place there (we're not 100% certain about mr. zane). no, not moby - but mike myers. yes, that's right. mike myers, the toronto boy. who we've seen at least half-a-dozen times each in toronto. heehee.

and who can forget the rockwood. the place that introduced me to the joys of gin and pomegranate juice. one can get a nice buzz on AND detoxify at the same time. ha! who said it couldn't be done. *wink* and one can sit there from 6:00 until 12:30 drinking copious amounts of not-water and even see david usher there from time to time. what an amazing experience. next i feel he should come play in my living room!

all in all, i'm now searching new york job listings.... seriously. can you just imagine it?

music [madonna, "hung up"]