blah, sorry I haven’t posted.
I tweeted that I left my phone in Mass. while I went on a field trip to New York, and by time I got back it was Saturday.

anyway, if you remember, I want to be a writer. when I’m not blogging, hanging out or in school, I’m writing. actually, sometimes I write in school. I started this blog as a way to write my stories and hopefully get feedback while mixing in other things. I’ve strayed away from the books part of boysandbooks.com but no more! I’m going to try to post excerpts from things I’m working on.

and to kick off my new section of posts… let’s call it “b&b writes”

so, in my mind, there is a perpetual inner monologue. I write stories in my mind about everything. I could be walking to the store and in my head it would go:
” as the cars rushed by she did everything but look in the cars. she feared the look on their faces would be mocking, or full of pity. “oh look at the poor girl” one lady would say to her husband as she put her hand on his arm, “all by herself and its so cold out! the poor dear. let’s stare at her” so, she busied herself. she cleaned her fingernails as she was wont to do, she watched her step because she was very clumsy and could trip on the tiniest twig, and she wiggled her pinky finger that was oddly double jointed. “

yeah, I’m pretty weird. and so I miiiight start working on a NY story, though at the moment I’m re-writing a short story I wrote about a man who revisits the church he attended while he was a kid and was raped by the pastor at after 20 years. (lemme know if you want me to post that one)

anyway, this is what I thought of when I was in New York City.

an excerpt from “The City So Nice They Named It Twice”

Today was December 4th. It was a clear day, hardly any wind, and it was around 7 at night. When you looked up at the sky (if you could see it between all those skyscrapers) there would be zero stars to sparkle your eyes and ignite your wonder of the universe. Normally, New Yorks air pollution covered all but a few incredibly bright and hot stars, but tonight was a different night.
New York had decided it was time to start the holiday season and had befitted every building worth knowing with obnoxiously bright lights.
NYC is a very popular tourist stop. “SEE AMERICA! VISIT NEW YORK CITY! LET OUR LIGHTS DAZZLE YOU! THIS IS TRUE AMERICANA!” I imagined that was written on all the brochures the travel people pushed on foreign peoples and the wide-eyed yucks from the Mid-West dust bowl. at least, that was the gist of what they fed me.
10 years ago, I was like the tourists I was shoving past now, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, my camera glued to my eye as I took pictures of everything and anything.
“Oh look! There’s a snowflake dancing with a gingerbread man in that window! *click* Aw! A little girl has her nose pressed against the glass of FAO Schwartz! *click* Wow! Real people are bustling in and out of – OH MY GOSH DO YOU SEE THAT TREE!? ITS HUGE! *click click click click* “
Where was that camera, anyway? Probably stored inside the box that held all of my over-priced souvenirs.
There are 3 types of people in New York. There’s the tourist who will buy anything, there’s the rich man who gets the money from the tourist, and there’s the regular guy who gets by on the other regular guys money.
In Rockefeller Center, you’ll see many brightly lit shops with huge displays and expensive storefronts. Inside, the only people you see shopping are the rich people with peacoats and suits underneath, and tourists. There are 2 kinds of tourists, the kinds that are blantly a tourist, with camera in hand and a color coordinated map or the tourist who read the “don’t look like a tourist” handbook cover to cover and made themselves look so normal that its not, and in the end, its obvious they are tourists.
I hate tourists. I hate expensive stores that only exist to cater to the rich. If I went into, say, Micheal Kors the doorman would give me the quaint greeting he gives everyone else, coupled with the look that goes “please stop wasting space, I know your not buying anything.”
I hate New York. No, that’s a lie. I hate fake New York.
Fake New York only exists to further the rich mans economy. In fake NY, you’ll be dazzled right out of your money by the bright lights and the beautiful people in the store window. This part of NY easily hides its debt, what with its shows on every corner, the Naked Cowboy, Radio City Music Hall, and The Top Of The Rock, the only building that will charge you an outrageous amount of money so you can look at a big tree and watch other people skate. And oh! you can buy a small cup of hot chocolate for quadruple what’s its worth.
Most people walking the brightly lit sidewalks of New York are expecting the stars of Gossip Girl to come around the corner, or Tina Fey to say something witty to them. They think NY is a wonderful place filled with wonderful people when, in fact, it isn’t.
Oh, I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Andrew Billards. Yeah, like the game. Its nice to meet you. Actually, it isn’t. But this is NY, and this city is a city of pretend, so why don’t we keep on pretending like we like each other when we don’t. Don’t worry, if you still like me, you won’t when I’m done telling you my story.

