1 year anniversary

So I arrived in NY roughly this time last year. Since then I have:

• posted 269 blog entries. That's a 73.6% daily blogging rate, which I'm pretty happy with. Perhaps in the name of personal development I should increase my KPI to 80% for next year. Or perhaps for personal development I should blog less and live more. It's contentious as a recent NY Times article demonstrated.
• put on 6 kgs. I don't want to talk about it.
• been to 4 Broadway shows: Spamalot, Xanadu, August: Osage Country, Putnam County Spelling Bee. When I see this list I realise I really have to amp up the calibre of my theatre choices. I guess that puts Avenue Q and Boeing Boeing on hold.
• been on 1 bike ride. But it was awesome and next weekend I'm thinking a lap of the island.
• visited 7 out of state cities and drove through amusing place names like Poughkeepsie, Yonkers, New City, Gaylordsville, Climax and Surprise ( I kind you not).
• been to New Jersey once. For lunch.
• seen 29 celebs at various levels of the A-D List scale
• lived in 4 apartments and one squalid room, which I'm trying to forget
• worked with 6 different clients ranging from weight loss supplements to cars to finance to video games and radio
• had 0 cases of food poisoning from my halal street meat man
• had 5 friends come to crash on our delightful sofa bed
• eaten 47 hamburgers. I finally have a favourite. The Chicago, from NY Burger Co.
• been to all 5 boroughs of New York
• declined one marriage proposal from a checkout guy in Staples, the local equivalent of Office Works. Nothing but the best for me.
• cooked dinner less than 10 times. This I feel guilty about. Poor Jus.
• not learned Spanish, like I intended to.
• had a ball. Mostly.
• missed my peeps terribly!

Manhattanhenge

Today is a special day on this little island.

A few times a year the sun sets and rises in perfect alignment with the Manhattan street grid system.

This means that the sun sets at the vanishing point of the streets. If you go to the end of one of the long cross-island (east-west) streets (14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th) you can watch the sun slip between the buildings to the horizon.

The sun doesn't set until 8.20pm now so we're going to miss it as we head out of the city for a secret weekend away. Apparently is happens again on Jul 12 so I'll pencil in some sunsetwatching for then.

memorial day weekend

jus and the statue of liberty
Originally uploaded by Meesy

The first long weekend of the summer ,perfect weather and lots to do. Friday night we caught up with Mike & Annie and realized we were the last people on the internet to see the 'Charlie bit my finger' Youtube clip. We promptly watched it the next day and it is surprisingly funny for some innocent 'let's get the kids on tape' footage.
Saturday we woke up to a street fair right outside our window. 6th Ave's annual street fair took over the road and we wandered through, resisting the temptation to try deep fried Oreos, funnel cake and slabs of flank steak being grilled in the sun. Nearly bought a hat but opted instead to subscribe to the NY Times weekend papers because they were giving away free thermos mug thingies and I'm a sucker for free swag with NY stuff on it as souvenirs to gaze at when I'm pinning nappies to the hills hoist back in Flemo...
Anyway, Binky & Jez were visiting from Abu Dhabi and we caught up with them and some local pals on Saturday night for a bit of outdoor dining in the Meatpacking district. So delicious to be eating outside and see the three stars in the sky that NY light pollution affords.
Sunday we met up with the same crew and boarded Ventura, an historic yacht that's moored in North Cove Marina near the World Financial Center, for a bit of cruising around the harbour. The cruise is associated with a bar in the LES called DBA, which is known for its crazy range of beers, so we sampled boutique beers as we got up close and personal with Liberty Island, Ellis Island, cruise ships leaving port and jet skiers.
As you can imagine, drinking in the sun for four hours descended into mayhem, messy nachos and margaritas and then dark & stormies at an aptly named bar called the Rusty Knot. Gave new meaning to dark &stormies: 3 types of rum, lime and ginger cordial and ginger beer, served in a tiki glass with an umbrella. It was almost spicy in its gingeriness: my fave drink taken to new heights.
Jus and I bailed before any fights, stolen warheads or back of the cab redecoration went on.
Monday we hired bikes and tootled up the Hudson in the sunshine, circling back near Columbia Uni to Central Park where we had a picnic with about 40,000 other New Yorkers. Bikini clad frisbee players, roller disco, crazy 8 playing crowd that provided endless people watching. Riding the bike was a revelation: such a speedy and enlightenting way to the city. Saw places along the water that I've never spied before - free kayaking, little cafes, parks and coves - and the city was suddently more accessible, smaller and human than before.

Lots of photos of the weekend on flickr. Check them out.

In the Summertime

Sing along:

The tax mans taken all my dough,And left me in my stately home,Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

And I cant sail my yacht,Hes taken everything Ive got,All Ive gots this sunny afternoon.

Save me, save me, save me from this squeeze.

