Les Elephantes
Another late night for the Langfords last night... To start things off Andy had his first soccer game, which his team won, 3-2. I'll let him blog more about the game if he would like to do a guest post. While he was out running around I had girl's night out with Karin, Michele, and Jen. After his game Andy met up with us for a few drinks and then he and I headed down to 34th Street to see the elephants from the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus march into Manhattan. Apparently the trucks that carry the elephants are too big to come through the tunnel so they haul the elephants to Queens and then they march through the Midtown Tunnel, all the way down 34th Street and into Madison Square Garden. This all takes place after midnight so it doesn't cause a major traffic disruption.
Here's a blurry picture of one of the circus trucks...
PETA was set up in front of Madison Square Garden...I tried to get a picture of their sign which said "Circuses Are No Fun For Animals"
We were down there a little early since we didn't see the elephants until almost one in the morning so Andy took the time to pose with the R2-D2 mailbox, which is to celebrate the release of a special Star Wars stamp.
We walked up and down 34th Street while we waited...the entire street was lined with barricades and there were alot of people out. In front Yeshiva University there was a huge group of students making cotton candy and eating peanuts. When we got to Park Avenue we finally saw the elephants coming...in this really bad picture you can see the lead elephant with the ringmaster.
And here they are...the elephants walking down 34th Street, each one holding the tail of the elephant in front...
I love the circus and I will definitely be going this year!
Labels: NYC sights
Night with the Knicks
Yesterday got off to a really crappy start. When I got to work I realized that I had left my keys AND my cell phone at home. To make things worse Andy wasn't going to be home until after 11 because he was taking a group of kids from school to the Knicks game last night. I eventually solved the key problem by getting a spare set from Karin but better news arrived even later when Andy informed me that there was an extra ticket for the Knicks v. Magic game that I could have.
So, I became a chaperone on the field trip to the Knicks game last night. The tickets were courtesy of Spike Lee who pays for school kids from Brooklyn to see Knicks games for free. We got into the Garden really early, at like 5:45 for a 7:30 game. Then we got to sit in the courtside seats while the players did their warm-ups. I didn't recognize many of the players but they are so much taller in person than they seem on TV. Also, their feet look about 10 times bigger. I felt like they were all walking around in clown shoes. From time to time one of the players would walk over and shake hands with the kids for a minute or two. The only player that I recognized from the Magic just by sight was J.J. Reddick. I wanted to harass him about his crying tendency but Andy informed me that that was not proper chaperone behavior.
While we were watching the team we spotted Walt Frazier who Andy described to me as "the guy from the Just For Men commercials" I guess because he thought I wouldn't know who Walt Frazier is. He was wearing a ridonkulous suit...cornflower blue corduroy suit with a pink tie, pink pocket square and gray crocodile skin loafers. Nice!
The celebrity highlight though was when Spike Lee came over. He is even shorter in person than he looks on TV, if that's possible. He signed autographs for the kids and shook hands. Andy and I were at the end of the row and a very irate security guard cut Andy off for some reason and wouldn't let him get near Spike Lee. Andy didn't care so just called his name and then thanked him for all the work he was doing in New Orleans and then Spike Lee shook his hand...all very exciting! We are in middle of watching his documentary on Hurricane Katrina, When the Levees Broke. It is a must see in my opinion...very powerful and very sad.
Our tickets for the game were in the highest level but close to mid-court so they still afforded a pretty good view. Plus, it was just cool being in Madison Square Garden watching the Knicks for the first time...and for free!! We also got a free hot dog, chips, and Coke and a mini Knicks backpack and t-shirt. Quite a good haul. The game was really fun to watch even though I'm not a big NBA fan. The Knicks should have won but Stephon Marbury is a huge ball hog. I've boiled all of the Knicks problems down to that. Overall, we had a great time.
Pictures from Lousiana are finally up...or will be in about 15 minutes if you have RSS and you read this immediately after I post. Enjoy!
Labels: NYC sights
Dance Lesson
When I say that I will never do something or never do something again, it's pretty much gauranteed that I will do it again and soon. So, shortly after my post about how I never dance...last night I went dancing. Not club dancing though. In anticipation of our trip to LA Andy and I accompanied Cassie and Martin to see a zydeco band and take an introductory Cajun dance lesson beforehand. Needless to say, I was terrible.
