Yes, I am alive, have no fear (now that Mari has a job, maybe she'll stop posting so much and making me look like a lazy-ass). We just finished the move last night (next task: unpacking!) and I will soon finish posting about my New York trip (3 weeks later!) - Sunday, Monday and Tuesday left to write about - and also post camera phone pics of our new apartment. It is ADORABLE if I do say so myself. Very happy, I am.
Anyway, in the meantime, I thought I'd share with all of you some new blogs that I came across today. Not that Mari isn't keeping all of you fully entertained (I know, because I'm so engrossed with reading about her life I'm starting to think I'll just let her take over - nah, I could never leave y'all like that!), but until I'm also back providing my ridiculous insights, check out what these bloggers have to say:
Jolie in NYC
Random musings (and gossip updates) from a "pop culture-obsessed" beauty editor in NYC. Being pop culture-obsessed myself, the gossip alerts are no news to me, but I have been enjoying her snarky comments about them and also her inside revelations of the beauty editor world (hint: lots of extravagent freebies from PR people like me). Everyone is wondering who she is (mediabistro, Fashion Week Daily), and I just asked my boss, Nikki, who did PR for Estee Lauder brands for over 10 years in NYC, for any insights she might have. Whoever it is, I would like to meet her - I think we would get along famously.
Overheard in NYC
Hilariously idiotic conversations people have >duh< overheard in NYC. I've only looked at the first few so far, but I can already tell this is going to be regular stop on my daily blog tour.
I'll be adding these blogs to the links at right for future reference, but get on them now!
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Monday, June 20, 2005
New York City - Tuesday, 6.14.05
I had all these ambitious plans that Mari and I would get up early (ha!), go get some breakfast, and maybe wander through Central Park a bit as I had yet to get there, before I had to hop on my 12:45 shuttle to good ole Newark International Airport. Silly me! Instead, we woke up late around 11am (but still so early for us!) and went to Bag o' Bagels so I could get....well, a bag of bagels as a little present for my New-York-native boss who hasn't found a sufficiently delicious bagel in Portland. Yeah, kissin' some ass! We had some bagels for ourselves, too, of course.
Anyway, after stuffing our faces with way too much cream cheese, we headed back to Mari's, grabbed my stuff and began the arduous journey dragging my bags up and down subway stairs to get to Grand Central and then to my fancy coach (i.e. bus) that would take me away from my beloved New York (damnit!).
Anyway, after stuffing our faces with way too much cream cheese, we headed back to Mari's, grabbed my stuff and began the arduous journey dragging my bags up and down subway stairs to get to Grand Central and then to my fancy coach (i.e. bus) that would take me away from my beloved New York (damnit!).
New York City - Monday, 6.13.05
Back to the grind on Monday morning. No, not at all, thank goodness, but I did have to get up around 9 to meet Peter Shankman for breakfast. Remember Peter, the PR guy (president of The Geek Factory, actually) that I met in Portland when he came out to pitch the city as a potential client? Anyway, as I mentioned in my on-the-plane post, he lives in New York, so less than a week after we met up in my neck of the woods, I headed over for a tour of his bachelor pad at The Helena, on the up-and-coming west side of the city, and some yummy greasy diner breakfast. Good times!
After getting refreshed from the (sweaty) walk back to Mari's, I walked down to the infamous Conde Nast building at 4 Times Square to have lunch with my friend Eric (he was the ASME intern at Parents the year before me), who now works at Gourmet (yeah, Monday was all about eating, meal after meal!). Now, for all of you who have a life and aren't obsessed with the magazine world like me, I should tell you that Conde Nast is the ultimate mag publisher, home of Vogue, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Lucky, Domino, etc, and their cafeteria is infamous for a couple reasons:
1) It was designed by Frank Gehry, notable architect of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain and the Experience Music Project in Seattle, among many other disinctive buildings. His "sculptural approach to architecture" is obvious in the undulating glass and stainless steel of the Conde Nast cafeteria:
Official photo of the seating area.
The crazy free-for-all serving area (just imagine a mass of skinny, long-haired, trendy girls fighting for that last leaf of lettuce).
My two attmepts (thanks camera phone!) at capturing the magic moment.
2) The Conde Nast cafeteria is often thought to be an oxymoron itself because all the women who helm the mastheads at Vogue, Lucky, Glamour, Self and the like are always under pressure to look good at their image-conscious jobs, therefore the generalization is that they don't eat. I stormed into that cafeteria ready to prove that all wrong and show up the wannabe Mary-Kate Olson's that skinny girls can eat too, damnit! I did my best - ordered a turkey sandwich with all the fixings, picked up two cookies and loaded the largest cup with regular, calorie-laden Pepsi. I thought I had bucked the system for sure, but as soon as I sat down and took a sip of my sugary beverage, I realized that the Conde Nast gods had gotten the last laugh - my cup was full of diet soda! That's right, diet soda comes out of the regular fountain at the Conde Nast cafeteria because, obviously, they know what's best to keep all their employees skinny as a rail. It's an anorexic fascist regime, I tell you! And I'm not the only one who thinks so - read Gawker's undercover investigation of Conde Nast cafeteria etiquette to see that my experience was not an anomaly.
Phew....having recovered from this disturbing event, I headed back to Mari's (light-headed because the cafeteria had deprived me of a crucial couple hundred calories), changed into something more comfortable and two two of us headed to the Museum of Modern Art. It was a stunning space - I think was more captivated by the architecture for at least the first half hour - but the art and design on display was equally impressive. I especially enjoyed the design section of the museum, full of everything from innovative car pistons to the Apple iPod to Tupperware to the Smart Car to midcentury modern furntiure (yummy Eames chairs and Saarinen pieces!) and so much more. Another high point was seeing Andy Warhol's famous Campbell's soup series:
Did you know that each can was a different soup, representing all the varieties available at the time? Well, I didn't....I guess I had only seen Tomato on its own or something. Anyway, MOMA arranged the canvases in the order of the soups' introductions into the market. Very cool....I love consumerism and pop culture!
The rest of the visit was filled with lots of contemporary art by artists I'd never heard of but enjoyed, Picasso, Cezanne, Miro, Rothko, Monet, Matisse, Lichtenstein, Van Gogh....I could go on and on. I hate to sound like jaded and unappreciative, but frankly, by the time Mari and I got to the top floors, our eyes were glazed over and we barely paid attention to all the famous pieces. I definitely suggest enjoying museums in multiple, smaller doses if possible. It was exhausting!
