New York State of Mind

Next Stop: Rolling Stone

2010-09-17T11:12:00.013-04:00

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the band I'm in is being advertised in The Village Voice (The Demographics at 8pm on Friday). Granted, it was the venue that paid for the advertisement and they're simply printing the list of bands playing, but still... awesome.

If you're in the area, come and see us play!

SNOW DAY!

2010-02-10T16:17:00.008-05:00

This is what I imagined wintertime would be like on this side of the country. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, from the perspective of the natives here), Gina and I have lived here during some of the most gentle winters.

...Until today.

Yes, the highly anticipated blizzard of 2010 hit New York City this morning causing businesses, offices, and schools alike to declare a "snow day."

Gina and I celebrated the heavy snow by building a snowman on our stoop.

Assuming some kids would come by and knock him down, we didn't name him...

Winter's not so bad.

SURPRISE!!

2010-02-10T16:06:00.003-05:00

She didn't even see it coming.

Another wonderful birthday celebration with Gina in New York City - this year, among 35 of our closest (and sneakiest) friends.

Here's the video:

(There's about 25 seconds of hushing in the darkness before the big moment)

This was a highly memorable night. Happy Birthday, Swah.

(Thanks to Kari for the picture and Matt for the video).

"Welcome to New York... NOW DIE!"

2009-11-16T11:01:00.005-05:00

The NY Post never fails to grab my attention with their headlines.

This one was particularly sharp and no doubt reflects what's on most New Yorkers' minds when someone like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed comes to town to stand trial for his part in the most deadly attack on American soil.

While on the subject of the NY Post, here are a few more memorable headlines...

Greenpoint, Mermaids, and Football

2009-10-06T15:24:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend I found myself crossing the Pulaski Bridge from Queens to Greenpoint Brooklyn, looking for an artist's studio where my friend Natalie (pictured above) was told she could get an excellent mermaid costume (typical Sunday, why do I even blog about these things?).

Here are some pictures from the bridge:

We trekked across the bridge and wandered through the industrial riverside streets of Greenpoint looking for Carri Skoczek's studio, which we found in a beautiful old building on the northernmost part of Greenpoint.

As it turns out, Carri's mermaid costume skills were quite impressive. Last year she provided Harvey Keitel with his costume when he was crowned at the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade (pictured below).

Natalie's costume (which I didn't think to snap a picture of for some reason) did not disappoint.

From Greenpoint, we rushed to Fort Greene just in time for Sunday football.

Here I am reviewing some plays:

It was a wonderful afternoon in a part of town I had not seen before and I look forward to the next chance I have to further explore it.

Meet Me in Montauk...

2009-09-07T15:30:00.016-04:00

For the Labor Day weekend this year, Gina and I decided to do a simple day trip to Montauk, the farthest part of Long Island. Personally, I never knew anything about Montauk but for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

As a native Californian, there was something very odd about being at a beach, with all of the familiar smells of the salt water, barbecues, sunscreen, and surf wax, but being surrounded by pasty New Yorkers - like a weird collision of worlds.

In any case, Montauk was beautiful and it was great to again feel sand between my toes and a cool ocean breeze on my face. Great way to spend a day.

Gina on the train ride to Montauk (about 2 1/2 hours each way...)

Literally the end of the track...

We had a beautiful walk along Fort Pond from the train station.

A busy and beautiful afternoon along the shore...

Action shot!

A local told us these things were harmless jellyfish. They were everywhere...

Me and Gina enjoying the sunshine

More cool macro shots from Gina. One notable difference between Montauk and the beaches in California was the abundance of crab carcasses all over the beach (not pictured...)

The shoreline properties were so beautiful - but wouldn't it be terrible to be right on the water for the 4 months of winter?

There were long stretches of undisturbed beachfront punctuated by busy coves like this:

Here's a very short video Gina took of the waves that day. I'm sure that in the coming months, as summer turns into fall and fall into winter, I'll be playing this on repeat.

Happy Labor Day!

High Line, The Frying Pan, and a Recap

2009-08-27T10:53:00.040-04:00

Turns out, this blog is still breathing.

It has been way too long since I've written anything. I blame it on wrapping up law school and taking the bar - two things I did over the last few months and neither of which I am going to write about. I'm happy to be done with school and the bar (well, fingers crossed on that one) and I'm looking forward to returning to a the normality of living and working in the city and posting more great experiences.

This summer Gina and I had the fortune of having two of our brothers (Vincent and Charles) in town together for about a week. If this week has reminded me of anything, it's how incredibly satisfying it is simply being out and about in New York City during good weather. A meandering afternoon through a neighborhood or two somehow becomes one of the best things you've done in ages (again this may have something to do with my 3 months in a library studying for the bar).

As the sun was going down last Sunday, Vincent, Charles, Gina, and I decided to take a stroll through from the West Village, through Chelsea, to The High Line - something Gina and I had been meaning to see for the last 3 years but never seemed to get around to. Turns out, it's a fantastic place to be as the sun comes down.

From the left, me, Charles, and Vincent (who knows how to not ruin a picture)

Sometimes I forget how magnificent the Empire State Building is.

The High Line happens to be near one of my absolute favorite places in New York City (during the summer anyway): The Frying Pan. When I think about my favorite summer moments in New York City, images of sitting out on a dock in the Hudson, with a cold beer and good friends, with the city skyline as a backdrop, all come to mind.

Another wonderful August sunset along the Hudson River with good people...

A nice view of Hell's Kitchen and midtown.

Charles and myself discussing the pros and cons of supply-side economics (or The Simpsons, whatever...)

Since my last blog entry in November, Gina got a new camera with a "super macro" feature - expect more of these cool pics...

More of Gina's super-macro skills...

The new camera also has a cool panoramic feature too...

Vincent with another pitcher...

Come to think of it, since the last blog I think Gina and I have brought a few people to the Frying Pan. If I don't sound like a broken record yet, check out the Frying Pan...

Here with my older brother Miguel...

...And here with our good friends Erin and Misha. Sweet.

The blog entry before this one was in early November and it is now late August. During all of those months there were many things that happened that certainly were blog-able (consider that last word coined). Here are a few highlights from those months:

Tamales

In December Gina and I threw an epic tamale party where we (somehow) packed about 50 people into our modest apartment. We hope to do another tamale party for the next holiday season...

Let the cooking begin!

A bit of the ingredients...

La Casa, just beginning to burst at the seams...

Yes, the tamale pot is so glorious (so glorious) that I have to use a stepladder to use it...

Food!

Until next year, friends...

Winter Football

Coming from southern California (where the temperature hovers around 72 degrees all year), playing football in the snow sounded like the coolest idea ever. Some friends of mine, via Zogsports, organized a team of half-serious young professionals to compete for charity. Well, it was cold...really cold and, as it turns out, I can't remember football plays to save my life (I know, I know, we had 5 plays). Still it was a lot of fun and I think I might do a second round next year.

Robert Repino, the "Oxford Commas" coach and fearless leader, blogged regularly about our season. Check it out HERE.

Pre-game huddle. Go team!

Me and Daniel...

Yeah, the whole snow thing did lose its novelty after a game or two...

Singleton Show

As some of you may know, Daniel and I have been trying to play shows here in the city ever since we've both lived here. In April, when our good friend and drummer Mitch was visiting, we practiced for a few days and played in the West Village at Kenny's Castaways (a venue that hosted Bruce Springsteen's first NYC gig and has seen the likes of Aerosmith, Patty Smith, and the Ramones).

The band (myspace page HERE) is still working out its kinks but there will definitely be more shows in the future.

Daniel Gurzi on lead guitar, Ben Fliegel on mandolin, and yours truly on bass...

From left: me, Mitch Talavera, Daniel Gurzi, and Ben Fliegel...

