The first weekend...

(photograph by David Beckerman)

9/26/2004
The weekend went by pretty quick. After I fucked up everyone's happy hour plans by sending out the directions to the wrong bar.

I have not been able to go to sleep early at all. 2AM is the average since I got here.

Saturday I got a late start and took the 6 Train to Spring St. so I could visit the Apple Store, walk around The Village, Chinatown, and Lower Manhattan. Canal St. was SO CROWDED. They sell EVERYTHING there!

I saw the Municipal Building, The Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, The Woolworth Building, etc. I am exercising more by doing a lot of walking as well as drinking a lot of water.

I went to the NY Public Library, but it is closed on Sundays. I sat in the quiet area and wrote letters home... just sitting there and watching the tourists and locals intermingle is very interesting. Seeing all the things in person that I have seen in the movies is surreal in some way.

I think there are only a few places and people that define this country. Places that have a distinct flavor, a singular individuality... you may call it stereotyping, but I think that is too broad--it's more than that. First and foremost are New York City and Boston--the core, followed by the Los Angeles/West Coast attitude, then the Chicago/Midwest outlook and speech, Texas' and Alaska's raw independence... I know you can identify more... but I think these ingredients are the basics for recipe that is America.