NYC

One week ago today I arrived in NYC with Jordan. I got off at the Avenue of the Americas and 51st while Jordan goes to his convention. Walking north I ran into Central Park. If you have not been there you can not understand how it is. It is huge and it's in the middle of Manhattan, which is huge. Size takes on whole new proportions in NY. It's not a matter of width, not a matter of square footage. It's a matter of depth, but not your regular three dimensional kind. I will talk about it more as I explore NYC, for now let's just say it's a matter of complexity. I walked for hours and hours and still did not explore all of the park. I did have the pleasure to meet a few street performers though. The first was an older Russian gentleman named Boris. He was playing his saxophone by the pond on the south end. We talked for a while, about NY and Moscow mostly. He had a regular job, he was a regular dude, but on his day off he liked to play at the park to pick up a few extra dollars. He was really pretty good and set a nice atmosphere. The next performers were a two Japanese tap dancers. They were very good, I sat spellbound for long enough that I decided to throw them some cash. Then I sat around until they where done. The older of the 2 did all the talking. She was 28 and had been studying for 3 years. The younger of the two was apparently famous in Japan at only 18. English was rough and we ran out of things to talk about before to long. It was time for lunch. I saw a woman with a whole foods bag so I asked her where the store was. She recoiled as if I was threatening her with a baseball bat or something. "It's... over there... I think?" I almost asked if she had to think hard about that, maybe the blond die in her hair ruined her memory? Whatever. I wandered whole foods for a while and picked up some food at the hot bar. I forgot how expensive the stuff is when your not getting 20% off. I sat down to eat across from a book wormish looking girl and said "Hi" she responded with caution. After spilling some food on myself I asked for a napkin... Then I apologized for eating my dessert first when all she was eating was a salad. I finally broke down her barriers with a question about her book. We ended up talking for a while, just chit chat, it was quite pleasant. I wandered the Time Warner building for a while, it was impressive. On the to floor there was an art gallery, the art that was showing was less then spectacular but the space itself seemed to be quite special. Finding my way to Broadway brought me by a thick crowd barricaded away from a building with cops and a few other people out front. I thought it might have been a murder or something but it turned out to be some movie stars I had never heard of. Walking away I heard someone say "I can't believe I just saw and that's so cool." I don't get it. At this point I got lost. -cut to dinner- After walking around with Jordan for an hour or so we settled into a little coffee shop for a few. There was an acting/production crew having a meeting there and while Jordan used the Internet I eaves dropped. It was pretty cool, I just discovered my new hobby. Later I would find myself walking ahead of a group just within earshot for long stints. Maybe it's wrong, but it was interesting. Finally we found a good Vietnamese restaurant. A woman across the way had just gotten back from Thailand. She had only gone to the touristic spots in Bangkok and south. She had allot of gripes about Thailand. Reminded me of a man I met going to Doi Sutep. He said he had not been impressed with anything he had seen in Thailand. When I asked him he had not been any place that would take any personal effort. I didn't want to sunshine on his rainy parade so I just kept my mouth shut. And again on that fateful Thursday in the restaurant I didn't say anything. Mostly because it would be an admission that I was eaves dropping.
Jordan was leaving after dinner, I was staying. I know I play Mr. Tuff Guy. Mr. I'm not afraid of anything. Yeah, ummm... NYC at 10pm with 2 big bags and no place to stay. I was a little hesitant. I asked Jordan to drop me off in a "good spot" and when we found a skater park I hopped out. A quick goodbye later and I was alone, with over a million people around. I walked up to the skaters and asked where I could go to find some friends. I was directed to the lower east side, and if I wanted to wait for his friends Rocky would walk me there. Walking past Union Square Rocky decided that I could meet people there and if I didn't I could crash at his place. But he was busy for a few hours. Rocky was on his way, he was getting shit done. He wants to make a movie about 3 guys who drive to Miami to get a girl back. On the way they get totally distracted by this and that and have a wild and crazy time. I did my part and filled in some gaps of what you can do on the east coast headed towards Miami. Rocky of course had never been south of DC.
I met two nice guys in Union Square. Not much to note I guess. One of them worked for myspace and when Broke called they showed me how to use the subway.


Chapter 2: NO SLEEP TILL... BROOKLYN!

I managed to get to Brooklyn just in time to pass out on a couch. I woke up to a new and exciting life. Every good party house has a name. I was staying at Asterik. I didn't know this until the next (Friday) night. There was going to be a party and my job was to feed the roommates before it started. It was around 8pm when someone was at the door asking if I knew where Asterik was. "Nope". Luckily for them I asked Broke where it was and ran down to catch them before they took off. After the light and sound guys the artist came to hang their pieces. I clicked with them immediately. I offered them food and they gave me a painting. They actually gave me the one I would have chosen for myself. I didn't think food was enough so I also offered to help Tomas with his break dancing injury. I showed him some stretches and some TYT. He was very grateful. The party kicked off. Great music, great people. I was thinking I was only going to be there for the night so I was watching more then interacting. At the end of the night there was a little drama with Rangie. He had fooled around with the girl that Broke had just met and wanted Broke to back off. He was using pretty juvenile tactics to manipulate his friends and although it's really not my job, as a favor to Broke I decided to run interference.
Step one: understanding the situation.
Easy enough. Broke was the host of the party (status) with more refined social skills and a confidence level that rivals my own. Laura was young and attractive and looking for a good time. Obviously Rangie was jealous.
Step two: building rapport and or dive

rting attention
I calmly introduce myself as if I have no stake in the situation. Simultaneously diverting away from Broke and towards me. Rangie was focused and back on target. He informs me of the situation from his point of view. (which I already knew from eaves dropping) I told him what I thought about the situation. Didn't help a bit. I stuck around and guided him away from Broke until he was safely in his room. At this point I realized I couldn't ease Rangies mind and I went to lay down.
Step three: A threat.
Incidentally my couch was right outside of Broke's room. Laura came out to use the restroom. She lingered and asked if there was another bathroom. Nope, she had to go through. I figured that she's a big girl and can take care of herself. But when I heard a crash in the other room I had to get involved again. I don't know why she didn't just walk on by, but instead she was allowing Rangie to bully her around. I walked up and physically got in between them and she backed away but didn't leave the room. I backed off hoping the situation would resolve and noticed Broke coming. It was almost over and I didn't want everything to start again so I told him to wait. Then Rangie made a move toward her and I put on a mean face. "you don't need to get nervous" he said. I wasn't nervous "I'm not, I'm warning you." "Oh, OK" Then I directed Lauren out of the room s I could finally get some sleep. Unfortunately I had to extract myself from the situation skillfully which took a while.
By the end of it I had gotten to know Rangie and Shaun pretty well, I had helped Broke not have to deal with the sillyness and I had gained the respect of everyone left at the party, including Rangie. I couldn't have more pleased with myself. Since I am not going to finish the rest of the week now I will say that Rangie is a really nice guy. He was just drunk and feeling sorry for himself, nothing he did was intentionally violent or a display of ill intentions. And I would like to bring it to attention that almost everyone has been on his side of the story. For lack of alcohol or whatever some of us may not have been so open and clumsy with it. But we have all gotten jealous and we have all made asses of our selves. Right?