Never in a lull for long, though, on the walk home, Mari and I walked right past the Bewitched premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre right behind Mari's apartment building, which is apparently where most of the New York premieres of movies are held. Oooh, celebrities in my vicinity got me all hot and bothered. Unfortunately, I didn't get to actually see Nicole or Will or any of the other stars in person, but just knowing that I got close made me happy. Here's what I could have seen with my own eyes:
I have to say that seeing Will Ferrel or Amy Sedaris (above) would have been way more thrilling than the ghost of Nicole Kidman.
The gods (the celeb ones this time, not Conde Nast deities) must have been shining on me, because as Mari and I waited to meet Emily and Meredith at the Astor Place Starbucks to go to yummy, cheap Indian food on 6th Avenue, we noticed a crowd around the door. Ooooh, could it be another celeb sighting? Could I be that lucky? Hell yes I could! A very conspicuous peek in the window informed me that none other than Alanis Morisette was playing an acoustic set at Starbucks (I later learned that she's launching her new acoustic album only at Starbucks for the first six weeks - ahhh, marketing!). I think I must have conjured her, blond streak and all (see below), by listening to Jagged Little Pill on the subway the day before.
Perfect.
Our Indian meal was fabulous and insanely cheap as only can be found on 6th Avenue in NYC - live sitar music, soup, samosa, chicken tikka masala, rice and unlimited naan for $7.95. We need some of that in Portland!
We stuffed ourselves silly and had to walk it off around the East Village for a bit before heading into Barnes & Noble (needed to pick up some mags, of course). We browsed for a bit and then headed home. Long day! I spent the evening packing and resting and being silly....and slept like a baby.
After getting refreshed from the (sweaty) walk back to Mari's, I walked down to the infamous Conde Nast building at 4 Times Square to have lunch with my friend Eric (he was the ASME intern at Parents the year before me), who now works at Gourmet (yeah, Monday was all about eating, meal after meal!). Now, for all of you who have a life and aren't obsessed with the magazine world like me, I should tell you that Conde Nast is the ultimate mag publisher, home of Vogue, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Lucky, Domino, etc, and their cafeteria is infamous for a couple reasons:
1) It was designed by Frank Gehry, notable architect of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain and the Experience Music Project in Seattle, among many other disinctive buildings. His "sculptural approach to architecture" is obvious in the undulating glass and stainless steel of the Conde Nast cafeteria:
Official photo of the seating area.
The crazy free-for-all serving area (just imagine a mass of skinny, long-haired, trendy girls fighting for that last leaf of lettuce).
My two attmepts (thanks camera phone!) at capturing the magic moment.
2) The Conde Nast cafeteria is often thought to be an oxymoron itself because all the women who helm the mastheads at Vogue, Lucky, Glamour, Self and the like are always under pressure to look good at their image-conscious jobs, therefore the generalization is that they don't eat. I stormed into that cafeteria ready to prove that all wrong and show up the wannabe Mary-Kate Olson's that skinny girls can eat too, damnit! I did my best - ordered a turkey sandwich with all the fixings, picked up two cookies and loaded the largest cup with regular, calorie-laden Pepsi. I thought I had bucked the system for sure, but as soon as I sat down and took a sip of my sugary beverage, I realized that the Conde Nast gods had gotten the last laugh - my cup was full of diet soda! That's right, diet soda comes out of the regular fountain at the Conde Nast cafeteria because, obviously, they know what's best to keep all their employees skinny as a rail. It's an anorexic fascist regime, I tell you! And I'm not the only one who thinks so - read Gawker's undercover investigation of Conde Nast cafeteria etiquette to see that my experience was not an anomaly.
Phew....having recovered from this disturbing event, I headed back to Mari's (light-headed because the cafeteria had deprived me of a crucial couple hundred calories), changed into something more comfortable and two two of us headed to the Museum of Modern Art. It was a stunning space - I think was more captivated by the architecture for at least the first half hour - but the art and design on display was equally impressive. I especially enjoyed the design section of the museum, full of everything from innovative car pistons to the Apple iPod to Tupperware to the Smart Car to midcentury modern furntiure (yummy Eames chairs and Saarinen pieces!) and so much more. Another high point was seeing Andy Warhol's famous Campbell's soup series:
Did you know that each can was a different soup, representing all the varieties available at the time? Well, I didn't....I guess I had only seen Tomato on its own or something. Anyway, MOMA arranged the canvases in the order of the soups' introductions into the market. Very cool....I love consumerism and pop culture!
The rest of the visit was filled with lots of contemporary art by artists I'd never heard of but enjoyed, Picasso, Cezanne, Miro, Rothko, Monet, Matisse, Lichtenstein, Van Gogh....I could go on and on. I hate to sound like jaded and unappreciative, but frankly, by the time Mari and I got to the top floors, our eyes were glazed over and we barely paid attention to all the famous pieces. I definitely suggest enjoying museums in multiple, smaller doses if possible. It was exhausting!
Never in a lull for long, though, on the walk home, Mari and I walked right past the Bewitched premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre right behind Mari's apartment building, which is apparently where most of the New York premieres of movies are held. Oooh, celebrities in my vicinity got me all hot and bothered. Unfortunately, I didn't get to actually see Nicole or Will or any of the other stars in person, but just knowing that I got close made me happy. Here's what I could have seen with my own eyes:
I have to say that seeing Will Ferrel or Amy Sedaris (above) would have been way more thrilling than the ghost of Nicole Kidman.
The gods (the celeb ones this time, not Conde Nast deities) must have been shining on me, because as Mari and I waited to meet Emily and Meredith at the Astor Place Starbucks to go to yummy, cheap Indian food on 6th Avenue, we noticed a crowd around the door. Ooooh, could it be another celeb sighting? Could I be that lucky? Hell yes I could! A very conspicuous peek in the window informed me that none other than Alanis Morisette was playing an acoustic set at Starbucks (I later learned that she's launching her new acoustic album only at Starbucks for the first six weeks - ahhh, marketing!). I think I must have conjured her, blond streak and all (see below), by listening to Jagged Little Pill on the subway the day before.
Perfect.
Our Indian meal was fabulous and insanely cheap as only can be found on 6th Avenue in NYC - live sitar music, soup, samosa, chicken tikka masala, rice and unlimited naan for $7.95. We need some of that in Portland!
