The middle of the curve

So, last weekend was my second weekend in the city without the family. Two weekends they came up, one I went down to DC, this weekend I am off back to DC again. But, this last weekend was another single in the city weekend.

I had the BEST french toast I have ever had at iCi in Brooklyn with Jayse. Sweet Pear butter spread on thick homemade brioche … *drool* At some point on Saturday, while walking from Brooklyn on a pilgrimige to the Apple store (although we ended up at TekServe), I got fascinated with the realization that I was living in the middle of the curve. My safe, happy suburban life in Rockville, has been the middle of the curve. I no longer have big dips or peaks. I feel like my life has narrowed down to a small set of things: hanging with the kids, chilling with Sharine, shopping, riding bikes, researching the interwebs … but nothing extraordinary. I always wanted to live one of those Independant Film lives. Something unique, something deep, something real. But I feel like that is becoming less and less likely.

Being in New York, makes an IFC life feel so close (everywhere you look there are film students creating IFC life). The real catalyst for my maudlin mood was the Idiot-a-rod, a road race through New York City fashioned after the Iditerod husky race in Alaska. In the Idiot-a-rod a group of 4-6 friends dress up in costume, decorate a shopping cart, begin drinking and race through the city. It was freaking funny. The Marie Antoinettes (including cart decorated as a guillotine. The Epidermals and their hair restoration malt. The sheer joy on Jayse’s face when she realized we’d stumbled into the middle of it … it was very cool!

I realized that the chances of me doing the Idiotarod next year were pretty slim, not because I don’t want to, but because it’s not the kind of thing I do anymore … maybe all that should change?

Anyway the rest of the day was great, I wandered around manhattan with Jayse playing tour guide for me including: walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, getting lost looking for espresso, bubble tea, magnolia cupcakes, and finally met up with Phil and Ting for dinner and much drinkies

Now, I want to back up and address the cupcakes (no not you J). So we made a trek over to Magnolias for cupcakes. As seen on Sex in the City, the NYT, Gothamist, etc… The place was insane! Jayse warned me that there would be a line out the door, but I was not prepared for a line out the door and half-way around the block on a Saturday evening at 4.45pm. it was below freezing! So we waited in line, fought with the bouncer (yes, there was a BOUNCER: two out, two in) and waited until they had delicate blue iced vanilla cupcakes warm from the oven … OMG they were glorious! And such a sugar bomb!

Anyway, after a great dinner at Momofuku, we all headed out to Lolita and the Key Bar for a long night of many drinks where we met the drunk Russian owner of some bar frequented by a famous IFC director Long live bachelor weekends!

Filed under: nyc

Soggy ankles

I am sure that everyone who moves to the big smoke gets this eventually: A couple of nights ago I was walking home. It is cold. The wind is howling through the towering buildings. Rain and sleet has been whipped into a stinging, sometimes blinding mess. I am tired and a little under-dressed. I am wearing a long, ankle length overcoat, but just a shirt and pants (obviously) underneath. I am walking quickly and trying to focus on getting home as soon as possible. When BAM, I am engulfed from the knees down in a wave of freezing city effluent. A cab had sped past a double parked truck, right through a large frigid puddle in the road next to me on the sidewalk. I thought I was so smart walking on that side of the sidewalk, no one was over there, I could walk fast, I was almost home … how foolish of me. No one was walking there because of the threat of splashes! Yuck … I should have guessed …

Blogged with Flock

Tags: ankles, wet, cold, cab

Filed under: nyc

Delta T-imes Square

So it’s been two weeks that i have been walking through Times Square on the way to work in NYC. It has been a significant change of pace from working from home in DC. One of the most interesting things about Times Square is that it is never static. Yes, yes, many of the signs, billboard, and advertizing units are animated, video, user contributed, etc. However, I did not realize that the billboards (th enon-animated kind) change on a daily and weekly basis. Huge, 80′ high banners and posters change every few days. C L O V E R F I E L D, The Lion King, new cars, scents, and jeans. I don’t think many folks realize how dynamic beyond the animated billboard that Times Square can be.

