LET THERE BE SUN!

It finally stopped raining after two days of ceaseless downpour. The perpetual overcast and darkness of the past two days is clearing and more and more patches of blue appear in the sky. I'm lying here in my bed looking out the window and I see the setting sun--sun at last!--shining through the scattering clouds. As the storm departs, this sight is really beautiful and peaceful to me. I feel a sense of tranquility watching the low floating clouds swiftly race across the sky as the sun casts a bright frame around their ephemeral bodies. If I climb to my building's rooftop and stood on the tips of my toes, I think maybe, just maybe, I could reach up and touch them as they glide by. Of course, because this is New York City after all, half of this view from my window is blocked by a tall condo being built next block over. Goodbye rainstorm. We hardly knew ye. Thanks for waking me up this morning with the loud crack and boom of thunder.

Update:  Apparently the calm was just a temporary reprieve.

It is currently raining and windy like a $%*&.

FORESHADOW

Wow.  This entry I wrote on Saturday afternoon ended up becoming quite an omen for what was to occur later that night.  Allegedly.

SUBWAY PHOTO

Broadway-Houston D, B, F, V subway stop.

It can be oh-so-difficult to keep the puke in the mouth sometimes, especially after 10 mixed drinks to celebrate a friend's new clerkship, or after an open bar party with body-painted girls, or a wedding reception with the Stepford Wives.  Allegedly.

FUNNY NO RETURN SIGN

I had to stop by a hardware store the other day and I noticed this sign by the register.  I thought it was hysterical.  Why?

UGLY OUTFITS LIVE IN NYC TOO.

It's not all fashionistas and vogueing in New York.  Ugly outfits live here too.  But then again, who's to say what's "good" or "bad," "fashionable" or "ugly," "light" or "heavy?"  For me, it's both extremes and everything in between that makes me love NYC so much.

CREEPY NEW YORK APARTMENT LISTING

What a great deal you think as you read the ad: $700 per month for a room in a high rise doorman apartment complex.  And then you come across this caveat: I'm looking for a female roommate who will occasionally not wear clothes when I ask in exchange for free rent. No sex whatsoever required. CREEEEPY.

The thing with New York City is that housing is just that expensive enough and people just that desperate enough that you know this person received some legit responses from women.

IPHONE UNLEASHED VIA UPS!

Swung by the Soho Apple store just in time to catch the UPS guys unloading the new iPhones. The line was shorter than I was expecting but I imagine it'll get hectic towards the actual time they will be sold. iLine.

iNeed Sunblock.

Look at all them iPhones courtesy of UPS! I didn't notice any security presence.

iClose up of the boxes.

So many tracking numbers...what's up with that?

Hey UPS guys: Less standing and more moving! Get those phones in there!

NiPD.

The most patient kid in the planet.

These hands don't want no stinkin' photo taken. It wants an iPhone!

iPhone bridging the racial divide...or is it a love connection thanks to the iPhone?

"Hey T-Mobile, Please cancel my contract. Yea. 200 dollars to cancel? That's fine. I must cancel. Thanks."

And at the front of the line...these people will sell their iPhone on ebay to raise money for a good cause. Or so they say.

(Thanks for coming by Boing Boing readers!)

MY VACATION I

I took a few much needed days off work. I didn't go anywhere particularly exciting, other than getting to enjoy New York during the day time like those people I see having a nice leisurely coffee at 11 am in Soho. (A lot of the photos during Kaizar's visit was taken by him with his camera.) Kaizar and I randomly dropped into a bike shop near my apartment. I love these bike hats. I'm demonstrating my immaculate bicycling pose.

The white hat version.

So Munira threw a welcome back party for Kaizar at the Delancey. Here's Pooja, Munira and her friend Harmit.

"Yo, do I have something in between my teeth?"

ARRRGHHHH!!

Munira and Harmit!

It's Peter!

A rare moment of peace for Kaizar. It looked like he was holding office hour like a professor with all his friends lined up like students waiting for their turn to talk.

It looks like me and Omar (Kaizar's roommate out in San Francisco) just had a quarrel.

Omar and his friend (I forgot your name! Sorry!)

After the Delancey Kaizar, Peter and I went to our favorite watering hole, Botanica for the usual can of PBR.

"HE-LLO!" Sigh. I love Botanica so much.

BEST PHOTO EVER

Me, Kaizar and Erin went to some random tiki bar on Smith Street in Brooklyn and before leaving we asked some random guy to snap a photo of us. This was the result. Brilliance in timing. If you don't get it, look at the photo again, especially the bar's TV in the background. Disturbing, but kinda hilarious too.

MORE KAIZAR!

