I think this is officially a weekly update, don't you?

It's been nice to have the last two days off and I've concentrated on a mix of relaxation and productivity. It's been a pretty even mix.

Yesterday I dedicated most of the day to homework. I've been trying to accomplish major portions of the portfolio that I have to turn in at the end of July. A passing grade allows me to graduate, a failing grade prevents graduation and so I'm taking it seriously and using my days off to get things done. I accomplished a few things and then decided to reward myself with dinner at Carnegie Deli.

I'd purposely not eaten lunch because I knew their portions to be massive. I figured, hey, I'll go and eat half the sandwich and save the other half for lunch today. I must've forgotten that idea, because by the end of the meal my plate was completely empty. One of my favorite parts of Carnegie Deli (as is the case with quite a few NYC restaurants) is the cafeteria style seating. You sit next to and across from complete strangers, many of which are outgoing and interesting. The guy sitting across from me was here from London and so we compared notes and talked about our countries, talked about politics in England and what to do while he's here in New York. He was thoroughly impressed by how friendly New Yorkers are. I'm not entirely sure he's left his hotel.

I couldn't just stare at a computer all weekend, so I took half the day to go explore. The day started off down in Chelsea where I received possibly the most obsessive and thorough haircut of my life, the slightly cold Russian woman inspecting just about ever hair on my head-- and for a very reasonable $15! You can't beat it. Freestyle Barber Shop in Chelsea. I'll go back.

I'd heard wonderful things about New York's new High Line park and so I decided to go find out what it was like. The park was created atop old above ground train tracks that run from 30th street down to around 14th and is one of my favorite parts of the city thus far. They've done a fantastic job creating a really unique green space and the design of everything is so cool. Old train tracks are left running through the concrete. Running water pours across the sidewalk in a slightly mystifying horizontal fountain. The concrete floor curls up and forms into a bench. Gardens line the path and a nice breeze blows through. On one side you can see New Jersey and the river and on the other, there's a huge panoramic view of Manhattan. What a cool place!

I then walked down into Chelsea, had lunch at Blossom du Jour and headed back up to my place. I've spent the rest of the day working on my project and getting ready for the week ahead. Tomorrow night is the CBS intern Yankee's game and should be great fun!

Until next week!

It's time for the semi-weekly update I suppose. I've been packing a lot into every day lately, between work, homework and exploring.

Since the last time I updated, probably the most exciting days have been my two days off, yesterday and today. Lately I've been feeling like I've been wasting time here. After I get off of work, I'm pretty worn out and just want to go home, get some food and relax. It's nice to relax at the end of the day, so I try to make up for those days on my "weekend".

Yesterday was my first trip out to Brooklyn. I took the train to Williamsburg, the hipster mecca of New York (so I've been told), and walked around for a while. It was one of those times where I really wished that I had a smartphone for navigation purposes. I walked around, hoping to find something interesting, a restaurant, a shop, a park. Something. The part I was in at least reminded me, most comparably, to a rough part of Barberton or Cleveland and at one point I thought that I'd found the area I was looking for. The name sounded familiar. Was this the area I'd heard about for some good restaurants? Looking around, I noticed the boarded up windows, New York City Housing Authority signs on buildings and found that I'd wandered into the projects of Bushwick. I stuck out like, well, a kid from the Midwest in Bushwick. It wasn't so good. What was good was the interesting people I saw and the culture. What I can only assume to be Orthodox Jewish men and women were all over, the men in long, black coats and the women in clothing that you could only describe as old world. At times, I had to make sure I hadn't wandered back into the 1930s. There was even an all Jewish volunteer fire department, school buses with Hebrew down the side and a plethora of strange and exotic things one just doesn't see in rural/suburban Ohio.

I walked back to the train tracks and headed back up town. I knew that my time in Brooklyn couldn't be over so soon. I'd taken the train all the way downtown, why turn back now? I took a connecting train to a place I've wanted to go since I saw it featured on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations: Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.

