Winsome Whirlwind Weekend Wrap-Up

WARNING: This is gonna be a long one. I promise it'll be worth it. But also feel free to skim for only the scandalous parts.

I'm not sure exactly what's happened over the past four or five days, but I'm finding myself more and more hooked on this city. I feel at home again. It's energy and confidence and creativity that I haven't felt in a long time. It's hard – it's cold and my coats aren't thick enough, I pack my "office" and lug around a leaden bag all day, I don't know the most efficient trains and end up zigzagging all over Manhattan and Brooklyn, walking in circles and generally taking longer to get anywhere than I probably should. But the more I push myself, the better I feel. And the more assured I get to go further, and the more inspired I am to follow through on new ideas. And I'm just having fun, plain and simple. Portland is an amazing place to make a life, but I almost feel like it's time for me to earn it. I have to go away and stretch myself to really be content. I have to throw myself in the ocean and prove I can swim – and remember that even though it's effort, I have fun doing it; then the daiquiri on the beach will be that much more rewarding!

Enough introspection, let's rewind and recount the weekend...

Thursday, February 19
If you recall, Thursday was to be quite a busy day for me. Lesson learned: don't jinx it by blogging about the schedule the night before. I showed up at NYU and no one knew I was coming, nor did they know where the person was I was supposed to meet. Forty-five minutes later, I finally found someone who told me she had called in sick. Nice. I will never call in sick to work again.

Well, time for lunch then...headed up to Madison Square Park for some infamous Shake Shack. If I remember correctly, they opened soon after my ASME summer, and everyone was talking about the burgers, the fries, the frozen custards – serious cult following led to impossible lines. Now there are three locations, but it's still a popular lunch spot – the line took close to thirty minutes! And was it worth it? Eh, not really. The burger was fine, but kind of bland and soggy compared to In 'N Out; the fries were perfectly crisp, but the crinkle cut reminded me of the frozen ones you make at home; and the frozen custard chocolate shake...ick. Too nutty, or bitter, or something for my taste, and not nearly sweet enough. Maybe I'm too used to artificial flavor, but I kind of cringed every time I took a sip. The fauna were 'uuuge fans, though; birds sat right next to me and aggressive city squirrels nearly nabbed a fry when I wasn't looking! The pictures are hilarious, but I have to wait 'til I get home to the download cord to share them. Booooo.

Next up, my inaugural visit to the New York Public Library, which you may know as the refuge for freezing New Yorkers in the brilliant The Day After Tomorrow (can't help it, I love disaster movies!). It was slightly less desolate and a tad bit more warm and inviting, thankfully. It is, without a doubt, my new "office." Sitting in the periodical room, surrounded by murals of the great publishing buildings of the past, who wouldn't be inspired to genius?? Ok, I'll settle for productivity, and it worked wonders. I'm going back tomorrow.

I continued on the unfamiliar motivated-to-try-new-things path by going to a free pilates class that Melissa had looked into while she was visiting. I know, you're shocked! It turned out to be a very intensive bodywork class, less aerobic workout, less full-body yoga stretching, and more specific isolated muscle exercises. There may be nothing I hate more than not knowing what I'm doing (hence sticking with the familiar), and fitness has always been foreign to me. It makes me feel stupid, so I avoid it. Throughout the hour, though, even more than being reminded how out of shape I am (no news to me!), I realized just how much I don't pay attention to the individual parts of my body, how they move and interact in everyday motions, and how I can better take care of them. If/when I live here, I need to make this a regular thing. Any Brooklynites reading this, check out Ophra (that's oh-fra, not the other one) at Force and Flow. Seriously.

Resigned to a lazy night at "home," I hit a few bodegas for some food (this shopping-as-you-need-it thing is also hard to get used to) before Kristen invited me to meet up with her and Robin in Park Slope. Excellent, hot food! The problem is that the Atlantic stop on the subway is attached to Target, and I couldn't resist. If only I knew exercise as well as I know shopping! A few necessities later (and I promise, truly, only necessities, and travel sizes at that), I made it to Alchemy, my favorite kind of dense and dark wooded tavern/restaurant, where I wolfed down a veggie burger (with havarti cheese!) and traded dating advice. I am so out of practice!

Home to Lost catch-up and a bit of PONY news from home: Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, the heir-apparent to The New York Times, who had been a county court reporter at the Oregonian, is now at the city desk of the Times. It was expected that he'd end up back east, of course, just glad to add him to the PONY people list. Think we could swap stories? Ha.