When the class began everyone was in semi-circle around the edge of the stage, probably about 25 people. The instructor started with the waltz which she described as a very simple step, one-two-three, one-two-three. So I was just gliding along, thinking that i was doing fine when she pointed at me and said "NO!" I was the only person she made any comment on positive or negative. My confidence was shot after that since I apparently couldn't even do the most basic step. With Andy leading I think I did manage a passable waltz. Then we moved on to the two-step. This was well beyond my range. As we were two-stepping around the room an older man took it upon himself to take Andy and I on as his pet project. He worked with us one-on-one to try and get the steps down. After about 15 minutes of him telling me to "glide, glide!" and "take smaller steps, SMALLER STEPS!" I had had enough but we couldn't shake him for the rest of the night...every time we danced he was there to cut in and tell me what I was doing wrong. As a result we missed the jitterbug lesson, and consequently the "cuddle" which sounded the most fun to me.
By the end of the night I was frustrated and exhausted from all of the gliding or attempted gliding. I was also quite drunk since I figured that alcohol could only improve my dancing but apparently not. Andy said that we were going to practice at home so we'll see how that goes. I'm not holding out much hope.
Labels: NYC sights
In da club
Last night I went out with some of my co-workers for happy hour. We started out at the bar at the Algonquin Hotel where we had hoped to be served by Wong Hoy, New York's oldest bartender. He wasn't there, but the bar was nice, albeit expensive. This prompted a move to a different bar. We tried two typical, divish bars but they were both packed so we ended up at the Cellar Bar. Granted, I guess it wasn't technically a club but there was very loud music, dancing, and low tables. This to me implies club. The place was really nice and I had a great time hanging out with everyone but it made me feel tragically unhip. This may come as a shock, but I'm not really a club type person. First of all, loud music is annoying. By the end of the night, I could barely talk because I was so hoarse from screaming. My first mistake was probably trying to have a conversation...that was clearly not what I was supposed to be doing.
What I was supposed to be doing was dancing. One small problem...I don't dance. Ever since I was ridiculed by Ashley and Angie my supposed "friends" from law school after a wedding I refuse to dance. I don't think it's that my movements are that bad, it's just that they have nothing to do with the music. I have no rhythm. The one exception I made to this dancing rule was at my wedding. This was apparently a bad decision since at one point my mom asked why I "bounced so much" while I was dancing. Anyway, my co-workers kept trying to drag me out on the dance floor but to no avail. I did promise Karin that I would dance at her wedding, should it ever take place. I just don't like to dance. I did have a great time watching all of the white guys in their suits attempt to dance. Wow. It really takes effort to dance as badly as some of these guys were dancing but I have to give them credit for at least getting out there.
Labels: NYC sights
Doubts....and snow
Winter seems to have finally arrived in New York. This morning as we were walking out of the building I could see in the headlights of passing cars that it was raining and I groaned out loud. But when I opened the door and saw the parked cars and trees covered in a thin layer of white, I realized that it wasn't rain that I saw, but snow. I said "It's snowing!" and Andy said nothing. We kept walking and he was hunched over with a scowl on his face. I said "come on you love the snow" and he just grumbled. Thirty seconds later I looked over and he smiled and said "yeah, it's still really cool" So, the excitement of snow is not yet lost on the Langfords. In Brooklyn the flakes were tiny, bordering on sleet, but when I got out of the subway in Manhattan there were huge, puffy flakes collecting on the cars and the one planter on the street since there were no trees. All of the snow melted really quickly but it was nice to know that winter is finally here.
On a different note...yes, the blog yesterday was boring. No one really cares that I like spinach, but then again if you're reading this blog maybe you do because why else would you read this every day unless you cared about stupid shit about my life. Due to some recent events I can no longer blog about the things that are most "bloggable" in my life. There are tons of things I could be writing about that would be funny, upsetting, neurotic...things that probably made this at least readable and slightly interesting in the past. Unfortunately too many people know about the blog for me to write how I really feel about what's going on. I guess if I had more-self confidence maybe I could write more freely.
Earlier today I was reading the blog of someone I recently met and I was really jealous of how open and honest she was about the way things were going in her life. For example, I could write pages about why I now think that moving to NYC was a mistake but I'm not going to do that....I just don't have it in me anymore. So maybe I should give it up...I don't know....
Labels: me, NYC sights
weekend, weekend, weekend
I've been waiting to get back into my flip flops after the cold weather but who knew the opportunity would arise so soon? On Saturday I wore flip flops, a skirt, and a long sleeved t-shirt. The high in Brooklyn was 72 degrees....72 freaking degrees. While I enjoyed the warmth I think the weather being weird is throwing me into a funk. On Saturday after we ran some errands I slipped into super-pissy mode. All i wanted to do was lay in bed for the rest of the day. That NEVER happens to me. Luckily Andy is literally the most patient man on earth since I capped off the pouting by picking a fight with him about the arrangement of furniture in the apartment. So we spent the rest of the afternoon rearranging the furniture and it does look better.
Yesterday we went to the Met to see the exhibit "Cezanne to Picasso" which didn't focus so much on the evolution of the art itself but instead a dealer in Paris named Vollard. It was really interesting to learn about his influence on the art world. He was definitely someone behind the scenes that you wouldn't normally hear about so that was really cool.