Graduation

I moved to New York City to go to law school. Everything up until last May had been about law school. It is fair to say that many of my associations with this city had to do with the fact that I came here and continued to be a student here. When I graduated last May, it really did feel like the end of an era. (Where does the time go? Wasn't it just the other day when I was a terrified 1L writing the first blog entry?). Wow.

Well here was the big day...

With my parents...

...And Gina, Brooke, and Daniel....

Whoo hoo!

Thanks for reading. I promise to be a responsible blogger from here on and keep this posted.

Celebration in the Streets of Harlem

2008-11-05T01:36:00.007-05:00

As I'm writing this I can still hear people in the streets outside shouting "Obama" and honking their car horns. Obama won the presidency and I had the fortune of being able to run through the streets with good friends and ecstatic members of the community on this epic election night. The historical significance of tonight is palpable and I'm so grateful to have been able to celebrate in Harlem.

Obama / Biden 2008!

Really?

2008-09-17T14:22:00.009-04:00

So I guess the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle sells Ostrich Eggs... Yup.

Is this a high-class indulgence? What on earth do you do with these things? I am incredibly curious and would love to buy one, but at $40 a pop, my cheapness is going to keep me from trying what would have been an epic omelet...

The above ostrich shares my confusion...

Capsized in the Hudson...

2008-07-30T22:50:00.010-04:00

"Hey Alex, what did you do Wednesday?"

"Wednesday? Oh, that was the day my kayak capsized in the Hudson... twice."

So I'm not a very good kayaker. But it was actually a lot of fun. Gina and I read (in our Cheap Bastard's Guide to NYC - thanks Becky) about this place at Pier 96 that lets you take a kayak out on the Hudson for free. Wednesday nights are reserved for free kayaking classes, which is when we showed up. Everyone there was really cool and the water was full of people of varying degrees of experience and skill.

Gina, as it turns out, has superb paddling skills and surprised everyone when a game of kayak-polo developed (I was just struggling to stay afloat). Here she is post-game...

Here are some pics of the waterfront at 56th Street. Beautiful part of town (despite the salty "freshwater"). These grainy blackberry pics don't do the scenery any justice though...

Despite the capsizing, I'm pretty sure we'll be back next week. What a great city.

[The New York City Downtown Boathouse has more kayaking info...]

Hot Town Summer in the City

2008-07-27T15:52:00.021-04:00

It's been too long since I've posted an entry. It's been a very busy summer in this city but most of it has been tremendously memorable. With good friends in town Gina and I have been all over the city.

The rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met"). We made our way up to the roof at the perfect time of day.

We've been spending a lot more time relaxing at our new place in Harlem. The weather has been perfect for our landing and we've been making terrific use out of it.

I'm pretty sure we're moved in at this point. Here are a couple of new pics of the place. Ah, home sweet home...

And what summer in New York City would be complete without a trip to Coney Island...

So far it's been a great couple of summer months. More to come...

Aimless Sunday on the Lower East Side

2008-05-31T10:44:00.014-04:00

Last weekend Gina and I walked from the Bowery through the Lower East Side, and wound up in Little Italy (which was a little crazy). There was no real plan for the day. It was beautiful out and we just chose a place to start wandering around. Likewise, there's no plan for this blog entry - it's mostly an excuse to post some pictures of Manhattan on a blissful day.

Here's a view of the Manhattan Bridge from the Manhattan side of the East River...

And south of the Manhattan bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge...

South of the Brooklyn Bridge is the South Street Pier - mostly a tourist trap (like Little Italy), but was still fun to check out...

From the South Street Sea Port we headed up Centre Street, through the courthouses, up to Chinatown, and then to Little Italy on Mulberry Street.

(It was a good day for Chinatown. As you might remember, Chinatown and I run a little hot and cold...). In Little Italy, Mulberry street had been closed off for a street fair.

Here's a video of Mulberry Street.

What a great day. Here's to many more great Sundays this summer!

Gina Espinoza, M.S.W.

2008-05-21T22:47:00.006-04:00

Gina graduated from Columbia University's School of Social Work (CUSSW) on Monday, thus ending her two year program. The ceremony was held at Lincoln Center in Midtown and the atmosphere was lively. It was a lovely ending to such a great life chapter.

Here's a shaky video of Gina receiving her diploma and taking a picture with Dean Takamura.

After the ceremony...

We also had the pleasure of entertaining both sides of the family for the event. Below is Gina's immediate family (from left, Charles, Kim, and Tina)

My folks also made it out for the occasion.

Gina started her master's program a few weeks after we moved to New York City. Her acceptance into the graduate program was our first foot in the door for moving to the Big Apple, and Gina's student status has always been an important element of our experience here. It will be exciting to see how our lives will adjust to a post-school lifestyle.

It's weird that in just one year I too will be strutting down Avery Fisher Hall in a cap and gown...

Like Taking a Cab...

2008-05-02T12:50:00.008-04:00

So I've discovered that both the A and D Express trains go from 125th Street to Columbus Circle (59th Street) in a SINGLE stop. I had no idea. This is huge. I now live around the corner from the 125th Street stop and everyday I go to Fordham near Columbus Circle... so this is basically a dream commute.

Look at this Google Maps Screen cap below:

That's the distance covered in one uninterrupted stop.

It's about 3 1/2 miles of Manhattan (whose total length is about 12 miles) which translates to 66 blocks, in a single express stop. It takes between 6-12 minutes from the 125th stop to Columbus Circle plus somewhere between 2-4 minutes to walk from the new apartment to the subway station. My old commute (via the Downtown 1 Local) took anywhere from 25-35 minutes, plus the 10 minute walk from the apartment to the subway station.

I'm very happy about all of this. It really feels like taking a cab every morning and evening, 5 days a week.

[Those of you who know about my neurotic habits of timing and calculating commutes should not be surprised that I would do a blog entry about this...]

Adios Morningside Heights. Hello Harlem.

2008-04-25T10:13:00.012-04:00

Haven't done a blog in awhile because of the madness that is finals (remember to think long and hard about law school). Gina and I left our place in Morningside Heights on the 19th and we are now settling in our new cozy place in Harlem. The move was made easier with the help of good friends.

Here are some pics of the new place. Gina had most of these on Facebook but I thought I'd post them here as well.

And here are a few new pics of the place coming together.

I'll keep everyone posted as the place comes along. Thanks again to everyone who helped move!

My Love-Hate Relationship with Chinatown

2008-04-08T14:54:00.009-04:00

All semester I've been working downtown at the New York City Civil Court which means I walk through Chinatown at least once a week. Since moving to New York, I've always had mixed feelings about spending time in Chinatown.

On one hand, it's a busy and energetic part of Manhattan with colorful storefronts, great restaurants, good vegetarian spots (Gina and I are all about this wholesale veggie foods place off of Centre), and really fun stores full of totally cheap, yet somehow cool, crap.

I find that I'm always pleasantly surprised when I try random things in Chinatown. Today I stopped in a store to buy sesame oil (best neighborhood in the city to get it) and tried a melon cake.

It was a chewy and sweet pastry that had nice hints of coconut, banana, and (you guessed it) melon. Really great - and I'd only be able to get it in Chinatown.

On the other hand, I feel like Chinatown has too many qualities that people associate with a big grungy city - there's trash and graffiti everywhere, most of the time the sidewalks are too crowded, you have people pestering you about buying shady merchandise, and there's this "off" smell that always seems to be in the air (especially in the subway station - I'm not the only one who smells that, right?).

Some days I just can't stand the atmosphere of the area and want to power walk through. On other days Chinatown is that nice slice of Manhattan that reminds me of why I love living here. I can't think of any other part of town with which I get so hot and cold.

