This is really interesting, along with the other maps on that site.   The conflation of Maine and The Bronx amuses me.  As someone in the comments mentions, it is a great argument against the electoral college.

So one of my favorite bands has toured my time zone, to my knowledge, once. I got to see them then, but it was about 7 years ago. And they’re playing tonight. And I cannot tell you how excited I am. For a long, long time they never toured here and no one knew who they were so I stopped even attempting to follow them! You couldn’t get any of their albums here. And I thought that went away with digital, but no. Then their music was used on The Sopranos (the best part of the show, IMO), so everyone I knew kind of scoffed at their music. It’s been a hard road! But there’s not many other bands that sample Jim Jones in their country techno, so it’s not like I could find another outlet.

I can’t even imagine seeing them in a venue this large. But I can only imagine it will be awesome.

I also got to see Devo last week, who I have always wanted to see. Seeing both of these bands I have been waiting years to see in one week is crazy! But exciting.

so hot *I* am drinking Miller Lite.  That hot.

this made me happy, though I may also be swooning from heat.  100 degrees feels like suck.

Is there a place I can move with less vegetation and fewer trees than NYC?  Because clearly there’s too many here, as I want to poke myself in the eye every 12 seconds.  Stupid trees.

I never see anyone famous, mainly because I do not pay attention. I do enjoy the weird tension when a famous person does walk down the street and people pretend to not know who they are. I did see someone famous today so here’s my list of sightings thus far:

• Malcolm Gladwell (outside of the Gourmet Garage. I had previously met him at a book signing, so this was a TOTAL letdown. But the hair was awesome.)
• Kid Rock (in the elevator at work)
• Three Six Mafia (work elevator)
• Marky Ramone (in the audience at CBGB)
• Dustin Diamond (walking out of a Persian restaurant near the Whitney with his hand in a girl’s pants)
• Martin Scorcese (outside of the Pod Hotel, walking with grocery bag)
• Al Sharpton (today, outside of a parking garage/public library across from MOMA)
• Ira Glass (outside of a subway stop on the UWS, talking to a friend about how weird it is when fans recognize him.  I am not going to lie, I had to repress screaming like a Beatles fan)

This would seem to say I should only go to work and art museums.

New Yorker sightings I would love to have:

• Anderson Cooper
• Woody Allen
• An Olsen twin
• Lou Reed
• Chuck Klosterman

If you lived in Italy, but grew up in Germany, and you came to New York City, what is the food you’d be LEAST likely to choose to eat?  Probably Italian.  Yet, that’s exactly what the Pope is getting.  Poor Pope.  Get the guy a knish!  Or some Asian fusion!  Some cheesecake!   Who takes a visitor out for their own food?

Also are people really afraid someone’s going to poison the Pope’s food?  What is this 1600?   Does the Pope wield and power whatsoever?  I am still exceedingly perplexed why anyone who isn’t Catholic cares about this.

At my community bulletin board we were having a discussion of the neighborhood’s gentrification.  Generally the fact that we have a community bulletin board on the internet screams gentrifying to me.  But yesterday as I was shopping, the Indian woman who checked me out at the grocery store complimented me on the color of my skin.  A very nice gesture, but it felt a little colonial.   I am The Man.

I love the Museum of Art and Design here in NYC because they have the weirdest exhibits. Also no one ever seems to be there when I go, and I do love the underdog museums. It’s right across the street from MOMA, so I feel it must be hard to be in that shadow. It, with its other neighbor The American Folk Art Museum are hands down my favorites so far here. But when I went to MAD’s website to see what was there now I found this:

An exhibit on miniature chairs. Holy crap that’s awesome. I squealed with delight.

It’s like a snow day! There are tornadoes in Brooklyn!  And it’s going to be over 100 degrees later today!  The city (and my employer) are officially telling me to stay home!  I think the end IS near.  Here’s the official transit report:

You know the expression “He weighs 50 pounds soaking wet?”

Well we could test my soaking wet weight this morning.  Stupid early morning storms!  I don’t think I’ve lived anywhere where it poured so consistently exactly when I need to go somewhere in the morning.  And I am not a rain wuss.

