My friend Miranda sent me a message a few days ago, asking what I was doing for President's Day. Seeing as how I didn't even know when President's Day was, I definitely didn't have plans. And then she suggested meeting in San Francisco, with boyfriends in tow. It took me approximately 4 seconds to decide that come hell or high water, boyfriend or no, I WAS going to be in San Francisco that weekend. So I launched a full-force persuasion campaign to get Mike to agree that it was worth the cost to come.
And 12 hours later, our plane tickets were bought. I AM SO EXCITED! I'm excited to see friends, I'm excited to get to go all the places I miss, and I'm really excited to get to share it with Mike.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Times Square Ain't the Place for a Vegan
Mike and I were in NYC last weekend to celebrate the birthday of his friend Yuriy. Last Friday evening, after many hours of meat-eating and booze-drinking and general birthday-celebrating, we left Yuriy and the rest of his friends to make our way back to our very swanky Times Square hotel.
En route, we got into a fairly intense discussion. It was intense enough--and we were both so focused on it--that upon arriving in Times Square we continued to stand in the middle of the sidewalk, talking intently to each other and not really paying any mind to what was happening around us.
So here we are, in the middle of Times Square, having the kind of single-minded and emotionally intense conversation you can only have when you're really drunk, when a couple--youngish and fairly well dressed--approach us.
Couple: "Um, excuse us. We're sorry to interrupt you, because you look like you're having a pretty important conversation, but we don't have any money and we're pretty hungry."
Mike and Claire: "Um. . . ." as both of us start fumbling through our pockets for change.
Couple: "No, no. We don't want to take your money, but if you wouldn't mind buying us something to eat, we'd appreciate it."
Mike seemed game for this proposal, so he gestures around Times Square--where there are easily 20 open restaurants within spitting distance of where we are standing--and asks them: "Where did you want to go? How about McDonald's?"--as it was the closest to where we were standing.
Couple: "Um, well, that won't work actually. You see, we're vegans and we don't really eat any of that kind of food. But we know a really good vegan Chinese restaurant about 15 blocks south of here. How about that?"
Even now, a week later, I don't know quite what to make of this. Have people really just gotten that bold? Were they actually trying to pick us up for a foursome? Were we being Punk'd? And did they really not appreciate the truth behind the phrase "beggars can't be choosers?"
Needless to say, Mike and I said that was a bit far for us to go to get them food, wished them luck and bid them adieu as we quickly made our way back into our hotel.
En route, we got into a fairly intense discussion. It was intense enough--and we were both so focused on it--that upon arriving in Times Square we continued to stand in the middle of the sidewalk, talking intently to each other and not really paying any mind to what was happening around us.
So here we are, in the middle of Times Square, having the kind of single-minded and emotionally intense conversation you can only have when you're really drunk, when a couple--youngish and fairly well dressed--approach us.
Couple: "Um, excuse us. We're sorry to interrupt you, because you look like you're having a pretty important conversation, but we don't have any money and we're pretty hungry."
Mike and Claire: "Um. . . ." as both of us start fumbling through our pockets for change.
Couple: "No, no. We don't want to take your money, but if you wouldn't mind buying us something to eat, we'd appreciate it."
Mike seemed game for this proposal, so he gestures around Times Square--where there are easily 20 open restaurants within spitting distance of where we are standing--and asks them: "Where did you want to go? How about McDonald's?"--as it was the closest to where we were standing.
Couple: "Um, well, that won't work actually. You see, we're vegans and we don't really eat any of that kind of food. But we know a really good vegan Chinese restaurant about 15 blocks south of here. How about that?"
Even now, a week later, I don't know quite what to make of this. Have people really just gotten that bold? Were they actually trying to pick us up for a foursome? Were we being Punk'd? And did they really not appreciate the truth behind the phrase "beggars can't be choosers?"
Needless to say, Mike and I said that was a bit far for us to go to get them food, wished them luck and bid them adieu as we quickly made our way back into our hotel.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Seen in the NYC Macy's
A Hassidic Jew toddler--complete with baby yarmulke and long curly sideburns--attached by a leash to his mother.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Good News
I have lots to blog about from the last few weeks, but I'll share my exciting school/work-related news first:
About a month ago, my friend Alison, who works in the very cool Center for Social Media at school, was asked to recommend any people she knew who might be a good fit for the Center's Fellowship program. She recommended me (as did a couple of my professors), and I was brought in soon after to interview for the program. Destpite interviewing in the middle of my final hell week--when I hadn't slept in two days and I was running around with a painfully throbbing MRSA-filled abscess on my leg--I had felt like the interview went well. It went well enough, anyway, that they offered me some short-term employment over the break, while they were short-staffed.
Cut to today, when in the middle of a conversation with the woman I'd initially interviewed with (about my continuing to do some work this semester for the Center), I asked her when they would be deciding about the Fellowships. Shocked, she replied, "But I thought you knew! No one told you? We're offering the Fellowship to you!"
Needless to say, this is really fantastic news, and I'm very excited. The Fellowship will partly pay for school for the next two years, and I'll get two years of working with the other folks in the Center for Social Media, which is right up my alley!
About a month ago, my friend Alison, who works in the very cool Center for Social Media at school, was asked to recommend any people she knew who might be a good fit for the Center's Fellowship program. She recommended me (as did a couple of my professors), and I was brought in soon after to interview for the program. Destpite interviewing in the middle of my final hell week--when I hadn't slept in two days and I was running around with a painfully throbbing MRSA-filled abscess on my leg--I had felt like the interview went well. It went well enough, anyway, that they offered me some short-term employment over the break, while they were short-staffed.
Cut to today, when in the middle of a conversation with the woman I'd initially interviewed with (about my continuing to do some work this semester for the Center), I asked her when they would be deciding about the Fellowships. Shocked, she replied, "But I thought you knew! No one told you? We're offering the Fellowship to you!"
Needless to say, this is really fantastic news, and I'm very excited. The Fellowship will partly pay for school for the next two years, and I'll get two years of working with the other folks in the Center for Social Media, which is right up my alley!
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