2001-02-06

Sunday morning we went for bagels. Good ones. Yummy. Bread and butter. I felt crappy though. And I kept thinking about money. That makes me squint and gives me a horribly furrowed brow. Ben called me stoic. And then he said he saw me marrying an eccentric artist. I thought about it for a second and I thought to myself that I�d probably end up smacking him if he were too eccentric. And then Ben said �although you�d probably hit him�. Amidst the irony, I almost asked him if he�d consider learning to bake, but I didn�t.

There was this group of people at the next table with three kids running wild. And they were having a pretty graphic (and loud) conversation about fertility and pregnancy and treatments. And I only heard men�s voices. It was weird. Slightly unnerving. I need to stop listening to other people�s conversations.

We headed off the to subway. Luckily, everything went according to plan. Ben even quoted Hannibal from the A-Team.

We got to 34th street and didn�t know which direction to go. I tried to look up and see if I could spot an impossibly tall building. It didn�t really work. We walked in one direction. Ben pointed out how he always had to ask for directions. I figure he�s foreign and therefore has an excuse. But he wasn�t having any of it. I dragged him into Sephora. A bit too girlie for Ben, I�m afraid. I went up to a sales person and asked him to point me to the Demeter fragrances then I casually asked which direction to the Empire State Building. So I had to be a tourist, but still a potential sale.

We stopped in a few souvenir shops. I snapped a few pictures with my kick-ass joy cam. (I am going to build a device. On were you can take a polaroid and safely stow it in a protective case until the picture develops. then you can go on your merry way without having to worry about it). I took a really good picture of Ben looking at some postcards. The colors are cool. There�s an 8 foot statue of liberty behind him. He asked the guy out front how much for the statue, but he didn�t seem to get the joke.

I got pooped on at the top of the Empire State Building.

Despite that, it was great. Honestly spectacular. It was the only point during the weekend where I truly got my bearings. (We all know how I like to know where I am and what time it is. ) Looking at mountains or something would have made me feel small. But seeing Manhattan in it�s entirety made it a lot less overwhelming. It�s the shit underneath that put me in my place.

Anyway, there were lots of people. And pigeons. There was this one guy selling �millennium� quarters. Yes, he just squashed your quarter, put a building on it, poked a hole it and proclaimed it amazing. All for $3. I wanted to point out to him that it was really $3.25. Cause once you get that quarter back, it�s lost all value. (there�s that economist again) But you get a free key ring! And he kept yelling at everyone walking by. As soon as he saw the back of Ben�s jacket he started singing �Fire� by the Ohio Players. (there�s my age again). Definitely a character. We sat and listened to him while Ben did some postcards.

Afterward, Ben got some food. First we went into a Taco Bell. (shudder) And it smelled so bad. I don�t know what that smell was. I don�t want to know. Hopefully, it�s put Ben off Taco Bell forever. We went to a pizza place next door. Then we headed back to the Bus station. Where I again had trouble finding a bathroom.

Got on the bus. Came home. End of story.

I need to get to Edinburgh.

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