• loud techno
• lots of marble and glass, or, if lower rent, BRIGHT colors
• fancy lighting
• staff of all age groups, even very small children related to the owner
• staff is in no hurry, and clearly put out by serving you, with no worries about losing their job (see children of owner)
• every aspect of dining takes 2-3 times longer than you expect it to
• ridiculously fancy bathroom, usually with a combo of fancy lighting, glass, marble and automatic machines
• lots of outdoor seating
• open past 2am in the summer
• patrons who appear entrenched as if they have been there for hours
• for such bad service, there is a shockingly high number of employees
• employees are all talking/joking/flirting/smoking with each other in greek while you helplessly try to get a check

FYI Hummus is now considered a suspicious liquid when going through security at the airport.  I feel this is purely racial profiling.

My feet hurt.

I have more books than I can read.

And I met the son of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.

One of the coolest places I have been ever hands down is Dead Horse Bay, or Bottle Beach. I went on an Internet organized field trip there. Basically there used to be islands off the coast of Brooklyn where people in the good ole days put their trash. Then someone got the bright idea to cover it all up with sand and connect it to Brooklyn. Sadly, the combo of landfill and oceanfront waters do not a constant landmass make. Oops. There was also an animal processing plant there. This results in a lot of pre-1960s garbage (mainly glass, some metal, and appliances) and dead animal bones covering EVERYTHING. It is definitely the place I would LEAST like to fall down in.

I was amazed at

• everything that used to come in glass bottles

• how beautiful and sturdy average containers used to be
• that so many shower items came in glass
• that there were so many local sodas and bottlers

I went on Earth Day, which was a great day to think about trash and such, but in a way, I am sort of excited that people threw trash out in such an idiotic way. I wouldn’t have learned so much if they had, and an anti-outdoors person like myself would have never ventured to a national park otherwise. In fact, I think this was my first national park ever.

Some guy named Luis still gets his mail at my apartment.  He has been doing so for the whole time my roommate has been living here (2 yrs).  Some Jehovah’s Witnesses still come to see him too.  In case you are wondering, Luis’ mail seems pretty boring.  We mainly throw it out or leave it by the mailboxes.

Which is why it was a surprise to be awoken this morning at 6:50 by a police knock at our door.  I jumped about three feet out of bed and put on my robe to open my door to my roommate and three policemen.  Not exactly the audience I expect crowded around my door at 7am. Apparently someone ELSE is looking for Luis.
As soon as they figured out we were tired normal people instead of some evildoers harboring criminals, they left after sweeping the place.  As they left they said “Aww our big bust!” in a sad way like they really thought Luis would be here.

For those of you who are allergic, this is a very interesting ranking of the Top 100 worst places for people with seasonal allergies.  When moving to a new place most people don’t think about this aspect, so it’s interesting.  I think it’s a little bunk, since I would assume rural areas would be worse than cities (i.e. if, like me, you are allergic to hay or corn pollen) but none are listed…that makes no sense.  I thought it would be more regionally clustered, but it really isn’t.
I think a lot is made of food allergies and seasonal allergies, but not much for those of us that have constant allergies.  For example, it would be great to know the cities that had the least number of trees, pollution, and animal ownership.  I don’t know how you’d measure it, but I’d like to know the places that least allow animals in public buildings.  I can’t really shop somewhere that does because even if I can take being in the store itself, I don’t want to bring tainted goods back home!

Will any of you be at BookExpo, and/or have you been before?  I am considering going, and would love to know if you think it’s worth it, or if you’ll be around!

Last night I finally went to my first NYC Opry show (the only opry where you’ll see someone in a Kucinich tshirt and a cowboy hat), which I enjoyed quite a lot. I recently reread the Chuck Klosterman piece on how hipsters who say they like only like old country are poseur scum. His reasoning being that old country spoke to the people that listened to it in the same way that new pop country speaks to the people who listen to it, so when alt-country bands sing about ranches and guns and whiskey, they sing about some culture they haven’t experienced to an audience who also knows little about it.

