N'yorkin'

I'm currently in New York. Taking a break from... Homework, actually. I travel two-thousand some-odd miles to the wrong side of the continent, and yet the schooling demons pursue me relentlessly. I just... Bleh. I can't put it away. It simply has to get done somehow, regardless of where I am. It's a crappy feeling, but nothing can change it. So I sit in this crappy New York hostel, at a wobbly table with intermittant wifi so that I can putz around with assignments.

So, New York thusfar. The food is excellent. It's either a bit too expensive or the proportions are too small, depending on how you want to look at it. But it's delicious. I've tried three restaraunts at random (walking down the street, "Hey I'm hungry. Let's try this one."), and they were great. I went to some kinda high-end hipster sandwhich shop with my group and some designers from a studio we toured, and that was... Incredibly expensive, and not really that good. And the portions were pathetic. I guess it's too upmarket for a plebian like myself. The street-vendor salted pretzels are freaking disgusting, though.

Which, by the way, I purchased and consumed in Time Square. It was monumental and impressive. The sheer scale of it blew me away, and the intense spectacle was breathtaking. And quite frankly, I found it all borderline insulting. So much advertising, everywhere. It's like a giant monument to capitalism. Which is fine, really. To some people it's probably really cool. But to me, there at midnight and being bathed in the light of a dozen 5-story billboards and several +8-story animated screens... It was too much. Granted, looking up I got some serious vertigo and the flashing lights and minor jetlag probably didn't help too much. But just the fact that there was so much light and spectacle for the sole purpose of these mega corporations hocking their wares... Bleh, it made my stomach churn.

Again, strictly a personal take on it all. It's probably super cool to other people. And if that's the case, more power to ya.

In other news, street vendors. I have being approached in stores by salespeople, and this is 100x worse. Especially in Chinatown. If you show the slightest interest in something, you will not be left alone until you physically leave the area. A "I'll think about it" or "naw, not interested", even if sincere, means absolutely nothing to these people. Bartering can be kinda fun, though. I need to improve. If only I had more money, I'd go and buy stuff just so that I can haggle some more. I feel like it's a game/routine - I just need to give it a few more tries before I figure out ho to get things working how I want them to. Kinda fun, yes, but not a cheap hobby.

And this seems to be a reoccurring theme - evaporating money. Doesn't take long to burn through cash, especially with having to eat out. If I could find a decent grocery store and had a properly stocked kitchen (a microwave, sink, and toaster does not a kitchen make), I'd be doing slightly better. Bleh. It's freaking me out how expensive this is getting, but I guess that's the nature of travelling. I don't want to rely on fast food or buying supplies to make my own crappy sandwhiches, especially when there's so much good food around. But I don't think I'll have much choice in the matter. At least we get a continental breakfast here (re: a single muffin or bagel, and a small drink), so one meal is taken care of.

Bleh, bleh I say! Bleh at food problems, bleh at having to do homework. Despite my gripin', I am having a good time, though. Anyways. The sooner I get back to homework, the sooner I'll be done.

Hah, I'm a funny guy...
-Cril

Moby - Hotel Intro