I got a big fat mama trying to break me.

And I love to live so pleasantly,

Live this life of luxury,Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

In the summertimeIn the summertimeIn the summertime

My girlfriends run off with my car

,And gone back to her ma and pa,

Telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty.

Now Im sitting here,

Sipping at my ice cold beer,

Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

Help me, help me, help me sail away,

Well give me two good reasons why I oughta stay.

cause I love to live so pleasantly,

Live this life of luxury

,Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

In the summertimeIn the summertimeIn the summertime

Ah, save me, save me, save me from this squeeze.

I got a big fat mama trying to break me.

And I love to live so pleasantly,

Live this life of luxury,

Lazing on a sunny afternoon.

In the summertimeIn the summertimeIn the summertime...

Everybody likes a good chart

This is like I Can Haz Cheeseburger for charts. You can see more and make your own here.



No excuses now for boring PowerPoint presentations.

American English

Well Justin listened to quite the eye (ear?) opening radio show yesterday on good old WNYC about the differences between British English and American English. Listen to the show here. It's about 30 minutes.



Fascinatingly, the -ize ending used to be British English until they got all Frenchified and moved to -ise, same with the move from -er to -re. The Americans hung on to the original spelling. The British pronunication of dropping syllables in words ending with -ory and -ary (eg lav-A-tory to lav-rat-ry)only started happening in England in the 1800s: the Americans stuck with the old pronunciation. Basically British English was changing: Americans didn't change it.

Shockingly, the English used to pronounce all their 'ers' instead of 'ahs' (eg mothER instead of mothAH) and so the radio presenter states that performing Shakespeare with an American accent is closer to the original pronunciation than an English accent now!

So all these people who claim the Americans stuffed up the English language (and I was one of them) can now quietly know that its closer to an older form of English and not a series of bastardisations. They're not so bad after all, hey?

Free summer fun

I have to say that New York loves a free outdoor event and there are so many of them I'm truly excited about the cultural excess of the next few months.

Yesterday I grabbed some lunch with pals and we walked to Bryant Park and listened to author, Augusten Burroughs, speak about his childhood and his new memoir about his father.

An area of Bryant Park is the Reading Room, an outdoor newsagent & bookstore that caters to people who want to buy a read and sprawl in the grass or grab one of those chairs with the attached table top (is there a name for those?). This is where people flocked with their lunches to hear Augusten outline his eccentric upbringing.

He looks quite different in real life to his author's photo on the back of his novels. Based on his author's photo I was expecting a pale, softly spoken, cuddly, neurotic guy with a bit of a paunch. In the flesh he was tanned, jutting cheek and jaw bones, truckers cap and reflective aviators. He looked more like someone weathered by drugs & alcohol than perhaps the bloated post-rehab dough boy I was expecting.

Augusten was articulate, passionate, loud, a little angry maybe, extroverted, evocative vocab. A great speaker. I shall rush to buy his new book.

D.O.A.

I got home from work the other night to find two of the building superintendents hovering at our neighbours door. I could hear a bit of commotion inside and I said kinda flippantly 'Hi guys what's happening?' and one of them took a few steps towards me and whispered, 'She died. In the tub. And has flooded her apartment and the one below'.

It was all very Law & Order. The supers had to force their way in when the neighbour downstairs had water pouring through the ceiling and they found poor Susie naked in the bath.

The NYPD were there doing whatever they had to do. Gurneys in the hall. Ambos. Drama drama drama. The door to her apartment is now sealed with a 'dead on arrival' sticker, which is a little creepy.

She was an old woman, died of natural causes. I saw her maybe once every couple of weeks shuffling to the lift and we exchanged polite greetings. Jus said she came and went a lot and had lots of visitors during the day. She was active and happy and evidently had the quickest and most painless of deaths.

But moments after the police had left I did hear some neighbours milling in the hallway talking about when her lease contract was up. Never an inappropriate moment to talk about available apartments in this town, it seems. I felt like I was on Seinfeld.

Bom bom da na na na na....

Let's to Yankees let's go

Went to see the baseball during the last season at the original Yankee
stadium with colleagues from work. Out to the Bronx, which means I
finally made it to all 5 boroughs. Bud Light, dogs, crackerjack,
peanuts and pretzels.bases loaded a few times: did not know where to look and felt like I was constantly missing the action. where is a slow mo replay when you need it?

Started with the anthem, also squeezed in Glod Bless America and Take Me Out to the Ballpark during the 10 innings.

Jeter and A-rod and Matsui the
heroes. Surprisingly exciting if a little lengthy.

Footy and
basketball to go to check off the 'American sports look-see'.

Suck it up

'Suck it up' seems to be the new saying on the street: I hear it atleast once a day either at work, walking around or on TV. This video is related in the slimmest of ways but is too funny not to share.

Parents: you might want to watch with no sound.

