On A Sunday.

There is one thing that just doesn't change in any city from coast to coast, and it's the very American phenomenon of Christian "mega-churches". I am not really a fan, and I don't want to sit here and knock them cause if their teachings are Biblically sound and people can be satisfied there, then good for them. At any rate, I got up and made it (early!) for the 10 o'clock service of what's called The Journey church on the Upper West Side. I enjoyed the worship and message, and in short it was a good first start, but not necessarily a match made in heaven (pun? no?)

Afterwards I had a long day out in the city. I went and visited a bunch of places I'd been planning on seeing at some point or another. My first stop was the Apple store to look into a new laptop. (Poor iBook Ambrose is suffering through a long and painful death, he's over 4 years old now). I was walking down Amsterdam Ave to the 86th St metro station and found myself in the "2010 Amsterdam Avenue Street Festival". I would say that "Festival" was a stretch, it was, at best, comparable to Riverside's Wednesday night street fairs in the summer. Still, it was cute and nice to see all the vendors.

I ventured into the Apple store on the Upper West Side... check out this bad boy!



I am fairly certain I am going to spring for a 13" Macbook Pro. It's a scary thought as far as money goes, but it's a good investment.

After that, I got on the M86 crosstown, which is a bus, and which was the biggest mistake ever. I needed to get to the East Side to check out a yoga studio I scoped out online. THE BUS WAS A DISASTER. I very truly, honest-to-blog think I could've walked there faster. It was so irritating just sitting there in traffic, not going anywhere. By the time I got to York Ave I had already decided I couldn't commit to this studio since there was no way I could dare to take this bus regularly to get there, so I just started walking back the way I came.

I made it to an AT&T store, thinking I was about to liberate myself and get my own phone plan. When the last step came, the woman couldn't give me an NYC number since I had a California id. I couldn't decide what to do, so I left. Across the street was BestBuy, and a Petco. I went to both, respectively. I only brought like 3 movies with me from home, so I decided to invest in a few more. I got 3: Australia, the Baz Luhrmann film I have wanted to see since it hit theatres, Kill Bill, since I am always ashamed I don't own it for how much I love it (and how engrained it is in my past hint DEF GOVERNMENT JAM hint) and Knocked Up, the safety comfort movie that takes me back to San Diego, and Pam. In Petco I just looked at all the small animals and fish for awhile, and missed my own Mr Rat Rat, my Mr Jingles, Heathcliffe, however you know him!







On the way back I made it into a Payless to invest in some closed toed shoes for work as well, since I've been cycling through the same 3 pairs for almost a year now and they have definitely taken quite the beating.

Oh and also, I had the urge to get my nose pierced, really bad. I told myself that if I passed a piercing shop I would just get it done, but for better or worse (?) never noticed one!

A lot of people are always asking how I'm settling in, and how I like the city. And I tell them all pretty much the same thing: I'm still in the honeymoon stage, ask me in a couple months. Right now I love it. I love the change, I love all that New York has to offer, I love the community, and the people. As of now I don't have any complaints. It's been lonely at times, but I knew it would be for awhile. And as far as I can tell, there's nowhere better to be lonely!