persistence, despite minor mishaps

Well, the city hit me hard this weekend. Kind of.

On Friday night, I went out for drinks with a friend/ex-Heralder Bassey who relocated here, one of his friends and some of his friend's friends. We went to a couple of bars in the NYU/Nolita area (Botanica and Sweet & Vicious). I was afraid drinks would cost double what they do in Madison, but prices weren't bad.

Disclaimer: Relatives/other people afraid for my safety - please don't freak out upon reading this story - I'm fine. Also, don't tell this story to grandma.

So apparently MTA uses weekends to work on the subway system. As a result, routes get changed and everything gets very, very confusing - especially after a few (3? 4?) gin and tonics (yes mom, I know you're reading). On the way home in a train marked by a number of sleeping, smelly homeless men, I found myself two stops in on the wrong line. As a drunk, New York subway novice, I couldn't even begin to fathom how to fix my mistake. Instead, I went up to the street hoping to take a cab home. I feebly tried hailing a few of the stereotypical yellow cabs, but failed to get one to stop. Instead, a white car at an opposing stoplight honked at me (acknowledging my plight) and drove over, stopping next to me. I walked over and asked the driver "Is this a cab?" He said yes, so I hopped in the backseat. As soon as I closed the door, I realized it was a VERY BAD IDEA to get into an unmarked car, so I started to get a little freaked out, especially after I couldn't see a meter. But thankfully, the guy was very nice and actually was a cab driver - I arrived at home safely. HOWEVER: I will never do such a dumb thing again. My roommate Virginia told me that there aren't many of your typical yellow cabs in Brooklyn and these sorts of unmarked taxis aren't unusual. But yeah, that was dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb...

I didn't really feel up to doing much on Saturday, so I slept WAY in and sat around most of the day. I watched 30 Rock online and ventured out for a run in Prospect Park. I'm super out of shape though, and far, far away from my "Dallas White Couch-to-5K" running peak, so it was hard. Prospect Park is incredibly nice though and too close to ignore (a block away), so I have literally no excuse to exercise once in a while. I also spent quite a bit of time on Skype talking with (at various times) Nick, Nicole, D-White, Jeremy, Chris and Michelle - I miss you guys!

I braved the maddening subway again today, heading to the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, which is on Museum Mile next to Central Park. It took me a really long time to get there, with considerable poor navigation by me, but I found it eventually. They're renovating the museum, so not much of it was open but they had a couple interesting exhibits. I considered going to the Guggenheim, but only two exhibits were open there so I decided to wait and go back later (probably when I have visitors). I had a bit more luck finding my way back to Brooklyn, but I still messed up and had to ask a MTA employee what to do. It's definitely going to take me a while to get a handle on the subway system. I'm fine when it's a straight shot or a straightforward transfer, but when something differs from that, I'm a lost cause.

Miscellaneous notes:
- I saw a pet shop where they had puppies in cages in the window. This led to an odd effect, almost like a Red Light District for dogs. All they want is to be loved...
- I accidentally made potato soup for dinner (I tried to make mashed potatoes but something went wrong. I am a terrible cook). It wasn't bad soup though!
- My roommate told me about a food co-op that's near my place - it's basically like a Whole Foods where members get 50% off. All you have to do is put in three hours of some sort of work a month - babysitting, cashiering, stocking, etc. I'm probably going to do this; I might meet some new people and it should motivate me to start eating healthier.
- In stark contrast with my last statement, I really want to make (and eat an entire pan of) these Oreo Fudge Bars. OH MY GOD.
- Since I make $0.00 an hour at my internship, I'm going to try to find a babysitting job. I just posted an ad for myself on craigslist (that sounds weird), so we'll see what happens.

To answer your questions:
Nick - Yes, New York is fun.
Nicole - Times Square's about the same size, maybe even a bit smaller, than that Piccadilly Circus circle thing.
Mase - No, I didn't eat the giant M&M. Had it been edible, I may have.