went shopping today in midtown. it was, as expected, extremely crowded. but i successfully purchased appropriate winter outerwear.

subway ad: learn to speak english.

i've decided to do a daily (or nearly daily) subway advertisement post. today is the first, and is bud light and 411.

happy thanksgiving everyone.

j went out tonight to celebrate his birthday. we ended up at a hooka bar that is on my block. it was kinda cool for something different.

use firefox.

From 1984:

And in the general hardening of outlook that set in round about 1930, practices which had been long abandoned, in some cases for hundreds of years--imprisonment without trial, the use of war prisoners as slaves, public executions, torture to extract confessions, the use of hostages and the deportation of entire populations--not only became common again, but were tolerated and even defended by people who considered themselves enlightened and progressive.

In light of the state of the world today, reading this gave me a chilling feeling. Not that I feel as if the Patriot Act has taken away any of my day to day freedoms or is extrememly intrusive to my personal life, but without a significant opposition to raise questions and keep people thinking about the direction such decision can take us we could all end up under the surveillance of the Thought Police.

living new york. last night, i left around 9:15 to meet up at a friend's place. we didn't leave to go out until 12:30. today, i had the best strawberry and nutella crepe ever, then swung by the essex street market for some groceries. the market is like the traditional city market you'd expect--in a large warehouse, packed with all sorts of produce and products from all over, people of all ages, colors, shapes and sizes, numerous languages being spoken. today is only half over, and it's been great.

i noticed that i get the highest number of its on monday and tuesday. i guess people are bored at work when they first get back.

also, the majority of the hits are from people doing searches for pictures of bath, venice, london, etc.

earlier this week, coming into the office for work in the morning, i got onto the elevator with two other guys. they were talking business and obviously worked together. when they exited, there was no question that the one checked me out an gave me the 'i'm interested' look. i haven't experienced that since SF.

it's hard to believe how warm my apartment is. and we've kept the windows open and heat 'off' as much as possible.

a.v. got married this weekend and is now a.b. it was a really beautiful event--the weather, the couple, the venue (green gables restaurant). it was a smaller and more intimate wedding than the large family weddings that i'm accustomed to. i was 1 of 4 high school friends that a. invited, so i feel quite honored to have been a part of the special day.

the trip there was much longer than i expected. primarily due to the rain and an accident on 78 on my way there. but i also stopped in bethelem for dinner with e. and j. so, i left at around 4:45 from my cousin's, and got to the hotel around 12:45am--8 hours. i made the return trip in just under 5 hours.

i learned two things today. how to make particular pages in ms word landscaped (not the entire document). and what pojo stands for.

there is a certain aethetics associated with ugliness. or maybe its more an aethetics of decay, of dispair. whatever it is, new york might just be the ultimate in examples. what accentuates the whole thing is the contrast between that which is beautiful and that which is ugly right next to each other.

and just like that, bluelikethat.com is done. i first stumbled upon bluelikethat because i did a search for a poem by e.e.cummings. that was some three years ago.

its been a really busy week. right now i have some horrendous post nasal drip, i know you wanted to know that. in the event i haven't mentioned it yet, my client has a couple locations downtown. what is amazing is that on the one floor where one of our project teams sit, more than 25% of the space is vacant. this is prime office space in downtown nyc, and it boggles my mind.

there are some other random observations i'd like to make. like the guy in the subway station today, asleep, with his shoes off, and no socks. granted, it's generally pretty warm down there, but clean it is not. i love the wash and fold service in ny. i take my dirty laundry one day, pick it up the next washed and folded. and it's not much more than if i did it myself. factor in the convenience and it's no contest. the guy that runs the place i go to is quite nice (despite losing a pair of my pants, but he paid me for them). he remembers everything. but what is more amazing is the lenght of the hair that grows out of a mole on his cheek. it has to be at least 4 inches long.

have a good weekend. tomorrow i play come touch football w/ my old college roommate.

and if you need a little more election humor, try this.

and yes, i voted, absentee.

ryan has been witnessing some amazing wildlife down near antarctica. i saw some wild life myself, albeit a differ type, in union square when i was out seeing the grudge last night.