NYC Photo Addendum

times square: it is what it is -- and it must be the most quintessential new york feature. or maybe statue of liberty is first, but i didn't go there, so times square it is.


ground zero: not much remains and the area is largely cordoned off now, but i felt compelled to check it out. i didn't know anyone too directly affected by 9/11, and i'm thankful for that, but the sorrowful vibe at ground zero is palpable.


the fun stuff: when i wasn't eating or spending money in new york, i was definitely socializing (which usually entailed eating and spending money). party peeps (from left to right): stephanie, jon-david, moi, alison, nicole and nick.


the two-headed monster: my primary motivation for visiting new york was to see my darling jon, who's was pretty much my best friend since the teacher sat us next to each other in the 8th grade. we just clicked and the teacher couldn't shut us up. we still can't be shut up when we get together. jon is healthy (thank you, G-d) and brilliant as always. and he confesses to tiring of the new york lifestyle, which means he'll be landing on my coast in the next few years.


the three-headed monster: goofy ali will likely kill me for including this shot, but i couldn't resist. the three of us spent plenty of time being goofy back in high school. i took my first toke with these cats when we were all 16. ali would write "bon jovi rules!" all over my pee-chee folders, so i'd write "the cure rules!" all over hers. oh those salad days, how i miss them.


the happy couple: ali went on to marry the wonderful nick, whom she met when they were both undergrads at reed college in portland. i visited ali at reed once soon after she and nick got together and remember thinking then that they were MFEO (made for each other).


another happy couple: jon went on to travel the world as an exchange student and peace corps volunteer before landing in new york to attend columbia for his master's. he met cesar on a weekend trip to mexico and scooped him up. that was nearly three years ago. them two are very cute together and also MFEO.


so that's the secret: i guess you have to be a rabbi to get a street named after you. i don't know if rabbi yaakov would have liked to be on rivington, though, as that's where all the bars are in the lower east side, and i don't think they served manischewitz wine. luckily for me, they served some mighty fine pinot noir and i enjoyed a friday night pub crawl through this area.


set them free! the first bar in this pub crawl had this cool cavelike interior, with a bunch of bottles trapped near the ceiling as if they were frozen in time.


no stranger to drinking... is john john, who was my partner in crime when i lived in san francisco. he was my phantom roommate and a permanent weekend fixture. we had good times indeed partying like rock stars in both SF and LA. now he's in rhode island waiting for his girlfriend to finish law school so he could move to the left coast again. during the weekend we were both in NYC he became engaged after proposing to his girlie atop the empire state building. awww, isn't that sweetly nauseating? no, really, good luck john john.


ms. zahra bizarra: there is really no one else quite like zahra, and that's probably a good thing. she hates new york, and that's probably also a good thing, as that will drive her back to LA eventually. but for the time being, she's tied to her new york job and to her new york man and to her LA car, as ms. thang will not walk more than four blocks to get anywhere, nor will she take the train. this fact did make sightseeing and shopping very convenient.


hello, firemen! this is just a cool shot to end this photo essay with, methinks. new york was really terrific, but there's no place like home. i do hope, however, that new york will be my home in my next life. but in this life, i'm a california girl to the core.