New York, New York

Well, I'm back (to Arizona that is). As I said in the previous post New York was fucking cold, but the last few days made it fucking worth it. Friday I went to a bar in the east village for a bit, which was alright. But after that I went to the apartment downtown that I had been given the keys to one day earlier. It turns out one of my friends was going to Florida the next day, and he offered me use of his apt. while he was gone. And what an apt. it was, two blocks north of Wall St. in a sixty story high rise (the views from the roof deck were amazing). So I went there with my friend Ana, partied for a while, and got my first sleep in three days. I woke the next evening very hungover, walked to the market, got a couple frozen pizzas, and an eight dollar six-pack of Miller Lite (a little steep, eh?). After a few hours of wallowing in my headache I took the subway into Hoboken across the river and did basically the same thing at Ana's place that we did the night before. Woke up the next day, called my sister and had her take me to the train station so I could enjoy a two hour ride down to the shore so I could go to my parents house and tie up some loose ends. I got some rip-off Japanese takeaway and stayed up all night getting things in order. Then I got to enjoy another two hour train ride back to Hoboken. I found out that The Cribs were playing at Mercury Lounge that night in the East Village. So Ana and I went to a Japanese place, got some really good sushi, and were back on the subway heading into the Village. When we got off we went to Down the Hatch, a favorite of mine whenever I'm in the area, a place where you actully get a pitcher of beer for six bucks (normally in NYC it's fifteen). After drinking two of those in about 30 minutes we realized we were about to be late for The Cribs show and hailed a cab. Got there and caught the last couple of songs from the opening act Unbusted (they sucked). In between sets we grabbed some more drinks and were on our way to becoming pretty drunk. The Cribs came on and the place was jumping, they were definitely better live than they are on the albums. Of course there was the obligatory beer drinking on stage, but they were pounding beers, especially the drummer, who at points was jumping up and down on his stool while still playing. At the close of the set they launched into this two minute freakout with lots of soloing and feedback. It was a quick forty-five minute set, but it was quality, when they stepped off the stage you could tell that those boys just wanted to go get drunk. After that we left and wandered around looking for this bar Happy Endings, that my friend Jake told me was the best thing in the city that night, but we couldn't find it. So, we just stuck to the original plan of going to Arlene's Grocery for the rock n' roll karaoke with a live band. It was good as always and we ended up drinking a lot more than we had planned. While I was there I took this really good CD off the bar of bands they recorded there and if you're interested you can grab it here ----> link. After that we grabbed a cab back to the subway station for Hoboken. I grabbed a few beers at the deli on the way in so I could drink them while waiting for the train. The conducter for one train saw me and told me I better get rid of them before I got on my train. Then I lit up a cigarette in the station and the second I did a voice came over the loudspeaker and said, "There is no smoking in the station." (big brother is watching). When we got back to Ana's I decided it would be a good idea to get in the car and grab some food (please note, I was extremely drunk). I went the wrong way down a one-way street and was driving head on with a cop, "Fuck!" I said. Of course, he pulled me over and before he reached the car I accepted the fact I was going to get a DWI and spend the night in jail. However, for some reason beyond my comprehension, the subject never came up, and I chatted merrily with his partner while he wrote the ticket up. I finally made it to McDonalds to get some shit food, and while they were making it I stole a bunch of Arch Cards, which I later realized were worthless unless you activate them. When I got back to Ana's she was sleeping, so I went to watch some TV while I waited to go to the airport one hour from then. Next thing I know, I'm waking up, it's light out, and my plane took off four hours ago. I went to the airport, got on standby for the one o' clock flight, went to the gate, laid down, and slept on the seats for two hours. Hopped the flight, landed, got my bag, caught the bus home, and here we are, Tempe... Arizona... and it's fucking cold here too.