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.

Another great day in New York. I spent the morning recovering from yesterday's explorations, my hamstrings and feet reminding me of how much walking/longboarding I did yesterday as soon as I hopped out of bed.

I visited Jamba Juice at Penn Station for the first time, sorely missing my daily Robeks fix. Let me tell you, it's not the same or even half as tasty as Robeks.

I decided to relax a bit and brought my computer to the Starbucks to work on a bit of my practicum project and, after struggling through some InDesign work and battling some writer's block, I was able to at least knock out part of my ongoing assignment.

Finally, my feet felt rested enough to explore further. I decided to see what the Village was like and wandered through the East Village, popping in and out of vintage clothing shops and trying to wheel and deal on used bikes. Still no luck, but I understand there will be flea markets this weekend. Most of the appeal of buying a bike is just being able to bargain for it!

Dinner was half of a rotisserie chicken at Whole Foods, accompanied by a panoramic view of Union Station and the Empire State Building poking out above the trees.

Union Station was alive, buzzing with the clack of skateboards on cobblestone and the raspy crackle of PA systems. There was an open forum where people could walk up and deliver a speech. After a few speakers offering loosely relevant and shaky arguments, I headed back for home, stopping first in the subway to listen to two very talented performers, You Bred Raptors?. It was amazing what an 8 string bass guitar and a small drum kit could produce.

I've noticed a theme in New York, and I'm sure it's not exclusive to this city; I suppose it's just more visible here.

There's a stark contrast that I've been seeing while out on the street or in the subway. One minute you're watching passengers on a subway train jump to stop the doors from closing so complete strangers can get on and not miss their train. There's nothing in it for them. There's no reward, just an exercise in human compassion. I watched a mom and her son learning math on the train yesterday. She'd hold up her fingers to show him what 2 and 2 makes. This woman cares for her son and it was fun to observe.

Then there's the contrast, the heartbreaking and ultra-realistic truth that one rarely sees living in the suburbs. Walking through Penn Station today, I watched a woman scream at passersby for no apparent reason. This encounter wasn't long after walking through Penn Plaza and witnessing an elderly African American woman scribbling in a notebook, a fresh hospital wristband dragging along the paper as she wrote. And everyone here on the street has a sign, a short, dejected plea for help and assistance:

HELP! Family is homeless. No work. Every cent counts.

Out of work. Need food or a place to stay.

It would be easy to hand each of these people $20 and hope it would make a difference but, realistically, even a thousand dollars isn't going to buy these people out of their hole.

I suppose all that I can do is help when I am able, step up and do something when I need to and try to make some small difference, even if in the long run it doesn't make a difference. Until then, I'll try to concentrate on the moments of human compassion and dignity and work to help where I can.

A few things I've learned today:
1. Don't buy gold, buy bicycles and sell them in New York. It's a greater return on investment.
2. 1 in 5 New Yorkers look like they made an appearance in Goodfellas.
3. Conversations in most other languages sound like a confrontation to ears accustomed to English.

Day 2 is coming to a close and I have a blister on my ankle that, I'm quite certain, has its own heartbeat. I suppose that's the price one pays for walking/longboarding at least 5 miles in a day-- or more.

My day started early with a trip down from my place here at 34th and 8th down to Chelsea to look for a bike. Hoping to stumble across a flea market, I eventually realized it was a futile effort and returned back to my room. On the way back, I wandered through Macy's. I was expecting something grander, something much more vast like Harrod's of London, but was fairly disappointed, minus the collection of vintage Indycars lining the cologne/perfume section.

I also watched a fairly interesting interaction take place. A man on a cell phone flagged down an NYPD car. The officers lowered the windows, asked him what he needed and the man went on with his phone conversation. The officers continued to ask him what he needed when the man walked to the back door and tried to actually enter the rear door of the police car. Hands on their guns, the officers got out and convinced the clearly confused non-native man to move along.

You really just never know what sort of surreal, bizarre nonsense you'll see here-- and this is only 2 days in!

Directions to a Goodwill and a few other thrift stores in hand, I went back down to Chelsea and still had no luck finding a bike. Bikes seem to be as valuable- and as rare- as gold here. I stopped at a Whole Foods for their lunch buffet (I've decided officially that curry doesn't taste very good, from a buffet or not) and then headed back to my room to pick up my longboard.

