(The view of my laundry facility...I have the next big horror film idea, "Deathly Detergent" "Serial Soap" "Wailing Washer" "Drying Slowly")
(View of my work...so glamorous right?)
Work is crazy right now. We are doing a speed documentary of the Iraq situation with ISIS. I have been researching the Iraq war creating a very in depth timeline of all the major events. Then I have had to find video for each of those events. Also finding SOTS (people on camera talking) of President Bush, Obama, Biden, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, etc. It has been busy but really cool. Next friday 27th of June it will air, so check FOX news for an hour long special about Iraq with a panel, interviews with the Cheney's, etc.
As for my explorations of the city, it has been awesome. I have been going out every night trying to go somewhere new and to just soak in the city. My biggest problem is that I want to sit and soak it in, but I also want to see it all, so it's a constant tug of war trying to just slow down and enjoy a place, and then just sprinting off to the next cool location.
Monday after work Laura, Madi, and I went to Little Italy. We got fantastic Italian food at this beautiful restaurant "Da Nico" with a patio in the back. The weather was perfect and the food was so fresh and good. I was deeply satisfied. I would say 4.5 out of 5 stars. (I just wish they had garlic bread). We walked the streets afterwards, and just let the cheese's and sauces simmer in our belly's as our eyes feasted on the beauty of this part of the city (Poetic right? haha).
(Da Nico...Get patio seating in the back!)
(Gnocchi probably my new favorite Italian dish. Best story the meatball on the side was my excuse to get protein...I expected it to be like 1.50$ extra, we get the bill...$5! For a Freaking MEATBALL...I was ticked haha!)
(Baby hulk graffiti taking in the Gelato of Lil Italy)
(Streets of Italy and the Empire)
(Sunset and smiles)
Tuesday I ventured on my own to Washington Square park, Grand Central station, and NYU. The university is super close to Washington Square Park so it's fun little area tons of people out just enjoying the evening.
(Where is Will Smith and the Zombies? I just see college students and hobos!)
(I just thought of Madagascar the animated feature the whole time inside)
Wednesday Laura, Madi, and I continued our food exploration to a place recommended to us called, "Smile". It is this cool little hipster spot by Washington Square Park. It is like Provo's Station 22 cafe. Hipster and wood. The A/C was out were we sat and it was awful!!! I was just dripping in sweat as we waited for our food, and check. The portions were tiny and the prices were HUGE (the exact opposite of what I look for in a restaurant). I gave this place 1 1/2 stars out of 5.
(You must be a hipster to walk these stairs)
(That was a nice appetizer...where is my meal?)
(Relief from the un-airconditioned SMILE trap!)
Thursday, Professor Robert Walz had a lay over in NYC so he took Madi and I out for some sushi! It was great to see him and get a taste of Provo again. Madi's internship seems so rough and he offered us advice her to stick it out, and realize that the news system in so many ways is broken, they are no longer journalists, rather they just aggregate videos and information that others created. We need to get back to the roots of Journalism which is out investigating and getting our own stories and information. Hopefully with technology the world of Journalism will change back to it's roots rather than this aggregate game.
(Just imagine Pocahoneous singing, "Colors of the wind, but rather colors of the plate!" I love me some Sushi!)
I shopped at Trader Joe's on 72. It's amazing Trader Joe's is cheaper than most of the small cruddy grocery marts right around me. The only problem is its super out of my commute so I will try to make these trips limited. The place is crazy busy, they even have people with a flag system to organize a line, and to get to a checkout. Flags from 1 to like 30 are waived when there stall is open, you are ushered to that station. It's like Disney Land meets Smiths.
After I went to the world famous "Comedy Cellar" This is in the West Village and is a underground comedy club where tons of the great comedians flourished. From Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, etc. they all performed here. Coby Gerstner and I got front row and it was a hilarious night. Some crude humor, but overall I had a blast. There were like 5 comedians that performed topics ranging from Love, Deer, Black People's planet, People going to crazy countries not for the experience but rather just to be able to brag about it. What a night, so props to Coby for showing me this gem in the city.
(Sign and Mic are hot, ready for big laughs!)
Friday I tried to paint the town red with my feet of course! I created a route to hit a bunch of places on my bucket list and it was a fantastic walk through a lot of the city. I started off at the Plaza Hotel made famous by one of my childhood's favorite movies Home Alone 2. I could still here the ending of the movie when I was walking around it as the dad in the film yells, "KEVIN!!!"
