Love-Hate Relationship

9 weeks into my internship. One week left. Diggity damn. After working in this office for 9 weeks I've come to think of it as home, and as with every home I've ever had, there are definitely things I like and things I hate about working in Times Square. So here's my list:

Things I LOVE about working in Times Square:

Fantastic smelling food.
Mostly from the gyro and falafel street vendors. Not only does it smell delicious and taste pretty damn good, but a giant gyro only puts you out about $5 (not bad for NYC). Mmm.

Convenience
The fact that from my place of residence in NYC on the Lower East Side it only takes me 20 minutes to get to work in Times Square via the F train is super convenient and awesome. Thanks F train. You're my favorite.

Men in suits eating ice cream cones
Summertime in the city is always interesting. You want to look professional for work but HOT DAMN it is blazing outside and the last thing I want to be in is an effing suit. Here's to all those business men in their Armani suits scarfing down ice cream cones on the corner.

The view from my office
Working on the 34th floor has been awesome. And I love my view. It might be half the reason I'm still coming to work everyday. Just kidding, I love my yob. (An actual picture of my view coming soon.)









Things I HATE about working in Times Square: (warning, excessive rants may follow...)

Crazy New Yorkers on Bicycles
Let's forget for a minute that some of the bikers in NYC are absolutely retarded and do things like this (-->) which make me facepalm real hard. Let's also forget for a second that they zip around on streets and avenues with complete disregard to traffic and pedestrian signals. Let's focus on me for a second. A couple weeks ago I was running a work errand from one building to another (across Broadway...seriously, just had to cross the avenue) and I got hit FULL ON by a guy on a bicycle. The asshole knocked me flat on my tush, picked up his bike and rode off. THANKS JACKASS. grumblegrumblegrumble. I'm gonna find you one of these days and get my sweet, sweet revenge. Possibly with my dad's friend's minivan. Hehe. No I'm kidding. But I'm still pissed.

People that handout promotional flyers
It bothers me to NO END that I cannot walk the 3 blocks from the subway station to my office without having 12 flyers shoved in my face. No, I am not going to buy your shit. No, not even if you shove flyers in my face. In fact, your continued habit of annoying me and trying to sell me your shit makes me want to buy it even less, just to spite you. No, I do not need a haircut. No, I do not need a new stereo from your electronics store. And no, I definitely do not need your restaurant flyer as I am holding my bag of lunch food while I exit this Chipotle. Dumbass. Oh and just a side note, I see your flyers littered all over the streets of this city, so thanks for killing trees while contributing to NYC pollution. I think you deserve a medal for your excellent contribution to society as a human being.

These idiots
I understand that it's your first time in New York City and that Times Square is full of awesome shiny things, but do you think that you, your family and your camera could move out of the middle of the effing sidewalk? I mean...last time I checked, it's called a sideWALK, not a sideSTAND. Come on people. If you've been in Manhattan for even 5 minutes, the one thing that you should know is that everyone is always in a rush. Don't get in my way. I will trample you and your child on a leash. Have some respect for the people that are not on vacation such as your lovely selves and are rather hustling and bustling about the city for work purposes. Le sigh.

Stupid Pedestrians
Everyday I watch as pedestrians run across the street in front of taxis because they are in SUCH a rush that they can't wait 30 seconds for the walk sign. And everyday I cringe at least 5 times when a pedestrian ALMOST gets hit by a taxi or a car that has the right of way. I hate people that argue that pedestrian's ALWAYS have the right of way, because that's not true. Pedestrians have the right of way on the crosswalk when the little white man says walk NOW. Not always. If you can't abide by those basic rules, then you deserve to get hit by a taxi. I'm sorry, but you do. Share the city.

I realize that a lot of the things I hate have to do with stupid people. But that's probably because I just hate stupid people. It doesn't take a lot to live a smart life in this city and I have zero tolerance/respect for people that do stupid things.

But I definitely don't want to end this post on such a negative note, so let me share with you a little tale that warmed my heart yesterday.

Yesterday I went home for the afternoon to visit my family in Jersey. After dinner my mommy dropped me off to the Port Imperial Ferry Stop around 8:50pm. I bought my ferry ticket (redonkulously expensive by the way) and headed out to slip 2. I saw that the ferry was just pulling away from the dock, but the weather was nice and I really didn't mind waiting the 20 minutes for the next boat. I stood at the railing and watched as all of a sudden the boat came back to the dock. I was the only one standing on the slip and the captain waved at me from his post on the second floor of the boat and gave me a big smile. It almost brought a tear to my eye that the captain, a stranger to me, came back to the slip just for me. Thank you kind sir. You have restored my faith in humanity.

It's the little things in life....

Summer 2010 Shenanigans

THE END IS NEAR! I can't believe how quickly this summer has come and gone! Less than two weeks left in the big apple and I find myself looking back and asking "WHAT THE BAWLS DID I DO ALL SUMMER LONG?" Well. Let me share with you some of the awesome things I did. (Well, at least I think they're awesome...)