Waiting for the train, I helped a fellow Ohioan get onto the right train and onto Times Square. I must've tricked him into believing that I knew what I was talking about; I did take the wrong train once today.

I arrived at Central Park and longboarded/walked the entire perimeter and encountered some seriously fast hills with entirely too tight of turns for my longboard or myself to handle. I ended up jumping off a few times and walking down the big hills; hitting 45 MPH on a piece of plywood just didn't appeal to me today.

On my way back to drop off my longboard and get cleaned up, I arranged to meet up with Esteban, a fellow CBS intern from Colorado. I took him on a small, amateur tour of some of the must-see parts of Manhattan and, at one point, we even made it down to the CBS studios to see where we'll be working this summer.

The return home found me helping a Frenchman get out to Queens and ended with a quick trip to K-Mart (just a block away) for a stocking up of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, the breakfast of champions.

At this point of the night, I'm exhausted and am looking forward to crawling into bed and finishing this Top Gear marathon on BBCAMerica that has been playing since I arrived.

Tomorrow will be pretty low-key, I think. I'm planning to tackle some writing/page design for my practicum assignment so that I don't have to balance it quite so heavily with the internship itself. There's a Starbucks across the street from me, so I may drag my blistered feet across the road and hunker down there for a good while. The idea of walking or exploring more tomorrow is a bit horrifying when I think about the ache in my legs and feet, but we'll see how I feel once I get a good night's sleep.

A few things I've learned today:
1. If someone approaches you on the street trying to give you a free CD of their music, it's not actually free.
2. Don't eat curry before longboarding in 90 degree weather.
3. If there's a Ferrari dealership and a Rolls Royce driving down the street, you can't afford the restaurants in that area.

Well, I made it. And not just in the sense that I landed at Laguardia today around 2:15, but in the sense that this is an accomplishment, a goal that I'd set out to achieve since I'd visited New York City a few years ago. A small check mark can be printed on my bucket list: I will be living in the Big Apple (even if just for the summer!).

So here I am, typing from the ninth floor of The New Yorker Hotel at the corner of 42nd and 8th in Manhattan, 6 floors above where 20th century scientist, Nikola Tesla, died in 1943. Walking a block or two in either direction leads me to Koreatown or the Garment District. I can see the antenna of the Empire State Building, could crawl to Penn Station and, despite everything being fairly exotic and strange, I feel strangely at home here, something I didn't quite expect to feel.

I keep considering what coming to New York City means. I think about Ellis Island, that tiny piece of land that served as one of the main entrances into the U.S. for years, and all of the people who came here. They came here hoping for a better life, hoping that what they'd find here was better than whatever overcrowded, old world nation they originated from. Consider the people who came here across the Atlantic, pennies to their name and started a new life. Or, less pleasantly, gambled everything and were turned away by U.S. Customs to return broke and broken-spirited back to their country of origin. I keep asking myself: if they can do it, why can't I?

When I think about the millions of people who have seen New York City as a place of hope and progress that I realize the scale of this move. I've engrained myself into human history in a small, fairly insignificant way: I've seen New York City as a place of opportunity and growth, just like millions of others have in the past and just as millions more will in the future.

My first day was spent unpacking and setting up my small room here at The New Yorker. It's basic, no-frills and simple, but I like it and the utilitarian aspect of its simplicity. It's already starting to feel like "home" and I'm hoping to post pictures of it in the next few days.

I decided to do some exploring after setting up my room. I did some grocery shopping, picked up some basic necessities and took the subway up to 50th Street and decided to get off and walk up to Central Park. I stumbled upon Columbus Circle and, having only eaten Pop Tarts and an Uncrustable earlier in the day, filled up on a buffet at Whole Foods.

The remainder of my night was comprised of walking through Times Square (and trying not to trample tourists in the process) and has ended with a bit of Skype with my family and Top Gear on the TV.

A few things I've learned today:

1. New York City rats are very real and quite common.
2. NYC taxi drivers don't use their vehicles so much as modes of transportation, but menacing battering rams and tools for securing dominance.
3. International visitors need to recognize the affinity that Americans have for personal space. I met two nice people from Spain and Brazil, but kept finding myself stepping back just for some room. This is America! We have plenty of room!


All right, well that's all for tonight. I'm hoping that I can keep up with this blog to detail my time here. If I begin to get lazy, let me know! If people are still reading it, I'll still write.

A few pictures, too: