Santa Convention, Mini Restaraunt Row

It started off with Herbelicious wanting to get a new pair of jeans for Habibi.





When we got off the train, we bought some chestnuts that were “roasting on an open fire”. Each year around this time, the hot dog vendors start to roast them fresh. I had never had them before so I said “Let’s get some!” They tasted like Mochiko rice, and made my hands smell like I had smoked a whole pack of cigarettes!!

After Herbelicious purchased a pair of jeans from the H&M store on 51st and 5th (my favorite H&M store), we decided to head down toward Rockefeller center to see the Christmas tree. Our plan after that was to head down to Saks, see their windows; then for lunch I wanted to check out a new Hawaiian restaurant (on 53rd street) that I could blog about as a comparison with the other Hawaiian restaurant in NYC (L&L Drive-In).



Just as we got to Rockefeller center, we noticed the street filled with people dressed like Santa Clauses! It was the Running of the Santa’s! I quickly pulled out my camera and started taking pictures of the many different types of Santa’s:


Chinese Santa






Jewish Santa (yes Jewish Santa--Why does he have horns?)




Cowboy Santa

An Indian Santa



Drag Santa

Buddha Santa


And a Mexican Santa and Polar Bear.



We were not sure where they all came from (the North Pole maybe?) and we didn’t know where they were headed exactly, and they were starting to get pretty rowdy singing Feliz Navidad with tambourines.

I decided to ask the Polar Bear. “It’s The NYC Santa Con--a convention for professional Santa’s as well as… well.. anyone else who wants to dress up. They happen all over the U.S. and I think that it started in San Francisco”

(Later when I got home I found this website: http://nycsantacon.com/ It is Hilarious! It’s a convention for “No real reason” except to walk around the city and spread Christmas cheer. There are rules though for this event, such as: you MUST look like Santa and HO HO HO like Santa; but not fuck with cops; kids; security, and working Santa’s. They even have their own version of Christmas carols! Download their booklet, it’s really funny!).

It was freezing out, and when it’s cold, it makes me want to pee, so Herbelicious and I headed into Rockefeller Plaza to find a restroom which was overrun with shoppers, tourist, and SANTAS! I wanted to take a picture of Santa Peeing but I didn’t think he’d like it so I left it alone.



Then it was up the SKINNY escalator. I’m not sure if they are the skinniest in NYC, but the escalators in Rockefeller Plaza are so skinny that only 1 slim person can go up at a time. Getting a picture on the escalators proved to be a challenge since they were so short (hmm skinny and short… what were they thinking.. everyone likes long and fat….) We had to go up and down (hmm up and down on the skinny and short.. I think I’d rather go up and down on the long and fat!) several times to get decent pictures. We completely forgot about the Christmas tree! It didn't really look all that great in the daytime any way.

When we got to Saks, they had the Corral gates up to Corral the people around their windows that told a story about a snowflake. I didn’t want to deal with the lines, and since the sun was shining directly on the windows, all you could see was your own reflection. I’ll have to catch pictures of them at night.




We headed toward the east side toward the Hawaiian Grill. Along the way , we stumbled upon St. Bartholomew’s (E. 50th between Park and Lexington Avenues). It is an Episcopal Church with beautiful Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture. It is considered a landmark. It is also interesting to note that the church houses a restaurant in its court yard called” Inside Park”. The church initially had asked to build a high rise to help support itself, but was denied. Now they use this restaurant which I heard is first rate. It’s also interesting to note that New York’s Laws state that establishments serving liquor must be 200 feet from churches or schools. St. Bart’s is serving liquor right in it’s courtyard! They are getting around it somehow. Check out this article about exactly that:

http://www.tonypersonals.com/newyork/articles/i-new-york/69453/inside-park-at-st-barts

We enjoyed strolling through St. Bart’s looking at its amazing architecture and the art that went into making its stained glass windows and the dome above its altar. Even the domes in their foyer were amazing, covered in gold leaf.