So you know all about NY now. The REAL NY. You remember I moved here 10 years ago, right? When I was a deeply impressionable 18 year old. God, I was stupid. I saw the Pretty Lights and I was hooked. Moved out here the first chance I got. Shoulda stayed in the Dust Bowl.
I’m not the only one who feels this way, you know. I have a friend, his names Hank and he is a stunner. He works in Rockefeller Center, god bless him. And he hates fake NY more than anyone I know. He’s killer smart too. Graduated from NYU top of his class. He’s my roommate. We are definitely a pair. Him with his black hair, blue eyes, porcelain skin and his black peacoat compared to my dirty blonde hair, brown eyes and dusty jacket I’ve been wearing since god-knows-when is quite a sight.
Appearances can be decieving, though. Just as NY isn’t what it pretends to be, neither is Hank. Hank has been boiling inside for a loooong time. He’s used his smarts to plan something, something big, a la Fight Club, but bigger. And I was helping him. By Christmas Eve, everything anyone knew about New York would be flipped on its head.
I pushed past a tourist and simultaneously stole his wallet. Easy. I usually stayed away from this part of the city, but I was going to meet Hank. We had some work to do.

end excerpt.

I realize that the whole thing shoulda been in italics, but I don’t like the way italics looks.

anyway, that’s some of my story! let me know what you think, please. I feel like a misguided ghost sometimes with writing. I never know if I should pursue it as a career or do something else.

anyway x2, here’s what I learned from my day in New York.

1. They jack up the prices on things and when you question it they go “hey, its New York!”

2. some tourists are really mean and will do anything for a picture

3. some tourists are really nice and when you gets seperated from your group they help you

4. some pizza guys like to make conversation with you but when you need something to put your slice in, they’ll give your friend a box for her plate of chicken and you a bag for your pizza. wtf is that? -__-

5. the tree is definitely worth seeing in person.

6. so is the church and everything around ground zero.

7. the people there are crazy drivers and will drive thisclose to you and won’t even bat an eyelash!

8. they have an inhuman way of knowing how long they have to cross the street (which is about 2 seconds!)

9. the cops drive these itty bitty half car things that I don’t really understand. when they arrest people, do they sit on their lap?

10.! the Rockettes are fun to watch but they kinda overuse that high kick thing and then you get bored and fall asleep. but then they have weird fire works so you wake back up and then its fun to watch!

overall, I enjoyed my time in NY. the last time I went I think was 8 years ago, and it was after christmas. oh! another thing I learned, the tourist malls they have SUCK!

ok, sorry for not posting!
feedback is appreciated!

xo,a

image via santasnorthpolezone

Yesterday I participated in Dear Santa Project at my local parish and really wanted to make a kid’s Christmas wish come true. However, I was surprised at the things the children were asking for: Wii’s, iPod touch, DSI’s, and PSP’s. I mean all of these items are at least $200 and I just had to think about how times have changed since I was a kid growing up in the 80’s. I selected a letter requesting a Hannah Montana doll house, Hannah Montana PSP, and doll. As the first two gifts were definitely out of my selected price range, I will buy the second grade girl seomthing from Hannah Montana.

