Bro.

I got it out of my brother--he does have a crush on a girl at school!!! Didn't press him on it, but it was exciting to know. 7th grade, it's the time. I still recall my middle school years pretty clearly. My first major crush started then as well. I personally think that my brother a is quality young man. He does super well in school, which of course automatically classifies him as a "nerd," but hey, I was there too -- and probably still am, and proud of it. Continuing, my brother (credit to my mom) dresses well. None of that high water crap. He has well fitted shirts and pants (not too sagging to qualify for detention, but "cool"). Though, he does wear glasses..., which isn't the coolest thing for middle schoolers. Nevertheless, my brother is also in fantastic shape and plays a mean game of tennis. He's one of the top runners of his entire class--pretty impressive. Playing at least 2+ hours of tennis a day, he's pretty damn fit. If he keeps these sports up, he's bound to have a 6 pack. Seriously, I want to be like him, well, maybe not the 6 pack. If only I were that fit... Now, next step is to teach him how to dance and ask that girl out successfully, while working around the 'rents of course.


Conversing with X is like my daily shot of coffee, except I don't drink coffee. But it makes me giddy and gives me a shot of adrenaline! If X only knew. X very well may. X is one of the few people I am completely comfortable around. I've shared more with X than I have with most other people.

Living like "Friends"

My roommate and I have have decided to take advantage of our fire escape to live the Friends epitomized New York life.

Our plan: She will be the vocalist and I will be the guitar accompanist. We share the same tastes in music so it should work out. She already has a wonderful voice, therefore the onus of success falls on me to rapidly "up" my rocking guitar skills. At this moment, I don't even have a guitar, nevertheless know how to strum a chord.

But I am optimistic. The first snowfall was yesterday, so I will have until it gets warm to improve. My new after work life beginning December will be to drink wine while playing chords.

We're completely psyched for this. This definitely ranks as one of my coolest ideas to date.

Run A, Run

So I am officially a masochist as I am going to train for the New Jersey Marathon next May.
Perhaps I'll get closer to a Boston qualifying time???

Bracing myself for the NY winter...
http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=501090503

NYC Dining and Drinking

Living in New York City, I’ve visit countless restaurants, bars and clubs, yet I constantly find myself at a loss when people ask for recommendations. Therefore, today, I decided to organize my life and compile a list of all the cafes, restaurant, bars, and nightclubs that I have visited since coming to the City 2 months ago. Based on the list, I’ve frequented 50+ locales in the 60 or so days that I’ve been here—for an average of a place a day. That’s pretty incredible, or should I say ridiculous? NYC definitely promotes excess. Apparently this is how I’ve been able to get by without really cooking a real meal for the past two summers and for the last two months.

I plan to continue adding to this food list as I go along. I have visited many great places and have forgotten about them soon afterward—documenting will help keep them fresh in my mind. Come next time when someone needs a recommendation for a Burmese, a Jamaican, or an Italian eatery, all I have to do is to reference my list to make a personal recommendation.

I like to believe that that I’m helping to keep the economy afloat by living the all-American consumer lifestyle. This is part of living in NYC. Our apartments are too small to entertain guests, consequentially, our social life centers around restaurants and bars. Yet I would like to believe that I’m not as excessive in my shopping or eating out habits as everyone else. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you how I’m a huge advocator of meeting up to do something off the beaten track—I’m a huge advocate of making the most of the city’s events, from architecture open houses to film screenings to volunteer efforts. Maybe I should push even harder to meet for even more nontraditional reunions?

A few selected recommendations:
3rd Floor Café— Bar in K-town (entrance is disguised by a brightly lit elevator lobby)
Nyonya – Malaysian Restaurant in Little Italy (delicious Malay food)
Stout – Restaurant/Bar near Penn Station (a huge selection of beers and great all American food)
Annisa – Asian Fusion Restaurant in West Village (elegant and new American food. Female chef and all wines are from female run vineyards)
Il Corallo Trattoria – Italian Restaurant in Soho (great pastas)
Norma's – Breakfast Restaurant in Midtown West (sumptious brunch restaurant)
Billy's Cupcakes – Bakery Chelsea (cute unpretentious bakery)

Consumer Insights

Walking to work is dangerous. No, not in the sense that I’ll get mugged in Time’s Square in board daylight at 9am, but rather that I end going on spontaneous shopping sprees and arrive at the office 2 hours later.

Living in Chelsea, my morning commute takes me through the Garment District, Penn Station, up Madison, and 5^th Ave. – the prime shopping locations in Manhattan and arguably of the world. It’s beautiful walking the NYC streets in the brisk September air. The skyscraper sights, the European tourists, the pretzel vendors, the business suited workers, etc., each group, each person plays a key role in the city fabric, Manhattan wouldn’t be the same if any of them were missing.

