Friday, November 11, 2005
And I almost believed that they're real
The thing that always amazes me about this city is how localized the tourists are. I mean, you walk down a well-known street, and they're out in droves, but a block away... nothing. The area near Lourenzo's school, for instance, is very tourist-free. A few, every now and then, but nothing like 3 blocks over. It's just weird. It's like everyone knows so many New York locations, but they only go to the popular ones.In the heavy areas, you can't find a seat in Starbucks to save your life. In the not-so-heavy areas? Well, this afternoon I sat in a bakery/cafe called Beyond Bread on 89th and 3rd for three hours at one of only 4 tables, and only one other one was occupied. Now, I realize that 2 p.m. isn't exactly business prime-time for a coffee shop, but still--if this was on a different street, that probably wouldn't have been the case.
It just always makes me laugh, that's all.
I'm realizing, too, how pointless it is to eat at Wendy's and grab a Starbucks coffee and buy shoes at Payless and go to KMart and Old Navy for my clothes. Why live in New York if I'm just going to shop at the same stores I can go to at home? I gravitate towards them naturally--what can I say? I'm a child of The City Of A Thousand Suburbs (I've heard it said that Calgary is all suburb and no... urb? Debate as you will--I half-agree with it), and it's easy to fall back into the mall mentality.
As often as I do that, though, I'm trying to find new places. Independent, non-corporate places that are what make every place unique. They're everywhere, but they're a lot easier to find in a place like New York, just because everything is so packed together. You don't need to go as far to find as big a variety.
And Beyond Bread had the most fantastic apple turnover. Too bad it's a little ways off my usual beaten path.
I know I'm in the middle of NaNo, because every five words, my fingers automatically hit ctrl-s. Can't lose that work in the middle of it! I was never this anal about saving my work, even when I was writing major papers. There's just something about knowing that 50,000 words in 30 days is an awful lot, and you can't stand to lose even one of them. It's too much of a habit, though, that it throws me off when I'm in anything other than Word.
Wordcount: 16,577 down; 33,423 to go.
1 Comments:
Glass starts this week; it's too bad you can't be there. I have a whole bunch of stuff to vent to you, but alas, this week is Glass, Glass, Glass. (No rhyme intented!)
Post a Comment
<< Home