The hour long train ride took me out to the area more notably known for Coney Island. The first Nathan's hot dogs stand is there along with a rather impressive, but quaint collection of ferris wheels, roller coasters and side shows. Old porcelain and metal signs are fading now after decades in the sun, many of them appearing to be pre-1950. It was like stepping back in time for the second time of the day, though to this amusement park-spoiled Ohioan it was fairly unimpressive. Still, somewhere I'm glad to say I've been to.

I walked down the boardwalk. I started to notice a change. Newspapers were in Russian, here and there. Men and women spoke to each other in Russian, increasingly as I neared Brighton Beach. I knew I was in the right place.

I began to look for a restaurant to sit down at for lunch. One caught my eye: Beer Strasse Winter Garden, a uniquely confusing blend of German and Russian cultures. The identity-crisis ran deep here: German beer advertisements, German name (Strasse) and yet a decidedly Russian menu and staff. The music was a mix of Top 40 and popular American music, but translated into Russian.

I walked in, asked for a menu. I spotted something on the menu that I'd considered traveling up to the Upper East Side to try at a German restaurant: pork knuckle. Immediately, I knew what I wanted and, through a combination of pointing, motioning and nodding ordered.

Let me say first the idea of eating pig's feet isn't appetizing. The idea of crispy pork skin, rich fat and meat and a pint of German beer? Oh yeah, that's appetizing! The plate came and a few Russians at the table next to me noticed the unexpected order, nodding in approval at the choice.

So was it good? Have you ever had a meal where you consciously looked around to see if anyone noticed the goofy, satisfied smile on your face? If not, then you've never had anything this good. The sauerkraut was fresh, sweet and complimented the richness of the pork. The thin sliced fries were a must. It was one of the few meals where one paces themselves, looking around at the beach, taking a sip and then resuming the feast before them. It was absolutely perfect.

Incredibly full and satisfied, I walked out onto the beach and, to further the theme of gluttony, stretched out and laid in the sun for an hour.

I headed back uptown, a relaxed, near comatose-state of a human being, fully satisfied.

Today was supposed to encompass a trip out to Queens or another trip to Brooklyn, but some days a day of relaxation sounds good. Following another tip from Mr. Bourdain, I hunted down a Manhattan legend: Manganaro's on 9th, just a few blocks away from where I'm living. I knew going in that it wasn't authentic Italian, but authentic turn-of-the-century Italian American, using the same or similar recipes as when the place opened in 1893.

I walked in. Meat hooks lined the ceiling, scarred and beaten wooden floors gave a creak with each step. I walked up and stared at the menu. I knew going in that I'd likely encounter some authentic New York Italian attitude based on the reviews (mostly negative due to customer treatment) from Yelp and Google. My encounter went something like this:

"You gonna eat somethin'?" I heard a short woman call out from behind the counter.
"Yeah, just browsing, thanks! Quick question: I can't have any dairy. What am I safe with ordering?"
"Can't have dairy? Well, you know the tomato sauce is tomato sauce. You should know that by now! What am I going to put into it? Tomato sauce is tomatoes. Oil and garlic is, well, you get it."
"All right then. So, just to make sure, if I get the gnocchi and meat sauce, I'll be okay right? No dairy?"
"Whaddya think people are gonna put stuff in your food? Don't you trust nobody? No, you'll be fine."
"Okay, sounds great. Thank you!"

A short time later, my gnocchi and meat sauce appeared on the counter, served with plastic utensils, styrofoam plate and a basket of bread. But don't let the presentation (or lack of) fool you.

I sat down at my table and took a bite, getting a big forkful of gnocchi and sauce. You know what? The woman could have yelled at me and smacked me with a spoon when I walked in and it would have been worth it still. Customer service? It's New York. It's very, very New York and in some way, it gives the place an ambiance. A slightly hostile ambiance, but one that I've not seen before and one that makes Manganaro's unique. The gnocchi was fantastic, the meat sauce full of pepperoni and sausage, onions, olive oil and tomatoes. Much like yesterday, I savored every bite.