After a quick re-grouping where my hand nearly froze off in the cold wind trying to locate this Hawaiian Grill place on the internet using my phone, we found it on 53rd street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues and it was CLOSED! Not closed for good, just wasn’t open during the hours that we were there. We did find however, that 53rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues is a mini restaurant row. They have almost every type of food imaginable.


Habibi food

Burgers

Italian food

Mexican food



We settled on a tiny hole in the wall Thai food restaurant with only 7 tables in it. It was right above the Hawaiian Island Grill. At first I actually complained because Herbelicious and I ALWAYS eat Thai food or Mexican food. But I was too cold to argue so I agreed to Thai food (much to Herbelicious’s delight.........AGAIN!)



The Little Thai Kitchen or LTK is a place worth visiting. Even though they are all the way over on the east side, the food was amazing and very cheap. There are only 7 tables in the whole place, and is decorated trading spaces like, complete with track lighting that would make any gay boy feel at home. We started off our meals with our favorite Thai drinks, Thai Ice Tea which is basically a spicy type of orange tea with milk. I can’t really tell you what it tastes like, liquid gingerbread maybe? You just have to have one for yourself.




I ordered the Duck which was really good, but really spicy, and Herbelicous ordered the ginger and garlic beef. Our meals came to be about 10.00 each—Great price for GOOD Thai food. We definitely need to bring Ivan and Robert to this place.
While we were eating, the workers of LTK were watching what appeared to be a Thai Soap Opera. We couldn't see the TV, only hear the DRAMATIC music, the violins, and then the tuba. Herbelicious informed me that in a lot of foreign soap operas, when the tuba plays, it's usually a fat character on screen.



When we were done eating, I was exhausted. I think being out in the cold air running around like crazy east and west of the city took a lot out of me. At the train station on the East side, we came across yet another unusual excalator. A very LONG escalator. I don't know if it's the longest in NYC, but it is definitely in the running.

We headed home. It was a very long day, I was full, cold, and sleepy, and needed rest for the Habibi party that night.....and to think it all started off because Herbelicious wanted a new pair of jeans!

OH NO! all those Santas and I wasn't able to tell him what I wanted!!

Learn Spanish: Los Santa Clauses eran de toda clase imaginable!

eran- They were; toda- all/every; clase- class

An Evening at the MET (Metroplitan Museum of Art that is)

First off, thank you for the overwhelming support and supportive comments all of you made to help me get past the "Incident" mentioned in the previous blog. It really meant a lot to me. I am fine, safe and sound in a new place. So lets begin.....

Art is a form of expression. It is a way for people (and gorillas-- I heard that a gorilla in London paints, and his work goes for a pretty high price too!) to express ideas, emotions, and thoughts. You as the viewer of art, should see things, feel things, and question things. Art should move you in some way. You do not have to have a degree in art to appreciate it, nor do you need to be some cultural attaché. I love art. It excites me. Around major works, I turn into a little kid. I probably don’t view art in the same way the average person does. But there is no right or wrong way to view art. I once had a friend who created a piece for an exhibition. It was of babies amongst pieces of trash. She meant to make a statement about the younger generation trashing our world. Everyone who saw the exhibit called it the abortion piece. It was so interesting how different the interpretation was from the way my friend intended it to be. Yet it didn’t bother her because it got people thinking and talking, and she loved that. Living in NYC I have the privilege of being surrounded by many famous art museums, and famous artists.





One such artist is my friend Ed who happens to be a very well published children’s book author and illustrator.

This past weekend Ed invited Herbelicious and me to join him and his friends John and Jaine for an evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had been to the Met several times before. It is not a place you can see in one visit.