This has always grated on me, since I like old country, altcountry, AND pop country (which I would like to now refer to as nu cuntry). And I am 100% cityfolk. Like, seriously the country life only holds terror for me (c.f. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre).
But last night I realized two things. The more broadly applicable being that I think we’ve passed the altcountry phase where people sing about old country themes. Case in point, this amazing song about Ira Glass which mentions librarians. Seriously, is there a song of any genre I could relate to more than one about Ira Glass? Last night I also saw country renditions of “Take it on the Run” by REO Speedwagon and “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue. I would be hard pressed to say either of those straight pop songs speak to me and my situation as much as a song about Ira.

The more specifically applicable point is about why *I* like country music.  My friend, and pop country partner in crime Mary pointed out long ago how most city/suburb kids aren’t into the country music enough to like cheesy pop country.  And I haven’t really figured that out.  But then listening last night I realized that most country has these themes:

• guns
• religion/sin/jesus
• caddies
• drinking to excess/alcoholics

All of these things featured prominently in my childhood, what with the catholic schooling, german mom, and italian dad.  It makes total sense why I like country now!  And my upbringing did involve one horse, namely one my dad punched in the face.  And the only thing my dad ever taught me to draw (yes I realize the cliche NOW, but this is completely the truth) was a horse head.

Can the National Guard really be called in for rain?

We had over 13 in. this weekend.  It makes me want to nap.

this weekend:

• ate jellyfish–not horrid, but not good.
• In the span of 2 days, I refused to drink two cocktails because they were repellent. I come from a “never leave a half empty beer” background and am almost never nauseated by anything (see above), so this is stunning
• finally went to Rice to Riches a rice pudding only restaurant.  I will proceed to eat there constantly.
• Ate a foam made out of hops which I watched a famous foofy chef make.  Nummy hops.
• got caught up in a cricket celebration/mob.  Thought momentarily about getting arrested as part of a cricket riot.  I think cricket riot arrest would be about the funniest reason ever to get arrested.
• Became enamored with cricket bowler Munaf Patel
• Sent in a conference presentation proposal I have been thinking about for a year.
• Realized that the Sexual Harassment Art Security Guard at one of my favorite museums still works there and totally remembers who I am.  I had to skulk around and pretend I didn’t see him so he would not talk to me.

Today (well last night at 9 or so) is my 6 month New York anniversary.  Coincidentally, I will be leaving town today!

Only recently have I felt like I live here, which is generally along the timeline it normally takes.  I know where I am going, people ask me for directions, etc.. When I first move somewhere it seems like I have to find things to occupy my time, but quickly have way too much to do.  I have always been a person who tends to overbook.

So I do like living here, but I also feel like the first couple of months “honeymoon” is over.  There are things that bug me about living here, but the advantages are better than the disadvantages.  If my job were not here, I probably wouldn’t CHOOSE to live here, but this decision is also in the midst of a cold streak, so possibly not so credible.

I like that most people come to visit me because people want to come here.  I like that I have more fun things to go to than I can attend.  I like that basically the extremes of capitalism are apparent here (extremely rich next door to extremely poor, the extreme specialization of everything so that I can go to a hummus only restaurant followed by a peanit butter only restaurant followed by a rice pudding only restaurant.).  I like that people are around all the time, and that one’s personal life is accepted as more important than one’s professional life (in the circles I run in, at least).  I like that I don’t need to talk about academia.  I like knowing that most of the bands I like will visit here.

But I am very very very excited to leave today for Austin.  Yay warmth and Mexican food.  So, until another, hotter (literally) city hits on me, New York, I am yours aside from brief affairs with other cities every few months.  Sorry.

Today I met my new allergist.  He is very hilarious.  Apparently he also does comedy.  And he went to high school with Woody Allen, now making me TWO degrees from Woody!  Woo!

In addition to my usual allergies, he tested me for food allergies.  I had never been tested for those.  Apparently I am minorly allergic to shellfish.  This is so minor he said I can go on eating it, which is good because shellfish is definitely in my top 5 favorite things to eat.  The food I am most allergic to, tho again, not seriously enough to give up, is canteloupe.

Canteloupe is, to my mind, one of the worst foods ever.  I cannot imagine why people like this fruit.  I have always found it repulsive.  In fact, recently, I tried some in an effort to see if I still find it disgusting.  Oh, and I do.  That whole canteloupe and proscuttio thing?  What a good way to ruin ham.