1) OM NOM NOM NOM.
I ate some amazing meals in this city this summer. Whether is was super awesome chopped steak with my parents at Benjamin Steakhouse (quick shout out to our incredible waiter, Ricky - you da man Ricky) or sweet ass deals like 3 sushi rolls for $10 or street vendor gyros, this city has filled my belleh and made me a most satisfied bear. mmm.

2) Throw a BBQ
Fourth of July weekend was fabulous - I shimmied my way over the GW Bridge to my parents house in Jersey, invited all my friends over for the weekend, and had a slamming time. Swimming, tanning, eating, dancing, lounging, drinking... you name it, we did it. And had the house looking spotless before my parents got back home from their vacay. HIGH FIVE!

From BBQ 2009 - Me, Lil bro, Sushi & Bear <3

3) Photography
I am a big fan of the traditional film photography and I brought my darling camera up to New York with me for the summer. I have snapped about 12 rolls of film and can't wait to get back down to Miami to develop them and see what I got. From South Street Seaport to the Upper East Side, my camera has traveled almost as much as I have this summer. Almost.

4) House/dog-sit for someone
My friend Stephen has two adorable little puppies - Biggie and Cali - and they have made my summer filled with so many more snuggles than I could have ever expected. Stephen went out of town for a weekend, so me and my best bear Hillary house and dog sat for him for the weekend. Added bonus: he's living in his parents' apartment on the UES on the 26th floor with an ILL view. Taking the puppies for walks, feeding them, and snuggling in bed with them late at night was wonderful. Much love to my two favorite pups.

5) Walk for a really long time
Earlier this summer I decided to walk from 42nd & 6th to 87th & Lex for fun. A lot of you are probably like "Wow you have a warped definition of fun" but allow me to explain myself. There are so many different neighborhoods in this city, with so many fascinating stores and restaurants and people of course - I feel like I miss so much of it riding the subway. The weather was fabulous and I had my iPod and a pack of stogs and decided to go for a stroll. It's not that I saw any one thing that was outrageous or mindblowing, but being in the city and not under it and watching the neighborhoods change slowly was awesome.

Fun fact: I just mapped it and discovered that my walk was 2.7 miles. Sweet!

6) Cook an epic breakfast
Last weekend we (me and all my friends up here from Miami) went out to Long Island for another weekend long BBQ event at our friend Brandon's parents' place (THANKS B-HILL!). Sunday morning came and me and my best bear Hillary decided that we were going to cook breakfast for everyone (not that many people, only like 12 of us). So we jumped our friend Teggles and harrassed him into taking us to the grocery store for we are sans transportation, bought a whole buncha yummies, came back and whipped up eggs, bacon, cinnabuns and pancakes for everyone with a side of strawberries and OJ. Mmmm. I have never seen so many happy hungover people before.

Obviously I did more than just the above mentioned things, but these are a few of the events that stick out most clearly in my memory right meow. Thanks summer 2010 - you've gone above and beyond my expectations.


xxx Nikbear

CRACKberry

One day last week I arrived at work and rode the elevator up to my department with 6-7 other people. All of these people, including myself, were furiously typing away emails and text messages on their blackberries. The only sounds in that little box that carried all of us strangers to our respective floors was the sound of mini keys clicking on tiny blackberry keyboards.

I found myself wondering for the next couple days why we are so dependent on technology, and furthermore why is it necessary for us to always have the LATEST technology IMMEDIATELY? My younger brother went out a couple days ago and bought the iPad. When he came home all proud of himself for having called every Apple store within driving distance of our house until he found a store that had the iPad in stock (he did this for about a week - calling every hour on the hour) I didn't really understand why he needed it. He already has a MacBook and a MacBook Pro (one is for personal use the other for/from his job) and I just couldn't comprehend why on earth he needed a THIRD laptop. After playing with the iPad a little bit, I get it, it's cool...but I still don't understand the intense craze surrounding it.

You see - I've had the same computer for the past 2 years and the same shitty, old, outdated blackberry for the past 20 months. Recently, a whole slew of my friends got blackberries and decided to add me on bbm and have been trying to send me picture messages which they can't do because my "old" blackberry doesn't recieve picture messages. To which they all laughed and said "LOL what kind of phone doesn't recieve picture messages? How do you tweet and post funny pictures of things you see walking around the city on facebook if your phone doesn't have a camera?" Um. I don't. And I kinda like it that way. I'm so sick of nearly running into people in Times Square because they are video taping the jumbo screens on their iPhones. Does our generation even remember how to see things with our own naked eyes, or must we view the world through the lens of our camera phone?