I thanked the woman working the counter, admitted that it was one of the best things I'd had since I've been in New York and that, since I had company coming into town over the next few weeks, I'd be back. The impatient, frustrated woman I'd seen before seemed to disappear. "Thank you, sweetheart. You have a wonderful day," she said as I left. She was exactly at that point as what I knew she was: a passionate, food-crazy Italian woman who wanted people to love her food.

I let my food settle, headed up to Times Square to try to find some affordable theater tickets but was unsuccessful. Not ready to be relegated to my room just yet, I got directions to Lula's Sweet Apothecary in Alphabet City.

I'd discovered this place in a food allergies magazine a few months ago: an all vegan, food-allergy conscious bakery and ice cream shop. You can scarcely imagine the happiness of being able to go somewhere and eat anything and everything in the whole place when normally mealtime is a ritual of checking labels and asking questions to frustrated servers and cashiers.

Passing Katz's Delicatessen of When Harry Met Sally fame and continuing on to 6th street, Lula's sits on a quiet street, surrounded by hipsters and Bohemian types. I walked in, glanced around and tried to take it all in.

Behind the counter, a man with a curly-tipped mustache and rather impressively authentic 1930s (maybe earlier?) outfit assured me: it's all dairy free. All of it. Rarely can I enjoy ice cream on a nice day, but today? Today I chose the peanut butter and chocolate chip ice cream (made with a cashew base) and sat outside to enjoy it. Lula's even goes as far as to play 1920s-30s music to fulfill the ambiance.

So how was it? Incredible to the point I considered going inside to buy a second cone. If you'd compared it to "real" ice cream, you wouldn't know the difference. I'll be going back, again and again.

New York, you're starting to show why people put up with outrageous rent, bizarre people, congestion, noise and a never-ending hustle.

Yeah, I've been a lousy, delinquent blogger. It was so easy, so simple to just sit down at the end of the day before my internship started and write for an hour or so. Now? Not so much. By the end of the day, I'm pretty well exhausted and, save a Skype conversation or two and working on my practicum portfolio, my nights are very quiet.

So what have I missed updating on? In no particular order, I've spent some time in the Lower East Side, Greenwich Village, Soho and the Bronx. I visited an incredible NYC longboard shop and saw the Indians beat the Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium. I had a celebrity sighting, have given directions to about a dozen confused subway riders and have eaten a few very good meals.

With the internship, my weeks are pretty limited as to exploring, but this last "weekend" (Monday and Tuesday), I set out to visit Longboard Loft, just outside of Chinatown, to pick up some new slide wheels. I came up out of the subway station into what you could have told me was China. Open air fish markets, boxes of unidentifiable raw ingredients, all prices written in Chinese characters. Slightly younger Chinese walked beside hunched over, elderly Chinese, helping them along the markets, values from the mainland. One thing that I've grown to appreciate about New York: a 10 minute train ride can transport you to another continent.

Anyway, that's about all I have for tonight. I'll be attempting to get back into blogging more often!

All right, another 2 for 1 blog post. I didn't have much time or energy to post yesterday, so I'm rolling it all into one post.

Yesterday began the reason why I came to New York City: my first day at CBS. So as not to breach CBS legal agreements, my coverage and mention of my time will be brief and vague, so I do apologize if the blog takes a turn for the ordinary as I get into a more strenuous work week.

After my first day, I'm confident that I will be helpful and valuable-- or at least I plan to be.

Directly after orientation, Esteban, Sanyee and I (all CBS interns, for clarification) set out to obtain coveted New York Public Library cards but, not having the correct documentation, will have to return another day.

We wandered through Midtown for some time and finally stopped at Main Noodle House on 6th, ready to gorge ourselves after a long day. The teriyaki salmon I had was fresh and I'll likely be back.

Working on the Weekend News had a unique benefit: my second day was actually a day off. My work week is Wednesday through Sunday, so I used my day off to unwind and relax.

I pulled my bike from underneath my bed and trekked up to Central Park, playing chicken with open taxi doors and delivery trucks. My advice? Take the subway or wear a helmet. Or both. A quick loop around Central Park, a stop to take a few pictures of the Guggenheim and then a rest in the shade recharged me enough to bike back downtown.