We stuffed ourselves silly and had to walk it off around the East Village for a bit before heading into Barnes & Noble (needed to pick up some mags, of course). We browsed for a bit and then headed home. Long day! I spent the evening packing and resting and being silly....and slept like a baby.
New York City - Sunday, 6.12.05
"I wish it was Sunday - ooooh-woah - 'Cause that's my fun day - ooooh-woah"
Yeah....I pretty much disagree with that Bangles song because no matter what - like even when you're on vacation and don't have to go back to work or anything on Monday - Sunday is pretty much a lazy and worthless day. It was no different in New York, and I finally caught up on sleep by dozing until close to 3pm. Classic Liz, right?
In any case, once I woke up all refreshed, I got dolled up to hit the town (in my new H&M top) and head out to Brooklyn to see Emily, Kim and Kerry and the 'hood (Park Slope) that they call home.
On the way there I came across yet another example of PONY synergy: New York's well-known Roseland, just like our own Roseland venue here in Portland!
What you can't see is the poster for the upcoming Sleater-Kinney show (the indie chick band who calls Portland home). Talk about a meta-PONY moment!
After this thrilling encounter, I hopped on the subway and rocked out to Alanis Morisette on Mari's iPod all the way out to Park Slope. Once there, Emily, Kim and I got some grub at Lobo (I don't think this CitySearch profile I linked to is the right location, but it sounds like the place - weird). The Tex Mex wasn't that good compared to what I'm used to from California, or even here in Portland, but I was hungry and the chicken fajitas filled me right up.
Now satiated, I went back to Emily and Kim's pad for a little home tour and to meet their adorable kitties, and then Emily headed back out for a nice stroll on the tree-lined and brownstone-lined streets of Park Slope and indulged in some ice cream at Haagen-Dazs (That's right, no Tasti-D-Lite for me! I want the real shit!).
I headed back soon after that (didn't want to be chillin' on the subway alone too late at night), again with Alanis as my soundtrack (this will be an important detail for the next post), and then just hung out at Mari's apartment for the rest of the evening. Lame, I know, but I was happy with the day. :-)
Yeah....I pretty much disagree with that Bangles song because no matter what - like even when you're on vacation and don't have to go back to work or anything on Monday - Sunday is pretty much a lazy and worthless day. It was no different in New York, and I finally caught up on sleep by dozing until close to 3pm. Classic Liz, right?
In any case, once I woke up all refreshed, I got dolled up to hit the town (in my new H&M top) and head out to Brooklyn to see Emily, Kim and Kerry and the 'hood (Park Slope) that they call home.
On the way there I came across yet another example of PONY synergy: New York's well-known Roseland, just like our own Roseland venue here in Portland!
What you can't see is the poster for the upcoming Sleater-Kinney show (the indie chick band who calls Portland home). Talk about a meta-PONY moment!
After this thrilling encounter, I hopped on the subway and rocked out to Alanis Morisette on Mari's iPod all the way out to Park Slope. Once there, Emily, Kim and I got some grub at Lobo (I don't think this CitySearch profile I linked to is the right location, but it sounds like the place - weird). The Tex Mex wasn't that good compared to what I'm used to from California, or even here in Portland, but I was hungry and the chicken fajitas filled me right up.
Now satiated, I went back to Emily and Kim's pad for a little home tour and to meet their adorable kitties, and then Emily headed back out for a nice stroll on the tree-lined and brownstone-lined streets of Park Slope and indulged in some ice cream at Haagen-Dazs (That's right, no Tasti-D-Lite for me! I want the real shit!).
I headed back soon after that (didn't want to be chillin' on the subway alone too late at night), again with Alanis as my soundtrack (this will be an important detail for the next post), and then just hung out at Mari's apartment for the rest of the evening. Lame, I know, but I was happy with the day. :-)
New York City - Saturday, 6.11.05
Bright eyed and bushy tailed (ha!), I woke up around 9am Saturday morning and got all pretty for the "So You Want to Be a Publicist? Part 2" conference (in case you're wondering, I wore my white suit pants and my sheer aqua polka dot blouse with silver strappy heels). Mari, bless her soul, woke up along with me and accompanied me for my "15 minutes" of semi-fame.
After a quick cab ride, Mari and I walked into some random office building and jetted up to the 16th floor to Ripley Grier Studios. This is what greeted us at we stepped off the elevator:
No, we didn't mistakenly wind up at some cheesy tanning salon; this was the correct location for the conference, which turned out to be some sort of casting agency, so we were surrounded by lots of would-be actors, actresses, dancers and singers. Oh boy!
Luckily, the conference was tucked away upstairs, and we didn't have to worry about all the other craziness going on around us. After a couple donuts and cups of apple juice, the conference got under way with a little "ice breaker" game in the form of the "Name Game" - you know, the first person says her name, the second person says the first person's name and then her own name, and so on. Silly, but not to tough - usually. This time, however, these were the names I had to remember before my turn came around (yes, I cheated and wrote them down, but didn't use the list when I had the floor): LaTonya, Erica, Nile, Shelda, Keita, Lyn, Erica, Ramlah, Priscilla, Bettina, Chantel, Heather, Yunis, Monica, Wanda, Taneisha, Ayana, Audia, Stacy, Mari, then me. And just for giggles, here's the rest of the names after my turn: Jenai, LaShonda, Malissa, Kateisha, Crystal, Tasha, Taneisha, Sharonda, Rachel, Ohameika, Tiffany and Melissa. Mercifully, they stopped the game only about halfway through the room. Phew, that was a doozy!
Next up, the keynote speaker, Ms. Millie Monyo [see below], one of the girls from the MTV reality show "PoweR Girls," which focused on Lizzie Grubman, her agency Grubman PR, and four girls working under her. It was a ridiculous show, which made the girls out to be celebrity-obsessed airheads, so I was curious if that impression was created by the editors or if was truly the "reality" of these girls.
