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so, there’s a pub RIGHT across the street from my house again… *smiles and sighs* ahh brings back memories of egham….

actually i only noticed it whilst walking home last night (dane’s always nice enough to walk me home when i randomly end up back at the boy’s pad) when all the shops were shut. it’s weird how it’s so obscure and how i never noticed it when the streets are bustling.

there’s a little music shop also down 1 1/2 blocks away, on 30th. so, anyway, i wanted to see how much music lessons were… might be a possibility. will find out how busy me schedule is, then look into it. or vice versa.

so, i officially can’t get lost in astoria now… i don’t think. not that i’ve tried to, but my home homing device is working great, even when drunk.

randomly went round to mark and diana’s place last night. something about designing tee shirts for some fantasy football thing those lot geek out about. and when i say geek, i mean GEEK. they’ll watch a match and see a player and want to look up his stats and see how well they might do in the team. played a game of ‘scene-it’, a board game about movies. obviously the person who owns it, won, as she knows all the answers to the clips and questions (that’s lisa and her team btw, diana’s sister).

saturday is labour day, or so i’ve been told. it’s a bank holiday weekend. labour day is the official end of summer and the joke is that you’re not supposed to wear white after labour day. you know, i saw it in the movies and thought it was funny. now i get to see it in real life and it’s not so funny.

school begins in two days… watch this space.

okay, gotta head off and get ready to meet up with curtis now.

-oao-

went out with big ben (yes he arrived in NY two days ago!) for some drinks in astoria (my area). he likens my area to brixton, which i find funny. it may appear rough, but it really isn’t. i’ve walked the streets with people at all times of the day and night so far, and it’s a nice neighbourhood. it’s always bustling for most of the day also (like a good 12-14 hours), and that appeals to me quite a bit.

so anyway, we went to ‘avenue cafe’ – a bar down the road, which is set out like a cafe (they do serve hot drinks there too, though). we made a rule: we couldn’t drink the same drink twice (we let the waitress choose what she made us), and then a little while later we made another rule: we weren’t allowed to drink from the same type of glass twice (they had A LOT of glasses). so this went on for a while, but surprisingly, we weren’t charged that much. and i mean, not that much at all. i asked dane what was up with that and said that they have this rule here in the states. it’s called a ‘buy back’. the bartender gives you a free drink for every couple of drinks you order. this doesn’t happen a lot in the big bars, but small bars seem to operate on this rule, he says. i asked why this even happens, because it makes no sense for the bar to lose money like that. he explained that the bar may lose money, but the bartender is only after the tips (i forget about the tips here, we don’t do this in england). if they give you free drinks, it may cost the bar, but you’re more likely to tip them. ta-da! keeps everyone happy except the bar owner

—————–

had a good game of poker last night. went on for hours – six and a half, to be precise.

met loads of new people too – shaun, mark, diana, lisa, brian, billy, emmett and quite possibly more people, but i didn’t speak to them at all. everyone listed here played poker (including me), except emmett. and all the usual crowd was there also: sarah, poindexter (pete), FNF, krakmaster, celine (kraki’s gf), diana (celine’s best mate) & jakeland.

we got to mark and diana’s house (they’re married) and as soon as we got into the basement (the fun room) people were sat around the table ready to play poker. i figured it’d be a good way to get to know a lot of people, so i joined in.

buy in: $20.
no antes.
small blind: 25 cents.
big blind: 50 cents.
started off with limit of $2, and about four hours later turned into no limit.
pot size: went to about $180 at the end (people kept buying themselves in).

i was doing pretty well and doubled and then tripled my stack within a few hours. then it occurred to me that being the ‘new guy’ on the table and then beating everyone isn’t the best way to go for a newcomer (in their friends circle as well as at the poker table). everyone was really drinking a lot too, so it would have been easy to make some money. worst part of it was that people kept buying themselves back in, so it basically turned out that i was the only person left at near the end who was in the game with their original stack. was a really good chance to read people though, and talk to everyone at the same time. got to know everyone as well as study their game, and have a light hearted game of poker also. the game ended quite, though, as people were leaving. i got home about 5am.

so, went to a bbq last night – at jake’s CRIB and it was ILL.

yes, they talk like that here too. or maybe it started here. who cares.

sarah and i forgot to buy beers in time for the bbq, so the driver let us stop on the way. went quite far (2-3 miles) and only cost us $8. i guess the cabs are cheap round here compared to london. anyway, got there* and there were already tons of people there… let’s see if i remember names -

mat, who lives on the ground floor. extremely helpful, sweet guy, who has a black cat that scares the crap out of BIG dogs.

jake, who lives on the second floor. see other blog entry for his description.

paul, the polish guy that they were throwing the party for because he was visiting for a few days. he was wasted by the time we got there (8:30pm) and continued to just get worse. then he disappeared.