More than ready for the relaxing part of my day, I headed up to Bryant Park, near the New York Public Library, and picked up some Pret for lunch on the way. An afternoon with the book "Medium Raw" and a very good chicken/bacon sandwich? Just as good as it sounds.

I'm back in my room now, preparing to head out to Smith Brother's on 8th for some karaoke, though I suspect my participation will be, as is wise, limited.

Tomorrow is my first "real" day at CBS where I'll be meeting my "co-workers" and I'm excited to really get into the internship.

Things I've learned (over the past few days):
1. Don't ask a cashier where to find fresh produce. She'll follow up your question with the question: "What is 'produce?'"
2. Anytime you try to do something here, there will likely be someone with minimal authority telling you that you cannot.
3. If you're wearing a white dress shirt, you will inevitably get something on it.


Note: The Ohio-shaped tag hanging from the rack on my bike? It's a project my friend is working on. Thanks, Push Tags, even if I am using these a year after you gave them to me!

Have you ever gone skull hunting? Yes, skull hunting. Yes, in Manhattan. Yes, again, skull hunting at a flea market. That's how my day started out.

A quick Facebook message from my cousin Deb sent me back down to Hell's Kitchen in search of the beaver skull that I'd mentioned in my last post. She's a bit of an ornithological fanatic and, funny enough, a skull collector. I went back down to Hell's Kitchen, stopped by the tent where the desired beaver skull sat. I popped in, asked what he wanted and, using a bargaining trick, told him I might be back.

I walked a little further, dodging cameras set up by the Discovery Channel. If you're watching a show on DC in the next few months on flea markets, look for a tall, lanky kid with an "I (baseball) CLE" shirt on.

I happened upon a vintage road bike at one of the tents. I asked him what he wanted for it and he suggested $85, a truly reasonable offer considering the bike market here. "No, no." I shook my head. "I'm thinking more like $50, even then..." He considered it. He said we'd split the difference, so I walked away with a unisex (and it IS a unisex frame after researching the bike further... not a woman's!) 1970s Fuji road bike for $65. Not bad!

I stopped back at the beaver skull stop and made an offer. I danced around with numbers, suggested another price and he held fairly firm. I still talked him down though-- and that's what counts. (Deb, it'll be in the mail as soon as I get your address and a chance to mail it!)

I half-rode, half-walked the bike back to the New Yorker. The rear brakes were, optimistically, weak and then seat was, to put it nicely, un-sittable. So I dropped my find off in my room, walked over to K-Mart and bought a new seat and a bike lock.

It's really quite amazing what someone can do when they have limited resources. The ONLY tools I have with me are part of a multi-purpose skate tool that I use to adjust my longboard. Fortunately, the bolts on the bike that I needed to tighten for the rear brakes, remove the old seat, install the new one and raise the seat post were all on my multi-tool. In an hour or so, with a little wrenching and a handful of Lysol wipes to "wash" the grime off of it, I have a decent, lightweight bike that should get me wherever I need to go.

My room was starting to pile up with the week's dirty clothes, so I headed downstairs with two very full plastic bags of clothing and joined the EHS Laundry Party. The housing company that my lease is through would pay for your first load of laundry, so I occupied 2 dryers and 2 washers and washed away all of the subway crud, sweat and God-knows-what that I picked up over the past week.

While there, I got to know a few people and this made the laundry washing, drying and folding that much more tolerable. I met Nick and Emily, a really nice couple from Minnesota who I then went out to dinner with at Alpha, an Asian-fusion restaurant on 34th. A quick trip to K-Mart later, and I was back in my room for the night.

My iron is cooling down after steaming the wrinkles out of all of my "business casual" clothing that I'll need for the next week. Tomorrow is the big day, my big start at CBS News. I have to be uptown by 11 AM at the CBS studios for orientation and, to be blunt, I couldn't be more relaxed or confident about my day tomorrow.

A few things I've learned today:
1. Finding tools in NYC is difficult and often leads to improvisation.
2. It takes nearly a lifetime to iron 5 shirts, 4 pairs of pants and to tie a tie.
3. Kirstie Alley is in the building next to mine, doing a Dancing with the Stars knock-off deal. Or at least that's what the posters led me to believe.