There were instructions on what to do and regarding gift expenses too so I don’t feel too bad for not getting the more expensive items. This is my first year reading through Dear Santa letters and it just felt good to know that I can play Santa for a little while. I plan to venture off to FAO Schwartz-land or the Disney store this weekend. I will probably get there early to avoid the usual Christmas shopping crowds.

No, I didn’t fall in the toilet or lock myself into a closet (re: last post).  The main reason that I have not posted is because my computer access has been rather limited.  Apparently when Last Tango in Paris is so far stuck into your super drive (CD-Drive in laymen’s terms) that the computer constantly sounds as thoughis suffering from an asthma attack, you have a problem.  Who knew?  Apparently, I did not. 

Being computer-less has been very frustrating to say the least but I will say that it has added to my productivity.  Without a computer I have had the time to re-write and organize my 1000+ vocab list, color coded by category.  (i.e. Noun, Verb, etc.)  Some people may say that is a waste of paper or a waste of time.  Some people may be frightened (much like the fellow American student I sat across from in Starbucks at the Munich train station).  I, however, found it very therapeutic.  And I now know at least 20 more verbs than when I started that little project. 

Another reason I have been delinquent is because I spent this past weekend in Munich, experiencing a completely different side of Germany.  Comparing Berlin and Munich would be like comparing apples and oranges – just not fair because apples happen to taste a million times better.  (hint:  Berlin is the apple)  The overnight train was uneventful – my mother was very relieved – and then a few hours later I set off with a friend of mine, Sebastian, who just happens to be a member of the Munich police force.  Needless to say he was better than a map.  More like a very amusing, interactive map!  Even though I probably should have paid more attention and avoided getting lost later on…But we all know that is part of the (Joanna’s) adventure. The center of Munich is quite gorgeous and fairytale-esque and the city as a whole had a bit of “look but don’t touch” quality to it.  (Of course, with the exception of Sexyland across the street from my hotel!)  I think it is fair to say that my impression of Munich was somewhat colored by the presence of a neo-Nazi demonstration that was there this past weekend, taking place right around my hotel. 

The biggest disappointment?  Das Spielzeugmuseum (Toy museum).  A few teddy bears and a barbie doll does not make for a museum.  I was hoping more for like barbie world and hot wheels a la FAO Schwartz…

FAO Schwartz…NYC…Exactly a month from today I will be US-BOUND! Wow, time flies!  Still about a month with so much to do and so little time!

You know how iPhoto ‘09 can recognize faces and asks you for their names so it can tag the people in your photos for you in the future? Well, I found this very amusing.

(From a recent trip to FAO Schwartz with my buddy Alina where we like to pretend to act like little girls and wander around the store lustfully grabbing at objects and play Princess pretend. More evidence below.)

Browsing Uglies

We met a real LIVE Ugly!

I wish I were a Fairy Princess...

This month’s online Vanity Fair article about Kate Gosselin confirms something I’ve suspected all along: Both she and Jon are addicted to all of the attention.

I am embarrassed to admit I own almost every one of these issues. Sheesh.

And, I suppose, in some sort of sick way, it’s understandable: Since March of this year, Kate and her husband of extremely poor judgment have appeared on the cover of celebrity tabloids over 50 times (15 times each in In Touch Weekly and Star Magazine alone). Vanity Fair says that number is more than any other celebrity, Brangelina included.

Star Magazine editor Candace Trunzo points to those photos of Jon partying at a bar with college coeds in Pennsylvania as the beginning of the insanity.

“It was the beginning of this incredible phenomenon known as Jon and Kate Gosselin,” Trunzo tells Vanity Fair. “Everybody wanted to talk about them. They had become a real-life soap opera. The show was never as interesting as the two of them in real life.

“They were doomed to be exposed,” Trunzo continues, “because they put themselves out there in the first place. And now they’re addicted to the limelight.”

And are they ever. “The View,” the “Today” show, “Larry King Live,” “The Insider”… it’s endless.