Friday, February 20
I had scheduled lunch with Marlene, the Executive Director of ASME, but this time I had to reschedule because of another PawLinks conversation/interview (more on that later). I was able to make a later lunch with Meredith, another fellow ASME intern, at Spring Street Natural, where I had another veggie burger. The perfect food, I swear!

From there I wandered SoHo, got a wedding gift for PJ (another intern, shower on Saturday), and made my way to the Housing Works Bookstore, which Six-Word Memoirs Rachel recommended – she does work there, after all. I could have spent all day there, like the library – looking at room, I suppose it's no surprise I like to be surrounded by books. Unfortunately for my suitcase, I also can't resist buying books, especially vintage ones. This time, I picked up a 1951 review copy of Exploring the Child's World, a collection of insights and advice from a woman who interviewed kids and, unlike many during that time, listened to them as complete human beings with valid ideas, emotions and concerns. So much common sense now, but apparently groundbreaking at the time. It's fascinating to me to see how expert thinking and recommendations change so drastically with the times.

Cool book, but no place to sit and plug in the ancient laptop, so I just left early to stake our window seat at The Magician – same bar as last Friday with the awesomely cheap happy hour. Emily, one of my roommates from the ASME summer, showed up first, so we got to catch up, then Robin, Kim and Kristen (the trio of Brooklyn-dwelling, Hearst-employed ladies, I should note) arrived, making it about half of the ASME crew. When Kim's friend, Adam, joined us, it turned into an evening of coin toss dares and ballpoint pen "tattoos" – I'm stilled faintly marked with the New York Times "T," a lightning bolt heart, and a pair of so-nerdy-they're-now-hipster-cool black glasses. (Adam, a digital artist/designer/tech communication grad student, had been to the Times Open, a day-conference about open source API, using the new public archive of Times articles dating to 1981, full of inimitably searchable and sortable data. Fittingly, the attendees got a Nerd Merit Badge (you can buy your own) bearing the paper's insignia, providing the inspiration for our ink. Long description, but it was all interesting to me – I am a nerd.)

Now, back to the party... Kim and Robin left to go to a show, Adam went to a birthday party, and Mari met up with us, leaving me with two of my best friends to hit the town. Oooooh-kay, yay! We went to Back Room, which serves drinks in teacups and has a speakeasy vibe with its hidden entrance. Yet another library-esque spot (this seems to be the theme) – the VIP room is hidden behind a bookcase. We would have stayed longer, but we needed food, so we hit up Schiller's Liquor Bar, also with a slight '20s style, this time in the form of a hall of mirrors. I ate yet another veggie burger and loved every bite. From there, Kristen went home, and Mari and I went to 205 to meet her friends Jamie and Wes. Nag champa, techno music, but free drinks thanks to their birthday-boy friend. Deal. And I had the hilarious "pleasure" of meeting Cliff III, who is in the shipping business in Singapore, a trade his family has apparently been in for over 200 years. He grew up quite rich in Manhattan and went to prep school in San Francisco and "summered" in Nantucket. He is the first person I've ever met that I think I can call "pedigreed." They really exist, it blew my mind!

I think it was nearing 4am when we finally went to sleep at Mari's. Phew!

Saturday, February 20
Late start, obviously. After looking at the bridal shower invite, I was relieved to see that jeans were acceptable attire. No time to get back to Brooklyn from the Upper East Side – especially with the party in midtown – so I wore my same outfit from the night before. Classy! PJ and Ryan have been dating since before our ASME summer and are getting married in March, and after watching them match nearly every answer on the homemade video Newlywed Game that her friends had organized, I'm more sure than ever they're perfect for each other. So we celebrated a lot, of course, with tons of food, wine, tea and cake. Stuffed.

Kristen and I headed back to her place to refresh for the bachelorette portion of the fun, that same night. I was amazed at the energy I had, considering the hangover that kept me in bed all morning (or maybe that was the trick!). We went to The Randolph, a cozy nightspot, for schmancy, expensive cocktails – I wanted to order PBR – and I managed to stay relatively clear of all the girlie screaming and shrieking. Lots of fun, but huge groups of girls aren't my favorite scene. I stuck with Emily, Meredith and Brooke most of the time, trying to take advantage of the time together. We capped the night with drunken (everyone else) dancing at Happy Ending. Although now that I think about it, I'm not sure anyone really danced because it was so wall-to-wall packed. All that matters is that PJ was drunk and having a blast and telling everyone how much she loves them. That's all you can ask from a bachelorette party, I suppose!

