Archive for the 'NYC' Category

December 10, 2006 | Filed under: NYC, technology

I am in a deli. I am surrounded by jars of pickled vegetables, instant Nescafe and nuts-by-the-pound. Apparantly while I wasn’t looking all the neighborhood bodegas and 99 cent stores began offering internet access for cheap. I have the following options within two blocks of my apartment:

1. This deli. A favorite local Greek spot (currently owned by a pair of devastatingly handsome brothers from Bangladesh) sporting a fabulous selection of feta, olives and international beers. Pros: always smells like fresh Spanakopita, relatively quiet. Cons: uncomfortable chairs, computers reside next to the frozen foods…too cold. No printing.

2. The candy store. One part candy/cigarette/magazine store one part kitchen appliances outlet. This is one of those weird “Everything” stores that are so prevalent in NYC immigrant neighborhoods. You can grab a cup of coffee, pick up a toaster oven and buy a gift for your Mom here…as long as your Mom would appreciate a red rose floating in a snowglobe. Now with internet and color printing! This is a major upgrade for this place: they used to only send faxes. Pros: they do not have a 30 minute minimum like the other places and will allow you 5 minutes for 50 cents. Handy for the late-for-work email check. Cons: constantly busy and noisy because of the Lotto counter.

3. The CyberCenter. This was the first dedicated internet locatation in the neighborhood. There are about 30 computers there, each with a webcam and headphones. I haven’t owned a printer since college, so when I went back to nursing school I would email myself my papers and print them here. At $3 for 60 minutes I assumed they’d be out of business in a year, but they’re still going strong probably because they charge 50 cents a page to print. Pros: cheapest place in the area. Cons: After 3pm on weekdays it’s filled with teenaged boys playing online mano-y-mano videogames at volumes you simply wouldn’t believe (the boys, not the games). And they have these weird giant black pleather reclining chairs that are probably great for gaming but are completely shitty for typing. I can’t type at such an angle.

With my computer gone for 7-10 days, I’ll be spending a lot of time in these internet joints. I have had to make a sort of Computer Contingency Plan: I can check my email twice a day in the neighborhood and catch up on blogs and videoblogs at work so long as it isn’t busy and the MDs aren’t bugging me to use the unit’s only computer for MD-related stuff (they’re always claiming that they have work to do! Imagine!).

The bummer about my computer crashing isn’t just the disappearance of everything I was working on (I was enjoying a renewed videoblogging fervor and was working on 5 different videos at once; unheard of for me), the annoyance of having to reload 350 cds into iTunes, and tons of photo loss; what really scares me is the distinct possibility that Apple will discover or invent something wrong with the computer that puts me at fault–like finding remnants of bluberry pie filling in my optical drive, for example– thereby rendering my AppleCare warantee null and void. I can barely sleep because of this. I’ve been so incredibly careful with that computer, and I’ve been so good about backing up…until this month, of course. If AppleCare refuses to fix it, the bill will be upwards of $1400. Basically that translates into “buy a new one”.

That’s a lot of overtime. And it’s Christmas. I can’t spend that kind of money on myself at Christmas.

But without a computer, I’m not sure I know who I am anymore. Isn’t that terribly sad? That’s what has really been eating at me lately.

September 21, 2006 | Filed under: un-vlogged, NYC

And there you have it. NYC shopping at it’s very best. Not one but TWO customers examining the goods!

Finally armed with a camera phone (and I was crazy enough to claim for years that I didn’t need one…was I insane?) I will be bringing more strange NYC moments to the MMMofM. Sweet action!

September 17, 2006 | Filed under: NYC, oddball, city mouse, misadventures

Click the pic for Flash!

You may already be familiar with my neighbor. Well, she’s at it again. I found the strength to open my front door a crack and record her in stereo from the hallway. Yikes.

No videos starring me or my honey of late, I know. Why? Because we are miserably heartbroken and I see little point in documenting our sorrow for posterity. The “buying a house” deal has utterly fallen through (”Thanks US Government! You are the suckiest suck who ever sucked!“), my Maisie’s health is on the wane, 9/11 is a perennial emotional doozy, a dearly departed friend’s birthday just past and her absence is keenly felt and my childhood home is up for sale.

It’s hard to vlog when everything is so crappy. In the meanwhile, enjoy the upcoming short string of food porn, New York City scenes and dog videos.

I’m just not feeling like myself. Actually, she sounds like I feel.

August 4, 2006 | Filed under: NYC, good eatin'

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Since the city finally cooled to 89 degrees, I felt I could venture out of the house for a much-desired special snack. Bahn Mi is my most favorite sandwich, and I’ve been thinking about them nonstop since Nathan Miller’s announcement that he would be travelling in Vietnam for two weeks in August. When I was toodling around Vietnam in 2001, I ate them every day. The crunchy, salty, sweet, spicy, savory combination of pork, daikon, pork, cucumber, pork, carrots, pork, cilantro, pork and hot peppers on a fresh baguette is pure sandwich heaven! A 40 minute subway ride is a small price to pay to enjoy such riches!There are fine Bahn Mi to be had in the not-so-nearby section of Queens known as Flushing. It’s an incredibly large and ethnically diverse neighborhood–Chinese, Korean, South Asian, SE Asian, Philipino and Latin Americans are all represented there. Flushing’s Chinese population apparently surpasses that of Chinatown.

When some people hear the phrase “Main Street, USA”, it evokes a quaint avenue that runs through the center of town, complete with a General Store, a Mom & Pop Cafe, and lined with big oak trees. Or maybe it makes them think of Disneyworld. When I hear “Main Street” my thoughts turn to Twice-Cooked Pork, DanDan Noodles, 24 Hour Korean Barbeque, outrageously cheap and fresh produce, refreshing and chewy Bubble Tea, and a whole mess of retail signage that I can’t decipher. And, of course, Bahn Mi.

I love Main Street.

Music:
“South China Sea”
Steve Doctor
Courtesy of Podsafe Music Network!

August 2, 2006 | Filed under: NYC, city mouse, misadventures

**Hey! If you are attempting to watch this from my site with Safari and cannot see this video and usually you don’t have that problem, PLEASE let me know!**

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You can also click here for Flash!
It’s hotter than Bangkok in April. I eat nothing but popsicles and I feel as if my brain has turned into cheese. Soft, melty cheese.