San Francisco Bound!

Hello, this is the obligatory scheduled message from yours truly notifying y'all that I'm currently out of town for a week. Take this time to catch up on the archives here or for your other favorite blogs.

Until then, I'll be back!

Roll that "exit stage right" music, Mr. Prophet!



...

Wait... I do have a stupid sense of humor:

New York City: Day 3

Sorry that it took me so freaking long to get this finished. Not gonna do this for San Francisco. Alright, let's wrap this burrito up and call it a day.

Previously on this program...

(All of the pictures here, unless otherwise indicated, were taken by me)

My sister and I woke up to a misty morning, drizzle falling from gray skies above. We ate at Starbucks (dammit) for breakfast and then decided to begin our journey to the Met, which where we were gonna meet a friend. You see, my sister has a friend up in New York State. They met online on an MMORPG several years ago and have been close ever since, mostly playing through Xbox Live. She and her sister and father were gonna come down and meet us at the museum  where my sister and her would actually meet.

The Met, after the weather cleared up.

We walked through Central Park, where it was still drizzling and cool. Thanks to the park app I downloaded, we managed to find our way to the museum  We first stopped to see Cleopatra's Needle and then went around to the front. We sat at the front steps and decided to wait for my sister's friend to show up. After twenty minutes, I saw a tall young woman approach my sister sneaky-like. They agreed that if one saw the other, they would surprise them. My sister was busy with her iPod, wanting to listen to some music. I about alerted my sister, but thought it would better not to interfere. I knew this was her friend. She got to surprise my sister. They hugged and I introduced myself to her. Soon, her younger sister and her father joined us. We went inside and began our long journey through the museum.

One of the exhibits brought back memories; the Egyptian temple area. I used to borrow old Sesame Street videos from the library as a kid, and one of them was called Don't Eat the Pictures; where Big Bird and friends got locked in the Met overnight. The subplot had Big Bird and Snuffy helping the ghost of an Egyptian prince go to heaven. They found the prince at the temple. It was pretty awesome to see the real thing.

I also had read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (R.I.P. Ms. Konigsburg) earlier in the year and was looking forward to seeing what the kids probably experienced in the book. It was much like how the book described it, how the beds were huge and how the kids could've lived in the museum  I'm sure nowadays it would be impossible, but it was cool to imagine it.

My sister's friend gave us gifts, mine was a lavender-scented lotion bar, which works very well and smells lovely. I forgot what she gave my sister. Either way, we toured around and even attempted to have some snacks in the very busy cafeteria.

We saw many things, not all I photographed. I completely goofed and forgot to snag some pics of some O'Keeffe paintings I saw. Deeply regret it. Otherwise, here's some things:

Probably Greek art, but I may be wrong...

The Chinese Garden Court

Rousseau!

Chagall!

F*** yeah color field!

F*** yeah Monet!

We spent about three hours perusing all the art, it was a freaking huge place. After all that, we had to part ways. My sister said goodbye to her friend and family, I did too, and they left to catch their bus back to their home. I ate a hot dog and we decided to take a taxi to do some other last-minute sightseeing. First stop: Grand Central Station!

I about yelled at that kid with the iPad, but
it was impossible to get a shot without him in it.

The ceiling was quite interesting, had various constellations that (I bet) lit up at night. It was quite loud, but it was almost cathedral-like in its solemnity  After some photos, we took the subway to another area of town. I wanted to find a record store that I heard about, so we decided to go. On the subway, we were talking about which stop we needed to get to when a local overheard us. She was very lovely, helping us and even making some small talk about the Met stuff we had. Who said New Yorkers were jerkasses? They were quite wonderful! Helping us with directions and stuff.

When we got to the record store, it was closed. Turns out the one day it doesn't open was that very weekday. Dammit. I flagged a taxi and we decided to hang around Times Square until the sun went down to see the area at night.

And so we did!

Quite lovely at night, I agree...

After doing our oohs and ahhs over Times Square, we went to Subway and got food, then rode the subways back to our hotel room one last time, where we ate our dinner and fell asleep to Scarface. 

We woke the next morning to ride in a lovely town car (ooh fancy) to the airport in Queens to fly back to the Lone Star State.

~

That about wraps up my adventures in New York City. Next time, I will head to the City by the Bay! Will the food be good? How worthwhile will it be to use the city's mass transit? Is the hotel as awesome as it promises? And by God, will I have not to worry about a Starbucks?!

Tune in late June for Frustrated Lady Writer Takes on San Francisco!

Vacation!