It's a love-hate relationship but I still bring my family and out-of-town friends to Chinatown and Gina and I seem to be in the neighborhood quite often. I mean, where else are you going to go when you need to buy 10 I Heart NY shirts for $20?

Speaking of Canal Street merchandise, the entire store front between Centre and Baxter is now completely shut down and boarded up. What was once a busy stretch of shops selling cheap t-shirts and knock-off purses is now serving as an example to counterfeiters. These orange signs were pinned across the entire block.

It's kind of odd that these stores were shut down. I mean, any tourist strolling down Canal Street can find out in 10 minutes that these stores are selling knock offs. I wonder what prompted this...

Oh Chinatown...

[Oh and Catherine, thanks for the pics]

120th St. to 42nd St. via Riverside Park

2008-03-16T11:35:00.012-04:00

Yesterday Gina and I decided to take a walk down Riverside Park as far south as we could. It turns out one can go from Morningside Heights (we started at 120th street) all the way to 59th street where the park ends. From 59th street we decided to go see a movie at 42nd and 8th Ave. We covered about 5 miles of Manhattan's 14 mile length and discovered several beautiful spots along the way.

The beginning of the trek in Morningside Heights.

At about 93rd street one can take a detour west to the edge of the island. The waterfront is beautiful.

The park widens in the upper 80's and there is an abundance of dog parks and playgrounds.

Gina and I took a second detour west (from the main road) and discovered the 79th street dock along the Hudson.

Just before the end of the park, one encounters a bit of industrial history. The New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge (or what's left of it) rests along the shore of the Hudson. The waterlogged wood and rusted steel are an odd contrast to the posh Hudson condominiums in sight.

There's a very modern looking pier near the transfer bridge (also an odd contrast) that extends several hundred yards into the river. By this time the sun was going down quickly and the river was gorgeous in a late-winter sort of way.

It was another wonderful afternoon in a great city where simply taking a long walk is an adventure.

One Year at the Natural History Museum

2008-02-05T19:45:00.000-05:00

A year ago, when Gina turned 24, I got her a year membership to the American Museum of Natural History (well, I got us a dual membership... but we're so joined at the hip - what good would a single membership have been? Am I right, eh?). The membership just expired last week and I feel the need to reflect on a year's worth of Natural History on the Upper West Side. Over the course of a year Gina and I frequently went to the museum and hardly ever went to the same exhibits twice. Even after a year there were still several parts of the Museum that we never got to see. Whenever we had guests in town we would spend entire afternoons wandering through the maze-like halls of this landmark facility (during the summer heat the idea of walking through a dark and air-conditioned museum was especially attractive).

Several exhibits were especially memorable to me.

I think one of my favorite wings of the Museum was the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins. As a former anthropology major who gets a nerdy excitement from primatology and biological evolution, this wing felt like a candy store.Branching diagrams, skull fragments, hominid fossils, and primate skeletons were on display in a very interesting and educational fashion and I was giddy every time I was able to spend time there. This was one of the few exhibits that Gina and I went to see every time we went to the museum. Anthro nerd or not, I highly recommend it.

The planetarium film Cosmic Collisions comes in at a very close second. I had never been to a planetarium before and, perhaps solely because of that one South Park episode, I thought they might be cheesy. It was not cheesy. It was epic. The film and the way it was presented really hit me in a major cosmological way. One is reminded of both the incomprehensible vastness of the universe and the absolute beauty of the benign indifference of matter in motion. I found it strangely comforting in so many ways and always joked with Gina that watching it made me feel better about my student loans. Highly recommended...

I have no idea why, but in a manner similar to Cosmic Collisions, standing in the same room as this life size model of a blue whale was grounding and comforting. The entire room was full of interesting displays of marine wildlife and microbiology but this blue whale just intrigued me. I think it may have been the simple thought that, "if I was in the water with this thing, say 20 feet away, and it wanted to eat me... that would be it. Because of the sheer size of this mammal, there would simply be nothing I could do..." Kind of weird huh? See it in person and tell me if you have the same thought.

The year at the museum was fantastic and I'm slightly sad that Gina and I have decided not to renew our membership for the year. We might try another museum membership for this year (suggestions?) and we'll definitely have to wait and see if we even stay on the Upper West Side (countdown till May) before we sign up again.

For some reason we hardly took pictures at the museum. I was able to gather a few though...

[Gina's brother Charles and myself, most likely contemplating how screwed we would be if those were real lions and there was no glass - I feel a repeating thought with fake animals here...]

[Gina and Natalie getting kissy with an ancient face. Is it Mayan? Honestly, I can't remember.]

[Amy admiring the tyrannosaurus skull. That cement hardly seems evolutionarily advantageous though. No wonder they went extinct...]

[The reason I'm wearing that suit is because I was in the middle of early interview week at Fordham. As any law student will tell you, the process is stressful and tiring. I think I was looking at this nomadic man and wondering what stressed him out. Kind of funny...]

[My cousin Nellie scoping out the crustaceans in the Hall of Biodiversity. Another cool spot in the museum and right near the life size blue whale...]

[Catherine and Nellie's friend Robert demonstrating the relative size of Mars and the planetarium - also a cool display that sort of puts one in his cosmological place...]

[My brother Vincent chilling with triceratops skeletons.]

Thanks to Catherine, Natalie, and Google Images for some of the pictures.

A Quarter of a Century of Gina

2008-01-31T14:19:00.000-05:00

Wednesday was Gina's Birthday. Although it fell in the middle of the week this year we had the fortune of coincidently having most of the day free. As per Espinoza tradition, Gina had breakfast in bed and was served more food than she (and myself, no kidding) could finish...

We decided to do presents in the morning as well...

Although there was rain in the weather forecast for most of the week, Wednesday ended up being a clear and not so cold (high 30's is warm for late January) day for ice skating in Central Park at the Wollman Rink. Now for some reason Gina and I missed out on ice skating last year - my first instinct is to blame it on the insanity of my first year of law school - and it always bummed us out a bit. Until yesterday I had never ice skated before. As a Californian, I figured that it wouldn't be much different from roller blades... well it is. I immediately become aware that I was on a huge, slippery, block of ice with nothing but pieces of metal under my feet. Luckily, and against all probability, I didn't eat it on the ice and eventually got it down.

Here are some pictures from the rink...

And some youtube clips as well...

Midtown Manhattan was a gorgeous backdrop to ice skating. The rink was also quite beautiful as the sun went down.

We then went to this organic/vegan restaurant in the East Village called Angelica's Kitchen which was actually pretty amazing (the Dashi and Noodles kind of changed my life...). All of the food tasted remarkably fresh and there was a great deal of creativity with several of the dishes Gina and I tried. To my carnivorous friends and family, I wouldn't let the label "vegan" dissuade you from dining here.

And what better way to pair an evening of organic culinary delights than with store-bought chocolate cake and some "mud pie" ice cream from Tasti D-lite...

Happy Birthday Swah. Can't wait for another winterly b-day next year.

In Other News...

2008-01-23T11:15:00.000-05:00

So this is why it's Late January and I'm still seeing these all over the city....

From CNN.com:

NYC Hits Tourism Record

NEW YORK (AP) -- With a falling dollar sweetening the deal for international travelers, a record-setting number of tourists visited the city last year, spending an estimated $28 billion, tourism officials said Sunday.

The 2007 jump in tourism was largely due to visitors from other countries, who numbered an estimated 8.5 million -- a growth of 17 percent.

With a final count still pending, the city's tourism office said an estimated 46 million people had visited the city in 2007 -- up 5 percent from 2006. The jump was largely due to visitors from other countries, who numbered an estimated 8.5 million -- a growth of 17 percent.

George Fertitta, chief executive of city tourism office NYC & Company, said the visitors were drawn by more than a favorable exchange rate and the city's international marketing efforts.