We got some shawarma at that hole-in-the-wall joint near NYU. At the booth, there was this nasty copy of the New York Post. Gross.

Seriously, gross.

Kaizar on the other hand doesn't seem quite as disgusted.

Memo to self: I REALLY need to stop getting photographed with my mouth full of food. That is NOT how I was raised. Self lecture aside, it was sooo tasty. I've eaten here a dozen times but I can never remember what the restaurant is called. Maybe one of you knows?

Cool thing we came across. I've never noticed it before when walking through this neighborhood.

LAST NIGHT'S PARTY: KAIZAR EDITION!

Long time readers of my blog here and my old blog on Xanga will recognize this blast from the past. KAIZAR! (Now a ninja in San Francisco.) He's visiting the East Coast here for awhile which is fannnntastic.

His Blackberry pearl...isn't so pearly anymore.

We went to...shoot, I forget the name of the bar in Union Square.

Me, Lauren and Pooja!

I really don't enjoy shots at all... at all... Kaizar on the other hand is a big fan.

Yuck.

Kaizar's cousin Hussain (and his friend).

And then we headed over to the Meatpacking District thanks to the driving talents of this super cool and laid back cabbie I chatted with.

What a great way to get all close like with a girl in a cab. "Lets share a seat belt...you know, for safety...purposes."

Pooja putting on make up in the cab. Classy.

After the club, we went to Pop Burger. I'm not sure what's up with my recent drunken tendency to open my mouth full of food when the camera comes out.

Sometimes a burger is so fuckin' delicious. Am I right or am I right?

Pop burger! Haha.

LAST NIGHT'S PARTY: THE FINAL BABEL

Thursday, May 31 Nifty street "art."

Evidence of the splasher?

Hmmm.

Woa...a photo of a photo. Did your brain just explode?

Lea loves them street art.

And then we went to Don Hill's.

Gin and Tonic and Gin and Rummy.

One of these glasses costs 14 dollars and the other 200.

You never know when you need tanning 'accelerator.'

And then we went to Anchor Bar (ssshh don't tell people about it).

This photo is evidence of Lea's poor sport at getting her arse kicked by yours truly at gin.

Her ass was on fire, eg. burned from staying a bit too long in the tanning booth.

At the bar, some group was having a random pizza party. Of course Lea and I REALLY wanted some pizza at this point.

Success! (I apologize about the gross chewed up food in my mouth.)

You probably didn't know this but Tasti D Lite is the spot to hang out.

Lea, that isn't real! It's plastic!

It's a good night when you have a party wristband by 8 pm. I headed over to the third bar for the night: Babel. Because Cyrus was leaving to embark on the next leg of his life journey (two month layover in Boston, final destination Detroit), this was the final session of Thursday night Babel.

Peter and Cristina!

Florian, Peter and Henry enjoying the last free hookah...

Beth!

Jeff!

Middle finger!

Chloe!

Henry pulling a rare Blue Steel.

Cyrus himself!

Monica (and friend)!

VIV!!!!!!!!

Jeff and his ladies.

Mid party munchies to be fulfilled by the take out Chinese joint.

Mmmm.

And that is the last of the Thursday Night Babel Promotion by DJ Cyrus Cesa.

For all the photos from these parties, they are all collected here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83466411@N00/sets/72157594373017602/

CELEBRITY SIGHTING

On my way to the Apple Store to get new headphones gratis Apple (the third pair I've gone through in the past six months), I spotted Sophia Coppola pushing her child on the corner of Mercer and Spring. We will now rejoin our regularly scheduled programming.

TO DO

New York Academy of Art

Summer Exhibition 2007

Opening Reception: June 6, Wednesday 6 pm - 8 pm.

June 7 - July 18

1 pm - 7 pm, Daily.

Lawrence and Josephine C. Wilkinson Hall

111 Franklin Street, New York, NY 10013 (between Church St and West Broadway)

FASHION CONTRAST

Broadway-Houston BDFV subway stop, 9 pm.

I liked the composition here and the color contrast between the classic punk rock-tank girl look juxtaposed with the summer dress worn by her friend.  I also liked how the tattoo on her back gave her over-all vibe an intriguing twist.

NEW GOOGLE MAPS FEATURE

Google just unveiled their latest addition to the Google Maps family.  Its new "Street View" feature is DOPE.  Of course, the first thing I did was enter my apartment address and got a nerdy thrill out of seeing it pop up.

ARTSY PHOTOS FROM A BROOKLYN STREET FAIR

When I first moved to the New York City and came upon my first street fair, I was enthralled.  Wow.  This is amazing.  Look at all this food.  All this culture.  All these people.  Amazing!  I love New York City!  I love everyone! And then I quickly learned that there's one every weekend in the summer all over the city.  I quickly went from being a fan to a hater.  Goddammit people, move!  Ugh, look at all this crappy over priced street food that smells better than it tastes.  Look at all this crap for sale.  Do I really trust buying a dozen underwear from this guy for 3 bucks?  