Oh yeah! I took a few pictures of my "apartment" today while it was clean, including my view.

Flea markets, in my mind, should encompass several things to be complete and entertaining, but not limited to: rust, rednecks and country music. After a trip to Hell's Kitchen and then down to Chelsea to peruse the weekend flea markets, I came to find that only the former is really necessary. Man, do I love the smell of rust in the morning!

I've spent quite a bit of time going to flea markets, garage sales and thrift stores and I was curious what a New York City flea market would be like. For those of you who have never been to one: it's wonderful. Tables and tables full of unique, stuff-you-don't-see-everyday items. Beaver skulls (plural!). Thousands of antique print blocks. Vintage furs. 1940s pin-up calendars. Antique typewriters. Porcelain signs. People are walking around in this weird community of eccentric people and you hear every language and accent as you pass through their little shops, whether from the patron or their tiny radio. As work permits, I'll be going back!

Skype occupied my afternoon and then I went to Famous Famiglia across the street for some pasta due to a carb craving. Well, it looked good when I got there. Heck, it tasted good after I left. But I wasn't especially excited to see them cook the pasta, spoon the sauce on top of the pasta--- and then place it in a microwave for a minute or two. Did I really just eat microwaved pasta only a short train ride from Little Italy?

In better news though, I discovered that my floor does, in fact, have a kitchen! There's no oven, but there are utensils and pots and pans. I think I'll be doing some cooking in there in the next week. The availability of incredible quality and variety of food in this city has been making me feel guilty about not having the facilities for cooking!

After dinner, I rode the train up to Columbus Circle (near one of Trump's buildings and at the corner of Central Park) with my longboard. As soon as I walked out of the subway it started to rain, but I kept going and it eventually stopped. I did a few laps around the southern tip of the park, trying to avoid the especially huge, difficult hills and, more importantly, all of the road hazards the Central Park horses leave behind.

I decided to head back downtown and headed towards the subway but happened upon a ska/jazz trio playing in front of Trump's building and was blown away. Moon Hooch, as they were called, consist of three guys: one drummer and two sax players. I intended to stay for a few minutes, watch and move on. I think I ended up watching them for a little over an hour.

Even more than the music, I enjoyed the people watching aspect of it. Older people who had probably been around in the prime days of jazz were smiling and throwing dollar bills into their collection plate, young kids were dancing around, totally devoid of any self-consciousness.

I had to pull myself away eventually, so I found a quiet sidewalk that ran parallel to Central Park and skated up into the Upper West Side and then back down again. I did some skating on the street for a while but after realizing I had a mostly open (and less dangerous) sidewalk at my disposal, I rode that for the rest of the time.

Totally content, I waited for the C train back down to 34th. It's amazing how unexpected this city can be and the people in it. There's a guy in there singing old Motown hits and playing a drum set. All of the sudden 4 or 5 women in their mid to late 40s come out of nowhere and turn the platform into some sort of Mid-life Crisis Discotheque. Oh, no, it doesn't stop there... that would be too expected. This 8 or 9 year old kid comes down the steps and starts dancing like a machine. He's shimmying and dropping to the floor and dancing, in my estimations, very well for a kid his age. Half the people start singing along or dancing (the other half stare glumly at the floor, unflinching). Then the train comes and everyone goes their own way.


EDIT: I forgot to add what I learned today!
1. Despite the invention of iPods at least ten years ago and the use of Walkmen in the 1990s, people DO still carry a boombox on their shoulder like it's the 1980s.
2. When looking to eat Italian, go to Little Italy. Just because a place claims to be the "Official Pizza of the New York Yankees" doesn't mean they're authentic.
3. New York City street musicians are well-worth watching, even if you only have a minute.

All right, back from my 1 day hiatus from blogging. Yesterday was a bit full and I just never really got around to it, especially since I went out to a pub later in the evening with 4 other interns.

I got a bit of a late start yesterday, trying to take care of some things around my room. I had a light bulb in my bathroom basically pop out of its socket and then begin to smoke a day or two ago, so I had to report that. I'd rather not be the reason a 40 story hotel burns down.

