2003-04-06 - 9:05 p.m. NYC Springtime Follies, Day One In the interest of being a good corporate citizen (and with the hope of catching an earlier flight), rather than going out for lunch and drinks with the group, at noon I shared a cab to the airport with two coworkers I don't know too well. There was much more uncomfortable work talk than I would've liked, followed up with a rushed lunch of fried chicken salad at TGI Fr*day's of all places. I endured the usual hassles at the security checkpoint, but still managed to catch my early flight into NYC. For the first time ever, I took the train from the airport to Penn Station. Although it's a much cheaper way to get into the City, the poor signage and lack of elevators not down dimly lit corridors with leaking pipes and sleeping homeless families, makes Penn Station a place I don't especially want to revisit. I'm glad I tried it out though. My NYC abode was the swanky, modernist 60 Thompson hotel in SoHo, near Spring Street. When I arrived, no doorman was to be found, so I had to let myself in. This seemed to offend and upset the cute doorman when he finally showed up as I was struggling with the interior set of doors. I got a preview of the bar and lounge upon check-in. It had the cool W Hotel's XYZ bar meets the Clift's Redwood Room feel to it, even in broad daylight and without swarms of fashionistas lounging on the opulent velvet seating, sipping cocktails. My room overlooked the front of the hotel, with a view of a 1920s era parking garage with a fabulous green metal sign. Various unremarkable skyscrapers overlapped in my view of the skyline beyond the garage. The room was outfitted with a celery-colored long and lean sofa/settee, and a witty side chair. My first act in this room was to pop the new White Stripes CD into the CD player so I could hear some rockin' good tunes as I unpacked. Somehow I was able to sidestep the allure of the Dean & Deluca-sourced snacks in the entertainment center...this same entertainment center, incidentally, was stocked with a DVD player on which you could play DVDs from the hotel's collection. Truly a nice touch. I had dinner reservations that night at Artisanal, with plans to take a friend of a friend (whom I've known only through email/AIM/and our journal writing for two years or so) out to dinner to celebrate his birthday. Purely a selfish plan, mind you, as it allowed me to eat a much more vast assortment of French bistro fare than I could have on my own, including the marvelous house fondue with bread and Yukon gold potatoes for dipping, a huge charcuterie plate with cheese, country pate, cornichons, etc., and dessert of a fluffy chocolate souffl�. Yum. Perhaps even better than the meal and the fabulous, fashionable company was our walk back to SoHo from midtown. Even with the extra cold weather (especially when contrasted with DC's 80 degree sunshine), and the wind blowing against my sunburned cheeks, I reverted into the same state of silly giddiness NYC always seems to bring out in me... Of course, this long walk through the City resulted in my being a wee bit late to meet up with yet another online friend, but, as luck would have it, he was late too, so I didn't cause him too much discomfort. Situations like this are excellent illustrations of the value of having text messaging on your phone. It's such a nice, inconspicuous, unobtrusive way to communicate! We sat in the by then overflowing lounge, amongst the dressed-to-kill yet somehow still conservative SoHo party crowd (my witty new friend referred to them all as a bunch of stuffed shirts, a phrase so rarely uttered that so readily makes me giggle. We sat by the window in a corner and talked, drinking red wine, 'till the wee hours, saying goodbye when it was obvious that both of us could barely keep our eyes open. Having counted on our hitting it off, I'd procured tickets in advance to the Matisse/Picasso exhibit at MOMA/QNS. Friday night's meeting validated that as a good hunch, allowing me to sleep happily in my cozy bed. This is a good place to note that meeting someone you've only "known" in a virtual arena seems foreign and weird. But in these two cases, I am certainly glad I got over the initial weirdness and arranged to meet up with them. Getting to experience them in the flesh rounds out my picture of them, and their personalities, in a way that the electronic communication vehicles alone never could have done... any comments? (1 so far) previous - next recently on almostgoldsf... in defense of an email box I came to do battle with SPAM - 2008-05-17 hello 2006 - 2005-12-31 Happy Thanksgiving - 2005-11-14 bon voyage - 2005-11-05 October already? - 2005-10-09