Tonight is the BCS National Championship game and to tell you the truth, I couldn't care less who wins. Not just because LSU already played but because bowl games ended last week! Why is this game a week later? It makes absolutely no sense to me. The NFL playoffs are going on, college basketball is gearing up...it just seems like there's a disconnect to this National Championship game. This morning Andy was saying that if there was anything better on TV he probably wouldn't watch. I agree...
Labels: football, NYC sights
Trip to the Library
Since The Vegeenas were #1 in the regular season of my fantasy football league we had a bye this week. Since I wasn't glued to the computer pulling for LaDonkian to score his third touchdown of the game, Andy and I decided to go out and about in NYC. We visited the Morgan Library, which is having a Bob Dylan exhibit right now. The Bob Dylan exhibit was fantastic. There wasn't really any new information presented (for someone that's read two biographies and his autobiography) but it was really cool to see some of his guitars and handwritten lyrics. The exhibit also did a really nice job of contextualizing his work with timelines of events and newspapers from different years. The permanent collection at the library is also really cool...Morgan's personal library is awe-inspiring. It's nice because the whole library can be seen in 2-3 hours (and I read EVERY sign), so it isn't overwhelming.
After the library we had lunch at some crappy diner around the corner...Moonstruck or something...well while we were waiting for our food I was staring off into space and Andy asked me if I saw a celebrity or something the way I was staring and I was like, yeah, i'm sure tons of celebrities hang out at the moonstruck diner. So I got up to go to the bathroom and when I came back who was sitting behind Andy? Carson Kressley..the blond guy from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I mean D list celebrity but celebrity none the less. So I guess I was wrong.
Labels: bob dylan, celebrity, NYC sights
SANTA!!
On Friday I continued my holiday activities with a trip to Santaland at Macy's to see the Jolly Old Man himself. Karin, Jenn, and I set out at 9:00 to avoid the long lines and annoying children. I don't really have any memory of seeing Santa when I was a kid. I seem to vaguelly recall some story about me crying hysterically on a Santa visit...maybe my mom can fill in the details. Anyway, Santaland did not dissapoint. We entered through a hallway shaped like train cars with a floor that shook just like a train and made me slightly nauseous. Once we got inside it was a winter wonderland with animatronic bears dancing around, elves, sleds filled with presents, and tons of snow. There was also a really nice model train set up with a winter scene. We blazed through most of Santaland and then came to screeching halt about 10 feet from the actual entrance to Santa then we had to wait for like 45 minutes...and this was getting there right after it opened. Finally it was our turn and the elf led us to one of the six "Santa huts" they have set up. The entrance to each one curls around so the kids can't tell that there's more than one Santa there. So we go in and I tried to sit on the bench next to Santa but he would have none of that...he insisted that I sit on his knee. So there we were..Karin and I each on a knee and Jenn in the middle, sitting on a little box about four inches off the ground.
He asked us what we each wanted..Karin said "a Fendi bag" to which he replied, "oh this one has expensive tastes" I said a new camera, and Jenn said black boots and then Santa said "Well girls, Santa can not bring you everything you want or even everything you need but Santa can bring you a message of peace, love, joy, and hope for the new year." Then he went on with this semi-religious message for about 10 more minutes during which time Karin and I looked at each other uncomfortably, thinking that maybe we had left Macys and accidentally stumbled into Christian right Santaland.
Needless to say we had a great time...followed by looking at the Macy's windows which are really cool this year. I'll have pics up tomorrow plus pictures of our tree at home...in the meantime here's the there of us with Santa...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
Labels: Christmas, NYC sights
Pre-Thanksgiving
Since we were already in the neighborhood GH and I decided to drop by and see David Blaine "performing" his latest stunt last night. He's suspended over a parking lot in Times Square in a huge gyroscope. Frankly it was pretty lame. There were about 20 people out there looking at him whereas when he did the last stunt in the aquarium there were hundreds of people. The whole thing just seemed really rushed and sort of thrown together. Plus, he was just hanging there. GH said the only problem he could see is that David Blaine was probably cold. So if he can free himself form the gyroscope in the next two days then 100 needy families get Target gift cards or something. I seriously doubt that if he can't free himself they aren't going to give the families the money.
Also, GH and I have decided to forgo the fancy schmancy Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant and try to cook for ourselves. I went over to Whole Foods this morning to get a turkey breast or a turkey ball as someone called it. The store opened at 8 and we got there at 8:05 and the place was already super busy and there were only four turkey breasts left. I guess that's what I get for procrastinating.