Not surprisingly, the Jon and Kate scandal has drastically benefited these magazines, all of which have been suffering the effects of the slowed economy. Vanity Fair says that unlike other celebrity stories, the Gosselins are easy to produce, partly because the price of paparazzi shots of them run a lot less.

It also helps that Jon and Kate either don’t know how to control their image or don’t want to.

“Brad and Angelina try to be discreet,” explains In Touch Weekly editor Richard Spencer to Vanity Fair, “whereas Jon and Kate, they serve it daily to you on a platter.”

And if you had any doubt that Kate isn’t lapping up all this attention, check this out: During a shopping trip the Vanity Fair writer took with Kate to FAO Schwarz in New York City, a paparazzo sneaked photos of Kate as her purchases were rung up. He explains, “She’s a massive story at the moment.” When the Vanity Fair reporter relays that news to Kate, guess what her reply is?

“At the moment?”

This whole exploration of addiction to fame reminds me of what Kate said on the “Today” show a couple weeks back – about how her kids are upset that the TLC show isn’t taping.

“Over the weekend I told them that we’re not filming at this point,” she told Meredith Vieira. “And actually, times eight, there was wailing and sobbing. They love our crew, they love the interaction, they love the events. There is nothing harmful about it. They are angry.”

Based upon her statement, I’d argue the Aaden, Alexis, Hannah, Leah, Joel and Collin are addicted to the attention, too. And how could they not be? It makes perfect sense: Their parents probably pay more attention to them while the show is filming than at any other time. Plus, they have other people (the film crew) whom they can turn to when their parents are distracted.

Dr. Drew Pinsky should forget about celebrities addicted to drugs, alcohol and sex, and instead focus on those who are addicted to media attention. He’d have more clients than he’d know what to do with – and he’s already got 10 in Pennsylvania.

I met up with schoolmates at noon and didn’t get back to campus until 7:30pm. What we did: walk to the subway, walk to JC Penny, walk to Foot Locker, walk to the Korean restaurant in Koreatown, walk to the Korean boutique/things store, walk to the bank, walk back to the store, walk to a different bank, walk back to the store, walk to the subway, walk to F.A.O. Schwartz (anyone remember when there was still a branch in SF?), and walk inside F.A.O. Schwartz a.k.a. Eight-Year-Old’s Heaven.

It was even heaven to me, an eight-times-two (plus-two) year old. It was amazing. It was fabulous. It was awe-inspiring.

It was exhausting. The whole day was exhausting.

Being so far uptown means I sometimes forget how many people there really are in New York. Downtown and midtown, there are swarms of them–people everywhere–like a bottle full of jelly beans turned upside down and trying to get through a narrow bottle neck, like a swarm of locusts descending upon a feild of wheat, like sheets of printer paper stacked tightly in the package when you first open it. So many people!

It is my theory that there would be so much more breathing room if the tourists would just be picked up with Rollercoaster Tycoon-esque giant tweezers and dropped gently somewhere else in the world. Like Canada or something. In fact, they shoud do that with the San Francisco tourists, too–just pick them up and plop them into Canada. But New York needs it more. Maybe then the streets of New York would be less like a feild of wheat being descended upon by locusts.

I am not a tourist. I refuse to be a tourist.

I took some great pictures of F.A.O. Schwartz!

I was playing in FAO Schwartz (767 5th Ave New York, NY 10153-0023) when I got hungry so I got out and saw this place: Pop Burger! The design is amazing, the burgers and fries loved it, the rest disgusting YOU MUST ONLY TAKE MINI BURGERS!