I headed uptown, deep into the swanky neighborhood of the Upper West Side, enjoying a sub on the sidewalk while watching Maybach and Rolls Royce cruise by. Nannies pushed strollers along Central Park, seemingly all of them from some Caribbean nation, huge contrast to the Bowery and Chinatown that I'd spent time in the day before.

My eventual destination was the American Museum of Natural History. I paid the entrance fee, was extremely excited to enter and-- well, it was sort of a letdown. There's no less snobby way to say it, but I was really spoiled by my visit to the British Museum last May where everything was laid out and organized, artifacts were easy to see and the building had a flow to it. Sure, AMNH had decent exhibits, some things that were worth seeing. Very few of the items were actually dated or told where they came from, so I couldn't really fully appreciate it. Did this ancient Japanese sword come from a thousand years ago, or did someone buy a repro in Chinatown? was sort of my thought throughout. Clearly reproduced artifacts were amongst real artifacts and I found myself in dead-end hallways. Much of the museum was under renovation and, when I finally reached the part I was most excited for, the visitors were ushered out by security and not even told why they couldn't enter. I missed nearly all of the dinosaur skeletons because of this and so I eventually left. If you come to New York, I highly discourage a visit here. I expected better from such a well-known museum.

I stopped in Central Park for a while, read a bit of Anthony Bourdain's new book, Medium Raw, and then found some food at Otarian, a surprisingly delicious vegetarian restaurant. Not having the risk of ingesting dairy has been well-worth going without meat for a few meals!

I came back to my place, got ready and met Esteban, Greg and Andrew at Grand Central and then we took the train over to 41st and Lexington to Public House, a bar and restaurant where one of the other CBS interns was tending bar. Another intern, Matt, met up with us and we spent a few hours there, then went looking for another place. After wandering around and not finding much, I headed back downtown to my place.

I woke up today and headed to Chelsea, hoping to visit Chelsea Market where they film the Food Network shows and have a huge selection of fresh markets and restaurants. I got down there and walked around for a bit, but it seems that the tourists have really discovered it since I was there 2 years ago. I left, stopped in for lunch at Blossom du Jour and ate a shockingly tasty vegan sandwich. (Yes, that's 3 vegan meals in 3 days. Steak, pronto!)

I've got to say: I never thought I'd be able to stomach all of the vegan food, but it's actually good here and reasonably priced. I figured it would taste unnatural or, much worse, bland. In my experience thus far, it's very good. I'll never give up bacon, steak or ribs, but it's been fun to try a new food style and expand my horizons. Sure, eating at a vegan restaurant means waiting in line with people who own dogs the size of guinea pigs and the shelves are lined with books and literature that could almost shame a butcher into putting down his cleaver, but if the food doesn't suck, they play The Smiths over the loudspeakers and the food offers some health benefits, why not?

I've been fairly lazy today, just a trip to Chelsea and a quick run up to Times Square area to look for new slide wheels for my longboard without success. I'm not sure what the rest of the day holds, but I think it'll be pretty low-key.

Until next time, enjoy your Friday!

A Few Things I've Learned Today (and Yesterday):
1. New Yorkers aren't really as unfriendly as most people think. Busy? Aloof? Yes. But if you need something, it seems like most people are willing to give directions.
2. It will be well worth my time and money to just buy a monthly Metrocard.
3. There is no such thing as a clean car in NYC.

A (mostly) sunny day in the city today. Having not been able to really find Chinatown in my last few efforts, I did some research, found where I needed to go and went downtown to check it out.

My trip to Chinatown was primarily to shop for a new watch, knowing that the area is full of affordable replicas of very unobtainable watches. However, I got a pleasant side-effect when I ventured into a small shop off of Canal Street. Oddly enough for Chinatown, I encountered an entire shop of Indians who were pushing knock-off watches and I zeroed in on a replica Bell & Ross, tried it on and set to bargaining.

