Lately

I feel like I need to blog throughout the week as well because I can't keep up with everything I have done. I will try my best to remember it all...

On Saturday, I went to the Paley Center. It was a total flashback to the early 90s. I first started by watching a screening of Teens in the Media. It showed teens back in shows like Happy Days and Leave it to Beaver and went ahead to show such as My So-Called Life, 90210, Party of Five.. the works. Probably the highlight was watching Kevin Arnold obsess over Winnie Cooper. It left me feeling very nostalgic. I couldn't just stop there. I was reliving my childhood. The next stop was a room where you could pick two shows (the gallery was HUGE) to watch for an hour. I picked an episode of Salute Your Short and a Christmas episode of The Wonder Years. Salute Your Shorts brought back memories of Dr. Conn speaking and Ug-Lee. The Wonder Years brought back memories of Christmastime and the hustle and bustle throughout the local mall. They also played Christmas commercials, and it was so weird that I remembered a few of them. I definitely recommend the Paley Center to anyone who wants to escape reality and live back in your childhood for just a few more minutes. 

The next day, I explored the World Trade Center area. I hiked over to South Street Seaport because I wanted to check out the Police Department Museum, but that ended up being closed. Not knowing what to do next with my life, I got a text from Laura (another intern where I work). We ended up meeting and checking out the gay pride parade down in Greenwich village. It was so great to be right in the middle of it all watching the floats and people throughout the streets. Laura and I stopped for lunch and sat next to these two guys. They were touring different parts of the east coast and we talked to them for a little while. When our check came, we realized we weren't charged for the guacamole dip that we had ordered previously. Walking away, one of the guys said that he went ahead and bought the dip for us as a "welcome to New York" gift. I thought it was the sweetest gesture in the world, and it that moment it really boosted my outlook on humanity. Isn't it funny how something so simple can truly affect someone in this way. You can find the good and the bad in this world and on that day Laura and I found the good. 

Later that night, Shenanigans occurred. Laura and I went to a bar called The Cubby Hole. A crazy lady (maybe 40 or so) started talking to Laura and I. She bought us a drink and stumbled throughout the bar hitting on other women. She was a riot. Later that night she saw me again in the bar and said "Stefon! Is that you?!" Of course, I said yes even though she clearly created a new name for me. Next thing I knew, she had me lifted off the floor and I was touching the ceiling.  You never know what you're going to get my friends. A great night. 

Photos from the Gay Pride Parade:

The week went well. A new place we tried for dinner was called M.J. Armstrongs. It was pretty good food, and they have trivia every tuesday night. If you like trivia, go and check it out but get there early because it gets packed fast. The rest of the week went by really fast considering we had a 4 day work week due to the holiday weekend. Thursday night I met up with Alyson, another intern I work with, and her boyfriend and friend. They had dinner at John's Pizza, and when I arrived they ordered a pitcher of Yuengling beer. I liked the beer a lot...didn't have such a bitter aftertaste. Back home, most of the beer list consists of Bud Light, Budweiser, Miller Lite, and Boulevard. Here it is crazy to see the difference: Stella Artois, Magic Hat, Lager from Brooklyn, etc. 

Friday Laura and I went to Life Cafe (I guess Rent featured this restaurant during the Broadway play).... lots of different options. I will probably stick with the brunch or breakfast food next time I go because that seems more like their specialty rather than the sandwiches and other lunch food. Later in the day we went to Amy's new apartment and napped. So nice and peaceful on the upper west side! We hung out and waited around because we knew we wanted to check out Water Taxi Beach later that night. We all heard it was a pretty good time. We finally woke up and got ready. We cut across Central Park and made our way toward East 35th st. where the Water Taxi departs. Little did we know, that the Water Taxi Beach is a 30 second boat ride... the Water Taxi took about 40 minutes to depart. We could have swam over to the other side. To make it worse, we had to listen to this guy complain who was wearing leiderhosen pants. Finally, we made it to Water Taxi Beach. Word of Advice: DO NOT GO. It is this caged in sand pit. The only purpose? To cage in annoying adults to do a better deed for society. I think this should be their mission statement. "We cage in drunk, annoying adults so you don't have to." Thankfully, Amy forgot her ID. We headed back to Manhattan...fast. We ended up at Yuca Bar and had some Sangria and delicious food and dessert. Shaky start. Perfect ending. 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! On Saturday, Kelsey and I went over to Alyson's apartment for Sausage Fest. Had hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, watermelon, drinks, etc. They had this little back porch where the grilling was taking place. It was so perfect... in the little back porch it was amazing how comforting it was... almost like I was grilling back home in MO like the previous summers with my family. After that, Kelsey and I headed toward the west side to see the fireworks. They usually take place on the east side (which would have been excellent because our apartment is on the east side) but it was the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's exploration of the Hudson River... so we explored over that way. The fireworks were very interesting to see. Back home, we have one section where the fireworks go off and everyone can see. In NYC, to be able to have people see the fireworks in between 30 blocks, they have 6 sections of the same fireworks... it was neat to see it all in a row! Sadly, because of the 6 sections, I think they were limited on how much they could show per section. No grand finale.. but a good time indeed. We watched the show and drank Champagne and ate Pop Rocks. Afterward, we headed to a restaurant for dessert. 

I feel like this is the longest update ever....

Finally, it's sunday. Kelsey and I woke up early to catch a subway to Coney Island. We went to the NY Aquarium. We went early to see the Penguin feeding! We also saw a Sea Lion show where Ozborn and Duke showed off their tricks. We saw turtles, sharks, walrus, fish galore! Too cute! Check out the photos: 

 Then Kelsey and I walked the boardwalk and then headed home. Ready for a great week ahead! My sister and her friends Emily and Sara are coming to visit. Great updates to come!