Well, I am sorry (or happy?) to report that the show seems to have been right on target. I don't want to do a whole lot of shit-talking on here (email me in private for all the real scoop if you want), but without a doubt, I didn't learn anything new from Millie. First of all, she didn't even have a talk prepared, she rushed in late and simply said something like, "I'm not really very good at just talking, so do you have questions for me?" Huh? You're the keynote speaker! You're supposed to speak and we're supposed to listen, maybe ask some questions after all that jazz! But, of course, everyone had plenty of questions for her because she works with celebs and was on TV, so I thought I'd give her a chance. Hmmm, yeah, I should have known better. My favorite part: in response to someone asking how to gather media contacts, Millie began with, "Well, there's this thing in a magazine called a masthead..." Now I know that the average Jane doesn't necessarily know this (but I still think a lot do), but if you're at all interested in magazines or PR you absolutely do know about the masthead that lists all the editors. I'm trying to think about how I would have started my response, and yes, I probably would have mentioned the masthead, but the thing that gets me is her patronizing assumption that no one else knows what exactly a masthead is. Okay, that's enough about mastheads.
A few more winners from the darling PoweR Girl that sprang forth during her participation in the subsequent panel discussion "Publicity to the Stars":
"It's really good to be a people person." Duh, especially in public relations when the whole point of the job is to relate to the public.
Addressing the fact that you have to already be in the industry to get invited to press events and networking opportunities, which exactly where people want to go to get into the industry - "It's a double-edged sword." Hmmmm....yeah, maybe, but I think it's more like a catch-22.
And one more actually useful lesson I learned during the conference: Even though you (like me) may be excited to have your very own business cards, don't just hand out them to anyone and everyone (even those who aren't interested), especially without talking to them first. A particular woman was doing this, and it was just plain tacky. Mari was waiting for me to finish with some picture-taking and was merely standing within a ten-foot radius of this woman, who, assuming that Mari must want to speak to her very knowledgeable and important self, gave her the I'll-be-with-you-in-just-a-minute gesture and then handed Mari a business card because of course she must be dying to get one just like everyone else! I think I ended with 5 of those cards or something. Ick. Just don't do it.
So yeah, we left the conference soon after that because we were sleepy (yeah, neither Mari nor I are really morning people, and remember, I was still going on only 8 hours sleep in the past two days - I'm full of excuses) and I don't think I could have handled getting anymore business cards. We headed home only briefly before heading back out and downtown to do a little wandering and shopping in Soho.
That's right, kiddies, I was finally making the pilgrimage to my mecca - H&M. We got off the subway, sent Michael on his way and made a beeline for the store. In less than two minutes, I had at least 8 garments over my arm and had barely made it past the entrance. In the end, I could only afford a few tops, but they're damn cute if I do say so myself (black cargigan with a slim silouhette - great basic - and vintage-looking turquoise knit shell - it'll make a great layering sweater vest in the winter, too - with chartreuse and white scallops and accents). Love it!
By the time Mari and I emerged from H&M, it was pissing rain outside and we were starving, so we met up with Mike at Broome Street Bar for some yummies. He quickly deemed the place is his favorite bar in NYC and convinced us to eat there even though Mari wasn't too keen on the idea. And thank God we did, because Mike ordered the most hilarious burger we'd ever seen - it was served in a pita pocket! Witness below:
I couldn't tell if he was enjoying it so much because it actually tasted good or just for the novelty of the whole thing. If you care enough to divulge your email address and register with Shecky's (it's really easy and quick), check out their review of the place, which actually mentions the "unfortunate" pita burger.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that while Mari and I were doing our own shopping, Mike stumbled upon a "huge" sale at Broadway Panhandler, a kitchen store, and showed off all his goodies while we ate dinner - new knives, a chopping board and the BIGGEST saute pan ever! Check it out in all its glory:
All that junk was so bulky and heavy that we had to take it back to the apartment before we headed out for the night instead of wandering around the neighborhood during the evening. Silly Michael. No matter, we had a lot of fun with each other just chilling at the apartment - I surfed the web while Mari and Michael had a tickle fight, then Michael decided to invade my privacy and take a picture of me in the loo. Again, I have no shame, because I'm sharing it with you:
Classy, yes? I swear, Mike is like the annoying (yet lovable) brother I never had growing up.
All that craziness could only keep up entertained for long - we really had to get to some drinking! We headed back downtown and met up with Emily, Kim and Meredith at some random bar in Gramery Park (Mike desperately wants to live there) called Still. At the risk of sounding like a crotchety old lady, the music was crazy loud and all I could keep yelling was "This music is too loud!"
Needless to say, we only stayed for one drink, and then Mari, Mike, Emily, Meredith and I headed to my old stomping ground around Union Square to Nevada Smith's, a "pub" we hit up several times during my summer in NYC. During the week it's a pretty chill English-style pub that caters to fanatical soccer fans, but on the weekends it can get a little "clubby" with a dance floor in the back, more loud music, lots of scoping out the opposite sex, etc. We pretty much hung around with each other, though, and the 2004 ASME interns that Emily knew. Our boy buddy from our summer as interns, Jared, met up with just a bit later and I was so thrilled to see him (it'd been almost two years)!
We all had a great time together, and though I didn't even get a buzz from nursing about 3 beers throughout the night, I was starving by the time 3am rolled around. For more reminscing, Mari, Michael and I headed to Amore's Pizza (I'd link to it but they don't have any web presence!), where the girls and I used to get late-night munchies and greasy hangover cures all the time because it was right next door to our dorm. I got a delicious pepperoni roll (basically a cinammon roll with cheese, pepperoni and canadian bacon instead of all that sweet stuff) and Michael got a heartattack on pizza dough: the Lasagna Pizza. It was so much food that he could only eat half of it:
You really had to see it in person!
And after an uneventful subway ride home, I think we all finally fell asleep around 5am.
Although it was loads of fun to see all the old hangouts and it certainly made me miss those special months I spent in the city, I was also happy that my visit there and, in fact, myself were different than those heady ASME days. I didn't have the energy to stay out way past closing time (4am) like I used to, I didn't have any desire to drink a lot and/or get drunk, and I wasn't interested at all in flirting with and/or meeting any guys. Therefore, I don't have the same sort of wild stories to report as those old days, but at the same time, I feel a lot happier and truer to myself.
Sunday preview: I slept until the early afternoon (I really needed to catch up!) and went to Brooklyn to visit with Emily and see where a lot of the girls (Emily, Kim, Kerry and Kristen) call home. Details to come in the next post...
After a quick cab ride, Mari and I walked into some random office building and jetted up to the 16th floor to Ripley Grier Studios. This is what greeted us at we stepped off the elevator:
No, we didn't mistakenly wind up at some cheesy tanning salon; this was the correct location for the conference, which turned out to be some sort of casting agency, so we were surrounded by lots of would-be actors, actresses, dancers and singers. Oh boy!
Luckily, the conference was tucked away upstairs, and we didn't have to worry about all the other craziness going on around us. After a couple donuts and cups of apple juice, the conference got under way with a little "ice breaker" game in the form of the "Name Game" - you know, the first person says her name, the second person says the first person's name and then her own name, and so on. Silly, but not to tough - usually. This time, however, these were the names I had to remember before my turn came around (yes, I cheated and wrote them down, but didn't use the list when I had the floor): LaTonya, Erica, Nile, Shelda, Keita, Lyn, Erica, Ramlah, Priscilla, Bettina, Chantel, Heather, Yunis, Monica, Wanda, Taneisha, Ayana, Audia, Stacy, Mari, then me. And just for giggles, here's the rest of the names after my turn: Jenai, LaShonda, Malissa, Kateisha, Crystal, Tasha, Taneisha, Sharonda, Rachel, Ohameika, Tiffany and Melissa. Mercifully, they stopped the game only about halfway through the room. Phew, that was a doozy!
Next up, the keynote speaker, Ms. Millie Monyo [see below], one of the girls from the MTV reality show "PoweR Girls," which focused on Lizzie Grubman, her agency Grubman PR, and four girls working under her. It was a ridiculous show, which made the girls out to be celebrity-obsessed airheads, so I was curious if that impression was created by the editors or if was truly the "reality" of these girls.
Well, I am sorry (or happy?) to report that the show seems to have been right on target. I don't want to do a whole lot of shit-talking on here (email me in private for all the real scoop if you want), but without a doubt, I didn't learn anything new from Millie. First of all, she didn't even have a talk prepared, she rushed in late and simply said something like, "I'm not really very good at just talking, so do you have questions for me?" Huh? You're the keynote speaker! You're supposed to speak and we're supposed to listen, maybe ask some questions after all that jazz! But, of course, everyone had plenty of questions for her because she works with celebs and was on TV, so I thought I'd give her a chance. Hmmm, yeah, I should have known better. My favorite part: in response to someone asking how to gather media contacts, Millie began with, "Well, there's this thing in a magazine called a masthead..." Now I know that the average Jane doesn't necessarily know this (but I still think a lot do), but if you're at all interested in magazines or PR you absolutely do know about the masthead that lists all the editors. I'm trying to think about how I would have started my response, and yes, I probably would have mentioned the masthead, but the thing that gets me is her patronizing assumption that no one else knows what exactly a masthead is. Okay, that's enough about mastheads.
A few more winners from the darling PoweR Girl that sprang forth during her participation in the subsequent panel discussion "Publicity to the Stars":
"It's really good to be a people person." Duh, especially in public relations when the whole point of the job is to relate to the public.
Addressing the fact that you have to already be in the industry to get invited to press events and networking opportunities, which exactly where people want to go to get into the industry - "It's a double-edged sword." Hmmmm....yeah, maybe, but I think it's more like a catch-22.
And one more actually useful lesson I learned during the conference: Even though you (like me) may be excited to have your very own business cards, don't just hand out them to anyone and everyone (even those who aren't interested), especially without talking to them first. A particular woman was doing this, and it was just plain tacky. Mari was waiting for me to finish with some picture-taking and was merely standing within a ten-foot radius of this woman, who, assuming that Mari must want to speak to her very knowledgeable and important self, gave her the I'll-be-with-you-in-just-a-minute gesture and then handed Mari a business card because of course she must be dying to get one just like everyone else! I think I ended with 5 of those cards or something. Ick. Just don't do it.
So yeah, we left the conference soon after that because we were sleepy (yeah, neither Mari nor I are really morning people, and remember, I was still going on only 8 hours sleep in the past two days - I'm full of excuses) and I don't think I could have handled getting anymore business cards. We headed home only briefly before heading back out and downtown to do a little wandering and shopping in Soho.
That's right, kiddies, I was finally making the pilgrimage to my mecca - H&M. We got off the subway, sent Michael on his way and made a beeline for the store. In less than two minutes, I had at least 8 garments over my arm and had barely made it past the entrance. In the end, I could only afford a few tops, but they're damn cute if I do say so myself (black cargigan with a slim silouhette - great basic - and vintage-looking turquoise knit shell - it'll make a great layering sweater vest in the winter, too - with chartreuse and white scallops and accents). Love it!
By the time Mari and I emerged from H&M, it was pissing rain outside and we were starving, so we met up with Mike at Broome Street Bar for some yummies. He quickly deemed the place is his favorite bar in NYC and convinced us to eat there even though Mari wasn't too keen on the idea. And thank God we did, because Mike ordered the most hilarious burger we'd ever seen - it was served in a pita pocket! Witness below:
I couldn't tell if he was enjoying it so much because it actually tasted good or just for the novelty of the whole thing. If you care enough to divulge your email address and register with Shecky's (it's really easy and quick), check out their review of the place, which actually mentions the "unfortunate" pita burger.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that while Mari and I were doing our own shopping, Mike stumbled upon a "huge" sale at Broadway Panhandler, a kitchen store, and showed off all his goodies while we ate dinner - new knives, a chopping board and the BIGGEST saute pan ever! Check it out in all its glory:
All that junk was so bulky and heavy that we had to take it back to the apartment before we headed out for the night instead of wandering around the neighborhood during the evening. Silly Michael. No matter, we had a lot of fun with each other just chilling at the apartment - I surfed the web while Mari and Michael had a tickle fight, then Michael decided to invade my privacy and take a picture of me in the loo. Again, I have no shame, because I'm sharing it with you:
Classy, yes? I swear, Mike is like the annoying (yet lovable) brother I never had growing up.
All that craziness could only keep up entertained for long - we really had to get to some drinking! We headed back downtown and met up with Emily, Kim and Meredith at some random bar in Gramery Park (Mike desperately wants to live there) called Still. At the risk of sounding like a crotchety old lady, the music was crazy loud and all I could keep yelling was "This music is too loud!"
Needless to say, we only stayed for one drink, and then Mari, Mike, Emily, Meredith and I headed to my old stomping ground around Union Square to Nevada Smith's, a "pub" we hit up several times during my summer in NYC. During the week it's a pretty chill English-style pub that caters to fanatical soccer fans, but on the weekends it can get a little "clubby" with a dance floor in the back, more loud music, lots of scoping out the opposite sex, etc. We pretty much hung around with each other, though, and the 2004 ASME interns that Emily knew. Our boy buddy from our summer as interns, Jared, met up with just a bit later and I was so thrilled to see him (it'd been almost two years)!
We all had a great time together, and though I didn't even get a buzz from nursing about 3 beers throughout the night, I was starving by the time 3am rolled around. For more reminscing, Mari, Michael and I headed to Amore's Pizza (I'd link to it but they don't have any web presence!), where the girls and I used to get late-night munchies and greasy hangover cures all the time because it was right next door to our dorm. I got a delicious pepperoni roll (basically a cinammon roll with cheese, pepperoni and canadian bacon instead of all that sweet stuff) and Michael got a heartattack on pizza dough: the Lasagna Pizza. It was so much food that he could only eat half of it:
You really had to see it in person!
And after an uneventful subway ride home, I think we all finally fell asleep around 5am.
Although it was loads of fun to see all the old hangouts and it certainly made me miss those special months I spent in the city, I was also happy that my visit there and, in fact, myself were different than those heady ASME days. I didn't have the energy to stay out way past closing time (4am) like I used to, I didn't have any desire to drink a lot and/or get drunk, and I wasn't interested at all in flirting with and/or meeting any guys. Therefore, I don't have the same sort of wild stories to report as those old days, but at the same time, I feel a lot happier and truer to myself.
Sunday preview: I slept until the early afternoon (I really needed to catch up!) and went to Brooklyn to visit with Emily and see where a lot of the girls (Emily, Kim, Kerry and Kristen) call home. Details to come in the next post...
Saturday, June 18, 2005
New York City - Friday, 6.10.05
First of all, some photos of that sunrise on the plane.....so gorgeous.
Pretty sweet, huh? These may be my favorite pictures of the whole trip.
So after nearly missing my connecting flight in Minneapolis, praying to the luggage gods that my bags made it on the plane with me (they did), and running on only about 2 hours of sleep (not consecutive, mind you), I finally arrived in New York City – well, Newark, NJ, but a helluva lot closer to Manhattan than Portland – around 11am PST. On the bus into the city, I was so thrilled to be there – and deliriously sleep-deprived – that I went camera phone crazy. The edited results below:
Yep, that's me, a little wide-eyed-crazy-happy to be on my way into the city. I must have no shame to post this on the internet, truly.
My first H&M sighting! If I wasn't so tired, I would have jumped off the bus right then and there and done a little shopping. As it was, I kept my lazy wits about me and waited until the next day to get my fix.
Not a second later, we drove by a Forever 21. Not quite as exciting... [see my previous post about H&M vs. Forever 21]
Hot dog stand! I was so excited to see my first one of these - I suppose that my empty stomach may have a little to do with that - but as it turned out, I didn't get a hot dog on the street my whole time there. Maybe that's because I wasn't ever hungover enough!
Mari and Michael met me at the bus stop right by Grand Central, and Mari and I started lugging all the bags back onto the subway to dump them at her place. We walked into Grand Central, where I used to get off the subway everyday for work, and I got very giddy and took this picture:
That is such a stunning building, and this picture really doesn't do it justice. Forgive me.
When Mari and I got off the subway at the 57th street stop right by her apartment, who was on the platform but Kurt "RedBall" Perschke! Small freakin' world - in all of Manhattan (he lives there) and of all the times (I was only there for 5 days, one week after he was in Portland), we ran into each other on one random subway platform. It was one of those moments that can only happen in the most populated city in the country. Fabu!
After all of this excitement, we finally got to Mari's place - very cute, by the way, and her camera phone pics don't do it justice - and I had about 15 minutes (if that!) to rest before I had to head back to Grand Central to meet John's mom for lunch, which was very enjoyable. As tired as I was, I think was running on some sort of lack-of-sleep adrenaline, because I had a ton of energy and talked with John's mom, Elizabeth, all through our 2.5 hour lunch.
The next stop on my whirlwind first day in NYC was dinner with a group of my ASME friends at 'inoteca on the Lower East Side. On the way there, Mari and I walked by Teany, Moby's tea shop where Gwyneth Paltrow celebrated her daughter Apple's first birthday. Of course, I had to take a picture because I'm a whore for anything celebrity-related (more of that to come in subsequent posts, so brace yourself):
Dinner was a blast - and very yummy - just like the old days when all the ASME interns would get together on Friday for a big group dinner. Here's some documentation (thanks Brooke!) of our mini-reunion; the pictures say it all:
Brooke (who works at VITALS) and Kim (who works at Glamour).
A whole series of pictures of Emily (one of my former roommates, who now works at All You) and me...
Kerry (who also works at VITALS) makin' a silly face.
Robin (who works at Twist) looks stunned, but I'm not sure why.
Meredith (who works at Ladies' Home Journal) enjoys her delicious dinner.
Oh, there's a camera in my face - I better smile!
Mari (who doesn't work right now) is so beautiful.
While we finished our wine and waited for the check, Kerry got a little creative...
The avant-garde fruits of her labor. I'm sure the waitstaff loved us!
Stuffed and a little tipsy, Emily, Meredith, Mari and I headed uptown to a bar called Tin Lizzie's (fitting, yes?) where drinks were two for one (sweeeeet!). Unfortunately, I could only handle one beer, so we ended up heading home before the night got to crazy....Lame, I know, but I hadn't slept at all and had to get up at 9am the next morning for the conference, so please give me a break. :-)
Pretty sweet, huh? These may be my favorite pictures of the whole trip.
So after nearly missing my connecting flight in Minneapolis, praying to the luggage gods that my bags made it on the plane with me (they did), and running on only about 2 hours of sleep (not consecutive, mind you), I finally arrived in New York City – well, Newark, NJ, but a helluva lot closer to Manhattan than Portland – around 11am PST. On the bus into the city, I was so thrilled to be there – and deliriously sleep-deprived – that I went camera phone crazy. The edited results below:
Yep, that's me, a little wide-eyed-crazy-happy to be on my way into the city. I must have no shame to post this on the internet, truly.
My first H&M sighting! If I wasn't so tired, I would have jumped off the bus right then and there and done a little shopping. As it was, I kept my lazy wits about me and waited until the next day to get my fix.
