New York: the good, bad, and oh-so-ugly
So what to say about my brief stint in New York? Because there was good, bad, and oh-so-ugly.
First the good:
Amanda Palmer was freaking amazing, as per usual. She brought down the house and introduced us to four (yes, four!) opening bands and closed the show with David Byrne singing “Burning Down the House” together. She was charismatic and funny and charming in equal measure and the only thing missing was my Matt-matt by my side. Ah well, I had rather lovely company nonetheless. I am very much looking forward to her show in L.A. next month. Should be fantastic!
Also, New Yorkers are nicer than I thought. I ended up striking up conversations with a few of ‘em and they were all rather sweet. The best being the older New York music critic who shared a cab back to Manhattan from Brooklyn at 1 in the morning when (for some mysterious unknown reason) there were no L trains coming back into the city and he paid for our cab fare stating that he’ll just use it as a work expense. Awesome!
There’s a great Asian presence in NY. I had fun hitting up all the Japanese stores and stuffing my face with good Japanese food.
The bad:
Public transportation. Trains in New York are not fun and we got lost a couple of times trying to get to the venue. I was starting to get frustrated and grumpy - mad props to Nicholai for being laid-back and just leaving me to it, haha.
The Superhero Supply Store was closed! We made a special trip back to Brooklyn yesterday morning and I am rather sad that I can’t checkmark that 826 store off my bucketlist. Sadness.
The ugly:
The bus ride home. Ooooh the bus ride home. That was the most miserable 2 hours of my life in recent history. Well, the bus ride itself back to DC ended up being close to 7 hours all told but the first two hours involved us sitting idle on a New York highway in rush hour traffic in 90 degree weather with no air conditioning to speak of. I felt like I was slowly suffocating from a hot, humid pillow made of air smothering my face. Oh, it was absolutely awful!! I felt wretched. So, no more Bolt Bus for me. I’ll consider Mega Bus next time once the scars of this journey have faded enough for me not to remember quite so vividly.
And now I leave you with the end of the New York show:
First the good:
Amanda Palmer was freaking amazing, as per usual. She brought down the house and introduced us to four (yes, four!) opening bands and closed the show with David Byrne singing “Burning Down the House” together. She was charismatic and funny and charming in equal measure and the only thing missing was my Matt-matt by my side. Ah well, I had rather lovely company nonetheless. I am very much looking forward to her show in L.A. next month. Should be fantastic!
Also, New Yorkers are nicer than I thought. I ended up striking up conversations with a few of ‘em and they were all rather sweet. The best being the older New York music critic who shared a cab back to Manhattan from Brooklyn at 1 in the morning when (for some mysterious unknown reason) there were no L trains coming back into the city and he paid for our cab fare stating that he’ll just use it as a work expense. Awesome!
There’s a great Asian presence in NY. I had fun hitting up all the Japanese stores and stuffing my face with good Japanese food.
The bad:
Public transportation. Trains in New York are not fun and we got lost a couple of times trying to get to the venue. I was starting to get frustrated and grumpy - mad props to Nicholai for being laid-back and just leaving me to it, haha.
The Superhero Supply Store was closed! We made a special trip back to Brooklyn yesterday morning and I am rather sad that I can’t checkmark that 826 store off my bucketlist. Sadness.
The ugly:
The bus ride home. Ooooh the bus ride home. That was the most miserable 2 hours of my life in recent history. Well, the bus ride itself back to DC ended up being close to 7 hours all told but the first two hours involved us sitting idle on a New York highway in rush hour traffic in 90 degree weather with no air conditioning to speak of. I felt like I was slowly suffocating from a hot, humid pillow made of air smothering my face. Oh, it was absolutely awful!! I felt wretched. So, no more Bolt Bus for me. I’ll consider Mega Bus next time once the scars of this journey have faded enough for me not to remember quite so vividly.
And now I leave you with the end of the New York show:
Click to view