"The city is more vibrant, cleaner and safer -- and it's just more exciting than ever before," he said.

The portion of the city's tourists who were from other countries had dwindled since the September 11 attacks, and last year's growth returned the ratio to pre-2001 levels.

The city has been working to draw such international visitors, who stay longer and spend more money. NYC & Company has launched an overseas television, print and billboard campaign, and in 2007 it more than doubled its marketing offices overseas, targeting countries including China, Brazil and Canada.

New York is one of only a few U.S. urban centers that did not see a drop in the number of overseas visitors between 2000 and 2006.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he wants the city to attract 50 million travelers each year by 2015. Last year, visitors to New York spent $4 billion more than they had the year before.

Conservatory Garden

2008-01-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Gina and I took our weekly Sunday stroll through the city. We went through Manhattan Valley and had a great breakfast at Zanny's Cafe. Even though we've been in New York for a year and a half, we've never really explored the northern and eastern ends of Central Park. I had been through the Conservatory Garden once last May when it was sunny, warm, green, and beautiful out. When we strolled through last weekend the place was almost completely empty and all of the greenery was, well, more grayery...

These statues are completely gorgeous in the spring and summer when they are surrounded by vibrant colors and the pond is full of water. These pictures that Gina took last weekend, though beautiful, feel very melancholy.

Oh yeah and here's a clip of a guy walking his cat (that's right, his cat...) in the park. I didn't think cats could do the leash thing. I once saw someone trying to do the same thing outside of a Bank of America in Fullerton - the cat first became dead weight and refused to be pulled along and later became aggressive with its owner.

A Snowy Stroll Through the Park

2007-12-16T20:17:00.001-05:00

Gina and I are getting in the habit of taking long walks through Central Park on Sundays. The cold weather has not been a deterrent thus far (although if I remember last January and February correctly, I'm sure it will be soon). We started on 72nd and Central Park West and eventually exited at 59th and 5th Avenue.

The Park was gorgeous in a New York City Christmas sort of way. Naturally, Gina was on a shutterbug rampage...

These tracks are fresh. The third graders can't be far...

The area of the park known as "the Mall" was unusually peaceful that afternoon. We could only hear the distant sounds of traffic on 5th Avenue. One would never guess that he was in the middle of Manhattan...

Here I am at "the Mall" hearing nothing...

Another beautiful (and now carefree - did I mention I finished my 3rd semester?) afternoon in the greatest city in the world...

Gina and I are heading to California on Tuesday so I probably won't blog until next year.

Happy holidays everyone!

First Snow of the Season!

2007-12-02T16:22:00.001-05:00

Opened the window this morning to see this outside:

(The video quality is merciless but I think you'll get the picture...)

Gina and I had planned to go straight to the library to study, but we couldn't resist a minor detour for the photo op. Here are a few we took around our neighborhood, Morningside Heights.

This is Riverside Park, where families were out in full force. Children were sledding, dogs romping, and everyone enjoying the newly blanketed hills.

Gina wanted to document the snow in my hair for some reason...

At least a few inches must have fallen, because there was more than enough to scoop up and throw.

An undisturbed park bench.

I couldn't resist slipping the gloves off to feel the fine powder.

I love the big patches of pristine snow. Beautiful.

Gina with her new earmuffs.

Here is Riverside Drive, which is just picturesque in the Wintertime.

We wandered onto the Columbia campus where we discovered all the trees have already lost their leaves. Winter really snuck up on us this year.

As you probably know (if you've read my earlier blogs), I am obsessed with snow. This is sure to be the first of many upcoming snow-related blogs.

Grace Church, Mozart, and Christmas

2007-12-01T15:47:00.000-05:00

Last night Gina and I went with our friends Daniel and Amy to see the Choral Society's Annual Holiday Concert at Grace Church in the East Village. The church is over 160 years old and has perfect acoustics for choir music. The four of us sat in a beautifully-crafted oak pew surrounded by an interior of stone and stained glass. I think the architecture enhanced the music somehow...

Here are a few pictures from the evening...

Here's a short video clip of the concert...

I can really feel the holiday season settling in now that the weather is colder and there are more festive activities like this. I'm sure you'll see at least another Christmas themed blog in the future.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Flea Market in Hell's Kitchen

2007-11-25T12:34:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend Gina and I, with our Floridian house guests Dan and Dee, went to the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market to look at some antiques and vintage clothing. Dee, in researching vintage clothing stores for her trip out here, came across this weekly event and suggested we go. The street was lined with antique aficionados and their treasures.

Interesting old-school racist memorabilia. Who actually owned this crap? No seriously, imagine someone shelling out money for these figurines because they saw one of them and liked it enough to want to own it. There was a lot of this stuff here...

The whole market was very picture friendly and I ended up taking way too many photos. Here are a few cool ones...

Gina has a thing for old keys and old books - there were plenty of both...

For some reason I was really bothered by this portrait being sold at the flea market. I imagine that when it was commissioned it was a big deal and the woman in the portrait hung it somewhere important and was proud of it. She must be dead but wouldn't the family want to keep it? I'm sure there's a story somewhere in there...

39th street between 9th and 10th Avenue. Worth checking out if you're in the neighborhood and want to see some creepy/cool old stuff.

A Brooklyn Thanksgiving

2007-11-24T00:20:00.001-05:00

This Thanksgiving was another one that Gina and I spent without going home to California. Last year we basically did nothing for Thanksgiving so this year we wanted to do something big. Daniel and Amy were gracious enough to offer their apartment for the feast. We had about 12 New Yorker friends (almost all of whom were ironically from California) and an ambitious list of dishes and desserts. It was a young person's Thanksgiving event but we put together an impressive feast. We rented a table for the day and everyone brought amazing dishes and drinks. Here's a nice picture from Daniel and Amy's apartment showing a Brooklyn autumn in full swing.

Here's Gina setting up our rented table.

Here's a very successful vegetable dish that Danielle made. We got fresh butternut squash, zucchini, red onion, and garlic from the farmer's market the day before.

Carolyn made stuffed mushrooms that everyone almost filled up on... almost.

Daniel did the honors of carving the bird. I carved the tofurky myself but that really wasn't such a big deal. In fact, it was about a quarter of the size and I'm pretty sure I just used a steak knife. I have no idea why I put a video clip of Daniel carving the bird on this page - there's something hypnotizing about it...

Here are Dan and Danielle (Gina's Floridian cousin and her boyfriend) who came to visit us for the week and to enjoy the Thanksgiving extravaganza. Danielle is only rocking those glasses because she was directly in the sun (but she rocks the hell out of em).

Here's a picture of Gina and Amy piling up their plates. There was so much food that second helpings were inevitable.

The only picture of the whole table. Unfortunately the far half of the table didn't quite make it in. Big smiles all around though :)

It was a bit odd celebrating such a traditional holiday without my immediate family. All of my Thanksgiving memories had thus far involved eating meals at my Ma's house, playing Scrabble with my Nana, and trying to wake up my Dad after his inevitable tryptophan-triggered coma. This year, and this new tradition, has left me with memories of making nut loaf and tofurky, listening to Billie Holiday and Cake, enjoying cheesecake and mulled wine by candlelight, and jamming with friends late into the night. It was a different but highly enjoyable experience. I look forward to next year. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

ps - Carolyn posted some more great pics on her blog. Check 'em out.

Sudden Splashes of Red and Orange

2007-11-18T12:59:00.000-05:00

Summer and Winter in New York City seem to last forever. I have way too many memories of being both freezing between November and April, and unbelievably warm between May and August. Unfortunately, these two seasons seem to make up most of the year.

