A few things I've learned about New York

(Alternately titled "I have a lot to learn about New York")

1.  A status update from today: "Apparently gas stations in New York offer only car related things and services like oil changes, etc. So I walk in and scream WHAT IS THIS PLACE?! ALL I WANT IS A DIET DR PEPPER ON ICE!"  What this means for me is that I can no longer use getting gas as an excuse for a fountain drink.  (I would fill my car with gasoline and at the same time fill myself with carbonated poison!  It was poetic, really.) I can get my hands on a Big Gulp at the gasless 7-ELEVEN in town, but then I'd be making a trip solely for a fountain drink and/or to get mugged... as you can see, it's a very difficult time in my life.

2. Long Island has 7,568,304 people and 10 Walmarts.  Utah County has 516,564 people and 8 Walmarts.  EXPLAIN THIS.

3. I should never go back to a NY Walmart unless I want to get an STD and/or mugged.

4.  The candy selection sucks everywhere.  The candy "aisle" usually consists of 2 bags of Skittles and a half-eaten box of Jujyfruits.   I mean, come onnn, what are these people addicted to?! Drugs?!... that makes sense, actually.  If I don't get my hands on a box of Wonka Bottle Caps and an icy Diet DP soon I'm turning to crack.

I don't want to talk about it anymore.  I'm going to bed.

Before I go, I should tell you that it's my birthday. If you didn't send me anything your guilt is eating you alive right now. So go fill a box with Bottle Caps and send it my way.  I might forgive you for neglecting me if it's here by next Wednesday... might.

Vivian Maier

Meet "street photographer" Vivian Maier.

You really should read her story. 

These particular photos are from early 1950's, New York  City.

I love these for the same reason I hate looking through boxes of old postcards at antique stores (if you've never done that, you should).  It reminds me of how elusive time really is, and how little we have of it. To put it bluntly, it freaks me right out.

 

Every old photo of young people who never really believed they'd get old, but they still did.  And those trivial things they thought mattered so much - it turns out they never mattered at all.  (Let's all take a moment to think of what a phonetically weird world mattered is.  I mean, really.)

Fifty years sounds like a long time. It's not. Think of how fast this past year went by, times that by 50, and before you know it you're in 1961. We're not different or more special than these people, even if sometimes we like to think we are.  

Lucky for us we have iPhones, which make it a heck of a lot easier to find the best pizza in a 5-mile radius without having to talk to a stranger when you're in a hurry. But we also have to put up with Lady Gaga, so... I think they've got us beat.

You know what else?  I need to buy a nice camera while I'm here in The Big Apple. I want to capture some 2011 street people.