On the first visit I was in awe of the Greek and Roman Sculptures (Hot naked muscular men! YES!). The second time I went I was enthralled by the Egyptian exhibit though I am convinced that either the ancient Egyptians had black Sharpies and Magic Markers, or that someone at the Met is not competent enough to know that Black Sharpie used to re-create and restore Egyptian artwork is unacceptable. On both visits, I did not have enough time too see the oil paintings. This is what I asked my friends to focus on during this visit. We would only have 2 hours to view the masterpieces since the museum closes at 9PM. It would be exactly like Ferris Bueller and his friends when they took the day off from school and only had a couple of hours to visit the museum. Like them in the movie, we found ourselves staring at pictures that really moved us.




Before climbing to the gallery on the second floor, we decided to stop in and see the famous Christmas tree at the Met. It is a beautiful tree covered with angels. Around its base are tiny statues that tell the story of how the people saw the Christmas star in the sky, and headed to Bethlehem. The pieces are all dressed in 18th Century clothing. Can anyone remember if a Monkey with cymbals appeared in the Christmas story? Wait, that was part of the story line from Phantom of the Opera. What about moonshiners, I'm sure they were there, but was their story ever told, how they brought 3 jugs of moonshine to Baby Jesus? I think not, yet if you looked carefully, these characters could all be found around the base of the tree!


The tree is located in the Cathedral section of the Met that also houses religious art. As we looked at some of the other pieces Herbelicous commented to me that this is the kind of art that scared him as a child in church. Statues of Nuns with scary eyes that follow you when you walk across the room.


I took notice in a piece of a bishop who had a man under his robes!! I guess the Catholic church has been dealing with that issue for centuries!


Then it was up the grand staircase to the gallery where all the beautiful oil paintings were kept. And just like in the museum scene of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, we were enthralled with the way light danced in the paintings. We just stared.



Stared at how epic the stories were.



Stared at how the cloth looked like it could be touched and how it could inspire new fashion like it did on the TV show Project Runway.





Noticed how intertwined the lovers were.

Or how beautiful the flowers looked, and how real the glass pitcher on the table next to the vase was. I wonder who the woman in the portrait was talking to. Ed commented that it was interesting how the flowers were the center of this piece, and not so much the lady.



Is this man wearing Nike’s? Is this painting what inspired Nike Shoes? Is this painting even 18th Century?

I didn't realize how much Herberlicous loved horses, or was it that they just reminded him of men that were hung like horses?




Look at how romantic this scene is, and how cute John and Jaine looked standing there admiring it.

I was enthralled with how inspired George Seurat was when he painted “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”, and how it inspired Stephen Sondheim to write “Sunday in the Park with George”—the Broadway show.

What made Vincent Van Gogh so ill and depressed that he decided to cut off his Left Ear Lobe? Was it too much absinthe? or did Kevin Federline threaten him with taking custody of the children too?



Isn’t it interesting that Claude Monet saw the Lilies as being little dots and that since he had a lens removed from his eyes due to cataracts, he saw in the ultra violet range--see how the water looks almost violet? Up close it was ugly, but from afar it was so beautiful (just like some of the boys Herbelicous and I see on the train.—cute from afar, but up close they are Monets.)



What did all this splattering mean? What was going through the mind of the artist at the time he was inspired to create this? Is it organized or is it Chaos?

I came across a painting from Polynesia. Tahiti to be exact. On the bottom were the words Ia Orana Maria. Ia Orana means hello in Tahitian. I was so excited. It was like seeing something from home!

The Met is so huge, and because some things interested us more than others; we kept getting separated from each other. During one of these separations, Herbelicious and I found a room of modern art. In it was a real shark suspended in some sort of liquid (No Pictures Allowed!) and there was also a huge disk made of metal facets (next to the shark exhibit). If you whispered into the center of the disk, it would amplify your voice! How fun. Not to mention that looking into the disk you could see yourself a thousand times as if you were viewing the world through the eyes of a fly.

What do you see here? Herbelicious said he saw birds. I see High heeled shoes!

These ARE high heeled shoes! Ladies, don't throw away your old shoes, look at what you can create with them! ART!

This Piece is so simple, you could re-create it at home! yet it is so beautiful! I told Ed that for Christmas I was going to re-create a piece from the Met for his home. (I think this will be the piece).