Sunday, February 22 - today!
I ventured out by myself today, which was nice. I'm more content to explore alone in New York than anywhere else. There's so much to see, so much to get done, it's easier to just stick with your own agenda sometimes. This time was a trek to the Brooklyn Flea, which is massive and massively cool in the summer, as I'm told, but smaller and indoors in the winter. Still, the vintage junkie in me had to check it out.

First off, DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass – basically Brooklyn, near the river, between the bridges) looks just like the Pearl. Warehouses turned into lofts, with walls of retail windows on the bottom. When I walked by West Elm, I seriously got confused about where I was. Second, the market was kind of disappointing. Kristen warned me, but I didn't think it would be that small. Probably under 20 vendors, a mix between clothes, jewelry, house decor, photos. I've spent more time and found so many more things I wanted to take home at HOUSE on Hawthorne; I think half my own house is decorated from that vintage warehouse. But still, I did manage to find another vintage book for my collection: Get Wise to Yourself! This one's a doozy, from 1928, full of ways to analyze your physical features and gestures as clues to your personality – it's become an exact science, they say! Does the ball of your foot hit the ground first when you walk? You're "administrative – suggesting the owner or magnate." Do you have large earlobes? Then you are "generous and benevolent." It gets so much better: forehead slopes, nose bulges, lip angles, chin shapes. Please, come over or send me photos so I can analyze you! As they say, "grasp courage by the forelock; sharpen your pencil; put your pride on the ice for a moment, and proceed to the charts with a heart for any fate."

New collection: vintage self-help books. Hilarious.

Quick dinner and margaritas with Kristen to honor National Margarita Day, then up to Mari's to watch the Oscars. We drank Prosecco and ate brownies shaped like train cars (Mari went to Williams-Sonoma today), and Mari and I tied with 16 out of 24 predictions spot on. That's a record for me. Now I'm watching The Soup and should really be asleep.

Oh wait, there's more? Just a few loose ends..... The job stuff. I've had a few more conversations with the business/marketing/strategy person and the product/user experience developer for PawLinks, and I think they've gone really well. The more I talk about it, the more ideas I have. Tomorrow I've got to finish up some research of their plans so far, plus analysis of a few competitors, then I'm talking with the founder again to share some ideas and nail down a plan/expectations for my proposal. I want to do this. But I also need to earn a living.

Last but sooooo not least, I haven't given up on the subway reading lists. I think they deserve their own blog, though, photos and all. It should debut tomorrow. Also, more cool links and information when I can finally catch up on my own web reading and searching. Thanks for reading my diary for now!

*What, you really thought I would post scandalous stuff for the whole world to read on the internet? You'll have to email me personally for that dirt!

Stories to Read, Stores to Tell

I ended yesterday, and began today, with Paul Auster's memoirs of destitution and failure, Hand to Mouth. I hoped that in reading about a favorite writer's struggles – and knowing about the success he later experienced – I would feel a little stronger in my confidence that everything is going to be okay (EGBOK, as my mom likes to remind me) for me. Right now, I'm still feeling very awash in confusion, fear and lethargy. Ick. Not the book's fault, mind you. Just the result of an overactive catastrophizing brain at the moment. The memoirs themselves are light enough to infuse the subject matter with hope. I'll let you know how I feel when I finish the book.



At the same adorable bookstore where I found the memoirs, Unnameable Books, which I came across on Bergen Street during my venture into Park Slope yesterday (smaller even than Reading Frenzy, stacked floor to ceiling with used books), I also picked up a collection of stories Auster edited for NPR's National Story Project. We know by now that I'm a fan of stories collected from real people, and while I love web projects like Six-Word Memoirs and Fifty People, One Question, which collect stories via Twitter and video, it's nice to hold this book, turn the pages and catch a glimpse of people's lives.

On the train back to Brooklyn from Harlem last night, reading the book, I looked up for a moment and realized that six people around me were also reading, and the stories they chose seemed to offer a glimpse into their lives as well. Isn't it true that the stories we read say something about our own life stories? So now I'm keeping track of what I see people reading on the subway. And since I've been riding the subway a ton (see below), it keeps me entertained...

2/15, midnight, 2/3 to Brooklyn: 1776, Medical Terminology for Health Professionals, A Bona Fide Gold Digger, The Wave, New Moon, Bruiser 2

2/16, 2pm, 3 & Q to midtown: Janacek's Essays, A Civil Action

2/16, 5:30pm, R & F to LES: Mary Todd Lincoln, Eclipse

2/16, 11pm, 6 & 3 to Brooklyn: The Crown of Creation, New Moon

So the Twilight books are still pretty damn popular. Can't wait to see what other patterns I notice.

