My Block
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Welcome to the upper west side near Harlem - care to take a tour?
I figured *everyone* would be DYING to see where i live. ;) So i’ve posted a couple pics of my surroundings. So far, it’s pretty nice. I’ve got an interesting cultural mix going - lots of black and hispanic (aaah, reminds me of home), a bit white, a bit asian, and a couple of other as yet unidentified peoples. There are just so many ethnicities that i have no idea about here! I’m so fascinated! I hear all different languages around me, and i can’t even begin to guess what they’re speaking! doh! I really like the mix here, though. It makes me feel more at home.
In the afternoon, there’s a lot of people out. People sit on the stairs in front of their houses, teens playing baseball in the street, kids biking and running around, everyone playing basketball at the nearby school courtyard. Apparently there are a lot of construction workers around here too - she calls the way to the subway station “The Walk of Shame” because they always yell lewd and suggestive things at her. I’m beginning to realize that that’s just normal NYC fare.
So i’m trying to make a habit of running in Central Park everyday. This is difficult because 1) it’s running - that’s *hard*, 2) the park is soooo big i get lost every time! and 3) it’s bloody humid out here! Oh yeah, then there’s the problem of getting abducted or mugged, but whatever. It’s a beautiful park. I just went to a concert there tonight. It was actually a pay-for concert, but we just camped out behind the last row of the stadium on the woodchip covered terrain and got a free ride! Woot! We heard Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. I’ve never heard of any of these guys before, but they’re great. I really enjoyed the folk music.
Ok, enough gabbing for now. Here are the pictures I promised of my neighborhood and of my apartment in its various stages.
The entrance to my apartment
My street
People ballin’ in the school courtyard
The first day in my bedroom
The kitchen/livingroom/hallway table - it’s so versatile!
The living room
The SURPRISE waiting for me in the living room...
The development of my room - part 1
The development of my room - part 2
The shelf that exploded in the corner of my room...
I’d like to mention that if anyone ever wanted to lose weight, they should move to NYC. There are SO MANY FREAKIN’ STAIR EVERYWHERE! I’ve felt my quads cramp up and my calves turn rock hard from the four flights of narrow stairs that i travel up and down to my apartment w/ no elevator. As you can imagine, the moving of boxes and suitcases up all of that was not fun. Yeah, work out and lose weight! Move to NYC!
Anyway, i’m still trying to get a beat on this place. I’ll write more about it when i figure it all out...which should be any minute now. ;)