i'm walkin here!: Archive

Jul 19th

hiatus

Posting recommencing now. Apologies.

Jul 19th

May 23rd

ash

Off to Portugal tonight to meet Mum & Dad for the last few days of their European schlep. Bit of a concern about the volcanic ash closing airports (still?!) but fingers are crossed.

May 9th

success

I got a job on Friday! Pretty excited - it’s with the world’s most awarded agency, BBDO, and working on the Gillette account. The. Best. A. Man. Can. Get. I’ll be working right next door to Radio City at the Rockefeller Center, just as soon as I sort out my visa.

May 9th

May 6th

Watch

smile

May 4th

reminder

I’m on a bus from Toronto back to NY. Spent the weekend with my bestie Kat and her hubby George and new baby. Super clucky, will post some photos stat. In the meantime I have another 8 hours of cramped, hot, travel to go. Next time I suggest a 12 hour bus trip, remind me of this, hey?

May 4th

cycle

Borrowed a friend’s spare bike yesterday and we rode 20km around Manhattan, along the East River, around the financial district and then back up along the Hudson River. Finished with a 2-for-1 beer at Happy Hour which probably defeated the purpose of the ride. Getting myself a bike as soon as I’m permanent here - great way to see the city.

Apr 29th

Watch

Unimpressed.

Apr 26th

compatriot

Mel and Manny have arrived from Melbourne! It’s going to be nice having someone else around that knows me, knows the stories, gets the jokes. We went rowing on Central Park lake on Friday afternoon. We made Mel row, she wasn’t particularly happy about it. Video to follow.

Apr 26th

“K mas mi amista xk no contestas”

– My SMS stalker again - apparently this means that if I don’t want to be friends I should just say so.

Apr 26th

“te yego el mensaje si es k si es la nueba del trono de Mexico”

– I think I have an SMS stalker…

Apr 26th

Apr 23rd

photoshoot

I tried to do a self-take at the baseball last night with Chad. One of the attendants rushed up and offered to take it for us. How helpful. The following photos are the result of her work: she took four photos from four different angles. She insisted we get one in front of the pitch and the scoreboard. She scurried up two lots of stairs searching for the best angle, by which time Chad and I could...

Apr 23rd

baseball

So I’m officially a NY Mets fan, even bought a hat. Baseball was fun last night, made the trek out to Queens with Chad and some of his mates. Refreshed the rules and even learned some of the lingo, including as Chad so helpfully pointed out, that in baseball an error is kind of like a mistake. Noted.

Apr 23rd

fan

I’m going to a few concerts in the next month or two: Goldfrapp A-Ha Lady Gaga Tonight I also check out my first US baseball game, I’ve chosen (nearly completely) to follow the Mets, and they play the Chicago Cubs tonight. Should be fun.

Apr 22nd

song

There’s a sense of pride in the US that is both unfamiliar and infectious. I’m not about to get into a discussion on national identity, I’m happy just to scratch the superficial surface and bring you the amusing bits. Coming up is the elementary school song ‘Fifty Nifty United States’ that everyone learns here. JD can still sing it - I’m making him teach me. The...

Apr 22nd

Apr 21st

Apr 18th

exposed

Spent a few hours walking around Chelsea this afternoon, ‘researching’ for an interview on Friday. I walked there, and dropped off some pants for tailoring on the way. At one intersection a guy charaded toward my crotchal area - yes my fly had been undone for the entire two hours since I left the tailor. Couldn’t tell if it was a pick up or not, as Patty says, ‘it does pay...

Apr 15th

Apr 12th

Apr 9th

fried

Had my first experience with a God-botherer today. Was approached in the subway and told over and over that all homosexuals will “fry in hell, fry like a chicken in an oven, fry to a crisp”. I got the giggles at the analogy and he moved on to bother someone else.

Apr 9th

fairground

Went to Coney Island yesterday with Georgie. What a dump! I guess through the dusty parking lots, cyclone fencing and trash you could see glimpses of the past glory of the fairground, but the out-of-control disrepair made us giggle. Until we got on the rickety Ferris wheel and then it made us panic. They are “rehabilitating” the boardwalk too, not sure what that pacifically entails.

Apr 9th

heatwave

We’ve had a run of great weather here - it hit 30 degrees for two days in a row! Unfortunately it hasn’t continued, we’re back to spring weather today. Twas fun while it lasted, I even broke out the shorts.

Apr 9th

interviews

I’ve had a run of good luck this week with interviews. Now I have a number of recruiters working with me. Feeling optimistic!

Apr 9th

roadtrip

I spent Easter weekend in Philly with The Chad, a mate of mine. We went on a roadtrip with some friends, it’s about two hours away. I had two Easter dinners, one with a whole bunch of people and the other with Chad’s family. It was great, and I even had my first taste of sweet potato pie (dessert dressed up as main?). Oh, and they don’t have chocolate Easter Eggs here, they hunt...

Apr 9th

Apr 2nd

Mar 31st

Mar 24th

colossal

Sometimes I feel like Super Mario in World 4 - the giant world. Everything is so big here! Starbucks has just released a new 31oz (920mL) ‘trenta’ size. Aside from this being the least portable drink I can ever imagine, I’m breaking out in hives just thinking about that much milk. Oh and they sell Australian yellow tail wine in 1.5L bottles here - it’s billed as...

Mar 24th

convenience

Last night was a big night. I caught up with my friend David for dinner then went to a Sunday night party. Had some drinks, met some folks, danced a bit. And after David not-so-delicately saved me from a deep conversation with a Brazilian drag queen we decided it was time to go. So, at 4am we went to dinner, again. I had oysters (West Coast and Maine), then prawns and then a fish course all with a...

Mar 22nd

accent

I discovered my favourite American English word today: squirrel. It’s pronounced as one syllable, without any vowels: SKWRL. It makes me laugh so much, and it’s about time I’m not the butt of accent jokes. Here’s a link to the pronunciation if you want a smile. I’ve clicked it a thousand times already: http://www.answers.com/topic/squirrel Oh, and I saw a squirrel...

Mar 21st

meatball

I went to a restaurant the other night that has a specific meatball focus. You choose your flavour meatball and your sides. And that’s it. A whole restaurant with this specialty. I love that such niche niche niche concepts can exist here, the market is big enough to support them. Although as my (new) hairdresser said, ‘everyone loves meatballs!’. Here’s a plug, the...

Mar 19th

Mar 17th

watershed

My first interview today. What a relief - it went well. Bring it on now!

Mar 17th