Filed under: nyc

Back to my 20’s

So last night I hooked up with a few Sapient alums for an evening of (I thought) quiet drinks. It turns out that ’shish new every frickin’ bartender at every bar we went to. It was a fitting intro to NYC night life (something I have been kind of avoiding). I have no idea where we ended up but lets just say it was (for me at least) a 6 hour epic. I get the feeling that for ’shish it was just a Thursday. Still, it felt like I was back in my 20’s, zig zagging around the city, hoping bars, hanging with people I barely know and some I’ve worked with for years. It was awesome, but I’m sure it’ll become expensive very quickly if I am not careful …

 

Filed under: USA

Considered action verus Reaction

I am struggling with another big decision (more on that later)and as always happens my RSS feeds provided me with an interesting pearl of wisdom. This article over at Slow Leadership brought up an interesting point:

The more carefully you consider your options, the more appropriate your actions can be. That’s important. Thoughts don’t change anything by themselves, but even a small action has the potential to change your whole world. To be “action oriented” should never mean rushing into any action, purely for the sake of doing something. Action is far too important for that.

Most of what happens to you begins from one of two places: chance events or your own actions. Chance events you can do nothing about directly, but the way that you respond to those events likely determines much of their effect—at least on you.

Even other people’s actions—another area pretty much outside your direct control—have relatively little impact on you until you respond to them by turning to some form of action.

Now, this kind of statement certainly seems obvious most of the time, but I am an intuitive person, I often trust my gut on things, when I should do a more holistic analysis … but that requires a certain discipline and often some “head space” for you to make up your mind, do the analysis, and invest in the big actions.

How do you find that headspace? Where do you go to find the answers? How do you do this while you are responsible for 3 projects, closing $1M deals, rescuing friends on the brink, playing Candyland with your kids, and trying to work out why you Infiniti ate 6 of your CDs …

If I work it out, I’ll let you know …

Filed under: consulting, personal improvement

Brooklyn & beyond

Well, I met a friend from brunch in Brooklyn this morning, it was awesome! Much more like the bohemian, hipster NYC I imagined when I signed up for this wild ride. We ate at a tiny, hole in the wall place called egg. Food was great, I had a slice of brioche with egg and cheese in the carved out center, and delicious sausage … Wowsers! I also found at least two great espresso joints (verb and the blackbird parlour) much more like downtown Wellington! Finally, what I was looking for! Spent the afternoon on the train heading up to Westchester looking at houses (friend an fam can see them on flickr). Walked back to the train station and explored Grand Central a little before hitting the office to upload a few pictures and blog away!

Blogged with Flock

Tags: espresso, coffee, brooklyn, brunch

Filed under: nyc

The big walk

So today I decided to take a long walk through Manhattan, try out my new ecco’s and try to get a feel for Manhattan itself. I explored the Village, Chinatown, SOHO, and Chelsea. Coffee at Cafe Grumpy and a MUD Truck it was quite grand. I am still looking for the bohemian, hipster location that reminds me of New Zealand espresso bars.Somewhere to hang out for an afternoon, listen to different and interesting music, people watch, think, about things and generally relive my uni days. I’m having brunch in Brooklyn with a friend tomorrow, maybe that’ll be the place to be …

Filed under: nyc , coffee, espresso, exercise, nyc, walking

The stench of the New Year

So like every good la wai, I started the New Year with a resolution to exercise a little more. So this morning I ventured out of my cozy, bland midtown apartment to go for a run up towards Central Park. As I left the weather closed in and began a metallic drizzle, whipped up by random gusts of frigid wind thrown from the tops of glass & steel towers. The city stench was overpowering … the reek of dog sh!t, horse sh!t, and human waste from every imaginable place was lifted onto the damp arctic air. I gagged as I ran with the other foolhardy souls, pondering the move, the wisdom of running off a treadmill, and what will my first day at my new job tomorrow bring … Happy New Year everyone, 2008 will be a big year of changes for me and my family.

Filed under: USA, exercise , exercise, moving to nyc, nyc, running, stink