From there I took a quick stroll to the famous toy store FAO Schwarz. This place was amazing! Toys for days to say the least. I got to enjoy another famous film spot the "Giant Piano" made famous in Tom Hanks movie, "Big".
(Tom Hanks...got nothin on me and the little kids!)
Next came a quest through Sak's 5th avenue. I pretended to be a ritzy finance dude as I went through the Armani store. I touched shoes selling for $1000! Haha they had people watching me like a hawk the whole time in the store. I guess they had me pegged as not high class while I wore a t-shirt, shorts, and some beat up kicks.
(Sak's 5th Selfie)
Next was the city library. The place is very neat. Very roman, greek architecture and beautiful murals. After a quick break in Bryant Park, I went to the world's largest department store of Macy's. This place is a monstrosity! I wanted to see all the floors so I took the escalators which happen to be made of wood! Well to get through all the escalators only, it took me about 15 20 minutes, that's how big this place is. It is super confusing as well I got lost as fast as if I was a tourist in central park!
(Library ceiling, Library outside, "Macs"...they lost the y...and wooden escalators)
That night Madi invited me to go with her and her friend to a Yankees game. We ate before at an awesome soul food buffet called, "Jacob's restaurant" You pay by the pound of food so I loaded up! Jamican Jerk chicken, ribs, potatoes, salads, fruits, you name it they had it! The game could not have been scripted better. After a quick beer being dumped on me...things looking pretty grim the game was a huge triumph. Down by one in the ninth inning, two outs, runners on first and second, two strikes, Carlos Beltran hits a walk off home run right in front of where we were sitting. The place went nuts, everyone was hugging each other I ran and embraced this lady who all the locals just call her the "Jeter Girl" (Anytime Jeter does anything...I mean anything she goes wild, she films the big screen, she has his jersey, a phone case with him, she is nuts).
(Beautiful night, beautiful companions, and a beautiful walk off home run!)
Saturday was a great day outside as well. The weather is fantastic. I did a sweet long run through the park, did not get lost, and found a bathroom, so no problems today! Laura, Barrett, and I went and kayaked the Hudson river. Best part of this adventure is it's free! They open these kayak places on the weekend for anyone. It was so relaxing. Only one issue my pants got soaked and the rest of the day I was walking like a penguin trying not to chaff. We walked along a riverside park, then through central park to meet some of Barrett's friends on top of the Metropolitan museum.
(The dock...Barrett, Me, and Laura)
(Hudson kayak selfie)
(All about the form)
(smiles and smells)
(Creepy Merman statue..."A merman pop...merman"...he holds the secrets to the hudson)
It has fantastic views of the city and it's a cool little bar that you can just chill at. We then hit up Serendipity's. Made famous from the movie "Serendipity" haha.
Barrett and I then made what I consider to be if your a pizza person the pizza equivalent to a muslim mecca. We made it to Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn bridge to get their famous pie. They take cash only and the wait ended up being like two hours before our teeth hit pure nirvana. Next door is a place called Jiovanni's or something like that I guess he is the original owner of Grimaldi's sold it and built this place so their's a little rivalry going on, but hey a rivalry over pizza...forgaboutit...I'm there!
(The mecca for pizza people like myself...and I love the sign on the right!)
(You got ya meats sausage, meatballs, ya got ya olives, and some extra mozz!)
After Barrett and I saw this random park show put on with these weird french dudes in small water tank. The kids were loving it though it was a lot of fun to see. We walked the brooklyn bridge at sunset and made our way back into manhattan. Fantastic!
(Frenchmen show in a little pool)
(I love this bridge and I love sunsets...together mmmhmmm.)
Sunday after church I hit up the world famous Carnegie Deli with Coby, Laura, and Barrett. It was a an Atkin approved meal as I ordered the Woody Allen...the fattest sandwich I've seen with corned beef and pastrami! I was stuffed!
(Carnegie Deli..."The Woody Allen" AKA...Atkins diet for me please)
After that Coby, Barrett, and I went to the Whiskey Bar to watch the world cup game USA vs. Portugal. It was awesome to watch it in a bar...everyone went nuts over every little play and moment, stinking USA had to let Portugal tie in the last twenty seconds though...
(Whiskey Bar)
- Enjoy the Journey
Jonny Boy
(Anyone recognize this? Walter Mitty I'll run to Iceland with you!)
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