Fall and Spring are two unique seasonal windows that seem to slip by all too quickly. Springtime is that amazing relief after months of snow and freezing wind chills where you get to see green colors return to tree-lined streets and tourists return to Times Square. But before you know it, that pleasant warmness becomes muggy and unavoidable. Fall also provides a wonderful sense of meteorological relief, and you remember how great it is to wear long sleeves and take a sauna-less subway ride. Like Spring, Fall stays only briefly and in mere weeks you're wearing gloves and a scarf and the city is a gray scale print.

I took these pictures on the way to school one morning. I'm pretty sure that there was no such color the day before. Do the leaves really change that quickly? It's already getting pretty chilly in this city and I'm beginning to think that Fall might just be one of those awkward seasonal moments that could simply be missed if you blink. The 4+ months of winter are really going to make me miss these sudden splashes of red and orange.

Dr. Caligari & Ghouls at St. John the Divine

2007-10-27T10:14:00.000-04:00

Last night Gina and I went with some friends to St. John the Divine to see a screening of the 1920 German silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Every year the church revamps its interior and screens classic silent films. There was a live organ accompaniment and the interior of the church made for an amazing Halloween atmosphere.

This cello player was excellent. The acoustics in this 115-year-old cathedral did wonders for the sound of a single cello.

The details in this church were to die for. The candles in the picture below were set up all around the interior and lit up the old stone walls of the cathedral. I was really impressed with the general level of spookiness (and for some reason I was thinking, "man, there is no way the church I went to growing up would do anything remotely like this." I guess if your church looks like something from a horror movie you should work it, right?).

Here's a crappy clip of some of the interior (seriously this clip does little justice for the Halloween atmosphere in this church).

If you haven't seen this German Expressionist classic, I highly recommend it. I feel like once the goth kids figure out how dark and beautiful this film is, it'll all be over.

The film was followed by the annual Procession of the Ghouls down the main aisle. The costumes were fantastic. In the spirit of again putting too much media in a blog, here's another clip and lots of pictures of the procession (our friend Jane was one of the ghouls!):

This event certainly made the list of wonderful New York City experiences (made better, for some reason, by the fact that this whole event was down the street from our apartment) and I will definitely be back next year. Happy Halloween!

A Blissful Sunday in Central Park

2007-10-21T16:59:00.000-04:00

Today Gina and I blew off studying to spend an afternoon in Central Park enjoying the first signs of fall. It was just too beautiful out to be confined in a library all day.

I usually try to blog about things that are interesting, unusual, or insightful about New York City, but sometimes I just want to post a lot of pictures of a beautiful day in Manhattan. Here are some beautiful pictures...

I'm sure it will be easier to be more studious when the cold weather comes.

Taping The Daily Show

2007-10-18T11:32:00.000-04:00

So yesterday Gina and I, with our friends Daniel and Amy, went to a taping of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I requested free tickets for the show sometime during the Spring semester of my first year of Law School (probably around April of 2007 or so) and had completely forgotten about them until a couple of weeks ago when I got an email asking me if I was still interested in going...

It was recommended that audience members arrive at 3:30pm to stand in line for the taping (which was supposed to start around 6pm or so). When Gina and I arrived at quarter to 4 and saw a line wrapping around the building we didn't think we'd have decent seats by any means. Here's the thing (and this must have pissed off everyone of those suckers in the front of the line who had been there all day), when the line files into the studio and the seats are being filled, they're ushering people to the back rows first. That's right. That means that the four of us, being at the back of the line outside, ended up getting front row seats to The Daily Show. The chance to go to a taping of the show for free was already a great time but front row seats? Awesome...

I usually like putting a bunch of pictures in my blog entries but unfortunately I didn't take my camera to the taping. Here are a couple of good ones from Google images.

Outside of the studio (imagine a long line out front...)

Just above the door into the studio (nice touch...)

Here's a clip of Jon Stewart's interview with Jake Gyllenhaal (the guest from the taping). Listen carefully for what is undeniably my unique "whoo-hoo" from the front row...

I've decided I've got nothing to lose in trying to reserve some more tickets for a taping 6 months from now. For those of you that live in the city I recommend doing so. Jon Stewart was a really nice guy who came out before the taping and talked with audience members and the whole thing was just a lot of fun. For those of you that don't live in this city, ask yourselves why that is...

Columbus Day Parade

2007-10-09T18:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday on 5th Avenue from 44th to 79th Street there were crowds of people gathered for the annual Columbus Day Parade. While it was a gorgeous day in Manhattan (and I know that it's mid-October and these days are numbered), the parade was actually much more mild than I thought it would be. The parade was mostly just Italian New Yorkers on floats and Cops.

Italian New Yorkers on floats...

...and Cops...

I swear there were a half dozen of these heading north through the Upper East Side...

Governor Spitzer made an appearance...

As did Mayor Mike Bloomberg...

I guess when I think about parades in New York City I think Macy's thanksgiving Parade - big balloons and giant Cartoon Characters on string. This one by comparison was quaint. This was the first parade that I managed to see since moving to New York, I'm curious to see how the St. Patty's Day parade will measure up...

I Don't Like the Fact that this Guy is in my Neighborhood

2007-09-24T09:57:00.000-04:00

So I noticed on the way to the 116th Street subway station this morning that there were cops everywhere and anyone who wanted to go on the Columbia campus had to show their ID and have their bags searched. That's when I remembered that this SOB was coming to make a speech...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to make a speech at Columbia University today. This is the guy who refers to the Holocaust as a "myth," calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map," is giving the international community the bird as he develops nuclear capabilities, and is most likely sending weapons and militants into to Iraq to kill American troops. This is the guy whose fundamentalist government executes homosexuals and adulterers, makes converting from Islam a crime, polices its citizens and their adherence to Islam, and jails dissenters. Perhaps the most infuriating (and certainly ironic) thing about this tool is the fact that his government censors universities within his country in terms of what they can and cannot learn.

There are 100 blogs screaming both ways as to whether or not this jackass should be allowed to speak at Columbia University. To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel. For someone like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, freedom of speech is a conditional luxury - if it doesn't offend Islam or the Government you can say it. I hate the fact that he wants to come and speak at an American University amidst all of this 1st amendment controversy when he doesn't subscribe to the idea of academic freedom at all - how incredibly arrogant and hypocritical is that?

I say uphold academic freedom and the first amendment and let the bastard try to speak. Let the protesters outside and the students inside show him the meaning of Freedom of Speech by grilling the hell out of him. Let students and faculty at one of the nation's most prestigious universities kick the soapbox out from under him and demand more from him. If he's coming to this country he better be prepared to deal with free citizens.

General Wes Clark in Midtown

2007-09-19T21:04:00.001-04:00

General Wes Clark was at the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble tonight to promote his book A Time to Lead: For Duty, Honor, and Country. He read a chapter from his book describing a scene of combat during the Vietnam War wherein he sustained several serious gunshot wounds and, despite these injuries, led his platoon to overtake a small base camp of Viet Cong soldiers. I had read the story before but it was remarkable hearing it from the man himself. Clark's elaboration and energy in describing the event (he would frequently pause from reading to further describe other details like the sights, smells, and sounds of the ordeal) was very engaging.

The reading was followed by a Q&A session where Clark was asked for his opinion on long-term strategies for Iraq, the 2008 presidential election, diplomatic solutions to the Middle East, and whether or not the U.S. was going to bomb Iran (which was a stark and unexpected "yes." I guess he thinks the President has long-since determined a course of action). It had been awhile since I heard Clark speak and I was pleasantly reminded about his intellect and articulation.

In 2004, while undergrads at Cal, Gina and I volunteered for Clark's campaign in the Democratic Primary. It was our first experience with political involvement. There was something powerful, honest, and optimistic about this man and we were thrilled to support him in his run for the White House. Years later, and many political disappointments later, it was satisfying to actually meet the man face to face.