The price started out high. Stupidly high for a fake watch. I came back with an offer that was about 30% of asking price and the man I was negotiating with was a little shaken by the offer. At first he could only give me $20 off. I suggested I could keep looking. I came up $10, he came down $30. I told him I wasn't interested, he gave me a number that piqued my interest. I held fast at one price and, after handing him the watch back and telling him the deal was off, he caved. I paid about 60% less for a very high-quality replica and got a big kick out of the whole ordeal, especially realizing the guy still likely made a 500% profit. I heard his co-worker question and then double-check that the price they were selling for was actually true. Mike 1, Chinatown 0.

I was really enjoying Chinatown, so I walked down Bowery, hoping to find the site of the former CBGBs club, but to no avail. If they've cleaned up the Bowery area since the Ramones had played CBGBs nearly 40 years ago, I can only imagine how rough it was in the 70s.

I found myself near Cooper Union in NoHo, having walked off a hearty breakfast of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Food has been a bit of a challenge with being lactose intolerant, so I've relied heavily on health food stores and grocery stores. However, while walking along the sidewalk, I happened upon a 100% vegan restaurant inside of a racquet club. Seeing a vegan option for lunch was exciting not because of dislike for meat, but because vegan food is totally dairy-free!

A few months ago, I tried raw beef. A few weeks ago, I cooked a raw steak to medium rare at Steak on a Stone. I'm the Anti-Vegan, a total meat-lover. With that being said, I reluctantly admit that the vegan meatball sub I had was one of the tastiest things I've eaten since I've been in New York. Blossom du Jour was fantastic! I can't believe I'm raving about a vegan meatball sub.

The rest of the afternoon I explored parts of the downtown, running through stores and finally found myself at the South Street Seaport, a fairly old section of the city. Cobblestone streets hold pubs that were established a decade or more before the start of the Civil War and, nearby, the Brooklyn Bridge hangs over the water.

A quick walk up the Brooklyn Bridge, I rode back uptown to meet up with Esteban at Times Square. We then met up with Andrew and Greg, two other CBS interns. Greg split off to see a friend, so the three of us went to Macy's for dinner in their cellar restaurant. A good teriyaki salmon meal with some sauteed veggies and we were reenergized.

Full of food and looking to explore the downtown, we took the E train down to the World Trade Center and continued on to Battery Park. The progress at the WTC site is, ten years later, fairly insignificant and slow when considering the Empire State Building was started and completed between 1930 and 1931. I really expected more to be accomplished, but progress seems unrealistically sluggish.

We headed back uptown and settled into a small Irish pub a block or so from The New Yorker and then headed our separate ways after watching a bit of the Mexico v. New Zealand soccer match.

I stopped into the convenience store across the street from The New Yorker, in need of some water and snacks for my room. I held the door for an older Jewish man and an elderly African American woman who was struggling to walk. We helped her inside and got her seated. She was crippled, mumbling incoherently and the man who'd helped her in was pleading with the staff to allow her to sit inside until she felt better or could call an ambulance. It leaves you speechless when you see this kind of tragedy.

It's not that I'm attempting to sound self-righteous or charitable, so let me place this here as a disclaimer; I attempt to practice the Golden Rule and live my life accordingly. I suppose that I absorb these sad situations and dwell on them, hoping that through some miracle I can work them out, make sense of them and contribute in some positive way. I'm not sure that I can, but until then I intend to step in where I can. I suppose living in a city allows you to eventually become accustomed to this sort of thing, but I don't see how one could grow used to these scenes. This blog enables me to work through what I see and communicate it, taking the burden off of my mind when I'm trying to sleep.

The amount of need and the supply of human decency is mind-numbing in this city.

I need to do some laundry tomorrow, buy an iron and press my dress pants and shirts for next Monday. I think I'll allow myself a trip to a museum though. I'm thinking the Natural History Museum, MOMA or one of the hundreds of others of great places here.

A few things I've learned today:
1. When in an Irish pub, the Ramones and the Clash are acceptable music selections on the juke box.
2. I have retained my ability to understand quite a bit of German. Thanks to the German tourists sitting near me at Cooper Square during lunch for the refresher course!
3. Vegan food, despite only being food in theory, can be very delicious.