Barnes & Noble becomes the exclusive eBookstore provider for …

Barnes & Noble&s eBookstore offering its customers seamless access to more than 700000 titles, including hundreds of new releases and bestsellers at only $9.99, making it the world&s largest selection of eBooks available in one place. …

File photo shows a man shopping for books at a Barnes Noble store in Arlington Heights AFP – Barnes Noble launched what it bills as the world&s largest online electronic book shop with virtual shelves holding more than 700000 titles. …

It&s not exactly an e-book reader of its own as previously rumored, but Barnes & Noble&s announced an alliance with Plastic Logic in which it&ll servce as the exclusive eBookstore provider to the long-in-development e-reader, …

Barnes & Noble&s eBookstore offering its customers seamless access to more than 700000 titles, including hundreds of new releases and bestsellers at only $9.99, making it the world&s largest selection of eBooks available in one place. …

Barnes & Noble&s eBookstore offering its customers seamless access to more than 700000 titles, including hundreds of new releases and bestsellers at only $9.99, making it the world&s largest selection of eBooks available in one place. …

I’ve heard good things about this show, so I decided to try an episode. I’m coming into it with the general bias that I don’t really like cooking shows, not even Top Chef, which is surprising since I love most reality tv surrounding competition (with the noted exception of Paris Hilton’s My New BFF).

The show follows the daily work of a cake shop in Hoboken, New Jersey. The bakery is owned by Carlo Valastro and Buddy Valastro and is run primarily by the family. The bakery designs enormous, intricately designed cakes specially requested that cost a minimum of $1,000 but often cost much more.

This episode opens with them showing us how they make checkered cake. What’s bothering me about it is that he sort of addresses the audience as though we have the IQ of a two year old: “Cut the circles in equal rings and then swap the circles so inside a white circle is a black ring then a white ring then a black ring. Do that for all the layers and then stack them. And when you cut them it’s black white black white. Checkers. So its a checker cake. get it?”

Then they have a catastrophe as he is making cannolis and someone left the cannoli cream out! so it spoiled. Because I don’t really care about cake, this doesn’t really make me feel particularly bad for him, but I do get why it’s a big deal.

Then they have to make a very intricate dragon cake. The cake artists have made amazing looking dragons that are…too big. Like five-ten times too big. Now he has to change the whole design of the cake! But you gotta do what you gotta do. The artist is stubborn and maintains that it’s way better this way. Buddy kind of looks like he wants to yell at her. I will admit, it does look freakin’ cool. So cool that I wouldn’t really want to eat it.

We leave the cake shop to see Carlo take his wife on an anniversary date. He made the top filling of their wedding cake filled with her favorite cake filling. It’s sweet, but whether because I haven’t watched enough of the show or because she’s not around much, I don’t really care that much.

In another episode he is hired to make an FAO Schwartz themed cake and a beach themed cake. At the same time, there is a weight loss competition going on at the bakery, guys vs girl. The guys issue the challenge whle digging into boxes of fattening foods, so you sort of wonder how exactly they plan to win. They weight loss will be judged by total body loss percentage, at the guys’ insistence. Which you think is odd, since they are at an automatic disadvantage there. 5 pounds of 200 pounds is a much small percentage than 5 of 100. But don’t worry, the guys have a secret weapon…exercise. Very little, since they don’t want anyone to have a heart attack. Not to be upstaged, the girls decided to join the gym as well. They went the extra step by asking for a motivational trainer.

FAO Schwartz Cake

The FAO Schwartz cake, complete with toy soldiers and a big piano slowly takes shape and starts to look really cool. It has drums, blocks, trains, marbles, teddy bears, cars, etc. Any kid would feel awesome to have that as their birthday cake. (They spilled a few poppy seeds on the cake and being obsessive compulsive, buddy made them pick them off with toothpicks.) I think the kids were too young to even fully appreciate the cake but at least the parents thought it was cool.

The beach cake had beach balls, tiki huts,people (kids, a woman in a bikini, and a fat man), sand castle, water, rocks, sand, umbrellas, etc. It gets a full applause when they bring it to the party. Receptions like that are “the pay off.”

The men decided to lose the weight by eating lighter pastries. And because men lose weight faster they can eat some extra cannolis. Good plan!

The final weigh in…the girls won. As expected, since it was done by percentage not pounds.