Herbelicious and I work in advertising. I know we advertise on TV and in magazines, but when did we place a L'Oreal ad in the Met?

All in all, it was a fun evening. We will definitely go back to the Met. There was just way too much to see and do there. The next time we go I want Ed to look at the Egyptian art and tell me if it really is black Sharpie or not. I think what made the trip to the Met special, was going with a group of good friends, who you could share your opinions and feelings with about the art. That way, not only did the art move you, but it would help create a memory of you with your friends.

Learn Spanish! las bellas pinturas y esculturas me hacen sentir muy emocianado

Bella- Beautiful; Pinturas-Paintings; Esculturas-sculptures; Sentir-feel; emocianado- emotions

The Home Invasion-- For Real, Not a Lie, Not a Joke

There will be no pictures for this blog. I am simply going to vent the events of the past weekend, and the emotions I and my roommates are going through right now. This was thanksgiving weekend, and I have a lot more to be thankful for.

I was not there when it happened, but was not prepared for what I faced when I finally did go home. I cried. I'm still crying, and I'm crying right now as I write this blog. This was my home, and now it will never be again. I am not staying there tonight, tomorrow, or ever again. They might come back.

I am extremely lucky that I wasn't there. I am extremely grateful nothing was taken from me except my sense of security, my home, my sense of trust. I am grateful Keith is alive and Hugues and Igor and Christian are all safe.

I was house sitting for Bill up in the Bronx. It had been a wonderful thanksgiving, going to the Macy's Parade. And then I got the text message from the landlord: "The locks to the doors have been changed, but had they been locked both top and bottom as they should have been, perhaps the incident wouldn't have happened". The incident? what incident. I called my roommate Hugues. "Hugues I just got a text from the landlord, what incident?".

"Dude you don't know? we were robbed, last night 3 guys in masks came in, went to Keith's room and asked where the rent money was. they weren't playing. I think they hit him. They tied him up and stuff and when the couldn't find the rent money, they took his laptop. Nothing else from anyone else's rooms. Nothing was taken from you. Dude, did you put your flat screen TV on the floor before you left?"

"NO, I didn't". Nothing was taken from anyone else? I don't understand! what were they after, how did they get in?"

"Dude this is an inside job, police said that there was no forced entry so either they had a key, or someone let them in. Of course the landlord has a business to protect so they are saying we left the doors open, but dude, I know that it was locked, Keith knows it was locked."

"I'm supposed to come home tonight!"

"Are you sure you want to do that, I'm not staying there, Keith is not staying there, and the other 2 are out of town. If you have a place I say stay there. Look, my mom is on the other line, I gotta go."

"Please call me back! when you can!" I say.

I quickly call one of the landlords. He tells me to call his cousin-- the other landlord who will explain everything. "The house is safe now, we changed all the locks and the keys are there with Andre upstairs (The Navy Seal) who will be sure that only people who are supposed to have keys have them."

I call the other landlord. "William, someone left the front door unlocked, and then maybe your roommates don't want to admit but they left their door unlocked and someone came in and tied Keith up. They took his laptop. Look, I live in a nice neighborhood this can happen anywhere. But the building is safe now, we changed the locks".

"I don't understand, if there was no forced entry, what is the point in changing the locks? How do we know someone didn't just let them in?"

"Look William, the police are investigating it now.

"I'm not going back. I'm sorry but this is my 60 days notice, I'm moving out".

I tried calling Keith. No answer. I leave a message praying that he is okay, and to call me. I text message Keith. Did I tell Hugues to call me back? I text Hugues to be sure to call me. I tell Bill and his father that my apartment was the site of a home invasion last night and I cannot go home . Can I stay? Can I move here in 60 days till I decide what to do? Bill says to me: "I told you so, moving to that area was a big mistake. Admit it William, you were wrong, what were you trying to prove anyway moving there? sure you can come here"

I moved there because Bill and I broke up. I had no where else to go, the room was nice, it was fully furnished. I met all the neighbors. I was the first to move in, then Hugues, Keith, Christian, and then Igor. We were a family. We would watch TV together. Cook together, talk about how our days went. Listen to Hugues have sex. Drag Keith with me to Yoga. Listen to Christian talk about her long days at work. Brag about the perks I had with my job, my blog... We were a FAMILY. We felt safe. We NEVER had a problem coming home.