Top 3 Celebrity Subway Conductors in NYC

2007-09-16T23:11:00.000-04:00

Having spent over a year using the NYC subway system, I have come across many colorful voices. Aside from the usual non-descript, angry New Yorker voices over the speaker, there have been several celebrity-sounding personalities as well.

So here they are, the top 3 to date...

(3)"Herbert" from Family Guy

That's right. That soft-spoken pedophile from the Family Guy works on a subway car as well. On the local downtown 1 train I was giggling to myself while listening to this one. "Next stop, Columbus Circle. Transfer to the A, B, C, and D."

(2) Vito Corleone (a.k.a. "The Godfather")

The Godfather, I know. There are probably 10,000 old Italian New Yorkers who sound like Vito Corleone but I know at least one operates the downtown Q express train. "Next stop is Canal Street, this is a Brooklyn-bound Q Express train, stand clear of the closing doors."

(1) Christopher Walken

By far the best voice yet. I don't even remember where I heard this one but it was spot on. I was with Gina and we both started cracking up. No one else seemed to find any humor in it - I'm sure there are another 100,000 people in this city who sound just like the deer hunter as well. "We're being held... because of train traffic... ahead. Please be... patient."

Hopefully this is a list I can add to. Since I use the Subway at least twice a day I'm sure I will.

U.S. History on the Morning Commute

2007-08-31T17:17:00.000-04:00

So I'm back in class as of this week and I went the whole summer wanting to blog about this. Better late than never...

I spent my entire summer working for the Center for HIV Law & Policy in the financial district of Manhattan. When I first started commuting almost the length of Manhattan everyday I took the 2 express to Chambers and then the 1 Local to Rector Street.

It's a nice short walk from this stop to Broadway and Rector (where the center is located). What's funny is that I went all of May, June, and most of July before I realized that every day I had been walking past the final resting place of Alexander Hamilton without noticing.

That's right. A Founding Father and the first secretary of the Treasury was buried on the other side of a gate that I power walked beside every morning for the last couple months. It just sort of blew my mind.

After about 5 weeks of switching between the express and the local trains I figured, "Hey, why not just take the express to the last Manhattan stop and walk the extra quarter mile?" (Turns out this is a more efficient commute). So I started taking the 2 Express to Wall Street instead.

I know, I know. You'd think my days of power walking past national monuments were over... but you'd be wrong.

Yup. I strolled past this every morning for at least two weeks without noticing. This is where it all began for my beloved country and I didn't even notice. This historical landmark seems a little more difficult to simply not notice but, in my defense: (1) there are statutes everywhere in this city - eventually they become as noticeable as lampposts, and (2) when power walking, the swarm of tourists trying to take pictures there creates a formidable obstacle that requires focus and precision to navigate.

So I had two great bits of U.S. history on my daily commute all summer and I only appreciated them months later. I remember when I first moved here always having my head cocked up, looking at buildings and architecture. This experience made me realize that, like so many locals, I have adopted the eyes-forward-rush-through-the-crowds method of walking in the city (and likewise have become annoyed at tourists who are too busy gawking at buildings to pay attention to where they are going).

I guess it doesn't hurt to walk a little slower and take in the city from time to time.

One Year in New York City

2007-08-07T13:59:00.000-04:00

One year ago today Gina and I left the comfort of our home state of California to come to New York City and start an exciting new chapter of our lives.

Overall the year has been remarkably memorable and I'm sure I will always remember this particular year as one of change, transition, adventure, growth, utter dread, sorrow, and pain (the last three would be due to the first year of law school). Gina and I completed a year of graduate school, made terrific new friends, opened ourselves up to many new experiences, and really settled here.

I know that there is way too much to recap in a single blog but for some reason, in looking back at the year, I'm thinking about all of the "firsts" that Gina and I experienced this year. Here are a few that come to mind...

For the first time (in our sheltered Californian lives) Gina and I saw the seasons change before our eyes.

There was Fall...

Then Winter (which was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be)...

Followed by a refreshing Spring...

And full circle to a muggy and gorgeous Summer...

For the first time Gina and i felt the stinging cold of a winter wind - the sort of cold where any part of skin that's exposed just HURTS. There's really no feeling like it...

For the first time, courtesy of the New York City Subway system, I learned what it feels like to be a human sardine...

(I didn't have a picture of this because, well, I was a sardine and couldn't move my arms, let alone take a picture. I think this picture from Google images gets the point across though...)

For the first time in my life I felt the pressure, dread, and utter nausea of studying for four months for a law exam...

(This really doesn't have anything to do with New York City though... God, I hope I don't have a lingering association with the two...)

[There are plenty of pictures and and memories that I'd like to throw in but I'd be running the risk of saturating yet another blog, see "It's been way to long since I've done a blog" blog.]

For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to live in New York City. A few people that are close to me know that I've always considered it a life goal to live in this city for at least one year of my life - because of this, today feels very significant to me.

Here's to another great year in the greatest city in the world.

End of an Era

2007-07-28T01:10:00.000-04:00

Just received my New York State driver's license. I had to surrender my old CA license in order to get this new one and there was something very significant about this transaction. As I was handing over my ol' CA license (an ID that I've had my entire adult life), I felt I was surrendering one of the few remaining ties to my home state.

While I was a little sad to make this switch, I was reminded that the CA license was from another era anyway. For years I had to suffer that skeptical look from the cashier or bouncer who suspected that I was using a little boy's driver's license. Here's a picture of my old license, complete with a picture of a freshly 16 year old Alex...

A Brooklyn 4th of July

2007-07-05T22:19:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the fourth of July, and to celebrate our nation's independence Gina and I and our friends ate barbequed corn, smoked cigars, and watched fireworks dance across the skyline from a Brooklyn rooftop.

Here are some pics from a full fabulous day...

(Yes that is indeed a framed picture of New Kids on the Block - you'll have to ask Brian Hurley about that...)

Brian and Carolyn's lovely backyard...

Jane, goddess of beer...

Daniel, drinker of beer...

I should have stayed out of this one...

Chillin...

Nice pic of Jane...

I only wish I could provide the accompanying sound effects...

Classic...

Me and Gina...

Busting out the cigars...

Gina took this pic, it's one of my favorites from the evening...

Daniel showing Brian Hurley a thing or two about the box step...

We surprisingly had very few pictures of fireworks...

Happy 4th everyone!

"It's Been Way Too Long Since I've Done a Blog" Blog

2007-07-01T14:52:00.000-04:00

(Also called the longest blog ever...). Today is July 1st (Happy Birthday Elisabeth!) and, contrary to what I was expecting last semester, I have kept busy all summer. Between work ( The Center for HIV Law & Policy), the Moot Court competition, and entertaining (Vincent's in town, see pics below) - I have had very little time to just kick back.

A blog is long overdue and there were many events between last March and now that were deserving of individual blogs. Ahem, let's start at the beginning...

Gina, Daniel, Amy, and I took a wonderful 48 hour spring break vacation to the City of Brotherly Love...

Here is the only picture of all four of us at Ben Franklin's grave...

We were all a little surprised how cheap the orange juice was until we got it...

Best pretzels EVER! Thank you Robert Repino...

And of course, like total tourists, Daniel and I had to pretend to be Rocky Balboa...

And naturally there is video evidence as well...

THEN there was the St. Patty's day party that Daniel and Amy had at their apartment in Brooklyn (we decided later that it was indeed legendary...)

THEN there was the end of my first year of school.

Well, there aren't any pictures to commemorate this event but I'll just say that I have never in my entire life felt as great a sense of relief. The year was grueling, awful, challenging, and yet deeply satisfying. I am pretty sure that there's a special part of hell (where all of the lawyers go) that is just a repeating first year of law school. Great to be done though - it's too bad there aren't any pics, oh well.

Here's a picture that represents how I felt that day...

