So, unintended hiatus from blogging for almost a week, thanks in part to my residence building deciding to re-work the wireless connections, thereby rendering me internet-less for about three days. And then the boyfriend came and visited me over the weekend; so between all of that, I haven't had much time to just sit down and blog.
Despite my initial reservations about NYC (namely, it being dirty), I am coming to actually really like NYC-- it is basically everything I want in a city: there is always something going on, somewhere to go, something to do. If you haven't noticed, a big theme in my life is, "I don't want to be bored," and it is very hard to be bored in this city. Granted, I spend the majority of my day working during the week, but after hours and on the weekends, I really have no reason to stay inside and do nothing.
So far, I have been to Union Square and in and around Times Square, plus Central Park and Roosevelt Island. I like that New York has a lot of mini-parks and squares where one can sit for a while and just chill/people watch/hide from the heat. The first few days I was in the city were nasty-- hot and unbearably humid. Being able to sit in the shade at one of these places was a lifesaver. But, nothing beats Central Park. The last time I was (very briefly) in New York, I saw the Park from kind of a distance, and my memory of that view is hazy at best. While the boyfriend was in town, I was actually finally able to get there. And it was super cool! I had always known it was big and rather wild (in terms of just kind of letting things grow), but had no idea how pretty it was. Very lush and green-- quite the contrast from the rest of New York. And not kept up in the way that gardens and parks are generally kept in, say, France: while there is generally an organized scheme, and bits where there is grass and footpaths, a lot of the wildlife is left to just be, and grow. It does really give you the illusion of being in some kind of wilderness or countryside-type place. You will see lots of different animals (particularly birds) just chilling. There are old stone bridges that go over waterways and ponds. And yet at the same time, the park contains a zoo (which we sadly couldn't find), a mini-theme park for kids and, at least while we were there, a stage which was playing a Gavin DeGraw concert. It is quite the interesting mix of just rote nature, and planned human presence. We were only there briefly, as the sun was going down, so I will definitely have to make it back there to go to the zoo/ride the rides/take one of those old-school carriage rides through the park. My boyfriend told me that they do Shakespeare in the Park during the summer, and best yet, it is free (one of the few things in this town that are, apparently). Should definitely look into that. I also apparently got some of the grant money for the summer, so I am not a po' as I thought I was. Which is nice. Because thanks to buying set-up supplies, and a MetroCard, and doing get-to-know you social things, I probably dropped... lots of money this week already. A little piece of my Credit Card dies every time I swipe it here.
Times Square was...Times Square. I had been there before, that one time I came out here, and that is where I spent most of that day, so I remembered it pretty well. Although I had not been there yet on this trip. It is pretty much what you have seen on TV, in movies, etc. One thing I didn't remember (although I am sure it was there) from the last time, was all these random people just dressed up as random characters, for photo ops for money. I don't know what to say about that, other than it is random. I have seen people like all painted one color and doing street dances for cash before, but this is literally people who just go out and buy a Spongebob costume or something and dress up and mill around Times Square. I wonder how much money these guys make. The thing that really was weird to me about Times Square, was that while I was in one of the stores, the sun had set and it was dark out, but looking out to the people on the street, it was so light that I couldn't tell. Because of all the crazy lights in Times Square, it was so bright that it literally seemed like it was still day, even though it was 9:30 at night. I have never seen anything like that before, pretty much ever.
We also went to Roosevelt Island to go to this party hosted by a friend of my boyfriend. First, I didn't even know this Roosevelt Island existed. It is kind of strange; it is like literally an island of basically "urban" suburbia (apartment buildings and condos, but not high-denisty or hi-rises) surrounded by New York. First, it is an amazing view of the NY skyline. And it is very quite and like, way cleaner than Manhattan. The island literally has one street. Apparently it was all built up as a planned community, and it definitely looks like it: all the buildings, whether stores, condos, apartments or like, the local school, all are built in buildings that are very nice, but clearly built using the same plan. They all look very similar, and are all kind of related or attached to each other in some way. The only exception is this one church that, by the looks of it, is about 100 years old. The annoying thing about the island, is that it only has one subway stop serviced by one subway line, which thanks to construction on that line, made getting to the island ridiculous (we had to go halfway into Queens so we could get on the line going back in to Manhattan, then get off at Roosevelt island. I think we ended up going like a mile or two more East than we would otherwise had to have gone. Luckily, we did not have to actually leave the station while we were in Queens...). Otherwise, it was very pleasant, and I could see why people who like the city, but want to get away from its craziness, would choose to live there. So, never a dull moment. Which, honestly, is how I prefer things.