This time last year

This time last year was my going away party, a bittersweet affair. Now that a year is ticking over I've gone into overdrive planning all the holidays that Jus and I want to squeeze in before two years arrives and we turn into pumpkins.

New Orleans. DC. Maine. Newfoundland. Utah. Jamaica. Central America. Florida Keys. Wyoming. Vegas. Jade. Ced. Lyons family. Between Amtrak and AA and Starwood Hotel points we might just pull it off, or we could end up blowing our discretionary income on broadway shows and shoes, or pissy nights out in the Meatpacking district with visiting pals and family.

If only we'd won that lotto jackpot.

Confessions

There are many online confession websites where people post anonymous thoughts and feelings. I stumbled upon Group Hug today. There's something as fascinating here as some of the questions I see on Yahoo Answers. Strange glimpses into people's fears and hopes and worries and confusion.

Lucky numbers

Can you believe how high the jackpots get here? Imagine winning US $196 million.

I shall be entering.

Let the fantasy of what you'd do when you found out you won and what you'd do with all the money begin...

Recruiting spies

Ever wondered what the job ad for a spy might look like? Wonder no more. The CIA was advertising on nytimes.com today and I took a look.

My favourite parts:

"An OO’s career can include assignments in the NCS’s three key areas of activity—human intelligence collection, counterintelligence, and covert action—on issues of highest interest to US national security, such as international terrorism, weapons proliferation, international crime and narcotics trafficking, and capabilities and intentions of rogue nations.

They must know themselves very well and a sense of humor is also a plus.

Knowledge by non-Agency personnel of your association with the Central Intelligence Agency or the Intelligence Community may limit your ability to perform or preclude you from certain assignments. NCS applicants should therefore endeavor to protect the fact that they have applied and/or are thinking of applying to the NCS. We urge your discretion throughout the entire hiring process to ensure maximum flexibility for your potential NCS career. Further guidance will be provided as competitive applicants move through the hiring steps."

I guess I just blew my chance.

Hooray Australia

Unscrewamerica.org is not a Get Up for the US. It's about changing to more energy efficient lightbulbs. And Australia gets a shout out via a kangaroo playing the national anthem.

I think it's safe to say that this site is targetting the youth.

Spamtastic

Sometimes the subject lines on spam emails are just too funny not to share.

Another night, another blurry restaurant interior shot

AK, Ross and Anita have hit town. We're on a roll with our Aussie visitors and I have to say its lovely. Yes the credit card is melting but there's nothing I like more than swapping stories and hearing news over a dining table. AK is here for a spell then off to Alaska to visit her sister. Ross is exhibiting his furniture at a trade show and here for a week or so and Anita is here for two weeks to catch up with people she used to know when she lived here many moons ago (how does she squeeze it all in?).

What are they loving: the gingko plants on the street, the cheap clothes & shoes and hare on the menu.

Update on whirlwind week

Ben and Lisa interviewed all over town and Ben was offered his dream job designing skyscrapers. So they're moving to New York for good! Lisa can relax and now take her time to find a role she can get truly excited about (she realised that there's a heap of cycling and outdoor publication websites based in NY) and not have to jump at the first thing that comes up. They are now on the next leg of their holiday (another 3 weeks of rest and relaxation in Europe) before they head back to Melbourne, pack up shop and ship out.

Justin and I are really excited about them moving here. It feels a bit like the groundswell that was going on to get friends to move to St Kilda all those years ago. New York is a bit harder but what the hell? There's a Chinatown in every city isn't there?

Celebrity sighting #27, 28 and 29

I haven't been keeping up with my spotting.

In the LES wandering down the street I saw Kathryn Erbe, who you may know better as Detective Goran's partner on Law & Order Criminal Intent.

In the East Village I was buying underwear and so was Patricia Clarkson, who is just as striking in real life as on screen. She was in the recent release Married Life with Pierce Brosnan, and used to be in Six Feet Under as the alternative aunt, among other things.

Then last night Hugh Grant walked into the restaurant we were dining at in the LES. (No explanation required for him, I take it.) He was shorter than I expected and looked exceedingly like an English academic from Maida Vale.

My latest addiction

Well torrents of time are being spent at Yahoo Answers, a site where people pose questions and all and sundry can respond. It is impossible to read a question like 'Are there any job opportunities for Irish electricians in Perth?', for example, and not respond and tell them to get their A to WA.

The sheer range of questions fascinates me.

Just now I saw:

• How do you know if a girl wants to hold hands?
• How do I get rid of a mouth ulcer?
• Do cheaters always accuse others of cheating?
• Is there a food pyramid diagram that correlates to body parts and functions?
• What's the best foundation under $12?
• How can I ship wine from the UK to the US?
• My mare is afraid to ride with other horses in arena. What to do?
• Do woodchucks sweat? If so, how?