Okay, THEN there was my Parent's surprise anniversary. They didn't suspect a thing and everyone agreed that the event was a success. Here's the video slideshow that was presented that evening.

... and some pics from the event...

The exact moment of surprise...

My little brother Vincent has been in town for the last few weeks and my favorite Maui-ian friends (Erin and Misha) have been in town as well. We've had alot of fun - here are some highlights..

I will post more regularly from here on. There should be plenty of interesting things on the horizon this summer in the greatest city in the world.

This Must Be a Life Lesson...

2007-03-02T18:35:00.000-05:00

All that snow that I was gushing about eventually looks like this...

That beautiful white blanket you fall in love with very quickly turns to a dirt slurpee...

Sigh, well here are a few more of the nice snow pics from downtown that I took earlier this week...

I Am Obsessed with Snow

2007-02-25T22:47:00.000-05:00

So I thought the snowy weather was through but on our way back from Amy's birthday dinner we got a nice surprise.

Here's a video of some beautiful Union Square snowfall. (The video quality is a little crappy...)

And some pictures to boot....

Followed by some Morningside Heights snowfall...

I love the snow, I don't get what's not to love. It makes the cold weather completely worth it...

Snow!

2007-01-31T00:31:00.000-05:00

I was on the phone with my friend Erin when I looked out the window and saw this...

It's been snowing very lightly these days so seeing the entire street with a blanket of snow is quite shocking. Here are some pics...

...awesome. It's about time.

Gina is Halfway to 48

2007-01-30T23:17:00.000-05:00

Today was Gina's 24th birthday. We spent a good part of the day walking around Tribeca, shopping, shopping, and, well, shopping. It was the first time Gina celebrated her birthday without any family but we managed to have a very full and satisfying day which included breakfast in bed:

...wandering through lower Manhattan, shopping:

... and enjoying the Manhattan Vegan cuisine
(Caravan of Dreams - amazing, amazing food. Gina and I HIGHLY recommend it!):

All in all it was a wonderful day. Today was a day off and really a day of bliss. It's too bad that tomorrow we must return to the grind of the middle of the week. Oh well.

Oh yeah, I also had an important interview today (I don't normally walk around in suits in case you were wondering...)

Manhattan in Manhattan

2007-01-07T12:56:00.000-05:00

Gina and I spent our Friday evening with a couple of friends seeing Woody Allen's classic Manhattan on the big screen in Greenwich Village. The Film Forum has been doing an "Essentially Woody" series for the last 6 weeks or so and we knew there was something uniquely cool about seeing Manhattan in the Village. Gina and I own Manhattan on DVD and enjoy watching it from time to time, but there was something so magnificent about seeing it on the silver screen in a theater packed with New Yorkers.

Some YouTuber with good taste put the opening scene online. Here it is...

Could be one of the greatest opening scenes ever. If you haven't seen the movie it's definitely worth checking out.

Saturday night was interesting as well. I guess for the first Saturday of every month the Brooklyn Museum opens its doors to the public for a night of art and music. Gina and I went with friends to see an exhibition by Ron Mueck (which was impressive and disturbing at the same time), and heard some amazing guitar work by Stephane Wrembel (who destroyed my confidence in playing the guitar). I was able to recover though, and we spent the rest of the night at a friend's place singing songs and enjoying each others' company.

All in all it has been a great weekend.

Battery Park at Sunset

2007-01-03T20:42:00.000-05:00

Somewhere between late November and mid-December (when I was absolutely swamped with studying) I got this idea in my head that I had to go to Battery Park to see the sunset. And so today Gina and I, with our brief spare time together, took a trip to the southern tip of Manhattan to watch the sun go down.

The pictures below are of the last few moments of sunlight in the New York sky. These pictures were so nice (and hey, I've got some spare time!) that I thought I'd just post a blog about them.

Enjoy.

This battered sculpture was in the center of the World Trade Center Plaza and was recovered after September 11th. Here is a picture of it before the attacks. It now serves as a makeshift memorial in lower Manhattan.

The Front Sight Challenge

2007-01-02T10:30:00.000-05:00

It's good to be back in New York. Gina and I had a fantastic time in California but living out of a suitcase and not sleeping in your own bed can wear thin.

Before Gina and I moved to New York I worked as a video editor for a reality show that was still in the process of being sold. I left California uncertain as to when the show would air but I found out while visiting California that the show had been sold and would begin to air January 5th.

I'm pretty sure that most of my friends and family aren't the target audience for the show (it's ironic that someone with my politics even worked on this show) but if you know someone who is into competitive shooting, spread the word. It's a good show.

Here's a link to the Stations website: Versus (Formerly the Outdoor Living Network)

The episodes air on Friday at 5:30pm and replay the following Sunday. I am particularly proud of the episode that airs on January 19th (and again on the 21st) . Be sure to tune in and let me know what you think.

Think Long and Hard About Law School...

2006-12-20T22:12:00.000-05:00

I am done with the semester. I have two days to spend with my wife in the greatest city in the world before we head back to sunny Southern California. My mind is such mush right now I can't even think of something nice and reflective about the end of my first semester in Law School. It was hard but I loved it. I just hope my brain can endure another semester.

Christmas Time is Here

2006-12-12T18:36:00.000-05:00

I just finished my property final. It was 4 hours of non-stop thinking. I'm exhausted but I've decided to give myself the evening to relax before I start up again tomorrow for my last two finals. I've been wanting to post a Christmas blog for weeks now. I've been so busy but I've still noticed all of the little details of the holiday season springing up slowly.

So here are some pictures of the city that I've been wanting to put up. The first few pictures are of our place. Gina, in her infinitely festive personality, decorated our tree the day it arrived from California (thanks again Kim for shipping that for us).

This giant blue Christmas tree is the one in the Lincoln Center Plaza that I get to walk by every night on my way home.

I am planning on taking a bunch of pictures of a New York City Christmas as soon as I'm done with finals. Maybe then we'll have a white Christmas.

Hillary's Victory Party

2006-11-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday night Gina and I were able to attend Hillary Clinton's victory party (thanks to a good friend who will go unnamed in case she doesn't want to be mentioned). Gina had two papers due the next day and I was trying to catch up on my long memo - but we decided to put it all aside for the night, and revel in the celebration of a new political climate. And I tell ya, there's nothing like a ballroom full of energized New York democrats.

We were about ten feet from the podium where Hillary Clinton gave her speech. Bill stood quietly behind her. Gina and I were filled with an excitement that had basically been absent since our hearts were broken by the last presidential election.

The pictures say it all. [I know there's an excess of photos here but believe me, I took waaay more...]

Overall this has been an amazing last few days. Good time to be a democrat for sure...

For the Sex and the City Fans

2006-11-02T17:20:00.000-05:00

I read the AM every morning on the subway. I chuckled at seeing this on the 5th page.

That's right. Aiden is playing at Big's club. It's only fair though, seeing that Big crashed at Aiden's cabin (if you're a fan of the show, you know).

The city is looking more and more beautiful as we inch into November. I'll be sure to add some more pics in the near future.

- Alex -

When Autumn Leaves Start to Fall...

2006-10-23T10:06:00.000-04:00

[For the first time since I started school, I over slept and missed my first (and ONLY!) class this morning. In order to feel worse I've decided to post a small blog and waste an additional 10 minutes...]

It's getting colder and the leaves are starting to change.

Autumn is Gina's favorite season and New York is starting to display some amazing colors. In Berkeley there was some seasonal change but I get the feeling that we'll definitely see it here in all its splendor...

The semester is really starting to wind up.

Finals are two months away and there's already an electric panic in the air among the 1L's. Must learn the Rule Against Perpetuities... Mustn't panic...

In the meantime, the city is beautiful...

Makes No Sense

2006-10-06T14:02:00.000-04:00

The weather here makes no sense...

