29 Sep 06

Time:

?

Money:

$5, the biggest cup of coffee - well, Banana Coconut Frappucino - I could get my hands on at the campus Starbucks.
$12, sandwich, pineapple, and Pepsi, Space Market (all of which finally got rid of the caffeine headache the Frappucino couldn't quite handle.)
$10, a great grilled cheese and some really good tomato soup, Say Cheese.
$11, Woodpecker cider and a Mountain Dew for Saturday morning (I mean, the soda, not the cider), the cool market north of my house.

More interesting things:

Discovered that the orange flyers marked "Sopranos" at the top that I had seen posted on light poles near my apartment throughout the week were not, in fact, an elaborate prank. Two movie trailers were on the avenue, maybe 500 feet from my door, waiting to shoot a street scene. I asked one of the guys standing around if James Gandolfini was coming. Nope. How about Uncle June? Nope. Okay, anyone? Yes - AJ. At that, even though AJ is FAR from my favorite character and is definitely not my favorite actor, I told the guy that it might be worth cutting school to wait around and see what would go on. I didn't give away that I was just kidding, so I got a response that I loved: "Nooo, no, no... go to school! School is much more important than this stuff."

Told a homeless guy I didn't have change as I walked from the market on Broadway (having bought some milk for the coffee we wouldn't get to make at school) to Greene. He was so polite in his response - "Okay, ma'am, thank you though, and have a great day," - that I wondered how often people actually talk to him as opposed to how often he just gets stepped over. (And not that I haven't done my fair share of ignoring these guys; sometimes it seems like that's not just the easiest but the safest thing. But even so...)

Had a class breakfast that was tasty AND hilarious. Professor Number Four announced that it was time for Waffles Round Two to begin, and that if we wanted one he would put it in the toaster for us. My first response, of course, was to crack up; my second was to tell him that although I didn't particularly feel like a waffle, I thought I might ask him to put one in for me just for the experience of having my professor fix my breakfast. This got a goofy smile, a wagging finger, and an "uh-HUH" of the sort that I come up with when I appreciate someone else's smart-ass comments.

Admired once again Professor Number Five's ability with the one-liners. This time, to get our attention back after some kind of work-related conversation or other, she interrupted by announcing, "Quiet, people, and listen to me... I'm a full professor."

Ambled past Lincoln Center on the way to the bus and was struck once again with a happy disbelief that I actually live here. It reminded me of a discussion I had with someone the other day. We agreed that, for some people, it would be very easy to get kind of down on the decision to up and move here, especially if the activity that gave purpose to that decision (starting school, in my case) ever seemed anything less than ideal. I haven't had to worry about even that, thankfully, but I can see where if I did, I wouldn't have to be concerned about any negativity seeping over to my outlook on city life; I was inoculated against that between 1980 and 1987, and I don't think the vaccine expires.

Rode the crosstown back home after waiting with a crowd, that, as usual, sort of packed in close to the bus as the door opened. I never really pay attention to whether people get on before or after me; I figure we'll all probably get on and I don't particularly care whether I get a seat or not, so it doesn't matter. I let an older couple board in front of me, and went to let a middle-aged lady do the same - but she stepped back, smiled, and said, "No, you go, I know you were here before me." That would be yet another addition to the New Yorkers ARE Polite Campaign, in case you were wondering.

Listened to a very energetic cellist somewhere under Hunter College. He was across the tracks, but it was loud (and lovely) enough that I paid more attention to him than the proliferation of gray signs there, and that's saying something.

Walked back from the restaurant with Ben and passed a grocery store, where I realized that thanks to the wicked low ceilings on city not-that-supermarkets, they probably don't have to worry too much about birds. At Publix it's practically a regular feature: The Daily Bird, flittering around a little disconcertedly, because what with the cavernous feel, it's easy to confuse the wild blue yonder with, say, the dairy aisle.

Identified, on the way home, a tall-but-still-Samoyed-looking dog as, in fact, a Samoyed; his person said most people didn't know that and then stood back as the pup in question shoved his head under my hand before trying repeatedly to leap into my arms. He was so cute, and so friendly, that I would have been happy to catch him and just keep walking.

More interesting things I haven't done yet:

Gone to Lincoln Center. It is definitely expensive (although I'm sure there are cheap ways to do it, if you take the time to figure it out), but I can afford tickets more easily than I can afford missing something like that for however long I'm here.