Some of them make me sad because they're people in a tight situation who don't know what to do or the information is out there on the internet and they're obviously not bright enough to find it. Some of them make me laugh because they're so sweet and innocent (usually from tweens) or because they're so preposterous. Others are downright disturbing: lots of cries for help.

I can't stop answering questions. This site feeds on every know-it-all, Trivial-Pursuit-loving, daughter-of-a-school-teacher fibre in my body, and when I can think of a website that will answer their query how can I not pass it on?

Brooklyn Blogfest

I'll try and make this sound less nerdy than it was but it might be hard. Actually this event felt to me like most web-related events: grass rootsy, full of fervour and passion and self-importance, and lots of beseeching and not a lot of practical advice, but Jennifer and Mark got over it pretty quickly and we went for a drink.

Anyway...300 bloggers and blogger wannabes flocked to the Brooklyn Lyceum to celebrate 'place blogging', citizen journalism and advocacy. There are Brooklyn-based bloggers who are local heroes (atleast in the blogosphere, as the community is known) for raising awareness of local issues, capturing the beauty of the borough through daily photos, opening longtime residents' and newbies' eyes to events, idiosyncrasies and ways to make the most of it.

Jennifer was interviewed for a film shown at the blogfest, when their Henry's in New York blog got referenced on another Brooklyn blog. (Actually 'Another Brooklyn Blog' would be a good name for a blog. BKLYN has more bloggers per capita than anywhere, apparently).

I found the event interesting as a blogger (though from Manhattan, which would probably have been booed if I had made it known) and as a web professional who regularly discusses the idea of blogging with corporate clients (who are wary of it for the most part) and as someone who stumbles across blogs that are just crap and not contributiong anything to the world at all. Estimates put the number of blogs at over 200 million. And the blogfest was mostly about encouraging more people to blog, and to post more often.

An 'old media' (newspaper) writer got up and asked 'where is it all heading?' I think some people don't care where it's heading, they're just happy to have a voice and a free publishing medium and dialogue with their readers. Bloggers meet up with their readers and other bloggers IRL and make friends. Bloggers want to practice their writing (or videomaking or photography) craft. Bloggers want to stay in touch with loved ones en masse, efficiently. Bloggers want to fill a gap that other forms of news and views don't fill. Bloggers want to play around with software.

Is it like having pen pals? Is it like having a column in a newspaper? I feel like its putting messages in a bottle and throwing them into the sea, sometimes. Mostly its the stuff that would end up in letters (remember those?) or emails to friends and family. Like this.

Aussie Mafia Dinner

Given the small Australian contingent at work, and seeing as we're two weeks shy of our 1 year anniversary in NY, a few colleagues decided to get together for dinner in Nolita at an Australian restaurant called Eight Mile Creek.

I was braced and ready for akubras, footy on TVs and homesick 22 year olds holding up the bar with oi oi ois, but it was actually a sedate, tableclothed restaurant with lots of charm. The menu had kangaroo, barramundi, lamb and crayfish and I was genuinely torn over this sudden access to Australian flavours. There were also lamingtons, sticky date pudding and pav for dessert: this decision was not so difficult to make. I'm pudding all the way.

We sat outside and sipped a Yalumba viognier and boutique pale ales, and while we started off with a few Australia-related conversations inspired by the menu, and then lots of web shop talk which bored Nat and Justin, we ended up talking about New Yorky things like whether or not to move apartments and face the broker fee hassle all over again, Hillary & Obama, the strange disappearance and total irrelevance of George W in this electoral limbo period, the enduring coolness of iPhones, the start of the basesball season, what to do on the Memorial Day long weekend, the queue at the Shake Shack and the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Full of booze and sugar, we waved our goodbyes in the street and beelined to our respective subway stops, nary a pause to orientate ourselves and calculate best routes.

Good god, have we become locals?!

Surf Goddess Retreats

My cousin, Chelsea, has been running these retreats in Bali for years. This short clip sums up the experience. Looks like so much fun.

I love this song. Man, can't wait for summer.

Whirlwind week

So last week I was asked to do the kind of project pitch I dream
about: redesign the Xbox website. I spent the weekend getting up to
speed with xbox live, the wii and playststion 3. On Monday I walked
the rest of the team through our ideas, Tuesday we flew to Seattle to
Microsoft HQ to pitch our concepts, Wednesday we flew back damn
excited about the opportunity. Hopefully we'll hear back next week and
get the green light.
Returned to NYC and Lisa, who I worked with at Seek, and her architect
boyfriend, Ben, had just arrived. It was fabulous to catch up and
gossip and talk web and travel and sport. Lisa was my sport buddy at
Seek: we used to go swimming at lunch time, dance class and running
after work. They are hoping to move here and it would be really
awesome to have them around. Fingers crossed for their job interviews.