phone views

I  meant to post some pics of my trip home, but they are all on my hard drive which I left in my apt (i'm soaking up the free wifi at Starbucks).  So here are the pics from my phone.

why I love the world cup

It's all Evita in my neighborhood!!
This is exactly what dragged me into soccer in the first place, the fanatical crowds.
Apparently I live in the spanish quarter of Astoria (I had no idea) and it is going nuts!! I watched the game in a bar not far from here with some friends, rooting for the Netherlands actually after all but flipping a coin to decide (Germany was my fave and they were already out. I let my ipod chose who to root for and it came up with Holland, 1945 by Neutral Milk Hotel. A sign!).  It was fun and loud and all, but I walked out to fairly calm streets. Not so once I got to mine. I could hear the crowds chanting and cars honking from a block away. And this little Evita scene is right in front of my house. Even now, a few hours later and two blocks away I hear car horns and drums (where did they even get these drums?!).  I know I should be annoyed by all this but really I'm delighted.  These insane celebrations are exactly the reason I love soccer!! After putting up with people making fun of baseball all the time, it is nice to be watching a fun sport with people who really care!
Videos to come. The wifi at starbucks is pretty slow.

home

I like books more than anyone I know.
Books don't just remind me of the story that's in them, they remind me of where I was when I read them.
I brought back a lot of books with me, and nothing in New York so far, even Nick, has made me feel more at home.  When I see the spines of my Little House books next to my Roald Dalh I feel like I'm back in grade school, staring at my bookshelf as I try to go to sleep. Life of Pi reminds me of late nights on Pat's couch petting Ben.  Suite Francais is me sitting in Starbucks after Anton in Showbuiness rehersals.  Cat's Cradle is always English Class, and A Farewell to Arms is always a summer day in Germany, falling asleep by a pool.  To Kill a Mockingbird is me sitting at the kitchen table a million times, but Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is just the nervousness I felt flying into NYC for the first time.  My Little House books will always make me think of Sarah, just as I always think of Mimi when I read the Mildred D. Taylor book she bought me (Road to Memphis in case you don't remember).  My Narnia books are from Pat and about a million of my books I convinced Mom and Dad to buy me at the Borders in Sunset Hills.
Maybe someday the books I've accumulated in NYC will remind me of my time here, but for now having my books with me is like having old friends. My apartment is finally starting to feel like a real home.
And while I'm on the subject, if someone finds my copy of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, could you mail it to me? I thought I grabbed it but it was just Prince Caspian.

nick's beard and my fire escape

So, I wanted to put up new pictures of my place, but apparently the free wifi in Panera (and trust me it is not bread co. This salad is awful) is limited to 30 mins so I'm in a bit of a rush. Here's the few I had time to upload.


my new fire escape comes with a free tennis ball.

The view from my fire escape. I love love love it! We don't have a TV or internet (or AC or a microwave or a toaster) so for entertainment I mostly sit out on it and read. It's lovely.

I took Nick out for a going away dinner and he had to be difficult and ask for oil and vinegar. He's gone till Aug and I miss him already!

Nick playing on my dolly.
The entrence hall to my place.

Our kitchen.

Our 1 million locks and my peephole, which I love.


Moving day!

scraps of wifi

Ok, now I'm leeching off Applebee's wifi, but these pictures were already uploaded before I moved, I just never posted them.

A co-worker made a makeshift chandelier.


Oh man, there was so much free pie at work one day!!

I was so full of pie that day.

This is why I hate rentals. After a busy month, all our rentals, probably from at least 5 different places, get literally thrown together on the 5th floor and Tara tells me to go sort them, other people will join me later. And this is what I open the door and see.
Took me a half hour just to move all the ladders.

Kelly's fire escape.

Nick made this meal for me, which by the way is riccota cheese ravioli with shredded cheddar cheese on top. He went grocery shopping for this meal. He handed it to me, then told me that maybe I could make grocery lists for him when we live together, because he doens't know what to buy. It made me laugh.
creepy sign in the park.

I love this! Also in central park.

I wen to the park with Karyn on one of my days off.

Angel in a cage. Very weird.

It's crazy that I've been in NYC long enough that seasons are repeating. It smells like summer in the city. I don't know if I can ever describe how much I love my neighborhood when the weather is nice. In the morning it's so pretty, with the trees and flowers, and birds singing, it doesn't even feel like NYC untill you hit the main streets. At night everyone lounges on their stoops to catch the 75deg breezes. Little kids play ball, the steets smell like fruit from the hooka bars, people sing songs in all different languages. All the sidewalks are extra large, in residental areas this means kids have room to play, in commercial areas restraunts take down their walls and spill over onto the sidewalk.

Car I saw the other day.

Central park is always looks misty and spooky and pretty at night. I think it's the lamps.

Nick.

rooftops

Bonus points if you can find the statue of liberty in this picture.