And now, to sum up the last three days:

Saturday, February 14
Melissa and I got a late start, making our way to the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge nearing sunset. Turns out the light was gorgeous on the Manhattan skyline. But in just my red ballet flats, my toes were frozen by the time we landed in Manhattan, so we headed to Century 21 to warm up. During my first visit in 2003, I remember being unsettled by this temple of consumerism sitting so bright and shiny across from the hole of the WTC site. How frivolous. It still strikes me as odd, but maybe the best thing we can do for the country is spend a little. Eh? I managed to do my part by snapping up black Nine West booties for six bucks, plus a brown knit skirt for all of $2. Quite a stimulus package! Back in Brooklyn, we put on some dresses (and my new shoes!) and trekked to Bushwick to our friend Ellie's party. It's out there, and kind of a desolate area (except for the lofts that are surely awesome, with a view of the Chrysler Building). And Ellie didn't answer the phone to let us in. Weeee waaaaugh. One party: bust. But I saw a new area of Brooklyn, I was happy enough. Now back to the Park Slope/Fort Green area for Kim and Robin's friend's party. I was again happy when I emerged from the subway on Portland Avenue. PONY, straight up. At the party, I was content to eat cupcakes, drink wine, and girl talk in the kitchen. No romantic or crazy stories, but I swear I'd be happy to just wander the city all night. At least for a little while. Last stop: the fried chicken place on the corner by Kristen's place; chicken sandwich, macaroni salad and Sprite is yummy at 3am.

Sunday, February 15
Time to see Kim and Robin's place in Park Slope. First, a leisurely stroll from the subway along 5th Avenue, boutique/restaurant/bar/coffee shop central. It felt dense like Hawthorne between 34th and 37th, but looked more like Mississippi, and included high-end spots like the Pearl. And just like on a sunny Sunday in Portland, the strollers, puppies and hipsters were out in droves. Perhaps it's a good sign that I have pets on the brain, but I couldn't help noticing at least eight animal boutiques, spas, vets and daycares in probably a ten block radius at the most. Good sign that there's a huge market for the site, at least. I managed to avoid the clothing stores so I wouldn't be tempted, except for Brooklyn Industries, which is opening it's first store on the west coast in – where do you think? – Portland!



Since I've been living in Kristen's long puff coat from there, glad to know I'll be covered on both coasts when I need to invest in my own. (PDX store opens on March 12.) Also stopped in to Bob & Judi's Coolectibles, which I hoped would be packed with vintage treasures like SMUT or Flutter, but it was too well-organized, bright and clean – and expensive – for me to enjoy the hunt. I need to check out Under the Pig down the street, but so far, I fear that vintage shopping may be too sanitized and upmarket here, devoid of the mystery and quirk in Portland. As evening fell, I set out on my trek to Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem for dinner with Mari and friends, most of whom I've known through her since high school. I still can't believe the city is so big that the trip took an hour-and-a-half; you could be at the beach or the mountain from Portland in that time! At the same time, a city with so many different worlds to explore is pretty addicting. Anyway, good barbecue, even better company, and another loooooong ride back to Brooklyn, getting home near one. Exhausted. But still read late into the night.

Monday, February 16
Woke up to read. Saw Melissa off, back to DC. Headed to midtown to meet Andrew Rhodes at McGee's. Andrew worked at ASME and coordinated the internship program that first brought me to New York in 2003. So grateful to him for the opportunity! Unfortunately, he was laid off in December, so this was a commiseration and catch-up beer. I didn't know that Andrew grew up in West Virginia and moved to New York to become an actor in his 30s. Talk about gutsy! I hope this free time helps him get back in touch with that passion. A bit buzzed, I walked down through Times Square. I'm not ashamed to admit it – I love Times Square. It's so bright and busy, so far removed from everyday reality, I can get lost from all my cares and concerns. This surely marks me as a non-New Yorker, but I love to watch the tourists excite in the city and imagine what stories they'll tell when they get back home. Such a fascinating array of people. So much energy in one place. It gets me out of my head. Then headed down to the Lower East Side to meet Mari et al. Got drinks at Motor City Bar, which reminded me of Kelly's Olympian, but not as cool without the hanging motorcycles, and ate Latin American small plates at Paladar. Food was tasty, but the service was terribly slow and the decor looked as interesting as an airport bar. If that place can make it in such a trendy neighborhood, maybe I should open a restaurant. Ha! Endured all the train changes (thanks, construction) to get back home eventually. One night to have the place to myself. I think I may be more introverted than I've thought in the past.