ketchum(?), okay excuse me for being a little drunk by the time i met this guy. he said his name to me and i said “what?”. he repeated. i said “sorry, i still have no idea what you just said”. yeh, so this went on for a bit, and then i asked him to spell it. and that’s all i remember. oh, this guy also wanted to touch me because i’ve been to a jamiroquai gig and he really wants to go to one and he’s jealous (apparently they don’t play the USA?). so, i shared some of the vibe from the gig and he loved it. bless.

bob, lives on a boat with a BIG dog (called rosie, awww – big dog, smaaaaall name). has invited me to go kayaking one day, preferably within the next two weeks. spends lots of money on strange things, like $1000 on a kayak. he has three. extremely pleasant guy, who has definitely seen and experienced a lot from life.

mike, very funny guy – he kept referring to himself as the ‘talibrown’. plays geeeeetar, and one of the two funniest lines i heard that night came from ketchum to mike: “you gave up death metal for 140 beats per minute” – when referring to what music styles he’s moved to playing.

kraki, this guy, at first impression on the ‘jaws’ night i thought has the attention span of about 20 seconds. i talked to him a bit last night, and figured that it was prolly just me and being new that may have put him off. but, he’s a very funny guy when he does talk to you, and is fretting at the moment because apparently his girlfriend is coming down in 2 days and that’ the end of his life. we’ll wait and see.

so, i’m doing okay nonetheless. last night was cool, because i met a lot more people, and it was quite a relaxed atmosphere. i’m glad that people here are being quite friendly. still waiting for people to be mean. the mosquitos are biting me shitless and i already have about 8 bites all from last night and sitting in a garden at night with lots of lights around. dane arrived late, and jake said “oh, here’s the F N F”, and i asked him what the hell that meant and he said “i call him the fuckin’ fuck”. bwahahaha – that tickled me for like 20 minutes.

Manhattan is a place where you can use your credit cards in McDonald’s,
NYC is a place where the trains and subway have air conditioning,
Manhattan is a place where, just like in the adverts, everybody holds their Ipods in their hands,
NYC is a place where you get spam phone calls where they try and sell you porn DVDs,
NYC is a place where the trains run (mostly) all night.

Will update this when i learn more…

so i forgot to mention the spam phone call.

dane gets a call in the evening asking if he wants ‘girls gone wild’ on DVD. he hands the phone to me telling the person on the end of the phone that he has a person here who was interested. i get the phone and ask the caller what was up. he asks me if i was interested in the DVD and i say “tell me more”. the conversation goes as follows:

caller: we have an offer on at the moment. buy two of our DVDs for $4.99, i just need to ask you 5 questions first.

me: okay.

c: do you have a dvd player or vcr?

me: yes.

c: do you rent dvds or videos?

me: yes.

c: how often do you rent dvds?

me: pretty often.

c: how often do you buy dvds?

me: pretty often.

c: final question. what was the last movie you watched and did you enjoy it?

(at this point i turn to dane and say…)

me: what was the last movie we watched sweetie pie?!

dane: anal intruders 7.

me: sorry, did you hear that? (i say to the guy on the phone)

c: yes. hahahhahahahaha. (he totally cracks up)

me: okay, so what’s the deal here?

c: (still laughing) okay so we have an offer on at the moment, where you buy 2 of our dvds for $4.99.

me: what are the dvds?

c: our collection of girls gone wild on dvd or vhs.

me: okay, so how do we work payment?

c: well, do you have $4.99?

me: hmm, that could be tricky.

c: you don’t have four ninety nine?

me: like i said, it’s tricky.

c: but it’s ONLY four ninety nine.

me: yeh, i know, but i didn’t get paid from work this month, i’m running low.

c: you DON’T have four ninety nine?

me: uh, no not at the moment.

c: okay do you have a usable credit card so i can take payment over the phone?

me: unfortunately not. my wallet got stolen 2 days ago.

c: wow, you’re having a bad month.

me: yeh i know.

(at this point he figures out i’m messing with him)

c: okay, have a nice day miss.

the odd thing about all of this was that if, for whatever reason, one had no idea that ‘girls gone wild’ was porn, one may be inclined to make this purchase, because at no point in the conversation did he say that he was selling porn. hmm.

so the cats are really bugging me now. they were both sleeping in my room when i got in last night, and neither of them would leave and they’d just run away from me when i tried to get them. and doing this drunk whilst making no noise is no easy task. so i left them and shut the door because i sleep naked, and within an hour they were scratching and whining to be let out. i HATE them. and their fur.

last night was crazy weird. i met up for lunch with curtis at like 2ish, and we ate some mexican and checked out this FANCY rooftop bar on top of a hotel – was well high! the view of the street though, was amazing. was too expensive in there so we left then i met up with dane back in astoria (where i live) and anke’s brother, kraki, arrived. Then the three of us went into manhattan, and watched ‘jaws’ on a big screen at bryant park at like 9pm – it started at dusk, so we missed like half the movie. it’s crazy; it was like the cinema field at glastonury, except the people off the grass had chairs, and it was in a big city. i think it was the last time that was happening this summer also, so i’m not sure if i can get any pics of it then we ended up back in astoria, and met some more people in a bar (rapture – the same bar we went to the other night). but, by like 1am i was so dead i had to get home.