Labels: NYC sights, Thanksgiving
Not So Happy Halloween
As I mentioned in yesterday's post I am not a fan of Halloween but since everyone was all abuzz about it, I decided to to attend the Halloween parade in NYC last night. The parade starts in the Village and goes up to 23rd Street so we decided to catch it near the end since our office is on 30th. So it was me and some co-workers, Karin, Christina, and Michele and then we met up with Andy and a bunch of his co-worker people to have drinks before the parade. Karin, Christina, and Michele left the bar a little earlier than we did and staked out what looked to be an awesome spot on 19th Street. They weren't on the Avenue but the street was going to be blocked off so we could still see everything really well. No one would be standing in front of us.
So we meet up with them and the parade still doesn't start for another hour. There was a little bit of shoving going on but nothing too bad...and the streets were PACKED! Wayyyy more people than were at the Thanksgiving Day parade. It was really cool just to watch all the people walking by in their costumes...my favorite were the oompa loompas and the guy dressed as a vagina.
Anyway..so the parade starts and it was really cool...there were people on stilts dancing and some really cool costumes but the best was all of the papier-mache puppets...very cool. I think Karin got some good pictures and I'll post those later. So about ten minutes into the parade the police for some inexplicable reason start letting people through the street again even though the parade is still going on. So all of the people that had good views before, including us now can't see anything. Pushing and shoving ensues. The whole time we were there Andy had his arm braced on the scaffolding and I thought he was just propping himself up but the whole time people were pushing and shoving in the back and he was shielding Michele and Christina from getting crushed. Then a huge guy behind Andy starts throwing punches so there's a big fight breaking out behind him. Then people start jumping over the barricades and into the street. At this point I started to panic because the fight is going on right behind us and if people really started pushing I knew I was going down so I tell everyone I'm bailing and I jump over the barricade. After that I look back and there's a flood of people pushing over the barricade. The cops had absolutely no control over what was going on. It was ridiculous.
So everyone else that was with me then tries to make it over the barricade. Andy tries to get over and the cop grabs the front of his shirt and pushes him back over the barricade and won't let him through even though he just let the guy that was throwing the punches over...it was a huge mess. Andy, Karin, Christina, and Michele finally made it out of the huge mass of people and met up with me. At that point I was just like, all right, we're getting the hell out of here. Andy and I headed home but the three of them tried to catch more of the parade and ended up getting caught between two more fights again....it was just crazy. I've always worried about getting crushed or stampeded in crowds but last night was the first time that I ever felt like it really might happen. Scary stuff.
One more Halloween note...I was walking up to the office at 7 this morning and I see a girl walking towards me with her hair disheveled and her Halloween costume on and her shoes in her hand. This must be the worst morning ever for the walk of shame. Not only is it obvious that you've just hooked up with some random guy and are making your way home but you're dressed up like a birthday cake while you're doing this. very funny.
Labels: Halloween, NYC sights
Eid
Last night Andy, Christina, Chuck and I went to some of their student's house for Eid, one of the major Muslim holidays. Eid celebrates the end of Ramadan when they fast from sunup to sundown. On Eid the kids stay home from school and play all day, there's a ton of food and family and friends stop during the day to eat and visit. They fed us a TON of food...I ate roti (AMAZING!), mixed vegetables, and a shrimp dish that was really spicy and very very good. It reminded me a lot of eating in Louisiana since when I finished they kept trying to feed me more food. After I thought I was done they heaped rice on my plate which I ate all of because I didn't want to be rude...Then when Andy finished they gave him a TON of rice...When he was about halfway done he tried to slide some on my plate and I pulled it away so he looked at me with this pleading look and said "come on, help me out" so pitiful...so I took some of his rice too.
The kid's dad, Halim, showed us the alphabet they use in Bangladesh, which is where they are from. I first met them about two years ago when we went for Eid, and I didn't go last year, but it was amazing how much better his English was from when we had first met. Learning about the alphabet was really neat and the kids told us the story of Eid. Andy spent part of the time playing FIFA street soccer with the boys, Mohammed, George, and Alfred, in the back room which was really funny because every couple of minutes I heard him go "ooohhh" or "urghhhhh". Mohammed's little sister, Hasnat, gave Christina and I henna tattoos which was really cool. She has a bit of a potty mouth so I really like her. I don't know if the parents don't know English curse words or if they just don't care but two years ago she said "shit" repeatedly and no one cared then apparently last year she dropped several f bombs and no one batted an eye. This year she just said piss a lot which isn't a curse word but we weren't allowed to say in my house.
Anyway, we had a great time...everyone was really really nice. It was about 7:45 when we said we needed to get going and the Dad was like, oh stay until 8, which I thought was very cute.
Labels: NYC sights, students
Here's a blurry picture of one of the circus trucks...
PETA was set up in front of Madison Square Garden...I tried to get a picture of their sign which said "Circuses Are No Fun For Animals" 