Not a second later, we drove by a Forever 21. Not quite as exciting... [see my previous post about H&M vs. Forever 21]
Hot dog stand! I was so excited to see my first one of these - I suppose that my empty stomach may have a little to do with that - but as it turned out, I didn't get a hot dog on the street my whole time there. Maybe that's because I wasn't ever hungover enough!
Mari and Michael met me at the bus stop right by Grand Central, and Mari and I started lugging all the bags back onto the subway to dump them at her place. We walked into Grand Central, where I used to get off the subway everyday for work, and I got very giddy and took this picture:
That is such a stunning building, and this picture really doesn't do it justice. Forgive me.
When Mari and I got off the subway at the 57th street stop right by her apartment, who was on the platform but Kurt "RedBall" Perschke! Small freakin' world - in all of Manhattan (he lives there) and of all the times (I was only there for 5 days, one week after he was in Portland), we ran into each other on one random subway platform. It was one of those moments that can only happen in the most populated city in the country. Fabu!
After all of this excitement, we finally got to Mari's place - very cute, by the way, and her camera phone pics don't do it justice - and I had about 15 minutes (if that!) to rest before I had to head back to Grand Central to meet John's mom for lunch, which was very enjoyable. As tired as I was, I think was running on some sort of lack-of-sleep adrenaline, because I had a ton of energy and talked with John's mom, Elizabeth, all through our 2.5 hour lunch.
The next stop on my whirlwind first day in NYC was dinner with a group of my ASME friends at 'inoteca on the Lower East Side. On the way there, Mari and I walked by Teany, Moby's tea shop where Gwyneth Paltrow celebrated her daughter Apple's first birthday. Of course, I had to take a picture because I'm a whore for anything celebrity-related (more of that to come in subsequent posts, so brace yourself):
Dinner was a blast - and very yummy - just like the old days when all the ASME interns would get together on Friday for a big group dinner. Here's some documentation (thanks Brooke!) of our mini-reunion; the pictures say it all:
Brooke (who works at VITALS) and Kim (who works at Glamour).
A whole series of pictures of Emily (one of my former roommates, who now works at All You) and me...
Kerry (who also works at VITALS) makin' a silly face.
Robin (who works at Twist) looks stunned, but I'm not sure why.
Meredith (who works at Ladies' Home Journal) enjoys her delicious dinner.
Oh, there's a camera in my face - I better smile!
Mari (who doesn't work right now) is so beautiful.
While we finished our wine and waited for the check, Kerry got a little creative...
The avant-garde fruits of her labor. I'm sure the waitstaff loved us!
Stuffed and a little tipsy, Emily, Meredith, Mari and I headed uptown to a bar called Tin Lizzie's (fitting, yes?) where drinks were two for one (sweeeeet!). Unfortunately, I could only handle one beer, so we ended up heading home before the night got to crazy....Lame, I know, but I hadn't slept at all and had to get up at 9am the next morning for the conference, so please give me a break. :-)
Friday, June 17, 2005
Horse(PONY)shoes
Okay, first of all, I swear on the Portland rain (yes, it's raining here in June!) that I will blog all about my New York trip starting tomorrow. Promise!
In the meantime, speaking of the rain, thought I'd let you know that it seems you and I aren't the only ones with PONY on the mind. Sigerson Morrison has come up with the perfect PONY shoes, combining New York style (pointy-toe flats revealing just a hint of sexy toe cleavage) with Portland utility (they're made of waterproof rubber). How hot is that?! Even DailyCandy has deemed them cool (of course!). Anyone want to donate to the Liz-really-should-own-these-shoes fund?
In the meantime, speaking of the rain, thought I'd let you know that it seems you and I aren't the only ones with PONY on the mind. Sigerson Morrison has come up with the perfect PONY shoes, combining New York style (pointy-toe flats revealing just a hint of sexy toe cleavage) with Portland utility (they're made of waterproof rubber). How hot is that?! Even DailyCandy has deemed them cool (of course!). Anyone want to donate to the Liz-really-should-own-these-shoes fund?
Sunday, June 12, 2005
I'm guilty of neglecting the blog, it's true
So I've come to the realization (and I really should have known better in the first place) that blogging everyday while I'm in New York for only 5 days is just impossible. I haven't been "home" (i.e. Mari's darling apartment) much and when I am I'm exhausted and don't really want to pull out my computer. So I'm sorry. I hate to disappoint you, my loyal readers. I may very well get to blogging about Friday afternoon, yesterday, posting pictures and all that jazz later tonight, after I get back from dinner in Brooklyn with Emily and Kim, but I've learned my lesson and I'm making no promises yet. I will promise, however, that in the very least, I will blog every last detail, with tons of hilarious (at least to me) pictures as soon as I get back to my regular, homebody life in Portland. So at the very latest, look to Wednesday/Thursday for all the adventures of Liz, Super PONYgirl, in New York City!
Saturday, June 11, 2005
PO in the NY
Sooooo, sorry this is late. My day was a whirlwind once I got here yesterday (details below) and once I got finally back to Mari’s apartment last night, I really had to pass out since I only got two hours of sleep during my redeye and had to wake up at 9am to go to the conference. Anyway, without further adieu, the first post of my New York adventure…..
Yes, I’ve been a lazy blogger lately. Have you missed me? Really, I thought I would give Mari the chance to shine for a week or so since she’s the new New Yorker and I’ve been dominating the blog with random-ass posts. And yes, I’m lazy, too – although in my defense, the week was busy preparing for my new apartment (SOOOO excited – more details to come next week) and this trip to New York (SOOOO exciting also!).
So to get back into the swing of things, I am sitting on the plane blogging away (well, typing away and will post as soon as I come back to earth and find a wifi connection) thanks to the spiffy new battery John bought for my laptop today. But shit, it’s already half gone from watching Six Feet Under episodes!
Anyway, back to the plane….I am on my way back to New York and it’s about damn time. Right now, we’re flying into the sunrise and it’s absolutely beautiful. I have a feeling I won’t be sleeping much on this journey, just to excited to take it all in again. I feel like I’m back on the flight to New York for the first time two years ago (same airline and everything!), only this time I’m watching Six Feet Under instead of Sex and the City, my laptop is two years old, I am leaving behind a boyfriend I’m going to miss terribly for these four days rather than jonesing to experience the single life, and I am, well, more grown up I guess. I have to say, also, that with all the new apartment excitement, I am a little sad to be leaving Portland. I have come to appreciate my city more than ever over the course of the past year and I am proud to call it home (did that sound too cheesy? I think the Xanax is making me all mushy).