Then, the other weekend, I experienced my first Brooklyn fair.  Well, this was wee bit bigger than the typical street fairs I experienced.  It was some big thing for Park Slope, where I live.  There was live music and the whole thing stretched for 30 blocks it seemed.  All the restaurants on this stretch of 5th Avenue were selling food out front.  My love of street fairs was reborn.

Anyway, I took some photos.

A cool puppy with blue eyes.

Pink is the new ice cream-candy truck.

Don't stop git it, git it.

"Next."

Mmm, peppers.

Three of the greatest crime fighters in comic books: Batman, Spidey, and Scooby.

Front row seat.

Living the cover band dream.

Oooh, artsy.

LAST NIGHT'S PARTY (5/17/07)

I'm a couple weeks behind on these segments. But better late than never. Cue some jackass saying, "That's what she said!" Obligatory jump photo on my way to Cy's rapidly ending Thursday night party. Note the matching hoodie with baby blue socks. Totally unintentional.

"And this is how Mario jumped."

Yes, Kenny was there which always means one thing--nutty dancing.

These two demonstrate how to make the switch from corporate office wear to party wear: unbutton the collar shirt. And roll up the sleeves.

Monica!

Hookah technicians at work. "Must. Fix. Machine. Must. Get. Smoke."

Henry and Heidi accompany the DJ.

Hookah, vodka cranberry, sound making sticks (not sure what they are called...) = Fun.

Henry also busted out this musical monstrosity from his ever present bookbag o' music.

Haha.

I always knew Monica was a raver at heart. Haha.

Monica's friend getting down to the music.

Who can resist these things??

I love Henry's look in this photo. He's like "Of course I carry these things with me everywhere. Don't you?"

Heidi is going fierce with this thing.

This is one of the greatest, most hilarious things I've seen--it was like something straight out of those teen-movies from the late 90s and early 00s that always featured some synchronized dance sequence. That's what happened here. Kenny and Henry began the electric slide...and Cy and some of his other friends joined in...

That night, some random guy completely unconnected to us was having a rather large birthday party there. They saw this dance going on and one by one joined in as well (you can see them in the back in this photo).

The birthday boy in the blue suit and his friends are LOVIN the electricity of the slide.

It's tough to tell from the photos, but nearly the entire bar was in on it at this point.

Heidi is giving it her ALL. Look at that shoulder dip in!

Ooooh, that's some look she's giving Cy. haha.

And then Henry got a little side tracked.

Don't stop git it, git it.

Kenny is the master of the electric slide. Bow to the master.

AK-Bootie 7 getting tag teamed on the dance floor.

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS

I don't remember who said it or wrote it or where I read it, but I came across something once which stated something to the effect that being recognized by five percent of the population is more public recognition or "fame" than most of us will ever achieve.   Of course, the original quote was much more succinct.  Thus, just because some people don't appear in your weekly issue of Star, People, or Us Magazine (when I was younger, I used to think it was "U.S. Magazine"), that doesn't mean to me it isn't a celebrity sighting. At Central Park today sitting across from us was a gaggle of people playing bocce.  It was like a gathering of Young Comics R Us.  In their midst, I spotted Demetri Martin, this other guy that I see all the time on Best Week Ever, and current SNL cast member Fred Armisen.

You can see Demetri in the white t-shirt and the guy that I see all the time on Best Week Ever standing next to him.

Demetri Martin is a pretty hilarious guy:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfYspe3yHvM]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viw5U7yPxo0]

LAST NIGHT'S PARTY

Just a few pictures from last week's Babel session. Annie brought some mangos for the family. How thoughtful.

Cyrus roared in laughter with a bone chilling edge, his head tilting back, mouth stretched as evil in its organic essence flowed out from within. People stopped mid-movement frozen with terror. "Finally!" he roared. "Millennia of planning, eons of plotting, and pulling strings," he said, "At last! Success is mine." Somewhere from the crowd, a single shriek of dismay and complete surrender escaped, like that of a balloon suddenly pierced, at Cyrus' declaration. No one turned to see who had cried out because each individual believed that they were the culprit. The surrender was total. At this, Cyrus said with a smirk, "I AM NOW YOUR DJ."

Cy playing the tunes.

Chris is a fan.

Chris ruining a perfectly nice photo with bunny ears. Yup, bunny ears.

No more of the Goose...

But that doesn't stop the dance! The DANCEEEE!