So I would think it was this allergy that has made me hate canteloupe my whole life, but I love the shellfish so much.  It’s interesting that it happened on foods I have such diametrically opposed feelings about.

Other than that, my trip was mainly (though not wholly) painless.  And I was rightly chastised for going without asthma meds for so long.  And for being a librarian.  Although the allergist did salute my choice to be a digital librarian and not deal with dusty books.  Finally, he thought I was mainly allergic to Illinois and applauded my move. And then he said he’d be my dope pusher.  No, literally, that’s what’s he said.
So I am back on the shots!

Have you even walked by a building knowing that if you went inside, you would be killed?

That’s been my situation to and from work yesterday and today as the Westminster Kennel Club has taken over the Madison Square Garden right by my workplace. The best part today was seeing people carry VERY large dogs so they wouldn’t get their feet sullied.  What might they get their feet sullied on?  Dogshit.  It’s everywhere.  Way to go, show dogs/owners.

Today I saw the largest cockroach I have seen outside of the zoo….at work. On the 15th floor. I wonder if other cockroaches are jealous of high rise cockroaches. Do New York’s cockroaches have the same sense of cachet assigned to real estate?

The rodeo is in town. And by in town, I mean two blocks away from my workplace. So today I gleefully checked out all the PBR trucks. I so want to go to the rodeo but I am off my allergy meds so it seems like a disasterous idea.

I think having chronic/life threatening allergies and asthma is, in some ways, like being bi-polar. I don’t say this to make BPD seem less bad, but because they require the same sort of maintence and dilligence. You do a lot of drugs religiously. It’s a pain. You always want to go off the drugs because much of the time they don’t seem worth it. After a while, you start to think they have no effect. You have to see doctors ALL THE TIME and it’s fairly time consuming as well as expensive. It limits where you can go and how long you can be in a place. And, theoretically, it only works for good after many, many years of treatment. I am off my meds (most of them), and it’s pretty miserable. In addition to general allergy suffering, my asthma is omnipresent. I feel out of breath irrationally a lot, and it’s not an “oh i just rantoo much” out of breath, it’s a “oh i can’t expand my lungs” out of breath. I super hate it. But it isn’t until hitting allergy bottom with little to no meds that I realized how much the meds WERE doing for me. A lot of times it doesn’t seem worth the rigamarole, but now it does!

I have decided pretty much to go to SxSW. It will be contingent on maybe one thing, but a friend offered his couch and I would really REALLY love a vacation outside of family. If you will be there, let me know! yay for real mexican food. I mean after this sort of experience last year:

how can I resist?

Although I enjoy my newly adopted city, there are a few things that sum up all that is wrong with it.  As much as I have liked the cities I have lived in, I have always had clear experiences in which everything negative about the city is presented in one crystal moment.
In Chicago, this is when someone who has lived in the suburbs their whole life drunkenly argues that Chicago is the best city in the world and anyone who thinks differently is wrong, even though the drunk has never actually BEEN anywhere else.  In Portland, this summation of wrong was being unable to get from one side of the city to the other on a weekend because of protesters blocking traffic.  In Champaign, the summation of wrong is Unofficial and the Booze News, as well as professor dancing nights at Jim Gould.

And I have found a few of these moments here so far.  Firstly, a DJ set for hipster babies entitled Baby Loves Disco.  And today, a story about how subway trains are notably slower because so many women pass out due to not eating.  These are just wrong.  At least one of them exists elsewhere as well so I don’t have to feel so bad.

I went to my fourth (of 5) borough today. Queens was my first borough, as I flew into LaGuardia. Then Manhattan, of course. Then Brooklyn, and today, briefly, Staten Island. In fact, I was in all four in one day today with a visitor. There’s nothing like people from out of town to make you go places in your own city you have never been. A trip around downtown today reminded me why I really needed to live in a city on the water.

I met Stephin Merritt.  and oddly, his mom.

He made fun of people who use his songs in their weddings.  He was kind of merciless about it, actually.  Which I guess is how I should expect him to be.

Merritt and Lemony Snicket is like Quentin Tarantino and horror movie.  It makes me question if the entertainment world aligned just for me.