Me & NYC

2006-05-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Well my buddy just sent me a link to his blog (http://kwesibruni.blogspot.com/ ) and I really like the idea... especially since it hit home for me - having experienced those years at that address with him and that his home had such an impact in who & where I am today! Thanks Alex.. and thanks Stuart! Quite interesting how everything is so connected!

So here I am at work wanting to do the same, needing to let the world get to know me better. I haven't the time to start writing, but I thought I'd paste in a little something that I wrote during my NYC visit a few months back. Hope you enjoy...

NYC blog - Day 3

(I'll backtrack later for days 1 & 2)
Well today started with the local sports news on the tube, recapping last night's fresh memories of Madisson Square Garden and my first Rangers' game. It's interesting how NHL hockey is so different on TV - after all these years, it still surprises me.

Then I got ready and rushed to my course via, once again, the hustle & bustle of Times Square and the Manhattan subway system. Still, I made it there in 20mins - very cool. It sure is nice to know your way around... and regardless of the size of the city, the amount of traffic, or the multitude of crowds - NYC functions surprisingly well!

So my course pretty much sucked once again today - bad location, friggin hot & stuffy classroom and a terrible trainer. He started (again) boringly slow, devoting way too much time on useless introductory stuff & historic uselessness, along with self important stories and stupid jokes.... only to end up rushing through all the important "nuts&bolts" stuff later on in the day because we were (yet again) behind schedule!! Yup, history repeated itself - for the third day in a row! Very sad...

Anyway... after calling for my Friday airport ride & discovering that I'd need to return to my hotel for the pick-up, I decided to reverse my plans and visit Manhattan South today instead of tomorrow. So right after class I started to walk... I went straight for the Hudson River and then headed south, walking along the waterfront (across from Jersey - um, I mean, Joysee) towards downtown, where I could see City Hall, Wall Street, the NYSE, a distant view of the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island.... and of course the World Financial Center, home of the WTC site and Ground Zero.

Turns out that my walk-about brought me straight there, to an unknown (at the time) street corner, catching an unforeseen distant glimpse of where the Twin Towers used to stand... at which point a realisation hits me and I'm full of mixed emotions. I entered the "Winter Garden" building across the street from Ground Zero. After walking by an interesting WTC historic wall, I went to the second floor observation windows to see it all.

Wow...

Movies started playing in my head of that day, watching TV and seeing those planes hit, the people jumping and the towers collapsing. Dear God... This terrible sense of loss & sadness overwhelms me and I just stand there for who knows how long... frozen and fixated. So many people were killed right there across the street, senselessly. Just unbelievable.

Well to hell with seeing Wall Street now, and whatever else meaningless crap at this point. I grabbed a Starbuck's coffee and just started walking down the waterfront again, trying to find some internal peace.... and lose the urge to just cry. The sun was setting and I wanted to get to the tip of the island to catch the subway back uptown to my hotel before it got dark. Along the way, I got a closer look at the Stat of Lib & Ellis Isle.... and ironically, close looks at many planes flying overhead on their final landing patterns - an eerie feeling now, to say the least.

It was getting dark when I found the subway station and headed uptown to my Times Square home. I decided to get off one stop further (towards Central Park) and backtrack on Broadway towards my hotel. When I saw the discount ticket place up the road (sits across from my hotel) I knew I was going the right way. But this time I stopped and ended up buying a discounted ticket to a highly recommended Broadway show - my first one! The show (Chita Rivera's "The Dancer's Life") was OK really... but I may have done better with Rent. Still, I'm happy with the experience and it put a smile on my face again. Afterwards it was another Starbuck's visit, a walk through a brightly lit Times Square and then a hotel room where I am presently writing all this.

Well it's my last night here. It's home tomorrow night and I can't wait - been away too much lately. Although, I'm still loving the NYC experience. Hmmmm.... maybe I'll leave the blinds open tonight and sleep with all them lights flashing in....

'Night!
Al

Fly, Fly, Fly...

Me & NYC