Photo Finish

© Joselito Briones

I could've spent my last day in New York just relaxing and waiting for the time for me to go to the airport. Instead, I spent it literally running around in Manhattan with Eric, who decided to do a hooky today (I'm sure if he had known how today would turn out, he'd have gone to work instead).

I had two last things to take care of before leaving, to go to the bank to inquire about an erratic letter that I got from them, and to go to a notary public to get some documents sealed and faxed. An optional thing I was going to do was to take photos of 1 Astor Place, a project I worked on while working for Ismael Leyva Architects.

A friend, who shall remain anonymous due to his refusal to make public the fact that he's indulging my materialistic side, gave me a digital camera (WOO HOO!) last night for my forthcoming birthday, so I thought, what better way to break it in than to do the optional photo-taking in Astor Place. The memory card that came with the camera was too small though, so I decided to get a bigger one at J&R today. Before we left, I received an email from Mati with a couple of purchase requests for kids in Germany: a pair of trainers and a Knicks cap, with instructions as to where to get them. So a to-do list of 2 items within 2 blocks of where Eric lives became a 6-stop task all over the place. And we had a maximum of 2.5 hours to do everything.

First stop. The bank. Fast walk. Non-conclusive. I was advised to check the internet for answer. 10 minutes

Second stop. Fast walk. Notary public. Everything went fine. 15 minutes

Third stop. J&R. It took 40 minutes just to get there by subway, running to and from the station. Ended up buying a leather case and extra battery for the camera in addition to the memory card. 55 minutes

Fourth stop. Astor Place (Cooper Square). Subway. Missed the stop and ended up in Union Square because I was too busy installing the new card in the camera. Had to take another train back one stop. Running at this point. Click. Click. One photo above. 25 minutes

Fifth stop. Urban wear/shoe store in 34th Street, as specified in the email. Took the subway again. They don't have the shoes, nor the Knicks cap. The sales clerk looked at the photo of the trainers (I printed Mati's email) and looked at me incredulous, as if to say, "Why the hell would we sell such shoes?!?!?". I tried to defend myself by saying that the shoes are not for me, but he wouldn 't hear any of it. He spoke politely though and said they don't carry this brand. 15 minutes

Last stop. NBA store, 5th Avenue. Took the subway. Ran 3 blocks. Ran into Dermot Mulroney. Stared for about 5 seconds, but only because he was staring back, as if to say, "Well, either say you recognize me so just go ahead and ask for my autograph already, otherwise go on along and don't look at me all disappointed because I'm not shaven and my hair is not fixed and you can see all my gray hair and gray beard stubble". I did the latter. I looked back and saw him cover his head with a beanie. Store didn't have the shoes either, nor the Knicks cap. They had lots of Knicks cap, but not the one in the picture. "Must be exclusively an online product from our store", clerk said. 20 minutes

Grabbed a couple of sandwiches and drinks on the way to the subway to go back to Eric's. We were both running and panting and sweaty at this point. Subway took some time. When we got off the train we ate the sandwiches (either they were really good or we were really really hungry) while running to get back to his apartment. 25 minutes

Okay, so we weren't able to do everything in the alloted time, but I think it was still good. I had to hurry collecting all my stuff so I won't be late getting to the airport. I was in such a rush that I wasn't even able to thank Eric properly, or say goodbye properly. I expected him to just give up at this point and be glad to get rid of me, but, good friend that he is, he walked me to the train station.


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Farewell, Hell's Kitchen

© Joselito Briones

I spent most of the morning doing all the tedious things I'd really rather not do, but had to. Phoned a lot of people, and companies. Arranged for roll over of 401(k), cancelled fax account, photocopied documents, mailed Norie's pins, mailed documents for the rollover, mailed application for renewal of license, bought train tickets to South Norwalk, took train schedule booklets from Grand Central.

After all these, I walked around my old neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen and took pictures: the restaurants I frequented, the ones I frequently called to have food delivered to me, the cafe' I used to go to for breakfast on weekends, the heavenly cupcakes, the fish market, the video store, the grocery. I'd show you all the photos, but there's so much there's no space here, so let me just show you this one, from Cupcake Cafe.


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It's the (good) witch's birthday today

© Joselito Briones

72 years ago today, a girl with magical powers was born. Her parents christened her Lea. She grew up to be the prettiest (and coolest) girl in the land. She fell in love with a fervent admirer. They got married and brought into this world eight loving kids.

Had the first seven kids not known that Lea loved them all just as much, they would have been jealous of the youngest, a boy, as Lea seemed to have shown him so much love and attention. This was not lost in the youngest, who grew up very close to her.

He remembers all the times she performed magic, like those times when he was ill and all she had to do was give him the gentlest kiss on the forehead and everything was suddenly alright. He also remembers the time she made him realize that he was totally capable of doing something selfless. And how could he possibly forget the earliest childhood recollection he had (at age 3!), a moment of clarity, when she explained to him the meaning of being considerate and kind, and he completely understood?

For this child, she remains, the prettiest (and coolest) person in the world.


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P.S.
She now lives in California, but she's presently in Carmona to celebrate her birthday. I spoke with her on the phone and she said she's having her bingo pals over, and Toto is roasting a pig for her party. She sends her regards.


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