All in all, the cakes they make are really awesome to see, but the show can’t hold my attention. I also wonder how good the cakes actually taste.

More Cake Boss

La semana pasada eran unos abuelos de 90 años con una gracia y un espíritu… Hoy el video de la semana vuelve con las teclas.
¿Ustedes son capaces de hacer sonar en algún teclado la “Tocata y fuga en Re menor“ de Bach?

Pues hay quien lo sabe hacer con los pies…

(si no lo ves, está aquí: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8dRHs2CwxA)

El teclado gigante es aquel famoso que tocaba Tom Hanks en la película “Big“. Está en la juguetería Fao Schwartz de Nueva York. Mi visita a esta tienda está incluida en este capítulo de mi viaje a la capital del imperio.

Extra: La “Tocata” entera se puede disfrutar en youtube.

I went to FAO Schwarz on Saturday and although it’s a NYC institution I felt let down. They have a lot but the toys seem much more geared toward the out of towners and aren’t particularly noteworthy or unique toys. Their classic toys section is very small. (Interesting note, Toys R Us, Inc. acquired FAO Schwarz in May 2009.)

Yet it’s still fun to pop in from time to time as they always seem to be changing things up so maybe the new owners can help give them more direction and make it the toy store it used to be. It can be fun to get there when they open at 10am (11am on Sunday). The FAO Soldier rolls out the red carpet for the first guests waiting to come it. Younger children will get a kick out of that.

They do have an amazing selection of Playmobil that are fun to check out, many baby dolls & accessories and stuffed animals. If your kid is into Harry Potter they do have a cool section of products like different hats, scarfs, and, I have to say, pretty cool wands that are pricey. FAO Schwarz does have a great section downstairs of Bunnies By The Bay and Zutano clothes. Both have great gifts for infants. The ‘Big‘ floor piano is still worth checking out if your with kids. They love walking all over it and even when crowded it’s pretty organized.

It’s worth noting that they had a good sale on Plan Toys back in corner upstairs past the Barbie Doll fashion show. Plan Toy’s kitchen sets were reduced to about $130 a section. They had several Plan Toy City sets, and one of their rocking horses. I was glad to find the play mat Plan Toy makes for their city play tables which lists for $34. FAO had on sale for $18.

Call me sheltered. I’ve never seen Big. And I’ve never heard of the big piano at FAO Schwartz before watching Jeopardy! this week.

So I did my research, and I determined working at FAO Schwartz and playing the giant piano is my new dream job (behind game show host and, well, any entry-level position at this point).

This thing takes skill. I admire the workers’ dexterity.

Girls Rock a Giant Piano If you thought the  “Heart and Soul”/”Chopsticks” scene in the movie “Big” was impressive, check out what these guys do with Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (AKA “the creepy organ music in every single movie that’s ever had creepy organ music”). My question is, how the hell do you practice something like that? Do they have one of these babies in their basement or something? (via Cynical-C via Kottke)

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are reportedly expecting a baby boy. Friends close to the couple reveal Richie is pregnant with a son and has already begun buying blue accessories for the nursery, which they have painted blue.

“Joel bought water-based paint for the nursery and – surprise, surprise – it’s blue,” says an insider. “Plus, she (Richie) recently ordered some plush animals and infant toys from FAO Schwartz, and everything just happens to be blue.”

Richie and Madden are already parents to 16-month-old daughter Harlow. Richie is due in August.

Click here for more Entertainment News

Thankfully, it did not take me 29 hours to complete the scavenger hunt. I relied heavily on Wikipedia and Times Square for this goal. If Wikipedia is wrong, well – I’m sorry.
 