My contract with my cell phone provider expires in a few months and I was temporarily toying with the idea of getting the new iPhone before I realized how much I would hate myself for doing something like that. When I first got my blackberry I was so excited to have a smartphone. Now I hate the damn thing. I hate that I get emails all the time. I hate how slow it runs because its trying to do 50 things at once and then it crashes on me saying "duhh sorrrryyy" (no it doesn't really say that, that's just the voice I've given my phone in my own head) and lands up doing none of those 50 things. I hate how the battery dies after 8 hours of use because its just too overwhelmed. But most of all, I hate that I have become associated with it as a 'blackberry person'. What does that even mean? Someone said that to me the other day "Oh...you're a blackberry person, never mind" and I wasn't really sure how to take it. Is that a bad thing? Is that a good thing? Is that some new disease that your smart phone passes through your ear while your on the phone (gross)? I mean, last time I checked, I was just a person - defined by my morals and beliefs and not by the type of phone I use..... but the last time I checked was also a while ago, so maybe things have changed....

Plenty of fish in the sea

There are two kinds of men in this world - the ones that like you too much and the ones that don't like you enough. (This applicable to women as well, I'm just thinking from my perspective.) The exceptions are the ones worth dating. I know that I'm young and I don't have the wisdom and experience of someone who has been married for 15 or 20 years, but I've seen a lot of men in this world and I've observed a lot of relationships (my own and those of my friends). We live in a world where everyone's worried about finding that special someone to settle down with and love forever, so it's inevitable that something like this would be on my mind and worthy of writing a post about.

A good friend of mine (affectionately known as Councilfart) gave me some excellent advice: "You never want to date someone who is more into you than you are into them, or vice versa. The best relationships are those where the attraction (physical and mental) is balanced on both ends." I've been trying to remind myself this everyday because it makes a lot of sense. Too many of my friends have gotten into unbalanced relationships and have felt suffocated and it just ends really badly. Nobody wants a messy break-up. And nobody wants a broken heart.

So how do you find the balance? Well, like I said, I'm no dating expert but I'm a firm believer in being open and honest and always laying out your cards on the table if you really care about someone. Earlier this summer I was briefly seeing a guy who I had met at a family event. He was very attractive and very sweet and we felt a connection immediately. However, he had some baggage and I had some hesitations - all of which we talked about on the first or second date - and in the end it didn't work out. I felt really bad because I knew he really liked me but (and this is going to sound really harsh) in the end, I just wasn't that into him. I think that a lot of people have a hard time admitting that. We all get so caught up in the heat of the moment and the thrill of finding someone who is interested that we forget to take a step back and really look at the situation and see if its the right thing. Maybe I'm just blabbering and this is all just in my head, but shwatever. It's my blog and I'll ramble if I want to.

So getting back to the point - being honest... really important. Lucky for me I don't always have a filter (like today I accidentally said in a meeting that I sometimes find my job boring and repetitive) and if I'm having a good conversation with someone I'm not scared to open up to them, even if it is the first time I'm meeting them. I like to let people know who I am, where I'm coming from and what I believe in and I don't see anything wrong with that. A lot of guys have told me that they find it very intimidating, but screw them. I am who I am and if I'm ever going to find someone in this world I'd rather start eliminating the ones that can't handle me right off the bat. I hate girls that act differently in front of guys because they want to make a good impression. I hate girls that don't eat when they go out to dinner with a guy because they think they will look fat. Um, hi. You're on a date with a guy and he's taking you to this amazing restaurant with great food and you're ordering a salad and eating two bites of it because you're afraid he won't like you if you eat a normal person meal and then he won't want to be with you and he won't want to marry you and then you'll die alone? Rewind for a minute, crazy chick. I'd rather stuff a burger in my face and eventually find a guy who loves me for that than be stuck with someone who has a skewed perception of me for the rest of my life. Not to mention you will probably be anorexic and die of malnutrition. Just saying. That seems dumb to me. Eat a sandwich.


So as I've established before, there are a lot of people in this city. Which means lots of options. Hehe. Wink-wink-nudge-nudge. But ... it's got me thinking about why I'm still single. I realized that it's not that I haven't met people. Oh boy, oh boy have I met people. It all comes back to my first statement in this post: the guys that I've been meeting are either not really interested or stage-five-clinger-status. With the guys that aren't that into you - yea it sucks but I've made some awesome friends in exchange. With the latter? Well...  We've all been there.... Every day people come to this city looking for new opportunities: new work opportunities and new chances at finding love. There's a reason why they call it the city where dreams come true. With that many people, yes you're chances of finding the right person go up, but at the same time the number of wrong people you meet on a daily basis increases drastically as well (something they fail to mention in the brochure). No, random drunk person on the street, I will not give you my phone number even if you do badger me for the length of my entire cigarette.

Damn you sneaky lunch break - always ending before I get a chance to figure out what the point is of my blog post. Ok. Really quickly. Bottom line? Keep an open heart, an open mind, and an open mouth (hehe that's a little dirty). Remember to be honest with your partner AND YOURSELF. Don't shut anyone out before giving them an honest to god chance. And always keep your chin up. If things are good, be grateful. If things are bad, stay positive. It's a big world out there with billions upon billions of people. In the search for true love, if nothing else, you'll make some great friends and memories along the way.