didn’t sleep too well last night though – the cats and the heat mostly kept me awake.

the guys in dane and pete’s apartment are doing a LOTR jigsaw puzzle which was really amusing, as all the pieces look the same. no one’s found a new piece to put in for weeks. i’m gonna give it a go, i think, next week when i have nothing to do

-oao-

well, i’m here and this is my first update.

met some great people in the last two days and i’m gonna comment on them, so i can read this in 10 months and laugh at myself

sarah: housemate – has two cats that we live with. i dislike them already. sarah’s very friendly and outgoing. she’s been extremely helpful with showing me around and making sure i’m settled in. answers any questions i have without getting mad at me for asking questions every 10 minutes. she’s cool.

pete: sarah’s boyfriend. uses his phone a lot. he’s a fun guy, who appears to be a little sensitive – which isn’t a bad thing. i managed to embarrass him by just so happening to see him adjusting his crotch in bed, just wearing boxers, because i went into sarah’s room to ask her something and he was on the bed. bless him. liked it when i used the word ‘abysmal’.

kristen: friend of sarah. so lovely and friendly and outgoing, but lacks some confidence in herself. is a musical person, plays and writes scores for movies on the piano. she baked her own birthday cake for everyone to eat on her birthday party night out in a bar on the second night i was here. damn good cake too. doesn’t have a problem being loud or vulgar, if need be.

jake: friend of sarah. absolutely hilarious fun guy, very laid back and fun to talk to. likes to have a good time and looked after me literally for a day on the second day i was here – took me to an event with free passes for a day to look at the local talent art in the PS1 (public school one) building, had free beers with tokens all day. likes to joke around. intelligent and takes work too seriously.

john: friend of jake. got on with him straight away. likes to look good. funny guy, with lots to say and isn’t rude about it.

dane: pete’s housemate, and knows jake very well also from school, i think. VERY laid back, and easy going. extremely easy to talk to this guy, and also likes to have fun. kicked his arse in mario kart at 5am after a night out the second night i was here, and he just laughed at how crap he was at it. very relaxed kinda character, can talk to him about anything. he’s the foul humour type. was the only person up for playing ‘war’ with me – gotta respect that.

anke: long time friend of dane. not sure i spelt her name right, but this girl is great. romanian girl in NYC, been here for 12 years. i like her a lot – very loud and bubbly and has her own traits. does her own thing, and doesn’t really care what people think. says i’m gonna hate NY in 2 years. i told her i was only staying for 10 months. she then said ‘oh’ and that i was going to miss it, haha.

laurie: on appearance she looks like she’s extremely innocent. she’s very cute and quiet – until you talk to her definately knows what she wants and isn’t foul mouthed or rude. funny girl and very friendly.

steve: kinda quiet, and you figure out he’s quite smart once you talk to him. i think he takes work seriously too. easy to talk to, knows what he wants.

well, that’s it for the people at the moment – did meet lots more people, but didn’t really talk to them or get their numbers, so they’re not listed.

as for activities:

first day i got here, first plane was an hour late leaving so i missed my connection flight in montreal. got put on another flight a couple of hours later, and arrived in la guardia quite late – around 5ish eastern usa time. made it home around 6ish and called home. went out for a couple of beers with sarah and pete just to welcome me to NY. was so tired though, so came home early and just went to bed. slept like a baby for a good 10 hours so i woke up refreshed.

second day – randomly got talking to jake via AIM on sarah’s computer. he popped up and i just said hi to him because they were both talking about him the day before. he agreed to meet up with me, and basically ended up looking after me for the day – which was cool for a complete stranger. he had two free passes and a guest list entry for him and another for a sort of art event. the PS1 building had lots of amatuer art inside, some of which was fannytastic, and outside there was a section for people to dance and mingle – whilst listening to the djs play. there was some live music also – kinda soul, funk, jazz type stuff – which definately got the crowd pumping. we each got three free beer tokens also, so that was me paid for, for the day. and jake was driving, so he was giving his away, hehe.
in the evening kristen’s birthday party happened in a bar quite close where we live. turns out three people sat close to each other, but not actually talking to each other ended up talking to each other when one spouted “i live two blocks from here”. someone else then said “so do i!” and then i shouted “me toooo!” – haha, was funny to be part of that. met all the rest of the people at this party.

third day: well, today i have just woken up and not done much apart from send out my details via email and update this for the first time, whilst out here. gotta clean my room up today – my stuff is still everywhere and i gotta go do some food shopping. need to work out how to find out how much credit i have left on my phone too. damn pre-pay phones.

time for some over-and-outing now.