In no particular order:
 
1. Where is the Cheapest Pizza in NYC?
    – I am assuming the establishment was called $.99 Fresh Pizza. Yes, it really was 99 cents, with tax $1.07. You could get a whole pie for $8.00 which isn’t too shabby for NYC.  The $.99 Fresh Pizza is located on the Southwest corner of 41st and 9th Ave. I had a slice and it was good – no complaints – not the best, but not the worst.
2. Where is the oldest building?
    -St Paul’s Chapel, located at 209 Broadway. I used to work downtown and passed this building all the time. I never knew it was the oldest – building started in1764 and was completed in 1766. It really is a gorgeous building inside and out.
3. Find a famous scene from a movie.
   -When Harry Met Sally, Katz Deli. You all know that famous scene with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal when they are eating at what looks like a diner?  Well I won’t go into detail, but you can relive it in your own head.
   -Big, FAO Schwartz. Yes – that’s right, I danced on the same piano as Tom Hanks. I may have been the oldest person there at the time, but it really was fun. Next time you are in the area, I highly recommend going to FAO Schwartz.
 -Sex & The City, Carrie Bradshaw’s Apt. The show and movie told us she lived in the UES…well, they lied. The stoop and street are located at 66 Perry in the West Village. I was there for about 15 minutes just hanging out, and at least 5 other people walked by and took pictures.  The owners have a No Tresspassing Sign at the foot of the steps – they clearly get a lot of visitors.
4. Where is the Original Ray’s Pizza?
  – Ok, there is much debate if you live in NYC. Is it called Famous Ray’s, Original Ray’s, Original Famous Ray’s or Famous Original Ray’s. I found the first one – it isn’t a chain – all the rest just stole the name. It is called Ray’s Pizza on 27 Prince St between Mott and Elizabeth. One side is a sit-down restaurant, and on the other side you can order slices. It was very good; however, it tastes very similar to the other Ray’s that stole its name.
5. Take a picture with someone famous
  – If you are looking for Elvis, he is alive and well, in Times Square with the Naked Cowboy.
6. Take a picture with a police officer.
  -Lucky for me, I got to be in the middle of this delicious (Times Square) Cop Sandwich.
7. Ride the Ferris Wheel at Toys R Us
  – I wasn’t the oldest rider, I promise. If you are under 45 inches, you have to ride with an adult. Obviously, there were plenty of children at Toys R Us. At least I got my own car and didn’t have to share with a child shorter than 45 inches and his parent.
8. Find a Smart Car
 -This one wasn’t easy, but thankfully someone in the UES owns one.
9. Find a Bride and Groom
 - The looked lovely on their day, or at least for their professional pictures.
10. Find a dog being carried in a bag
 -Ok, so I didn’t really find a dog being carried in a bag. I was on the subway and I saw this baby carriage, but it wasn’t even a baby carriage – or maybe it was, but it was being used for a different purpose. There was a pet carrier bag inside the carriage. And in the bag was a cat! The picture isn’t very bright – you can’t see the cat, I know. But I promise it was there. I was trying to discretely take a picture since this lady and her cat were only a few seats over, but when my camera flash went off, she turned the carriage around.
11. Find someone wearing a fanny pack.
 - Again, thanks Times Square- without this tourist trap neighborhood, my scavenger hunt would have been much harder.
12. Find someone with the mullet hairdo
 - Yes, I said mullet – as in, business in the front, party in the back. This man has business in the front, and the PARTY in the back was wrapped in a bandana.
13. Find a misspelled sign.
 - I am not sure what a Meat Party is, but I won’t be ordering a Meat Patty from this place. Nor was I sure why the city has misspelled Picnic as Picnick.  We have some smart city park officials.
 
I hope you all enjoyed this goal. Next up is going to the 10 Oldest Bars in NYC 

!!!

Vic Firth Lite Stix Vic Firth is kicking things up a notch with Lite Stix, LED-powered drum sticks with tips that emit seven colors and a three-speed.[More..]


They

Vic Firth Lite Stix Vic Firth is kicking things up a notch with Lite Stix, LED-powered drum sticks with tips that emit seven colors and a three-speed.[More..]


They