I'll be heading to San Francisco in June! Very excited! After weeks of pre-planning, I booked my flight and hotel. My plan is to use public transportation to get around  mainly the MUNI and BART (only for the airport trips, though) and visit the sights I missed on my first go (this was back in '06). I'm sure a ton has changed since I was last there. I also plan on mostly checking out the restaurants, bookstores, and a few music stores, but not get too carried away. I do have limited monies.

As for the job search, I think I will wait until the trip is done to do that, plus I'm going to take the time before that to research job prospects (like what skills could transfer to, say, an office position), talk to job counselors at my alma mater, and even work on some skills that could make me look excellent (like learning more about Excel, etc.).

I may even enter a few contests, but not too many. Need to save some money, after all. So yeah, not too many big purchases for a while. The last big one, not related to the trip that is, is the newest BioShock, which comes out tomorrow (yea!).

I will post entries about San Francisco once it occurs and all that. With that in mind, I realize I have neglected to post the last post from the NYC trip last year. I do apologize for keeping y'all waiting and will be right on it this week.

Sorry for my lack of posts these days. Been forgetting about my humble blog. Let's change that, shall we?

New York City: Day 2

Sorry for the long-ass delay, everyone. Let's get back to doing this!

Previously on this program...
(All of the pictures here, unless otherwise indicated, were taken by me)

The day began with us rising from bed and getting some breakfast. Our hotel was about three-four blocks away from a Starbucks (the same one we found on the first day), so naturally we went there. We got some foodstuffs and sat in the nearby park (Theodore Roosevelt Park) and ate, watching schoolchildren and their vigilant adults pass by, heading towards the American Museum of Natural History. Part of the reason we chose the hotel was because it was a hop and a skip away from the museum, along with it being a brisk walk to Central Park. We paid for convenience really. Totally worth it.

New York City: Day 1

*The following post can be enhanced with the listening to Talking Heads' "Cities"*
(All of the pictures here, unless otherwise indicated, were taken by me)

My sister and I flew out very early in the morning to LaGuardia Airport. All I did was read this book on my trusty Nook ST "Callie", while my sister slept at the window seat. We arrived freakishly early, like noonish, and our room wasn't ready. We stood in line to get a cab and rode for about thirty minutes. So yeah, from Queens to Manhattan.

Minor updates and stuff

Whoo, it's cold now. Rain has been falling since last night. I have the front door open, screen door locked tight, letting in all this fresh air. The house has been shut for the last few days, plus my sister complained of the smell of Shout (I had to clean up a mess the dogs made).

It's been a sleepy morning, so I'm taking the time to work on some short stories. Yes, I'm back writing. Also listening to some Talking Heads live shows I found. Needless to say, they were a phenomenal live act. But man, break time after the current one I'm spinning. If I have to hear "Psycho Killer" live one more time (even with Jerry Harrison's bit), I'll burn myself out.

After that, I may be doing other things, but the aforementioned were the substantial ones.

Twelve more entries until 200...

Gah...

Or, The Monosyllabic Titles Continue.

I'm reading American Psycho right now. My vision is blurry. Dunno if it's the print, the lighting...
Anyway, I'm after the "Genesis" chapter, where at one point, the narrator mixes up Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford's names. That was kinda funny.

My vision's clearing, but damn. That's annoying.

Eh, I must be still tired. Sorry for the dispassionate entry, y'all.

I'll note about my grades soon.

Edit: Finals grades are...

Non-Fiction- A
Victorian Lit- B
Shakespeare- B
Music Fundamentals- B

Not bad, despite my apathy. That will change next semester.

Update on the grades

I got effing Bs. In my two English classes. Well, if anything, it was like two years ago: I got depression, I got Bs in all my classes.

Eh, it's better than failing, but... it's the perfectionist in me. I know I can do better. I resolve, as of today, to kick ass and take names the next time around.

/whiny rant thing.

And woah, work today was fun. People were coming from nowhere. We were still busy even as I left for the night. But, that's the Christmas rush for ya.

I leave you, watching The Shining. Most excellent...

-Lindsey

Just an obligatory update...

Well, tomorrow is my solitary final and the official start of my winter vacation. So far, things are going well.

I've been working my butt off, making money. Apparently, I also got a 50-cent raise. Most excellent.

I've been reading and writing (more of the former, truthfully). I hope to finish all the books I have listed as my current reads soon.

Nothing much else to say for now. I leave you, thinking about Eugene O'Neill's "Beyond the Horizon"...

-Lindsey

P.S.: I got my sister New Moon and she read it. She plans to read the rest of the series. What have I done?! :O

Oh yeah, and harking back to this entry, I have purchased the Lehane novel.