25 Feb 07

Time:

?

Money:

$7, an avoid-the-BDFV cab ride to the enormous Hilton on Sixth Avenue.
$12, pancakes and turkey sausage, Astro's.
$24 (or so; it was a little ridiculous), lunch - just a sandwich and a soda, for chrissake - Friday's at Times Square (which explains the whole thing, of course.)
$6, half of an avoid-the-BDFV cab ride back, because I split it with Marisa (it was more expensive this time because of evening traffic.)
$12, burrito, Blockhead's (duh.)

More interesting things:

Appreciated the chance to get a large-scale view (see Thanksgiving Day post on driving vs. walking) of the city early on a Sunday morning. It is so quiet, and... I don't know. It's not that there were reminders of an exciting city Saturday night floating through (or dripping down) the streets, and shops and restaurants really weren't open yet, so it wasn't the image of a city waking up. Maybe that's it, though: I was awake when the city was asleep, and of course it is always a complexly pleasant experience to look at the face of the comfortably snoozing.

Found that the Hilton for which I was headed - the location of this year's AACTE conference - was in fact the one right next to the famous dandelion statue bank, where either last week or last century Ben and I began our cashier's check relay race.

Sat at Friday's with F. Hardy and Annette, facing a guy in a Gator sweatshirt and wearing what I noticed a few minutes later appeared to be a big ol' class ring containing a stone of the brilliant blue that once caught Dr. B's eye when he noticed it on my finger.

Discussed the impending clear-cut at length with F. Hardy, and when I mouthed the word "fucked" in response to his sentence opener about what we'll be next year, he agreed on the following basis: "Well, you will be because you're losing your godfather," which may have been the most succinctly accurate Italian-heritage-inspired observation I've ever heard.