I keep three things next to the front door:

1) My sunglasses
2) My umbrella
3) My coat

This last month, on any given day I could walk out needing any one of the following combinations:

Sunglasses alone - for the really warm sunny days

Sunglasses and coat - for the really bright and sunny days where it's still freezing in the shade (very Berkeley-ish weather)

Coat alone - for those chilly and gloomy weekdays

Coat and umbrella - for those miserable cold, rainy, and freakishly windy days

Coat, Umbrella, and sunglasses - for the days when it's raining in the morning but there are still patches of blue sky which will later provide sun and heat...

It's a crap shoot.

I'm sure there's some great math you can do here to figure out the odds of me correctly taking all of the necessary items each morning... And I'm sure that math is not promising.

I should just laugh at the fact that consistently I'll be sweating in the afternoon heat with an umbrella in my hand or holding a newspaper over my head in the pouring rain with my sunglasses in the pocket of my soaked coat...

The only foolproof thing to do is to leave in the morning, rain or shine, with all three items, but there's no way of telling if you'll need all three or just the damn sunglasses. This drives me nuts.

The weather forecasts always read "partly cloudy with a chance of rain" which is of little help. This gives room for a variety of equally likely conditions, sunny, cloudy, or rainy...

People who know me know that I like to make systematic sense out of routine things such as weather, traffic, and grocery shopping. The climate here is a complete challenge to my desire for predictability.

Maybe I need to live here long enough to become aware of certain patterns or clues in the atmosphere.

Until then I'll be bitter at the lack of predictability.

Here are some great pictures to offset this otherwise frustrating blog...

Meanwhile, a few miles away

2006-09-21T00:02:00.000-04:00

I was in front of my library today about to go in and study. Outside of the library there are several televisions that were broadcasting CNN and a few students watching the headlines.

What I saw was Hugo Chavez at the UN referring to Bush as the devil and the commotion he was causing.

I've seen more interesting things on CNN but I was struck by the fact that this was happening about 2 miles east of where I was standing.

Having lived in California my whole life, it's really odd to be in a city that is so internationally important. I can't think of anything like that ever happening so casually in southern or northern California. I was in the middle of my routine of reading property cases on a Wednesday and on the lower east side the Venezuelan president was chewing out George W. Bush with the whole world watching.

It seems like this 2 1/2 by 12 mile island is the center of the universe at times. Meanwhile I'm worried about getting my reading done...

There Are Two Colors in My Head

2006-09-12T09:47:00.000-04:00

I've discovered, in using my new iPod, that the Radiohead song "Everything in its Right Place" is the most amazing song to listen to when on the subway. There's just something completely perfect about the rhythm of the song and the soft hum of the subway car. I can't completely explain it. I've gotten into the habit of putting that song on in the evening on my way home and each time it just puts me in a soothing state of mind.

If you don't know what song or album I'm talking about, stop what you're doing right now and go buy Radiohead's Kid A. Fantastic album - you will thnk me later.

9/11/2006

2006-09-11T20:03:00.000-04:00

Reflecting about today...

Today was the 5-year anniversary of September 11th. On Mondays I only have one class that's over by 11am. I usually spend the rest of the day reading in the library. I hadn't thought there was any reason to break my routine but I randomly decided to go to the World Trade Center to see what the atmosphere was like. I'm glad I went.

I headed downtown on an express train. Gina coincidentally got out of class early and met me down there. Upon exiting the subway station on Chambers, I immediately noticed that there were cops everywhere. There were cops on every corner watching the crowds of people and there were cops in their best uniforms standing at the site.

At the site itself there were many people - more than I thought there would be. I was surprised to see how many people were there with a political bent. The somber atmosphere was frequently interrupted by right and left wing ideologues shouting back and forth at each other. Bush supporters had signs blaming the Clinton administration and supporting the Iraq war. Leftists had anti-bush slogans and peace signs. There was a large group of "investigate 9/11" conspiracy theorists who were handing out leaflets to mourners. Some people were raising bibles and talking about doomsday, some people were cursing islam.

In a way it is comforting to see freedom of speech at work. I thought most of it was completely inappropriate though. I was looking at some artwork at the site when I heard one Burly, Irish looking cop mutter, "they could come here ANY other day of the year."

People had left flowers and letters on the fences. Some people had put pictures of their loved ones too. Throughout the day I saw people with images of (presumably) loved ones. I was particularly struck by this towering African American male, who looked like he could be the biggest guy on a professional football team, quietly crying near the fence. I saw that he was wearing a white t-shirt with an image of what must have been his younger brother. Inside St. Paul's church, many Cops and Firemen were mourning as well. It seemed like every other pair of eyes was red from crying.

There were a few people reading short biographies of each victim. A crowd had gathered around them and the three readers alternated reading. They were reading from a thick book called "September 11th Portraits" and appeared to be less than halfway through the book.

Gina and I strolled by the fence, looking at the beautiful photography, the painfully long list of names, and the countless flowers and cards decorating the site. It was a very sad and almost tiring atmosphere and I kept feeling pangs of anger thinking about the merciless, dogmatic, and self righteous hatred that each of those 19 fanatics had for this amazing and welcoming country.

Gina and I headed back uptown in the afternoon. I still had to read at the library and Gina had plenty of homework to do in Morningside Heights. I was really glad that we had spent those couple of hours at the site admiring the spirit of the city and its amazingly resilient citizens. It would be the compliment of a lifetime to one day be called a New Yorker.

519 West 121st Street

2006-09-03T23:31:00.000-04:00

All right, here are some pics of the new place. The place definitely exceeded our expectations and we are already feeling quite cozy here. Except for the lack of a garbage disposal, I couldn't be happier with our place.

I'll put up some cooler ones when I come across them

- Alex -

Beggars CAN be Choosers

2006-08-22T17:55:00.000-04:00

Okay, I have a TON of reading to do so I'm only taking 10 minutes to write this one...

When I left Fordham this afternoon I saw a bunch of Deli-style Mozzerella/tomato/basil sandwiches that were leftover from the lunch the law school provided on day 2 of orientation (fewer vegetarians I guess). One of the caterers saw me glance at the sandwiches and offered them to me (which I, in my cheap ways, happily accepted).

On the subway ride back to the apartment I hear this old skinny man say, "Excuse me everybody! I am so hungry right now. I am desperate for a meal. If anyone can please spare a dollar or a quarter for a meal..." He then proceeded to sing a James Brown tune while holding his hat out to other subway commuters.

Remembering my new wealth of sandwiches, I took one out and offered it to the old man as he walked by. The old man stopped singing, looked at the sandwich, looked back at me (oh yeah, he had about 4 teeth and an eyepatch) and said, "It doesn't have any goddamn meat!" The old man kept walking, and resumed singing with his hat out.

I must admit I was a little put off by such a rude comment. I mean, they're really delicious sandwiches and he didn't even think twice about taking one. Couldn't have been too "desperate for a meal" I guess.

First Entry

2006-08-18T20:08:00.000-04:00

Gina and I arrived in New York City on the 7th. Since then we have been enjoying the city with both my parents (from the 7th to the 14th) and my brother-in-law Charles (from the 14th to presently...). The last time we were here was over a year ago when Gina and I were looking at both Columbia and NYU for grad school (for Gina... I would discover that I lacked the ability to get into either of these schools :( ). During the time we spent in SoCal I quickly forgot how HUGE the island of Manhattan actually is. There is so much culture and character to every street and neighborhood on this small piece of land. I'm glad Gina and I have had this extra time to soak up some of the city before we are both swamped with school. Despite our ongoing troubles with the movers (and Gina's inability to find "flaming hot cheetos" ANYWHERE in this city) everything feels like it's coming together.

Here are some pics of good times so far...