I went out to dinner last night with Peter Shankman, a very successful and unconventional PR guy based in NYC. He came to town to pitch the city of Portland, ironically enough, (tourism or something like that) and had never been here before, so I took it upon myself to give him a proper taste of the city (literally because the night centered around drinking and eating!). I find that I really love showing off Portland because I think its charms are so refreshing and unexpected to out-of-towners, especially New Yorkers. We went to Blue Hour for drinks (designed by Portland-based and now the talk of New York City - for his project on the Contemporary Arts Museum at 2 Lincoln Center - architect Brad Cloepfil (he also designed the Weiden + Kennedy building, very eco-friendly, warehouse-converted-into-creative-space Portland design), and then we had dinner at Gotham Building Tavern, the third gem in the crown of this brilliant young Portland couple who started Family Supper (hip dinner-party-esque gathering of strangers in a loft-like kitchen space eating dee-licious organic, seasonal northwest food, all for $25 a piece) and clarklewis (the restaurant version of Family Supper, restaurant of the year last year). Yummy – and it didn’t hurt that Peter picked up the tab (thanks again, Peter!). If you’re curious, I had asparagus ravioli with cream and browned butter and salmon with some fancy sounding sauce and greens; it really doesn’t do the restaurant justice not to know those names! Anyway, Peter had all these fresh ideas about bringing the cosmopolitan, wordly flavor (and attention) of New York to Portland to really put it on the map, maybe creating a “mini-oregon” in Central Park or something like that. I even told Peter about PONY and he absolutely loved the idea, even teased that if he used it in his pitch and he got the account, he would bring me on as a consultant. I hope that wasn’t just talk because that would be awesome!! [hint hint, Peter :-)]
Anyway, maybe it is the Xanax making me really happy and excited, but I’m feeling on top of the world, on the verge of moving into my dream apartment – vintage moldings and alcoves, walk-through closet with storage (a la Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment), burgundy walls in the living room, dark blue in the bedroom, and even a fire escape! – headed for an awesome weekend in New York, made new friends with a colleague in NYC, and well, flying into the gorgeous sunrise so full of possibility. Not too shabby.
I’m hoping this will the first of my daily posts while I’m in New York – complete with camera phone pics! – so check back often. Just as things have changed since my last time there as I mentioned above, I have updated my technogical journaliing of my experiences in the city from the low-tech mass email to the blogosphere. Hope you enjoy!
>>pictures to come later, later tonight, along with the rest of yesterday's and today's events<<
Yes, I’ve been a lazy blogger lately. Have you missed me? Really, I thought I would give Mari the chance to shine for a week or so since she’s the new New Yorker and I’ve been dominating the blog with random-ass posts. And yes, I’m lazy, too – although in my defense, the week was busy preparing for my new apartment (SOOOO excited – more details to come next week) and this trip to New York (SOOOO exciting also!).
So to get back into the swing of things, I am sitting on the plane blogging away (well, typing away and will post as soon as I come back to earth and find a wifi connection) thanks to the spiffy new battery John bought for my laptop today. But shit, it’s already half gone from watching Six Feet Under episodes!
Anyway, back to the plane….I am on my way back to New York and it’s about damn time. Right now, we’re flying into the sunrise and it’s absolutely beautiful. I have a feeling I won’t be sleeping much on this journey, just to excited to take it all in again. I feel like I’m back on the flight to New York for the first time two years ago (same airline and everything!), only this time I’m watching Six Feet Under instead of Sex and the City, my laptop is two years old, I am leaving behind a boyfriend I’m going to miss terribly for these four days rather than jonesing to experience the single life, and I am, well, more grown up I guess. I have to say, also, that with all the new apartment excitement, I am a little sad to be leaving Portland. I have come to appreciate my city more than ever over the course of the past year and I am proud to call it home (did that sound too cheesy? I think the Xanax is making me all mushy).
I went out to dinner last night with Peter Shankman, a very successful and unconventional PR guy based in NYC. He came to town to pitch the city of Portland, ironically enough, (tourism or something like that) and had never been here before, so I took it upon myself to give him a proper taste of the city (literally because the night centered around drinking and eating!). I find that I really love showing off Portland because I think its charms are so refreshing and unexpected to out-of-towners, especially New Yorkers. We went to Blue Hour for drinks (designed by Portland-based and now the talk of New York City - for his project on the Contemporary Arts Museum at 2 Lincoln Center - architect Brad Cloepfil (he also designed the Weiden + Kennedy building, very eco-friendly, warehouse-converted-into-creative-space Portland design), and then we had dinner at Gotham Building Tavern, the third gem in the crown of this brilliant young Portland couple who started Family Supper (hip dinner-party-esque gathering of strangers in a loft-like kitchen space eating dee-licious organic, seasonal northwest food, all for $25 a piece) and clarklewis (the restaurant version of Family Supper, restaurant of the year last year). Yummy – and it didn’t hurt that Peter picked up the tab (thanks again, Peter!). If you’re curious, I had asparagus ravioli with cream and browned butter and salmon with some fancy sounding sauce and greens; it really doesn’t do the restaurant justice not to know those names! Anyway, Peter had all these fresh ideas about bringing the cosmopolitan, wordly flavor (and attention) of New York to Portland to really put it on the map, maybe creating a “mini-oregon” in Central Park or something like that. I even told Peter about PONY and he absolutely loved the idea, even teased that if he used it in his pitch and he got the account, he would bring me on as a consultant. I hope that wasn’t just talk because that would be awesome!! [hint hint, Peter :-)]
Anyway, maybe it is the Xanax making me really happy and excited, but I’m feeling on top of the world, on the verge of moving into my dream apartment – vintage moldings and alcoves, walk-through closet with storage (a la Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment), burgundy walls in the living room, dark blue in the bedroom, and even a fire escape! – headed for an awesome weekend in New York, made new friends with a colleague in NYC, and well, flying into the gorgeous sunrise so full of possibility. Not too shabby.
I’m hoping this will the first of my daily posts while I’m in New York – complete with camera phone pics! – so check back often. Just as things have changed since my last time there as I mentioned above, I have updated my technogical journaliing of my experiences in the city from the low-tech mass email to the blogosphere. Hope you enjoy!
>>pictures to come later, later tonight, along with the rest of yesterday's and today's events<<
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