My insight for the day centers on the way stores catered their location inventory to their customers. Subconsciously, I’ve always known that even within the same store-chain, there various branches carry different lines. This makes intuitive sense, to cater the clothing lines to the customer demographic of the region. A Macy’s in San Diego would never carry thick wool coats even in December unless it was for a design fashion statement. It’s interesting to occasionally go beyond the consumer mind frame, and to understand the underlying business concepts of a restaurant, of a credit card, or of a simple notebook.

Today, I learned about the differences in the NYC H&Ms. These insights are useful to plan shopping trips that maximize chances of finding the right size and to avoiding the fitting room and checkout lines.

Some Quick Basics of H&M

The clothing shipments arrive every night and are organized at 6am before being placement on the floor for the store opening at 10am.

• H&M’s flagship store at 5^thAve. and 56^th carries their widest selection of clothing. Stop here to get the best idea of all the selection.
• The two stores near Penn station are the heaviest trafficked of all the Manhattan stores, to the point that they receive two shipments Thu-Sat and are open until 11pm. They carry more of younger Divided concept lines.
• The newest Manhattan location is on 5^th near Bryant Park. Because it’s located in a business area, it carries a wider line of career fashion. (And for those interested, they’re having a 1 yr anniversary event on the 25/26^th of this month).

The Sexist GOP

"In fact, McCain's idea that women will vote for the McCain/Palin ticket just because Palin has a vagina is incredibly condescending, as Ann Friedman at the American Prospect writes:

Palin's addition to the ticket takes Republican faux-feminism to a whole new level. As Adam Serwer pointed out on TAPPED, this is in fact a condescending move by the GOP. It plays to the assumption that disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters did not care about her politics -- only her gender. In picking Palin, Republicans are lending credence to the sexist assumption that women voters are too stupid to investigate or care about the issues, and merely want to vote for someone who looks like them. As Serwer noted, it's akin to choosing Alan Keyes in an attempt to compete with Obama for votes from black Americans.

A candidate should be chosen because they are qualified for the job, not because of their gender. Any hardworking woman who has been passed over for a promotion could have told the McCain campaign that."

Quoted from http://www.alternet.org/election08/97350/?page=3

TimeWarner Cable Guy

TimeWarner has abominal customer service. My experience with a TW customer service representative.


After waiting 10minues on the telephone and navigating through 6 operator menus...

B: Hi, my name is Brian. Can I have your name?
L: Yes. It's XXX XXXX. I'm calling today because I'm interested installing the basic cable and internet package that TW offers.
B: Let me place you on hold.
L: This was the right number to call, right?
B: Yes. I'm putting you on hold. *me wondering why after waiting on hold already to talk to him???*

5 minutes later...

B: What is your address?
L: ### XXX NYC
B: Again?
L: *slowly* ### XXY NYC
B: Can you repeat that?
L: *very very slowly for the third time* ### XXY NYC
B: Again?
L: We haven't even discussed plans yet, would it be easier to give you my zip code?
B: Yes, we can do that instead.
L: #####
B: When do you want to the set up?
L: As soon as possible. But before we get into the logistical aspects, can we discuss and decide on the plan?
B: I'm putting you on hold.
L: Again *cut off by hold*

4 minutes later...

B: Okay, I'm signing you up for the $99.98 plan with Spanish, English, HBO, blah blah blah...
L: Excuse me sir, I'm really just interested in just the very basic $15 cable and 10mgb internet option.
B: *totally ignoring me* blah blah blah, digital cable plans...blah blah blah...more channels...
L: Excuse me, I'm not interested in all those channels. I would just like the $15 basic cable option.
B: There is no $15 plan.
L: I'm sure there is. I have friends on it.
B: It doesn't exist.
L: But I spoke to another TW representative 4 days ago about it.
B: It no longer exists.
L: It was only 4 days ago.
B: The basic plan is $60 month. There is and has never been a $15 plan.
L: So you're telling me that the other TW representative was wrong?
B: Perhaps. *pause* Yes.
L: But how do you know that they are right and that you're wrong?
B: They are wrong.
L: So you're saying that some TW give out wrong info.
B: silence
L: Don't you all go through the same training? How can you be trained to give out conflicting info?
B: I'm right.

Conversation goes no where.

L: *exasperated* I would like to speak with another representative. Can you please transfer me. *didn't want to wade through another myriad of phone menus.*
B: No, you have to hang up and dial Customer Service again.
L: What if I get you again?

I hang up, vowing never to call TW again.

***addendum, my roommates called TW later in the afternoon and confirmed the existence of the $15 basic cable plan. But after these experiences, we're probably just going to go digital satellite.***