Friday, March 19, 2010

A Serious Subject - A Typical Day in New York

This morning at 11:42 AM I recieved a phone call. This call came from my good "friend" Christian who has been MIA from Manhattan for far too long. He called me why? To tell me A) That he loved my NYC - centric post from yesterday and B) That he just didn't believe it.

When I challenged him he airily replied, "Oh, I believe that you saw all that stuff yesterday, I just don't believe that's typical."

-- "Oh yeah, Christian? I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed!"
(Thanks Shakespeare) Seriously, there were probably better things to say but that's my go to when someone tries to throw down. The Bard is often my first defense.

I decided to deny the hunger pains that set in around 1:30 and wait until 2:48 When Christian promised he would meet me so I could recreate the events of yesterday for his jaded eyes.

He showed up and told me that he had to run to 18th Street to pick up a book he'd ordered from our favorite travel store there. He'd already eaten! I was indigent. The nerve! He explained that he was STARVING by 1:30 and he couldn't hold out. Even though he couldn't get to the Flat Iron District before 3, he could get to Chinese food by 2.

FINE.
I called my mom and sulked in the sun while I woofed down my lunch. Seriously, how does lunch taste SO much better at 3:15 than it does at 1:00? My need to win this battle became more acute. OH we'd just see who'd win this one...oh yes we would. (Spoiler Alert - I probably wouldn't blog about this if it documented my defeat).

Coffee Tree Art being meticulously built by Starbucks in the main court in front of the Flat Iron?
CHECK


One of the happy results of going out there to see this again was the baffling progress on it.

Also one of the cute boys from yesterday actually remembered me (score!) and let me look at the grid they were using to arrange these cups. It looks like a gigantic cross stitch grid. Yay for needle crafters.

OH AND he let me get in past the barriers they'd had to put up to keep the crazy crowds from stepping too close to the coffee and cocoa filled cups of color.

I'll admit that if I hadn't been given the chance to get this close to them I might have died. They were the flame to my moth. They will totally serve as prime inspiration for the next set of coffee illustrations I tackle. It was so hard to not touch them.

"Seeeeeeeee?" I demanded of Christian.

--"Yeah, but what about a model shoot. I bet that doesn't always happen here."

I scanned the crowd of late afternoon lurkers. "OH YO, OH YO" I found several small groups of women who were for some reason unable to keep the attention of their husbands/boyfriends/coworkers. Why? Why were these women suddenly powerless? Why did they sound like Charlie Brown's teachers? Why were the men ALL staring slack jawed into space?

Oh I know:

I had to get back to job-job so we didn't have time to go wandering in the park.

On the way back we almost walked smack into Chris March, who I see at least three times a week. He was carrying a huge bag from MJ Trimmings - typical. In a sad display for gay-men-who-hate-stereotypes everywhere, Christian practically fell over in signs of awe amazed worship. "I LOVE the dress you designed for Marlyn at the OSCARS" he practically yelled. I about died. Fawning over celebrities and designers is so not New York, especially when you're just going through a typical NYC day. Sadly for Christian by this point I'd buried my camera in my bottomless BoHo bag.

"Do you think if I come out next week we'll see him again and I can take my picture with him THEN?!"
--"Oh yes, my friend, I'd say it's pretty likely...."

Yay for Spring, Friday, Friends, and WINNING!
Happy Friday! Thank Goodness it's here.

3 comments:

  1. I loved these two blogs. First of all, I am forever stealing your go-to first line of defense. Shakespeare is a genius. Second of all, can't wait until this summer when I can write blogs about typical days in NYC!

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  2. Congratulations.
    Winning rules.
    And Shakespeare rules.
    And spring rules.
    And thanks to that last model photo shoot, I now have my new Surtex outfit (kidding).
    And of course you rule, thanks for sharing your typical fabulousness.

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  3. Ah-mah-zing! Thanks for this post! There just is nowhere like NYC.

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