Hugues calls me back. He tells me that he thinks its one of the other tenants on the property. How did they know that we didn't mail our rent checks in that He (Hugues) collects them? How did they know what date that the rent was to be there since the date changes every month depending on the landlords schedule? How did they know what apartment to barge into? How did they get in? why did this tenant ask Hugues 4 times that day if everyone else had paid on time or not. Why did she go to the bank to get money for her rent, tell Hugues she was leaving right before the home invasion, and then come back right after and still have no rent money?

"Dude, both Keith and I have been let out of our agreement with 30 days not 60 days. You need to do the same or you will be alone in the house when they come back. Come back tomorrow and get your important stuff, documents, valuables and come back for the rest later. Don't sleep here, I won't."

I let the landlord know that I am leaving in 30 days. He understands. He asks if I can help him out by posting an ad for him on craiglist for my room.

Work was horrible for me today. What will I find when I go home? Will it be safe? My bosses are AMAZING. They let me leave early so I can go home while it is still light out. Someone responded already to my ad on craigslist and wants to see the place at 7PM. I agree.

I get home, the Navy Seal upstairs hands me my new keys and tells me its going to be alright. Keith and Hugues are home. No one else. We sit and we talk... Keith has a bruise on his face and his lip is busted. "I thought it was you guys playing a joke at first. Then I realized it was for real. They asked me where the rent money was. I told them I don't know, I didn't have it. They said they were going to kill me. I got scared, I told them Hugues in the next room had it. Sorry Hugues, I was scared".

"It's alright man" Hugues says. "so I was home William when this was happening to Keith, I didn't know. Someone jiggled my door handle but they didn't knock or try to bust in. I didn't feel good so I just didn't get up. I tell you its an inside job, that bitch even texted me during asking me if I was still home. She knows I was home, I told her I was sick. She still didn't give me any money.. its fishy man."

Keith replies "She asked me several times too if I was the only one home that day. I need to tell the police. They took my computer. My paper I was working on for school was on there, 18 pages of hard work. All my notes too was on there. My professor will understand but all that work, they took my phone too man". That is why Keith never responded to my phone messages.

I can see that Keith has fear in his eyes. I have never seen Hugues look scared. "We use to be here alone, just the 2 of us Will" says Hugues. "It was so safe" I say. Every single noise makes us jump.

I go to my room, everything has been pulled out from under the bed and stuff. Clearly they went through my stuff. They didn't take a single thing. I don't understand. I'm grateful, and I am glad Keith and Hugues are okay. It feels so dirty. I cant sleep here, they might come back tonight. Hugues decides to stay but calls his really good friend to spend the night with him. They will sleep with knives under their pillow. Keith is going to his girlfriends. Igor is coming back from a Chicago trip. He knows what happened but I'm not sure he feels the impact yet. Christian went to an appointment. She told me we'd talk later. What's going to happen to us? to them? to MY FAMILY!

The girl who comes to see the room loves the place. She asks me "wasn't there a shooting or home invasion in this area recently". I tell her yes. Nothing more. "I wanna move in this weekend she says......" I let the landlord know.

I grab my valuables and go home to my new home at Bills house. I cry on the train. I call Herbelicious to meet me with the dogs in the park.... .I cry. "This was OUR HOME I cry, they took it all away".

I tell all of you please make sure your doors are locked no matter what city you live in. And please, please leave your comments to this blog.. I NEED to hear from you...I NEED to know that I'm not alone.......

Thanks for letting me vent... Please pardon my spelling and Grammar tonight

William