The coolest thing about New York, though, is the fact that you can just meander around, and randomly walk into something happening. My boyfriend and I had no idea that a Gavin DeGraw concert was happening in Central Park; we just happened to wander into it. And when we were walking around Rockefellar Center to get to Central Park, we randomly found a cool street fair, that had handmade wares and art and stuff being sold (the boyfriend even got me a cool retro pocket-watch type necklace by haggling with this lady, something I am not very good at. Haggling always feel so awkward to me. Like isn't the price of something like, what it says it is? I thought in America you could only haggle for like, cars and houses). Chicago even really doesn't operate like this; it does so more in the summer, but even still it is usually more formal things like a Taste of Chicago or the Blues Festival. I have yet to wander upon a random street fair (as opposed to a farmers market, which do randomly happen in Chicago as well as NYC). I love how here, you must expect the unexpected.
Anyway, I started my job on Tuesday, as it was Memorial Day on Monday and thus a government holiday. I have to say, for all my grousing about law school, at least so far I actually quite like it. Because unlike school, it doesn't have the daily monotony of class-homework-bed, and with a few minor exceptions, it functions like a job: when I go home at 5:30 every night, I am basically home, and don't have to think about work until the next day. Obviously this is not always true, as sometimes the lawyers stay late to prep for trial, but it is not the same as school, where even when you are home, you work has just begun. My typical day will be spending a few hours doing research, then going to observe a trial, then going to something like a witness prep. I really appreciate that the internship people have tried to organize it so that the interns aren't just doing research gophering, but actually get to see and participate in the many different parts of criminal litigation. On Friday, I got to go to a sentencing hearing. And by go to, I don't mean just sit in the public audience section. One of the attorneys I have been assigned was litigating a sentencing hearing for a guy who had convicted a couple months ago. As her intern, I got to go with her and actually sit at the prosecution table. My name was read and recorded as being in attendance and everything. Obviously, as I am not a lawyer, my role was watching and observing, but still... it was pretty sick. I think if I ultimately stick with it (which is seeming more likely, as none of the jobs I applied to have come through, and I am actually enjoying the work I do. It is such a shame that one cannot apprentice for being a lawyer any more, and that one has to be in school. I think my problems are more to do with the school part, not the actual lawyering part. It is so much more satisfying to do work that you know actually means something in the real world, and isn't just being submitted for a grade) I will definitely try to go into something in the criminal vein. I is just so...fascinating, particularly since it is so much of what you see on TV or something, now actually being played out in reality.
Anyway, that is probably enough for tonight. I do have work tomorrow. So I am going to read some Vanity Fair then hit the sack. The one thing New York hasn't been good for (aside from my wallet), is my iconoclasm. With all the fabulous things to buy, plus my discovery of Manhattan magazine, I am again falling into, "money is awesome!" mentality. Because it is. I love buying things, and so many cool, awesome, expensive things to buy. And I hate being a poor student. Seriously. I like doing my own thing, I like having fun, and I like doing things, and I like not being boring, but doing all of that costs money! Particularly after reading Manhattan, I was like, "hmmm maybe I should consider selling my soul for a few years doing transactional law for obscene amounts of money..." And then I pinched myself until the notion went away. Still, there is something to be said for not totally negating or writing off the benefits of trying to find a financially stable and lucrative job. Wouldn't it be nice if I could find a financially lucrative job that wasn't boring AND allowed me free time? Unfortunately, criminal work is usually paid for by the government, so I won't be raking in the dough any time soon. But at least it is really interesting; I won't be bored. That's got to count for something.
Actually, this all kind of reminds me of one of my favorite quotes ever, taken from The Sound of Music (even though I kind of hate that musical): "I like rich people. I like the way they live. I like the way I live when I am with them."
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