OK, so I'll do without the short skirt mentioned in Cake's song, but what do you think of the long jacket? I found this adorable wool winter coat at Paul Frank today and I think it was made just for me. Um, it's $149. It's on hold for me until close tomorrow. Please let me know what you think! 
-Cake-
It may be too early to be getting nostalgic about this whole experiences, since I still have eight days to enjoy the New York goodness of life. But maybe more than just the New York experience, I am feeling nostalgic about this position I have such a habit of getting into. The one where you come to love a place full circle: for what makes it fascinating to everyone else and for all of it's hidden charms that might mean something only to you. Where you have friends so close you swear you've known them forever, but so new that you constantly have to remind yourself that you don't know most of each others stories.
devastating night without Damien Rice. I was lucky enough to have Kellen to go with at the last minute and we had a fabulous time. We took the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) out to Jones Beach Theatre and watched two of the most passionate performers I've ever seen. The only disappointment was that Damien didn't sing Cannonball or Blower's Daughter or Lonelily... but he did sing quite a few songs that I was unfamiliar with and fell in love with at first listen. His lyrics are so passionately heartbreaking. I think there's a little part of each of us that can relate completely. The venue was amazing. The water surrounds the entire stage and then the stadium comes out onto the land. It's a pretty sweet setup.
I'm not going to lie. I love the recent progress that deoderant ads have made. In New York City subways, tunnels are lined with secrets from shareyoursecret.com. I can't get enough and every time I see that baby blue color, I get excited to see if it is a new secret that I haven't read. I'm pretty sure I've got the ones along the 59th Street-Colombus Circle station memorized: I've been married before and my kids don't know; I regift; I'm a CEO and I hate my job; I have a crush on your father. I actually visited the site and posted a secret myself. I went back a few days later and saw that it had been viewed over 120 times. I guess it's not much of a secret anymore...
It just so happens that I have some very attrative and extremely photogenic friends. So I enjoy taking pictures of them. Here are a few from the beach today.
Adrienne:
Megan:
Chateau:
Here's one Adrienne took of me:
-The Appleseed Cast-
I know it's been 
forever since I've posted. I've just been too busy taking the city in, 
and I haven't made time to 
write about it. But I'll do my best to go back and cover the happenings from the last two weeks -- obviously a lot has been going on. Today Megan and I took the D train all the way through Brooklyn, out to Coney Island for the Siren Music Fest.
While I'm not sure we took full advantage of the free concert, we did soak in the of sights, sounds, smells and screams of Coney Island. I think we hit all of the highlights except for maybe a ride on the Cyclone or Wonder Wheel. We did, however, eat Nathan's World F
amous hot dogs - home of the official 
hot 
dog eating competition in which contestants have 12 minutes to devour as many hot dogs as possible. In case you're curious, it's broadcast live on ESPN every Fourth of July. This year's record: 53.75. One was enough for me. A salsa cheese dog, to be exact. And some creamy garlic fries. And old-fashioned lemonade. You can be jealous. It was really good.
give us a beautiful day. Coney Island is a pretty incredible place. It's a swirl of colors and lights and laughter and fun.
One question: Why did it take me until Friday to discover that I work a block and a half from the MoMA? On Fridays the MoMA is free in the evening, so I spent the evening wandering through. Having studied art history with an emphasis in contemporary and modern art, it was pretty incredible to see a lot of the work up close -- some for the first time.
On Thursday I hit Prospect Park once again for Celebrate Brooklyn. This time it was Yo La Tengo, but they didn't give a traditional concert. They did something a lot cooler. They set up a huge movie screen and played 10-20 minute silent documentary films about different sea creatures and Yo La Tengo provided the soundtrack. They did quite a few films with Radiohead Kid-A-esque ambiant noise, while they took some other films as a chance to rock out completely. The films were all by French producers, so several were cleverly risque (scandalous but completely free of scandal) with a focus on the reproduction aspect of the creatures. Did you know that male sea horses carry their young? I am constantly amazed as I learn about the struggles and sacrifies that the male species make for their young in the animal world -- think March of the Penguins. 
Brent, Seth and I had a great time, but maybe not as good as the people in front of us. They were smoking (not cigarettes) the whole time and finally the one sitting in front of me went into convulsions and then began to vomit. For as much as I was enjoying the music, I couldn't take the smell for too long and I had to leave early.
appreciate her style as much. She's a cabaret singer, so every note is filled with vibrato. Tony's songs could probably be criticized as overly romantic, but I'm sure he could make any girl melt with his mad piano skills, his cool, sensual voice, and lyrics like, "break my heart, I'd still be glad I found you." This was one of those concerts that came as a perfectly impressive surprise. One that changed me, if only slightly.
On Sunday, I got to meet up with my dear mission president and his family! They came to the US for a reunion in Utah and spent 4 days in New York first. On Sunday we went to church together at the stake center in Manhattan. Then we enjoyed lunch together and had some time to catch up. It was so great to see them!
There's nothing in the world like a nice garden. Today as I emerged from that strange funk that only unanticipated Sunday afternoon naps can bring, I decided that I needed to get out and get over it. Has anyone else noticed that Sunday naps bring a considerable increase to the number and strength of wrinkles induced on your clothing? Maybe it's just me. Anyway, to pull out of the haze that followed my nap, I decided to go for a walk at Heather Garden in Fort Tryon Park. It was a lovely little sunset stroll - the air was filled with rosemary and lavendar, occasionally kissed by the sweetness of a lily or a rose. Someday when I settle down, I will have a garden of my own. But for now I can appreciate the beauty that has been created by nature cared for by others.
Five floors up. Two trash cans below. Make what you will of it. I only observed.
There's something so magical about being on top of the world. Or at least at a place where you can look down from above. On Friday after we got some grub in the Village, we headed to Collin's house to explore the view from his rooftop. 
The city lights lit up the horizon and the nightlife buzzed below. Although we didn't sleep on the roof, we were definitely there during the hours that are traditionally used for sleeping... in any city except for New York.
Or the source of seven minutes of amazing entertainment (when with eight friends)
-Tracy Chapman-
In Battery Park there is a clever little fountain that shoots straight out of the ground. It often attracts young children on hot summer days to cool in it's pulsing rhythm of spurting chilled goodness, and in the evening it provides a feast for the eyes as a firey light display becomes visible when the water becomes illuminated in it. It was this same fountain that found us gazing, then splashing like little children on Thursday night. I love things that bring out the child inside.
